My latest @eatBoston event was this past Wednesday, Guacaholics Anonymous. It was pretty awesome. 8 restaurants, 7 amateur chefs showcasing the best guacamole in the city. There was traditional guacamole, guacamole with fruit, guacamole with bacon, cowboy caviar... If you like guacamole, it was pretty awesome. Additionally, we raised some good money for Community Servings, Share our Strength, and Lovin' Spoonfuls. There still a few tshirts left over If you are a guacamole lover, it goes without saying that you need one of these.

Basically, I'll take any opportunity to post about hawks living in the city. Not sure why. 1, 2
3, and here's the latest.

In a recent mailbag, Bill Simmons had occasion to name comedy MVPs for every year since 1975. The criteria:

You have to nail at least one of these questions to qualify for that given year: Were you in the hottest comedy of the year or, even better, in the middle of a run of hot comedies? Were you carrying SNL? Did you have an iconic stand-up special, cable TV show, late-night show or comedy series? Did you routinely crush any late-night appearance or SNL hosting gig? Did you have a huge approval rating with little to no backlash? Do we associate that year with you to some degree? I need resonance beyond just cult affection, which unfortunately rules out the great Bill Hicks (who has a strong case for 1990).

It's a pretty good list. Eddie Murphy's 3 year run from 82-84 is set up as the run all comedians should aspire to, which I agree with. There are some lean years, as well, which leads to a few underwhelming selections like Billy Crystal in 1990 and Gary Shandling in 1997. Without having other names to suggest, I think I have the most problems with the last 8 years or so. I love Larry David, but it's hard for me to see him on the list twice when his show hasn't really gotten beyond cult status. Ricky Gervais probably deserves a spot somewhere, and maybe the Lonely Island guys for Lazy Sunday. Also notably absent Stephen Colbert (2006 or 2007) and Conan O'Brien. This list, though, is at least a good place to start the argument. There is only one woman on the list, and a winner for 2010 has not yet been declared. Has there been a breakout comedy for this year, yet? My bet is on Steve Carell, Zach Galifianiakis, Jonah Hill or Russel Brand could be a dark horse, as well as anyone staring in a comedy coming out between now and December. Actually, you know who wins for 2010? Betty White.

Here is the list:
1975: Richard Pryor
1976: Chevy Chase
1977-78: John Belushi
1979: Robin Williams, Steve Martin (tie)
1980: Rodney Dangerfield
1981: Bill Murray
1982-84: Eddie Murphy (1984 Honorable Mention to Sam Kinison)
1985-86: David Letterman
1987: Jay Leno, Howard Stern (tie)
1988: Eddie Murphy
1989: Dana Carvey
1990: Billy Crystal
1991: Jerry Seinfeld
1992: Jerry Seinfeld, Mike Myers (tie)
1993: Mike Myers
1994: Jim Carrey
1995: Chris Farley
1996: Chris Rock
1997: Garry Shandling
1998: Adam Sandler
1999: Mike Myers, Chris Rock (tie)
2000: Will Ferrell
2001: Matt Stone and Trey Parker (tie)
2002: Larry David
2003: Dave Chappelle
2004: Dave Chappelle, Jon Stewart (tie)
2005: Steve Carell
2006: Sacha Baron Cohen
2007: Larry David
2008: Tina Fey
2009: Zach Galifianiakis
2010: ????????

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It might take a couple episode for me to get all analytical again, but let's give it a whirl. Last season ended with endings and beginnings, this episode did the heavy lifting of telling us where we are this season. We're almost exactly a year after last season's finale. Henry Francis and Betty are married and living in the Draper residence. Don's living in an apartment, and Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce have moved into two floors of the Time Life building.
-Everyone is going to start these recaps with the first line of the season. "Who is Don Draper?" I don't know if that'll be a theme to the season, but it is consistent with the series' theme of, "What do you want me to say/do?" which Don hints at in the next line, "What do men say when you ask that?" Finally copping out of the interview with, "We were taught that it's not polite to talk about yourself." This scene, a failed PR ploy, is instructive to Don's idea of the agency. He thinks he can create good work and the clients will come.
-However, Peggy and Pete's PR campaign, a couple of women fighting over a canned ham in the grocery store, was successful... "until it wasn't". Don's frustrated with this. It's a stunt, and it's not the image he wants for his agency. These stunts don't have value as work (and you can't charge for them, anyway). It must have struck a chord with him, though, because that combined with throwing the Jantzen prudes out of the office, convinced to be the Don Draper the agency wants/needs him to be in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
-"Next time just have one meeting." Pete Campbell is convinced that SCDP's size will be an asset. The small upstart. I wonder if this will be a theme of the season, small vs big.
-Don's in a rush, seems grumpy (with the maid), tired (sleeping in his office), and tells Pete how it's not worth having meetings they don't have a chance at because every hour is accountable to the growth of the agency. I wonder if time, Don wanting more of it, will pop up again.
-Even in an apartment, Don has a maid.
-Not much to say about Don's date except she wants to come off as sophisticated. Let's use this to talk about the prostitute Don hires on Thanksgiving. TO SLAP HIM! That was sort of a "Sal in the park" scene, wasn't it? I forget exactly what she said, but I'm hoping it was, "I know what you want me to do." That would be a perfect counterpart to Don's question (I swear, it's tattooed on his back), "What do you want me to do?" I don't think anyone saw the slap coming because Don has been more dominant in the past.
-Harry Crane looks terrible. Why is that?
-Just going to mention Sally Draper. I'm so glad she got made a series regular so she can be in more episodes. She really adds a lot.
-Peggy's "fiance". OK... "All we want to do is please you." Peggy wants Don to know that she's learning, he wants her to know it's not happening fast enough.
-Two anachronisms things to ground us in 1964 today, John and Marsha and The Murder Andrew Goodman. (If you're scoring from home, that's one point for Paste Magazine and their list of 16 things about 1964 that could be featured. 15 to go.)
-"Believe me Henry, but everyone thinks this is temporary." That's a zing for Don. I also liked Henry Francis' mother getting in on the Betty hate, mentioning that the kids are terrified of her, and that Henry could have gotten what he wanted without marrying Betty. Is Betty holding onto the past by not looking for a new house to move into? It wouldn't surprise me. Henry does want to move, though, so we'll see what happens.
-I'm happy about the pitch in this episode. The office scenes and actual business of advertising were something that were lacking in season 2 and 3. Of course, Season 3 had a pitch in the first episode, too, so we'll see if that keeps up.
-There was a lot about image and appearance in this episode, what's the image of the agency, how does Don come across in an interview, women fighting over a ham... I think there's going to be more of this.

I was happy with this episode. A couple surprises (the prostitute and the slap), good dialogue, an ad pitch... Glad Mad Men is back.

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Season 4 of Mad Men starts tonight and I'm looking forward to it. I'll be doing the weekly episode recaps again this season, but before we get to that, here's a round up of what some on the internet are saying about Season 4 of Mad Men, along with some more general Mad Men links.

-The NY Times previews season 4 and has a paragraph or 2 about what happens in the opening episode.

-Here's the WSJ with a look at how Matthew Weiner, the show's creator, and Jainie Bryant collaborate on the clothing for the show.

“Matt has a very strong opinion of what he wants in terms of clothes and he’ll write it into the script,” says Scott Hornbacher, the executive producer of “Mad Men.” “But Janie is one of the only people on set who can wear him down. She’s got that Southern aspect to her—where everything is said in a very polite way with a smile—but deep down she’s pretty tenacious.”

-Alan Sepinwall's preview with more info about what happens in the first episode. Also on the potential for pushback from fans this year.

The press has spent much of the last three years raising “Mad Men” up, and the show is entering the age at which critics’ darlings start to get knocked down. What once felt fresh begins to seem tired, and there’s usually a shiny new toy to distract you from the old reliable one.

-On Language on anachronisms and un-anachronisms.

-Flavorwire and the periodic table of Mad Men.

-Esquire's 8 lessons from Don Draper.

-Postmadern Men from the New Yorker is dumb.

-Everything You Need to Know to be Ready for Season 4 of Mad Men

-Playboy finally scores one of the women from Mad Men, and it's... Lois from the switchboard.

-2 posts with the title, 'The Times They Are a Changin'. Newsweek and
Zap2it.

-16 Significant 1964 Moments Mad Men Might Tackle in Season Four. Not sure how many of these will make the cut. For one thing, I understand this season to be taking place about a year after season 3. That would put us in November/December 1964. Of course, the reported timeline has been wrong before. The other thing is the Kennedy assassination was THE defining moment of that generation... These 16 things don't have the same stature.

-How "Mad Men" transformed pop culture this slide show is off in some respects, but on in others.

-There isn't much to James Wolcott's blog post except this: "Having seen the episode, I will say this, however--I severely doubt that anyone will find the season opener a letdown."

I didn't really expect this, but Joey McIntyre and crew are back with another Mad Men parody, Ma Men. Awesome. Perhaps even better than last year.



July 25th, you guys.

Via The Daily What

If you thought I wouldn't post a video Big Baby Davis made of himself dancing to a rap song, you don't know me at all. AT ALL.



Thanks, Jake!

Comments on online newspaper articles are, at the same time, some of the most humorous and infuriating reading that can be done. Not Raw-era Eddie Murphy humorous, but 'Wait, you really think that?' humorous. The Attleboro Sun Chronicle is going to start charging to post comments, and the comments will be posted with the user's real name. The Sun Chronicle stopped posting comments in April because they became too hard to moderate. This, folks, is how you turn a problem into an opportunity. I like.

Via Marco and Waxy.

Well, this is good news. 2 reports in a row on the 'Arrested Development' movie being on. Shouldn't some key grip or something come out next week saying the movie isn't happening?

Yes, it's true: According to GQ, both star Will Arnett and Mitch Hurwitz, creator of the beloved cult Fox sitcom, have verified that their highly anticipated film adaptation is finally in the works after years of rumors. Of course, there are still some details to be worked out, such as trying to co-ordinate the filming around the schedules of a dozen in-demand stars like Jason Bateman and David Cross, but considering the trials and tribulations the film has faced to get to this point over the last four years, that's barely a minor hurdle.

"China's two-year-old ban on ultra-thin plastic bags has arrived at the 'roof of the world'".