Family Guy: I Dream of Jesus

American Dad: The One That Got Away

Mad Men: The Inheiritance

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Allison from Palmdale, Goodbye to All That

Iron Chef America: Flay vs. Angerer

Secret Ingredient: Beer
Judges: Garrett Oliver, Julie Chen, Jeffrey Steingarten
Winner: Chef Angerer

"The Jet Set"

October 12th, 2008

When most people arrive at their travel destination without their suitcase, they're angry; when Don Draper arrives without his luggage, it provides a freedom that allows him to break free into (long) uncharted territory.

"The Jet Set" follows Don on a journey of sorts, as he flees the rigidity and direness of Cold War aerospace technology and the schmoozing of pie in the sky engineers searching to create the superhuman astronaut, instead jumping in a car with a young woman named Joy who, more than his meetings, offers hope for her her eponymous emotion. As he encounters those filthy rich and adventurous individuals known as the Jet Set, he also encounters a life that is so unlike his own it nearly scares him back to safety, but then surprisingly scares him back to something difference altogether.

There's a lot of people who are reverting back to older perspectives here, some in desperate search of former glory or others who are simply collateral damage in the wake of the office's bigotry. For the most part, it's a stark reminder that the lives of our characters are the polar opposite of the show's airborne guests: while they fly from exotic location to exotic location, our characters are stuck in place, struggling to expand their horizons at anything close to jet speed.

Don went to California to get away: to get away from Betty (Who is unseen in the episode, spare a close lookalike at the bar of the hotel), and to get away from what he could tell was one of those moments where it seemed like he was moving faster than everything else. Having spent so long of his life living a lie, and therefore being quick to accept change in order to keep from falling behind the curve and being discovered, he couldn't understand why Betty wouldn't take him back after their reconciliation, or why she was even being so stubborn in the first place. Yes, this can't all be explained away by Don's past, some of it owing to a controlling nature that can't be blamed entirely on his father, but it does contextualize his reasons for running off to California and bolting away with Joy as soon as he realized that the meetings organized were going to be just as constrictive in their own ways.

That Don stumbled into the world of the Jet Set is one of those great parts of a period piece like this, especially from an episodic context. By introducing this character that we now understand (if not, of course fully) into worlds that a quick Wikipedia search will give us heaploads of information on, allows Matthew Weiner (who wrote the episode) the chance to play off of existing knowledge in building this already strong character. It's a world that he both relates to and yet finds exotic: he understands Joy's father's attempts to appear younger, to make his daughter into a friend in order to feel less ancient, and yet he finds the entire thing so out there, so different from his normal life, that it doesn't feel like work.

The way Don is introduced to it all is just perfect: after suffering from heat stroke, overwhelmed by the very nature of L.A., he wakes up in a world where everyone sits around the dinner table listing off exotic locations. At first, Don is almost taken aback by the game, but then it becomes clear that he knows exactly what he's doing, even rattling off more "O" cities than they imagined. The point is that this is an extremely literate group, and this is not the type of crowd that Don is used to being around while wearing a polo shirt: he's always been on business in these settings, forced to curtail his views for the sake of the job, the "Don Draper" persona if you will. Here, he's just Dick Whitman, a man who has played Don Draper for a very long time and who has accumulated a great deal of knowledge about the world, about himself.

To them, Don is simple: "You're beautiful, and you don't talk too much" are Joy's two reasons why her father loves having Don around. Don wishes his world was this simple, so simple that only those two qualities gain him entry into sex-filled evenings and exotic locales. However, that entire image is shattered, or so we presume, moments later when he discovers that Christian has two kids, a boy and a girl who look at least moderately similar to Sally and Bobby. He's in the midst of a custody dispute, or so it seems, and there is a definitely reality check: one can't, when they have this family and this background, just up and abandon them in favour of this life of luxury. Joy couldn't hold down a college education due to the lifestyle, and it seems that the people are arguing all the time as opposed to living in an idyllic setting. It may be the centerpiece for intellectual thought and position, hopping around on airplanes all the time, but it does not solve the rest of the world's problems.

It is what Don does with this reality, though, that's so fascinating: he calls someone on the phone, telling them that Dick Whitman is calling, and that he'd like to see them. This is more than a bit of a shock: while one can presume that it is the woman we saw way back in "The Gold Violin" as Don flashed back to his days as a Used Car Salesman, and that perhaps she is on the West Coast and precipitated this trip in the first place, what was it about that image of Christian and his kids that would compel him to make that phone call? One would have suspected that he would think back to Betty in that moment, but this isn't what happened at all: instead, we end the episode with Don's luggage finding its way back to his house and the delivery man finding no one to answer the door. It's quite literally as if his identity as Don Draper returned home without him, leaving a different man free from the constrains of at least one of his dehabilitating identity crises. He's still the same Don Draper: we get the signature rear profile pose with his arm above the coach, but with no shirt and the modern stylings of the apartment it is a Don Draper free from all that makes him Don Draper, a fascinating and game-changing event that should make for an interesting episode next time out.

Elsewhere, we unfortunately miss out on Betty's storyline in this week in favour of spending time with the increasingly treacherous Duck Phillips, the hilariously incapable Pete Campbell, the continued recklessness of Roger Sterling, and the stark bigotry of the creative folks at Sterling Cooper. Pete ultimately gets the least time: left alone by Don, and unable to drive anywhere, he brings the meetings to him and acts like a big shot, despite not being able to even get two girls to look at him twice after picking up some papers he let blow away from his pool chair. It's one of those fun little portraits of a man who just can't transition from one setting to another. He is good at what he does: making clients happy when they need to be and getting things done in a meet and greet. But he's a salesman who can't craft his own product, and thus why he can't score with people who aren't actually interested in what he's selling in terms of Sterling Cooper (See: the ladies).

But there are those who are, including Peggy Olsen, who this week confesses to Kurt (one of the "young guns" hired by Don to appease Duck) that she always picks the wrong men: those who are getting married, those who are priests, and now those who are homosexual. There was a frankness in this reveal that was blunt to the point of being provocative: Kurt breaks the news as soon as he realizes that the office thinks he and Peggy are dating, and the ripple effect is immediate. I think it was through reading other reviews, but the presumption was that Kurt and Smitty were in a relationship, so this wasn't a surprise in itself: it just came out in such a quick fashion that we saw a lot of immediate reactions. This would be normal except that we know Salvatore (and likely Smitty) are standing in the room not nearly as comfortable with admitting that they'd rather have sex with men than women, and having to listen to Ken and Harry is not going to help that fact.

After they played it coy with the issue of race relations or homsexuality in the past, with very little active discussion of Kinsey's girlfriend and Sal planted firmly in the college, this kind of frank statement is just so outside of Mad Men's characters: they're all about secrets, crises of identity, about not letting it free at all. But, as they say, Europe is different: like the Jet Setters, Kurt comes from a different society and his different value set is alarming not for its content but for its honesty. What we get is, moreso than the show tends to do with racism or other tense social issues, is an immediate picture of the period bigotry. But, in the end, it is an empowering statement: for all of their insults (which never spiral into hatred but certainly represent themselves as close-minded and worrisome), Kurt is perfectly fine cutting Peggy's hair into a charming new style and talking with her about her boy problems. I do think, though, that Salvatore is at a crossroads now: either he comes out to reclaim his honour and to do what Kurt did, to reveal it right up front and be able to be himself, or to retreat so far into the closet that there's no coming out. Regardless, while we knew from "The Gold Violin" that Sal was not wholly sold on his domestic lie, he seems now in as much crisis as he was last season.

Meanwhile, on the side of the executive folk at Sterling Cooper, we get two trends: Roger Sterling losing sight of the big picture in favour of his newfound love, and Duck Phillips regaining his bite in his attempts to take advantage of this for his own gain. As Roger considers divorce, something that has potentially huge financial ramifications for the company if Duck has any kind of experience in the area, there is that sense that he is again losing sight of reality: with Jane he has someone who thinks he will change her, who wants to grow old with him and who writes him poetry. I love Roger's observation that he doesn't want her aging, or in reality changing in any way: his plan of marriage is in some way an attempt to bottle their current affair. It's about capturing the moments and ignoring the fact that they could end, making a union bound to uphold those moments as the standard as opposed to a loose plan where she could let go, where she could be set free from him.

Roger and Duck are at similar stages in their lives, but Roger is at the point where he thinks there's nothing to lose and Duck is at the point where there actually isn't. Having failed to bring forward results or make anyone at Sterling Cooper happy, Duck does what he can to move forward: convince his old bosses to buy Sterling Cooper out from under Roger, and then place him at the head of Creative. There is little as slimey as Duck sitting in front of Roger and Cooper and convincing them that what he's offering is a chance for the Sterling Cooper name to be in charge of an enormous number of International divisions, which isn't quite what I think would end up happening under such a shakeup. I am presuming that there might be some precedence for this, companies which were bought out during this era, but for now I'm going to remain ignorance in favour of letting the show take me on its journey. Either way, we have at this point Duck Phillips going a little bit of drinking, and it's a different kind of Duck when this happens.

Regardless though, there's quite a lot of questions leaving this episode, especially since we're so close to the finale (which is now two weeks away). Since I'm presuming the show, in a likely but not yet confirmed third season, would again find a gap in time to help advance further into the 60s, it likely won't worry with conclusions so much as continued escalations - considering that Don is on the other side of the country and big things are about to go down both between individuals and in a broader sense of Sterling Cooper, consider my anticipation levels quite high.

Cultural Observations

• Duck offers the bottle to Joan as a finder's fee, which is a curious thing to do: did he do it to keep one more bottle away from his temptation (although he did drink with his former boss, and seemed to need some liquid courage before heading into his meeting with Sterling/Cooper), or just because he's in such a good mood since he knows what the gift means for his future? Regardless, I've got my eye on Duck, and Mark Moses continues to do some great work in the role.
• Interesting to see what aerospace amounts to within these times - cold war fear mongering about the importance of missile technologies to the Soviets. As Maureen Ryan notes (as cited by Alan Sepinwall), it's a nice mirror scene to the Kodak Carousel pitch from "The Wheel."
• Harry is maybe the show's most self-centered character, which is either a shift from last season based on his new promotion or just something that we didn't see as much of last year. Regardless, his perspective that Kurt is pervert, or that people should stop stirring up race relations so that people will still watch television were the most shocking in the episode, even if the latter one was equal parts funny to concerning.
• Also, with full props to Sepinwall for pointing it out for me since my consistency meter is out of whack with so much work on my plate, funny how Betty was dreaming about suitcases and then has one show up at her door.

Roger Sterling (John Slattery) to Duck Phillips (Mark Moses):
"Everyone thinks you're a fine fella, but if I were you, I'd go out there and make rain."

well... maybe not.

regardless... david fincher directed it, and apparently the song is a house-y remix of ennio morricone's "the ecstacy of gold"  (thanks to a dominican on the internets for dropping that particular piece of knowledge).  check it out:

this might overtake the #1 spot in the all-time freshest sports commercial rankings i keep in my head (i really do have them ranked... scary, huh?).  it juuust nudges past another pittsburgh steelers related commercial that the NFL used to promote itself during the "feel the power" campaign about 10 years back.  if you can find video of this ad, i swear that you and i will be best friends.

the commercial started off with the image of a 10 year old kid standing on the steelers sideline in a sprinter's position, waiting for the opening kickoff.  the ball is put into play, and shorty sprints to the middle of the field.   the voice-over begins: "i can run from the sideline to midfield - pick up the tee - and run back on the sideline in less than 10 seconds flat.  most people see me at my job and they say 'boy, are you lucky.'  me?  i just think i'm FAST."

the fact the words came from the mind of a child made the sentiment easier to stomach, but that comment tells you everything you need to know about the ego one needs to play football.  i loved it.  it was arrogant and honest and unapologetic.  VERY MUCH a pro football mentality.  yet still, the LT/Polamalu ad trumps this commercial for me because it captured the "kids having fun" element of football and chose to glorify that aspect of the sport.  very good stuff.  props today go to madison avenue for kicking creative ass, donald draper style.

Overheard:  No team is very good in the NFL.  This is the game where our whole team just gets hurt too. I think it's just another case of Belichekian hubris...he won't take no for an answer.  You're gonna freak out aren't you? Oh Jesus. (reaction to Patriots player Kaczur being driven off the field)

Sportz iz phun.

Bench clearing brawl with the Dodgers & Phillies?  Uh oh.  Manny's hair make him look like a girl.

Overheard: Absolutely furious that the Patriots don't have a better backup QB. Oh my God.

Band of Brothers, deja huella seguro, molt bono dirigida per Steven Spielberg.

Mad Men estic seguint la primera tempora subtitula i es prou bono, la recomane.

Mad Men is the cultural capital du jour—it is to 2008 what The Wire was to 2007. Don Draper is the new Omar. Know the man's name.
Of course, In a boy's club like Sterling Cooper, it never hurts to have a cheat sheet to keep up, and that's where Radar comes in to help. Here is a rundown of the main characters, and even a few alluring conversation topics to get you through this weekend's parties without seeming like a totally uninformed social leper.

Radar

Mad Men is an amazing show on AMC about an ad agency in the 1960's. Beautiful art direction and tons of details make it feel very genuine and really draws you into the story. But as Mark Simonson points out, not all details are just right.

Can anyone – besides Eric – tell whats wrong with these pictures?

Lots more and details at the link.

On a whim about a month ago, I started watching AMC's Mad Men on iTunes. It's not TheGreatestShowEverOMGWhyAren'tYouWatchingThis like another show I could mention, but it's pretty damn fun. The suits are dope,* the acting is first-rate and  Peggy Olson is one of the best female characters a TV drama has produced. We should probably start blogging about it. (Also, Christina Hendricks. The mind reels.)

Here's a question for fans of the show: is January Jones, aka Betty Draper, a good actress playing an annoying character, or just a bad actress?

*shani-o put me on How I Met Your Mother, which is also a lot of fun, and which often boasts Neil Patrick Harris in some snazzy suits. It's funny how you notice stuff like this as you get older.

Enough!  For heaven's sake, did you see her at the Emmys?  That woman can WEAR an outfit.  Get Hendricks some free dresses, forthwith!  [via Scanner]

Je suis d'accord avec Page 6, Christina Hendricks est une vraie (sex) bombe ! La jolie rousse est l'une des vedettes de Mad Men, élue meilleure série dramatique de l'année aux derniers Emmy Awards.

"Advertising is based on one thing - happiness. And you know what happiness is? It's the smell of a new car, a bilboard on the side of the road that screams with reassurance."

Let's talk about something incredibly seductive for a moment here.

A woman smoking.

Such a contradiction in terms because, honestly, I find smoking to be disgusting. But I've got to admit that there's times when the sight of a beautiful woman taking a drag off of a cigarette is just one of those powerful images that knocks me on my ass. Is it an oral thing? Am I subconsciously substituting a penis between her lips instead of that long thin cancer stick? I don't know. I doubt it, but I don't know.

Something about not just a woman smoking but anyone smoking, especially when they're alone, just says power. It speaks of a small rebellion, even if it's an inconsequential one. A solitary withdrawal and a strength inside. With no words at all, a long drag can say a deep, quiet fuck you from either the loner or the playful trickster.

With the exception of Mr. Live Fast, Die Young, you'll notice that the pictures I've used here are the classic image of a woman with a cigarette. Just holding it. One arm tucked around themselves, the other dangling the cigarette nonchalantly. Not taking a drag from it. What does that imply? What is the hidden symbolism there? What is that memetic idea that keeps us drawing from that well?

No idea, and again, I don't want to tear it apart. I'm not sure I want to find it's hidden meaning. I think I just want to enjoy it and be drawn into it's sway.

My first video for you today is titled "Smoking Doggy Stylie," and it's one of the hottest you'll ever see. It simply is just a woman laying over a bed, smoking, talking about smoking, and a man behind her, fucking her doggystyle and asking her about her smoking. You never see the man's face, and you don't need to. He'd only ruin it because the bewitching young woman absolutely commands your attention for roughly 13 minutes of your life that you'll gladly sacrifice to her. Hers is dark magic that inveigles you masterfully as she's bent over her altar performing her rituals. Click on that link only if you want to be captivated.

The next video, entitled "Nice smoking hand job" is far less enticing, but quite possibly could've been in it's original form. Somebody took another video, cut it down to a less than a minute clip, put a Tweet song about smoking over it and completely drained it of it's magic. The woman is in full swing ice blonde femme fatale mode, almost as much as the dark haired beauty in our first clip. I think the most fascinating aspect of this clip, the thing that makes me desperately want to see it's original iteration is complete disinterest she seems to hold for the man's cock that she's jerking off. Like I said, something about the cigarette, if smoked right, isolates you majestically. It puts you in a place that others are desperate to get to, even if it is completely damaging.

Now, that's not to say that, like everything, smoking can't be done wrong, because oh  yes, it can:

Seriously, seriously wrong.

"A pink lung is a wasted lung," an old coworker of mine always used to tell me. He was 22 and couldn't run without nearly passing out and coughing up green shit the size of a catcher's mitt. His teeth were bright yellow and his breath smelled like nuclear waste. He started smoking when he was 12, given his first cigarette by his father. His mother smoked when she was pregnant with both him and his sister, he emphatically stated. And besides, "when I die," he told me, "I want to be sick, not healthy." I probably should've respected his fierce independence and his quite frankly American right to be that spectacularly stupid. But I won't bullshit you: I didn't then and I don't know. "You're probably going to get your wish in the next few years," I told him.

All I'm saying is: Ladies, I hope you don't smoke. Healthy is a good look, even if smoking is so undeniably sexy at times.

And until next time, here's to the smoke that gets in your eyes.

Lara and I begin watching Mad Men via On Demand while she was living with us over the summer.  We got through about the first 5 episodes, and then it disappeared from On Demand.  Fists are shaken, and then we realize we can watch the rest of the season on DVD.  Only, we never get around to it.  Lara moves to Texas.  Sad.

ACT 2

I decide this week to catch up on the rest of Season 1.  I rent the DVD's and diligently watch the remaining 7 episodes.  The finale ends and I am totally stoked to get caught up on Season Two via On Demand.

ACT 3

With great anticipation, I go to the On Demand channel to find that the first 5 episodes of Season Two HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE LIST!!!!  There is whining.  There is crying.  There is gnashing of teeth.

ACT 4

The lovely Jess directs me to iTunes, where I can watch the first 5 episodes for a mere $1.99 an episode.  I only had to complain to about 8 people before she rescued me.  Jess saves the day!!

THE END

"The blown up vintage clip art seems odd here, too. The whole layout has a Kinko’s feel to it." - Mark Simonson

It's a great entry, but this statement sort of depresses me.  I work at a copy place, and there are a lot of image limits and time constraints at these establishments which result in shotty design work.  I look at these examples and feel slightly embarrassed because I'm doing crap just like that.  Can I even use the statement "not by choice"?  I guess not.

Please tell me it gets better because if it doesn't I'm going to get my Masters in Art History or something.

Of course, Mad Men's Christina Hendricks’ cleavage is a star unto itself, much like her bountiful, bodacious bottom, and they each deserve to grace a cover or plenty before gravity takes its toll. Whatever, like Hendricks would let something as frivolous as gravity touch her. I never thought her boobs would beat her bum to it though. Why is it that no matter how jaw-droppingly Goddess-like a star’s “assets” are, they never get a cover all of their own? I personally think it’s a travesty you get Page Six Magazine free with The New York Post, especially if television’s most voluptuous, sexpot of an idol is kind enough to allow them to immortalise her for the greater good of mankind. People should pay through their noses to be given the honour to so much as THINK about her goodies, let alone see them (covered by a black dress).

by. Enigma

Well hello again. That's right, it's me Enigma.

Week 5 was a hell of a week, I must say.

As I periodically tuned in to the games this Sunday, my nerves were exhausted and frustrated. I ended up winning this week by nearly 80 points. Which was awesome, needless to say. But I must admit I was somewhat... well... livid!

Why, you ask? Because, despite all the research that I did on the Internet all week and my careful and (I thought) well-planned choices, I still for some reason unfortunately decided to listen to my "advisors", York Roberts and Officer Crowley, at Popeye's Chicken by Fenway Park.

Sure, they gave me some relatively good advice. They reassured me on at least my frame of mind, at the very least. But (and here's where I wish I hadn't even asked or brought this up) they both told me, pretty much, not to even think about playing DeAngelo Williams of the Carolina Panthers. And he had the biggest fucking career day EVER this weekend!

I was especially frustrated with football as a whole this Sunday because, aside from practically crucifying myself for not playing Williams, my only decent RB, Steven Jackson, was on bye. So I ended up playing LenDale White (who got me one fucking point... thanks a lot, LenDale) and Tim Hightower (who thankfully had a pretty good game).

Moreover, I was led to believe that Amani Toomer was going to totally pwn this weekend with Plaxico Burress out and all. But he didn't even get that much attention from Manning! I mean, he didn't do terrible, but, you know, i guess i was expecting a lot more.

All in all, this week I learned that, for the most part, you can't listen to fucking ANYBODY but your own gut instincts. Because when it comes down to it, no one ever knows what the fuck is going to happen.

So, again I push onwards; not discouraged nor optimistic, but rather just humble and determined.

(Editor's Note: OfficerCrowley suggested Enigma bench Randy Moss in favor of Matt Jones in week 5. Citing the 'amazing' San Francisco defense. OfficerCrowley is a moron. I steered you right in that regard, didn't I Enigs?)

The end credits are set not in the iconic sans serif used in the opening-credits sequence, and not in, say, Helvetica, which was designed in 1957 and became popular soon thereafter, but in Arial, the controversial Helvetica knockoff that Monotype cobbled together in the late 1980s to avoid paying license fees on Helvetica. The main giveaways are the “R”s and the “G”s

Και ο προβληματισμός συνεχίζεται

Of course this raises a conceptual issue: Do a show’s closing credits take place outside the world of the show?

Εδώ σε θέλω.

<via Vulture>

The overwhelming critical accolades and the good word of mouth convinced me to give 'er a go. So I downloaded the first episode and haven't looked back since. Each character has been brought to life with the loving care of a parent, the scrutinty of an FBI background check and the honesty of my mom in confession.

Don Draper, played subltly by Jon Hamm appears at first glance to be the Every-executive and out of touch dad of the sixties. He is perfectly groomed and rugged in appearance, but just look below the surface and wonder why he drinks and smokes so much. Elisabeth Moss plays Peggy Olsen, Draper's new "girl friday." She is cute and demure and is eager, but she is also sad, needy and strong.

A friend of mine told me she wouldn't watch the show because of how sexist it is. That is true to a point. Under all of the "coffee, tea or me" and 10 feet thick glass ceiling is the reason the sixties had to exist and why they surely had to evolve and end.

The behaviour of these characters is something short of watching a train wreck, they are flawed and funny and all kinds of interesting. You get invested in all of the supporting players too. The struggle to make it in a cut-throat business and the generational influence of the older and younger generations on the middle-aged Draper.

Anyway, this is the kind of show I was desperate for in the mid-90's and am so glad to have now. It is one of the most well-rounded shows I have had the pleasure to watch and when I am caught up with the most current episodes in season 2, I think I may need to start smoking again, because I am soaking up so much nicotine from the screen.

Fringe reste une série passable, les sitcoms ne sont pas en forme (faible démarrage niveau qualité pour HIMYM et TBBT pour ma part), Brothers and Sisters a perdu de son piquant, Friday Night Lights a quand même signé un retour convaincant. Bon, faut dire que DHW est une des séries où je remets constamment en question mes exigences. Je la considère comme un divertissement addictif et savoureux (moins en ce début de saison 5 quand même) qui occupe fièrement mes lundi après-midi. Donc évidemment quand je n'attends que du divertissement de la part de la série, c'est moins dur d'être déçu.

Sinon, je passe mes week-end au cinéma. Il y a beaucoup de sorties qui m'intéressent dernièrement. La semaine prochaine notamment Blindness qui pique ma curiosité. Allez, j'irais peut-être même voir Super Blonde en plein moment de désespoir. Anna Faris (Friends) y interprète le personnage principal. J'attends ce film qui s'annonce très profond avec impatience. J'espère que le thème de la marginalisation des blondes sera traité avec finesse et intelligence. Préparez vos mouchoirs.

Trop occupé par les cours dernièrement. Je n'ai jamais l'occasion de regarder un épisode de série sans penser à autre chose. C'est trop serious, grave, injuste. Par contre je suis content puisque je commence à aimer Mad Men. Tellement que je commence à faire les mêmes expressions que Don Draper dans mon quotidien - c'est curieux.