Basket of Kisses

The picture of Sheila on Paul’s desk? That was foreshadowing. Someone is going to see it; someone other than Sally. Someone who is none too comfortable with it.

Just sayin’.

1^st Sunday – Our Lady of Perpetual Motion (old George Carlin line … RIP George)

First viewing I forgot he was Colin Hanks – now I can’t stop thinking about it.

Insert Thorn Birds joke here. Mine is: “Hi I’m Father Richard … Richard Chamberlain.”

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, there’s definitely some pseudo-sexual tension here – deliberately communicated. Not that it’s meant in a scandalous way … nowadays, priests in media & entertainment are unfortunately all painted with the same brush, so any man in a frock that makes eye contact with a lady – or God forbid, a young boy – will look like he’s leering, even when he’s not. But there’s some mutual checking out, in a way that I imagine was commonplace in 1962.

Draper boudoir

“Hot dogs … no Don, not yours.”

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It’s like, 31 seconds long. You don’t even have to watch it to vote.

And comments! Comments, comments comments! Comments are fun!

Yes, this will get annoying. I’m just like that.

Have at it.

for I have sinned. It’s been two weeks since my last confession.

This is how Peggy’s sister, Anita, begins her confession. She then admits to taking money at the laundromat and also taking the Lord’s name in vain. Anita then pauses, seems to ponder what she wants to say next, and then speaks again, hesitantly at first:

And I’m … I’m so angry, father … I’m so angry at my little sister. She’s causing my mother so much pain … She had a child out of wedlock. She seduced a married man. It’s a terrible sin, and she acts like it didn’t even happen. And I hate her for it. I feel so guilty about it … but everybody keeps falling all over themselves, trying to help her, and she goes on like nothing happened. Nothing at all.

So much there. In very few words a volume of subtext, pain, accusation, revenge, jealousy, and denial.

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• This is straightforward: If You’re Not Watching Mad Men, You’re Crazy.
• City Beat of Cincinatti compares Mad Men to the Dark Knight. Which is cool. h/t to Basketcase Peter G.
• The Atlantic has the most amazing contemplation of Mad Men:
  

  There’s a “Is it all worth it” quality to Mad Men which I love–like you’re cheering for Betty to move up, and yet at the same time you’re thinking, “Move up into what?” Into puking into office garbage cans?

  Definitely read the whole thing.

• Variety ponders the influence of the critics on Emmy voters, using Mad Men as their prime example.
• 411mania’s McGuffin DVD Review takes on Mad Men season 1, loves the series and the DVDs, and offers their top ten moments of season 1:

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http://blogs.amctv.com/mad-men-contest/2008/08/robertalipp-as-pete.php

I got the recap of For Those Who Think Young up.

(Michael Phelps! Michael Phelps! Michael Phelps!)

I found this while doing my several-times-a-day sweep for Mad Men related news, but this deserves to be singled out.

The column Urbanite in am New York has started a regular Monday feature, Mad Men and the City, which will highlight New York things mentioned in the previous night’s episode.

This week’s column discusses Lutece, the Church of the Holy Innocents, and Green-wood Cemetary, among others.

Everyone and anyone is welcome to jump in. This is a “live blogging” thread. Roberta is out tonight and will not watch until after eleven. Deborah, whose computer and TV are on different floors, will watch at ten and chime in afterwards.

But don’t hold yourselves back on our account!

Hey guys, it’s Roberta.  I am going out and if I get in too late, I may not be able to see it. Or tomorrow night either. Which means I will not be able to step foot near this blog. I’m a little traumatized…

Whew! I’ve finally finished a project that has plagued me for the last few weeks, and can now get back to the more important activity of obsessing over Mad Men. “There’s work, and there’s life,” as Don would say, but sometimes they intersect and when that happens there’s little to be enjoyed of either.

Recently a friend gifted me with the original cast recording of My Fair Lady, and I’ve been enjoying it immensely. Audrey Hepburn was fine in the movie, but damn! Julie Andrews nails it. To the wall. Without chipping the paint! You know a soundtrack or cast recording is spectacular if it stands on its own away from the actual production. And stand, this one does. At attention, no less. I can only imagine how magical it would have been to see that show live on Broadway with the original cast. What must the Draper’s have thought of it? Better than Fiorello! I’m sure. And given the nature of the story as well as its underlying themes, it must have had particular significance for Don. Read the rest of this entry →