Unlikely Words

White Castle in pop culture

aaron cohen — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:21:03 +0000

White Castle has a page dedicated to all the White Castle references in pop culture. I imagine the music page needs a ton of help. Via @akuban###Possibly related posts: “Pop-culture Houdini” In the latest issue of Fast Company, there's a profile... Pop up restaurants in Boston I've been doing a lot of food events around [...] ### Possibly related posts:

“Pop-culture Houdini” In the latest issue of Fast Company, there's a profile...
Pop up restaurants in Boston I've been doing a lot of food events around Boston...
Great White Sharks Coming Back To Chatham I don't think there used to be Great White sharks...

Armageddon as documentary from the future

aaron cohen — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:45:20 +0000

I TOLD TOLD YOU ARMAGEDDON WAS A DOCUMENTARY FROM THE FUTURE SENT BACK IN TIME!

NASA will begin training astronauts for an asteroid mission.

A team of astronauts are being trained to land on an asteroid to explore its surface, search for minerals and even learn the skills they may need to destroy it should one pose a threat to the Earth.

Via BoingBoing

###

Possibly related posts:

‘The Office’ Documentary The Onion says the 'The Office' Ends As Documentary Crew...
Documentary About Arrested Development It's been only a few months since the last time...
Full Ol’ Dirty Bastard documentary on Hulu Dirty: One Word Can Change The World is available for...

Helmet cam graffiti

aaron cohen — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:20:38 +0000

There are all sorts of helmet cams out there, but this graffiti process video is a new one for me.

###

Possibly related posts:

MUTO – Animated Graffiti If Muto, by Blu, isn't all over the web soon,...
Late night falling off of bikes If the way you relax before bed is to watch...
How to make scones (sexy) I've never liked scones, the muffin's bastard brother. Steve's video...

Fuck yeah, Massachusetts

aaron cohen — Tue, 15 May 2012 22:02:15 +0000

This is all I'm saying.

A few other metrics of social well-being: The Bay State has the second-lowest teen birth rate, the fourth-lowest suicide rate, and the lowest traffic fatality rate. The birthplace of Dunkin’ Donuts has the sixth-lowest obesity rate. And depending on the source, the first state to legalize gay marriage has either the lowest or one of the very lowest divorce rates in the country.

###

Possibly related posts:

Fluffernutter Massachusetts’ Official State Sandwich? The Massachusetts legislature is debating a bill to declare an...
Massachusetts Kicking Health Care Ass Health insurance in Massachusetts is looked at as something of...
Massachusetts Version of Jersey Shore Massachusetts version of Jersey Shore casting soon. This casting call...

Patrice O’Neal profile

aaron cohen — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:39:43 +0000

Adrian Nicole LeBlanc has a great profile in NY Mag of the comic Patrice O'Neal who passed away last year. It was hard to find a representative paragraph, so this will do. Just read it.

O’Neal’s work fought back not by running from the stereotypes but by refashioning them and trying them on, to see what fit—and what didn’t—and he coaxed his audiences to do the same. Could women really deny that they wore sexy clothing at work to turn men on? Didn’t all men have “rape-y” thoughts? O’Neal was determined that his comedy be something scary and exciting that he and the audience were creating together—they wouldn’t be able to pretend they hadn’t been a part of it afterward.

###

Possibly related posts:

Alec Baldwin Profile James Wolcott profiles Alec Baldwin. It's a good read, but...
Jerry Remy Profile Today's Sunday Globe Magazine has a 5,000 word profile of...
Neil deGrasse Tyson Playboy profile by Carl Zimmer Cool profile of astrophysicist extraordinaire Neil deGrasse Tyson in Playboy...

This is what it looks like to get bit by a shark

aaron cohen — Tue, 15 May 2012 02:12:21 +0000

In case you were ever wondering what it was like. ###Possibly related posts: Shark Week: Interview With Shark Expert George Burgess Part 2 Continuing right where we left off yesterday with our interview... Shark Week: Interview With Shark Expert George Burgess George Burgess is the director of the International Shark Attack... Shark Week: Jessica Alba [...] ### Possibly related posts:

Shark Week: Interview With Shark Expert George Burgess Part 2 Continuing right where we left off yesterday with our interview...
Shark Week: Interview With Shark Expert George Burgess George Burgess is the director of the International Shark Attack...
Shark Week: Jessica Alba – Shark Vandal First January Jones and now Jessica Alba, will no Hollywood...

Mad Men Season 5 Episode 9 recap

aaron cohen — Mon, 14 May 2012 05:19:25 +0000

Every week, Chris Piascik (@chrispiascik) illustrates his favorite quotation from the episode, and I write up a recap.

We're in the week before Thanksgiving, the season is moving along. I remember seasons past hitting Thanksgiving pretty hard, but this season it was more in the background. I had the sense that the first couple episodes were going a week or two weeks at a time, but the last couple episodes have jumped 6 weeks or more from the previous episode. Matt Weiner is committed to getting us out of the 60s.

-Betty's back, Hi, Betty. It looks like she lost some weight, which I know was important to her, so I feel glad for her. And she's in Weight Watchers. Incidentally, Weight Watchers was founded in 1963 and was owned by Heinz from 1978-1999. How's that for a tie in? We've seen Betty's nastiness before, but this was the first episode where we can say it was driven by hunger. In the first scene, she's eating a piece of toast, a couple cubes of cheese, and a grapefruit in the dark. Realizing now that maybe she was eating late at night as opposed to early in the morning? She'd be doing this to count the meal on the next day's points, like she did with the bite of Henry's steak. ('Bite of Henry's steak' not a euphemism.)

-Dark Shadows is the title of this episode, but I don't think it refers to the new Johnny Depp movie, or even the 1960s TV show, which was something of a supernatural soap opera. There have been dark shadows on the proverbial horizon all season, all series, really. Some nods to the title in this episode, Betty eating in the dark, Don working in the dark, Betty eating in the dark again (shooting the whipped cream into her mouth and then spitting it out), Henry cooking in the dark, Roger and Jane kissing in the dark, the smog warning on Thanksgiving. Winter is coming. The smog warning seems especially important.

-"Look at all these voices, look at all this talent." Don's starting to feel threatened by Ginsberg in a way he's not been threatened by Peggy or other copywriters. This is why he was working late and didn't get Sally her dang colored pencils. From the "Shit I Have to do" folder, Don knew what Ginsberg was going to pitch and worked hard to come up with something to beat it. Don was only able to match Ginsberg's idea, though, so he had to leave the Snowball-to-the-face in the cab. Obviously this burned Ginsberg, but no one will sympathize because they got the sale. The Ginsberg/Draper competition will be interesting here on out. (An aside, the pitches on the show continue to be mediocre. This episode it was reinforced when people laughed at the ideas for Snowball, twice. The ideas weren't funny, and the laughter came off as hollow. The idea for Manischewitz of the wine boxes under the bus seats was pretty good though.)

-"Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Ginsberg quotes this after his pitch has seemingly been chosen by the team to be shown to the client. It's from the poem Ozymandias, by Percy Bysshe Shelley. While Ginsberg quotes the line correctly, it's misused in this context, though, because of the theme of the poem. Stan reinforces this by telling him, "You should read the rest of that poem, you boob." Ginsberg is saying, look how great my work is, while the poem is about how nothing lasts, even, and especially great and mighty things. Great and mighty things like America in the 50s, SCDP, Don Draper, etc, etc. Pretty bleak, and a perfect poetic reference for the show. The advisers think the poem was about the most important thing in the episode, and I tend to agree. The poem was referenced earlier in the episode by Peggy in her Snowball pitch.

-Sally's family tree is another dark shadow looming. And now someone else knows a little more about Don's past. So Betty's been big for a while, but we still haven't seen her and Don interact in person this season. We don't know until Don says something about her fat face that he knows she's fat. Betty's obviously nervous about going up to get the kids and being seen. She's also, apparently, curious about the apartment. What's interesting is the kids weren't brought down because Megan wanted to look good for Betty, too, and was changing. "Well, you've seen most of it," Megan said coolly, though I'm not totally sure why she would mind so much. In any case, Betty saw the nice note Don wrote to Megan about light bulbs ("Lovely Megan, I went to go buy a light bulb. When I get back, I'll see you better. Love, Don." DARK SHADOWS) and needed to lash out about that and Megan looking good without a shirt and about having to eat celery, so she told Sally about Anna Draper. "Don't forget your father's first wife."

-Did you notice Don and Megan have a color TV? I believe that's the first we've seen on the show.

-Sally was a total B most of the episode, and Megan teaching her to fake cry on command is going to end up biting her in the ass. All Sally wants, though, is Don's attention, and when she finally gets the story from him, she seems mollified. "Your mother doesn't care about hurting you, she just wants to hurt us." Remember, Betty is having a Thanksgiving dinner of a bite of stuffing, a schmoo of gravy, and one Brussels sprout. Cut her some slack.

-Don was angry about Betty telling Sally and was going to call Betty and Megan was prescient, she didn't want to give Betty, "The thrill of having poisoned us from 50 miles away." As much as Betty was a fairly predictable character, I continue to be impressed by Megan. I also liked Sally putting it back in Betty's face. Betty was dying to know how her lashing out was received, and Sally played it perfectly.

-Roger continues to have comedic scenes, with Bert talking about selling Manischewitz without Pete, with Ginsberg asking for ideas. And he continues to use money to get what he needs. For the third time, he paid an employee at the office to get work done, and he bought Jane an apartment to get her to come to the Manishewitz dinner. At work, it's to show how feckless he is. It's a bit heavy-handed, though, that this has happened in a full third of the episodes this season after never having happened in the past. Roger did seem upset about christening Jane's apartment, but I have a hard time taking her feelings seriously because she seems super shallow. "You get everything you want and you still had to do this."

-Oh, Pete. You thought you had the New York Times Magazine all wrapped up and it was going to be so amazing Beth was going to come into the office naked. "I forgot you. And then I saw you in the New York Times Sunday Magazine." Roger's line when Pete was telling them about the profile was funny. "You shouldn't start with the Mayflower." "Don't wake me up up and throw your failures in my face."

-Other quotes, "Am I the only one who can drink and work around here?" "I feel bad for you." "I don't think about you at all."

What'd I miss?

###

Possibly related posts:

Mad Men Season 5 Episode 8 recap Every week, Chris Piascik (@chrispiascik) illustrates his favorite quotation from...
Mad Men Season 5 Episode 7 recap Every week, Chris Piascik (@chrispiascik) illustrates his favorite quotation from...
Mad Men Season 5 Episode 3 recap Every week, Chris Piascik (@chrispiascik) illustrates his favorite quotation from...

Bacon and Beer Fest recap

aaron cohen — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:59:22 +0000

It's been slow around Unlikely Words lately because I just put on the Boston Bacon and Beer Festival. We had 28 restaurants, 18 brewers (about 45 total beers), and 1450 attendees (along with about 200 vendors and 30 volunteers) at the House of Blues on Lansdowne St, right across the street from Fenway Park. It was pretty rad, if a little too crowded. Best of all, we raised a bit over $22K for two local hunger relief organizations, Lovin' Spoonfuls and Community Servings.

This is the third year of the Bacon and Beer Fest, and last year after it sold out in 2 minutes, I wanted to make it possible for more people to participate. This year I partnered with BostonChefs.com to turn Bacon and Beer Fest into Bacon and Beer Week, so from April 28 - May 5, there were bacon and beer themed events all over Boston. This included restaurant specials around town, a Bacon and Beer Karaoke Harbor Cruise, and a bacon and beer inspired art show from Super Precious Art Gallery (a new project of mine). Below are some links related to the week if you wanted to read more and so I can have them all in one place. Thanks to all the vendors, volunteers, and especially Jessie (for letting me talk about this incessantly for 10 weeks) and Alex (for letting me talk about this incessantly for 10 weeks and doing the dirty work).

-The line to get into the fest was long. I didn't get to check it out, but if you know Boston, the line went all the way down to the ATM in Kenmore Square. Here are a few other pictures I liked.

-We totally packed the HOB. Here's a picture I took. Here's one I found on Twitter.
Here's a picture from Robert Gill.

-Here's a Bacon and Beer Fest photo gallery by Boston.com. And here's a gallery from BostInno. And here's one from Mike Johnson.

-On the day after Bacon and Beer Fest, we did a karaoke cruise around Boston Harbor. There was a gigantic box of fried chicken skins, and things got weird resulting in people being duct taped to a column on the dance floor. A few days later, we had an art opening in a dive bar. It actually didn't get weird.

-Upon entry to the Bacon and Beer Fest, everyone is given one cup and one spork, both compostable, to use throughout the event. This seems to do an OK job limiting the amount of waste created. In the first year, we were pretty combative when people asked for a replacement, but age has softened us.

-Chris Piascik and Josh LaFayette made some awesome shirt designs. All told I ordered 465 shirts which weighed 154 pounds.

-I know of at least 3 people who got the bacon and beer hat trick by attending the festival, the karaoke cruise, and the art show.

-Bacon and Beer Fest got some really good press this year. I'm pretty excited about the coverage in The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald (Herald again), The Weekly Dig, a Boston.com blog, another Boston.com blog, and I was on TV again, doing a little bit better than last time.

-And now I can stop talking about or thinking about bacon and beer for a while.

###

Possibly related posts:

2010 Boston Bacon & Beer Festival Posting has been light the last couple weeks as I've...
Super Precious Art Gallery Bacon and Beer Art Show I think I told you a couple weeks ago about...
2012 Boston Bacon and Beer Week Shirts I'm posting at Kottke.org this week, so it's a bit...

They use ferrets to look for buried art?

aaron cohen — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:58:54 +0000

An update on the Gardner Museum Heist?

They have brought with them a ground-penetrating radar device, as well as two beagles and a ferret, to look for what they say are weapons. But we all know what they are actually looking for -- and they are looking for the paintings,” McGuigan said.

Authorities have said that at least two men dressed as police officers talked their way into the Gardner on March 18, 1990, tied up the security guards, and left with 13 masterworks, including three by Rembrandt and five by Degas. Some of the stolen pieces could sell for $50 million on the open market, art experts say.

###

Possibly related posts:

Super Precious Art Gallery Bacon and Beer Art Show I think I told you a couple weeks ago about...
Shepard Fairey Talk At The Institute Of Contemporary Art (ICA) – 2/6/09 I've been posting a bunch about Shepard Fairey lately because...
Cindy Brady’s Fluff art Susan Olsen, who you may know as Cindy Brady, from...

Super Precious Art Gallery Bacon and Beer Art Show

aaron cohen — Wed, 09 May 2012 01:30:13 +0000

I think I told you a couple weeks ago about a new project I was working on, an art gallery called Super Precious with regular group shows featuring art inspired by a certain theme. Last week in conjunction with Boston Bacon and Beer Week we did a pop up opening of the latest show, art inspired by bacon and/or beer. The pieces above are just 4 of 18 pieces for the show. I'm psyched about how the art came out, psyched to get this all going. We've got the next couple themes planned out, I think you'll like them. Check out superprecio.us to see (and buy) all the pieces.

###

Possibly related posts:

Bacon and Beer Fest recap It's been slow around Unlikely Words lately because I just...
2010 Boston Bacon & Beer Festival Posting has been light the last couple weeks as I've...
Root beer is super water. Tom Haverford was riffing about food on Parks and Recreation...

Mad Men Season 5 Episode 8 recap

aaron cohen — Mon, 07 May 2012 05:25:15 +0000

Every week, Chris Piascik (@chrispiascik) illustrates his favorite quotation from the episode, and I write up a recap.

In October of 1966, Lyndon Johnson toured the West Pacific for 17 days, visiting 7 countries. In two scenes, when Megan told Peggy she was quitting, and when she cooked dinner for Don, there were radio news on in the background. I think this might be a nod to America beginning to be collectively aware/interested in what was happening in Vietnam, but not yet discussing it regularly. Not sure why else there'd be two undiscussed references on the same topic. The other date reference is The Beatles album, Revolver, which came out in early August 1966.

And we're back to using episode titles for thematic guidance. This week's title, Lady Lazarus refers to a 1962 poem by Sylvia Plath. The poem alludes to oppression, death and rebirth, and a phoenix, and the episode was jammed with related references.

-It's pretty clear now that Megan has replaced Betty on the show. I know the scenes from next week showed Betty, but I imagine we're not going to see very much of her until Sally gets a little older. This was another Megan episode, and I'll mention it again, but this is not Don's season. Megan declares she doesn't like advertising, which has been building for a while now. The title of the episode refers mostly to her, oppressed by the job, being reborn (again) as an actress. When she told Don she needed to quit, she was wearing a firey red dress from earlier in the day, referencing the phoenix. At the beginning of the episode, she felt like she needed to hide it from Don. We're supposed to think she's cheating, especially when she involves Peggy in the lie, leaving the office dressed for dinner. The scenes of Don calling in were interesting. We get to see what he's like at home by himself (watching TV and going to bed early). Don, Peggy, and Megan riding up an elevator together the next day is one of those quintessential Mad Men scenes.

-When Megan goes down in the elevator for her lunch, it's a symbolic following of her dreams. Don lets her go and immediately presses the down button, maybe to follow her? When the door opens, he looks down into the guts of the building. Taking a big leap, the elevator shaft represents to Don what would happen if he followed his own dreams (whatever they are). And yet, he doesn't seem to be too concerned she's doing it, at least publicly. "I don't want her to end up like Betty, or her mother." "She's not disappearing, is she?" "No she's not." The Beatles song Megan tells Don to play, Tomorrow Never Knows, has an early refrain, 'It is not dying.' Interesting because of all the death references today and this season and this series. In the scene immediately after Don listens to these words, we see Megan in acting class, acting dead. Heavy.

-Peggy is disappointed, but tonight's episode at least explains Megan's lack of enthusiasm last week when Peggy mentioned that type of thing was the best you could expect. That statement probably impacted Megan more and differently than Peggy intended. "You're taking up a spot and you don't even want to do it?" I'm not really sure why Peggy is so disappointed, except that maybe Peggy felt like another woman around would make it easier for her. "2nd wives, it's like they have a playbook." "I think she's good at everything. I think she's just one of those girls."

-Actors acting as actors is always funny, but Don and Megan were pretty good as the couple from the Cool Whip commercial. And Cool Whip is a funny product for this because it's fake just like everything, right? So incredibly bleak. Life is supposed to be sweet, but instead, it's artificial non-dairy dessert. "Tell them Megan's sick. Peggy will do it." Peggy can stand in as Don's professional wife, even her name is similar to Megan's. How am I just realizing this now? In the Cool Whip pitch, Peggy freaks, and sabotages it for some reason. Whenever Peggy freaks, Don gets this look like he has no idea what to do or how to handle her. The scene of Don with his eyebrows raised, cigarette pack out, Ken, and Peggy, was another quintessential Mad Men shot. Why do you think Peggy is so mad? I'm too tired to write it all out.

-And now Pete. I'm not sure why, but I don't hate him as much as ~~everyone~~ Chris does. He's so pathetic. His desperation is deepening, though, like a teakettle beginning to whistle. I didn't pick up on it last week or the week before, but Pete's gun got mentioned, eep. Alexis Bledel from the Gilmore Girls is a good object for his obsession, a bored and complicated housewife, likely much like Trudy, but new, different. He drives her home, and somehow takes her shutting the car door in the middle of a conversation as an invitation for sex. She left the door to the house open, somehow knowing that her shutting the car door would be the perfect invitation. The 60s were weird. She doesn't want a new partner, though, what she wants is someone to invite themselves over for dinner and kiss her passionately in the vestibule while her husband is getting some papers. She wants a thrill. Pete wants a thrill, too, but he wants more. He's such a puppy. The eyes/Earth thing might be a bit early for them to discuss, because it doesn't seem like there were color photos of the Earth like she was describing until 1967. Yhere was a lunar orbit photograph of the Earth released in August of 1966, but it was black and white.

-Harry and Pete's interactions were funny. "Why do they get to decide what's going to happen?" "They just do." This dialogue contrasts with Joan and Peggy talking about 2nd wives having a rulebook. Doesn't really paint women in a flattering light. Pete is going on about being lead on, and I couldn't tell if this was meant to reference his perspective on forcing Peggy to have sex in season 1. Beth isn't helping matters with the heart drawing on the car window.

-Harry is something like the dopey Sterling this season. His scenes are almost always comedic, but more because of the situation than the lines. And Pete carrying skis was hilarious.

-Some interesting quotations I didn't have a place for: "More trouble than it's worth." "When did music become so important?"

-And finally, shame on you Mad Men. If there's one thing I feel like I can depend on, it's continuity. When Beth and Pete are talking on the phone, there's a pearl, not part of her string of pearls, maybe another necklace, that changes positions several times during the conversation. Is it too much to ask for someone on the show to spot that? GIVE ME PERFECTION!

###

Possibly related posts:

Mad Men Season 5 Episode 7 recap Every week, Chris Piascik (@chrispiascik) illustrates his favorite quotation from...
Mad Men Season 5 Episode 6 recap Every week, Chris Piascik (@chrispiascik) illustrates his favorite quotation from...
Mad Men Season 4 Episode 13 Recap I was really happy to work with Chris Piascik on...

Hell of a wedding party

aaron cohen — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:00:15 +0000

My favorite quote from Groom's mom arrested at Danvers wedding is, "As the groom and his new brother-in-law wrestled on the floor, the groom's mother, Darlene DeIorio, went after the bride's mom."

###

Possibly related posts:

Hell of a day for a bike ride It was a hell of a day for a bike...
Best Wedding Ever? Added to my list of things I'd never before done...
A Party Where Everyone Is The Same Height What if you had a party, but everyone was wearing...

The world’s 50 best restaurants

aaron cohen — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:01:29 +0000

The 2012 list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants was announced yesterday.

Here are the top 25:
1) Noma (Copenhagen, Denmark)
2) El Celler de Can Roca (Girona, Spain)
3) Mugaritz (Errenteria, Spain)
4) D.O.M. (São Paulo, Brazil)
5) Osteria Francescana (Modena, Italy)
6) Per Se (New York)
7) Alinea (Chicago, Illinois)
8) Arzak (San Sebastián, Spain)
9) Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (London, England)
10) Eleven Madison Park (New York)
11) Steirereck (Vienna, Austria)
12) L'Atelier Saint-Germain de Joël Robuchon (Paris, France)
13) The Fat Duck (Bray, England)
14) The Ledbury (London, England)
15) Le Chateaubriand (Paris, France)
16) L'Arpege (Paris, France)
17) Pierre Gagnaire (Paris, France)
18) L'Astrance (Paris, France)
19) Le Bernardin (New York)
20) Frantzén/Lindeberg (Stockholm, Sweden)
21) Oud Sluis (Sluis, Netherlands)
22) Aqua (Wolfsburg, Germany)
23) Vendôme (Bergisch Gladbach, Germany)
24) Mirazur (Menton, France)
25) Daniel (New York)

###

Possibly related posts:

Dumbest company in the world executes dumbest PR stunt in world history Online pawn shop company, Pawngo, made themselves a lot less...
Restaurants Raising Their Own Animals Chef Will Gilson of Cambridge's Garden at the Cellar is...
Pop up restaurants in Boston I've been doing a lot of food events around Boston...

Mad Men Season 5 Episode 7 recap

aaron cohen — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 04:58:49 +0000

Every week, Chris Piascik (@chrispiascik) illustrates his favorite quotation from the episode, and I write up a recap.

I'm hoping this recap gets done quickly, and I apologize in advance for any lapse in memory, analysis, or grammar. This weekend I put together the Boston Bacon and Beer Festival, and I'm exhausted. It's a good thing I acknowledged last week my reliance on episode title for thematic guidance, because this week, "At the Codfish Ball" doesn't help at all. Best I can tell, the title refers to a song in the 1936 Shirley Temple movie Captain January. One tenuous connection, Sally hates fish, but eats it at the ball they go to.

-My sense for the theme of the episode was generation to generation, pretty much the theme for the pitch, but also parent/child relationships. The idea is basically, things don't change from mother to daughter, etc. This was illustrated obviously with Megan's pitch and the inspiration for the pitch, making spaghetti for Sally and Bobby. I also saw it in Peggy looking to Joan (who is still wearing a wedding ring) for advice on dinner with Abe, and then with Peggy again when she was telling Megan to savor her success (Something like, "It's as good as this job gets."). Megan's parents' scenes fit this, as do Sally and Bobby being left alone with Henry's mother.

-So...Creepy Glen Bishop is back, what a sketchball. First he's in a helmet on the phone, and then a parka. It seems like he and Sally talk pretty regularly. He looks like he's aged much more than Sally, and times are tough for him because his summer romance has hit the skids. I don't know why he was back, except to let us know he's still in the picture.

-Megan's parents visiting, dad Emile is an academic, and mom Marie falls asleep with lit cigarettes and blows aging advertising executives ("We should have everything we want"). They don't get along great, "I see she's convinced you she's particular. I am proof she is not." Emile is a Marxist and is disappointed Megan appears to be settling. "You're just like your mother." This parental disappointment was evidenced also, with Peggy's mother who thinks Peggy is also settling or selling herself short. I thought the whole moving in together was filmed and acted in the way... Well, if you watched the scene in the restaurant on mute, you would have assumed it was an accepted proposal. And if you watched the scene in the apartment on mute, you would have assumed they were telling Peggy's mom for the first time. Peggy's mom hinted at some tension when she raised an eyebrow at Abe eating ham, but then seemingly denies that has anything to do with it. I wonder if she's more worried about Peggy living in sin than Peggy getting hurt (again). Their arrangement is from a new generation, keeping with the theme of the episode. "This boy will use you for practice."

-"Every daughter should get to see her father be a success." It was also excellent to see Pete charm Emilie's pants off as evidence of what he does everyday.

-It was nice to see Mona back, I hope she's in more of the rest of the season, and Roger has definitely got his groove. I hesitate to say got his groove back, because I'm not sure we ever saw him like this. He's on fire. "My whole life people are telling me I don't understand how other people think and it turns out it was true." "I thought you married Jane because I got old, but it turns out it was because you had." "Lots of people who haven't taken LSD already know that, Roger." Roger and Sally at the dinner was really funny until it wasn't, and the scene of Sally opening the door to see Roger and Megan's mom was reminiscent of the first scene of the season when Sally opened Don and Megan's door to see Megan sleeping naked.

-When Sally showed off her new dress, boots, make up, it was kind of a coming out as an adult, or wanting to. (Her statement about there not being any stairs at the dinner implies she had a vision of walking down the steps into everyone's attention.) Her outfit reminded me of what people in the 60s thought future clothing would look like, with the boots and sparkly material. This ties back to the kid from the pitch on the lunar module eating beans. Sally dressed as the future, and Don looked and saw Sally's future or something. "Your little girl will spread her legs and fly away." Nowhere else to put this, but noting Sally lied about how Henry's mother tripped. Also, how do you break an ankle tripping on a phone chord? A knee, maybe.

-Peggy coming to Joan for advice on Abe. They're hard friends, more like allies, it's a weird relationship. "Someone dumped you?" Joan opened up to her slightly. Also, I thought Peggy's sly smile when leaving Joan's office was just a great shot. "I think you're brave. I think it's a beautiful statement, congratulations."

-We got to see Don pitching again this episode, always worth it. Again, he doesn't necessarily have the best ideas, but he's the best at selling them. "It's the future, it's all I ever wanted."

-Megan really is a great character. I wonder how long into the show she'll get before the writers start making us hate her like we hate Betty. "You're good at all of it...I was just gonna scream in his stupid face." I can't really tell why she wasn't super psyched about getting Heinz. Do you have any thoughts? "I'm getting to experience my first time. This is as good as this job gets. Savor it."

-"How could they trust you? After you bit the hand." I don't know if this is going to have bigger meaning in future weeks, or if it'll just shut the door on Roger's gold mining. It's a sentiment that was brought up previously, maybe by Bert Cooper, maybe last season, but it was also the second time Don's character/personality was brought up as a negative this episode (also by the wife from Ray from Heniz). Is THIS going to come up again?

-Great last line. "How's the City?" "Dirty."

-And no Betty...?

###

Possibly related posts:

Mad Men Season 4 Episode 12 Recap And a special bonus this week. Each week, Chris Piascik...
Mad Men Season 5 Episode 4 recap Every week, Chris Piascik (@chrispiascik) illustrates his favorite quotation from...
Mad Men Season 5 Episode 3 recap Every week, Chris Piascik (@chrispiascik) illustrates his favorite quotation from...

Some Ian MacKaye links

aaron cohen — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:54:39 +0000

Ian MacKaye turned 50 last Monday and I had a couple links to clear, so here are some Ian MacKaye links.

This is about 3 years old, but I'd never seen it. 40 minutes of Fugazi stage banter in one MP3. It's magical. With the impending release of all 800+ Fugazi concert recordings (currently at 205 recordings uploaded), I imagine this MP3 could eventually be updated. Here's a few of the better ones. "What's your name? David? Please don't come on the stage anymore... David, don't apologize. I know you meant nothing by it." One of the quotes drawn by Chris.

Would Ian MacKaye be cool with this? (via @jeremydlarson)

Does Ian MacKaye still have his gallbladder?

I've posted this before, but Sir Ben Kingsley STOMPS into the shoes of Minor Threat's Ian MacKaye is awesome.

I still haven't heard much about how this came to be, but MacKaye is OK with it.

The editor of Mean Magazine contacted me prior to doing the shoot with Kingsley and asked if I would be OK with the video idea. It struck me as completely absurd, so how could I say no? I've only looked at the video once or twice and certainly wasn't judging Kingsley's ‘front man' potential, mostly I reckon he found the idea as unusual as I did and decided to give it a go. The real creativity in this situation belongs to the people who dreamed up the unlikely pairing. Clearly it was effective idea, as evidenced by the fact that you are writing about it.

###

Possibly related posts:

Sir Ben Kingsley as Ian MacKaye You can't describe this, except literally. This is a video...
Ian MacKaye is really not impressed I don't know what this video is from, but Ian...
2 interesting links *A GQ interview with David Chang where he talks about...

Mad Men Season 5 Episode 6 recap

aaron cohen — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 05:19:34 +0000

Every week, Chris Piascik (@chrispiascik) illustrates his favorite quotation from the episode, and I write up a recap.

Well, shoot. If there were any date related references in tonight's episode, I missed them. Did you see any? This was a weird, weird, weird episode. I'm still trying to work everything out. Two of the scenes (Roger and Jane, Don and Megan) in the episode lasted way longer than the series' scenes normally do, or rather the story lines weren't interspersed with other story lines like normal. Additionally, chronology of the episode was jumbled. Coupled with the variation of shots last week, I can only come to one conclusion: They're messing with us! I don't know if the way the story is told is supposed to be instructive, but there are definitely changes to how the show is presented this year. Have you noticed any other stylistic changes?

-The episode titles are now a crutch for me, so let's just get it over with. "Far Away Places." Everyone is traveling somewhere, and even Roger and Jane are tripping. Just a literal list of pieces from this episode that refer to the title, Don and Megan going away, Roger and Jane tripping, Cooper saying, "Everyone has somewhere to go today," Ginsburg talking about being from Mars, the way Abe and Peggy talked about the literal distance between their homes ('Come all the way up here to make love') instead of just come over, Megan talking about Howard Johnson's "It's not a destination, it's on the way to someplace," taking a bus back after the fight, and Don being on 'Love Leave.' To a certain extent, the theme of Heinz pitch was a trip, kids off somewhere else. More abstract, Peggy is far away from where she wants to be professionally. I'm getting the feeling that everyone in 1966 was terminally unhappy because clearly, they all want to be somewhere else. Pretty sure that the movie Peggy went to see was Born Free, a film about a British couple who raise a lioness in captivity and return her happily to the wild. I bet I could write only about how the movie relates to Mad Men, but I'm not gonna! I will say that the lioness could refer to 3 or 4 characters on the show.

-Oh, Peggy. Her and Abe are fighting because she's distant, working too hard, trying to be Don (professionally at least). "You sound like my dad." Abe compares Peggy to his dad and it's interesting because Peggy is striving toward being accepted in the world of men, but Abe has pretty much given up on it already. I don't know if I was supposed to take that as seriously as I did, but it struck me. She goes into the pitch prepared, and somewhat confident. Stan calls Don blowing off the meeting a vote of confidence, and it is. I read somewhere that Don's unique ability is being able to sell his ideas to clients. The ideas are good to great, but his ability to make the client think they're great is what sets him apart. Tonight was Peggy's Kodak Carousel moment, using nostalgia and fond memories to sell a product. But the angle doesn't fit perfectly with a can of beans. It seemed the client was on the fence, and instead of guiding him over, Peggy knocked him down the wrong side. "And your words are always, "I don't like it." And then she was off the business. She celebrates by going to the movie theater, smoking dope, and jerking a dude off. Oh, Peggy.

-I thought the scene with Don and Peggy on the phone was a dream, and there have been a few other scenes like that this season (to say nothing of Roger and Jane tripping). And it was here where the chronology gets a little screwy. I didn't take great notes on the chronology, because I didn't expect to be watching Madmento (Madmento!!!! I slay!), but until I realized what was happening, and after the LSD party scene, I thought Don's call meant something had happened to Roger. So we see Don take Megan. Peggy pitches and goes to HJ Cinemas, falls asleep on the couch, wakes to Don's frantic call, Roger and Jane go to the party and trip... Then after that I can't remember. In any case, they showed Don taking Megan at least twice. WHY! Why would they do this? What does the disrupted chronology mean to the storyline? Simple answer is everyone's life is always getting disrupted.

-Ginsburg is from Mars. He claims the man he lives with is not his father. At first I thought this might be true, but the more he kept hitting the alien thing, I think he was being figurative. Peggy doesn't think it would be possible for him to have been born in a concentration camp, but at least chronologically, it's possible. Peggy caught him twice having a conversation with his father, first on the phone, and then when as the father wanted to use the photocopier for his "case." Is he a crackpot? Peggy was high during the 'alien' conversation, probably taking it more seriously than she would have normally. "Are there others like you? I don't know. I haven't been able to find any."

-1966 ritzy New York LSD party! Woo. A study of things that are true and not true and on and on. "It's a myth that tracing logic all the way down to the truth is a cure of neurosis." Who is normally trying to trace logic? Who is neurotic? It doesn't sound like this profound bit of dialogue refers to any of the characters, but maybe it's instructive in the sense that figuring out who all these characters really are will result in any understanding of their actions. This was a funny scene. "Dr Leary, I find your product boring." Roger not feeling anything until hearing music when opening the vodka bottle, and then imagining he was at the 1919 Black Sox World Series (frauds like him). Roger and Jane's breakup was remarkable in it's peacefulness. I wouldn't have expected him to give up knowing how much it was going to cost him "It's going to be expensive", so either he's been supremely inspired by Don's happiness, and/or business has been improving. "Are you leaving me?" "We're leaving each other." "I don't know German."

-"Dawn I need you to get me out of everything." I don't know much what to say about Don and Megan's fight except the trip started off on the wrong foot. Megan is trying to establish herself professionally and Don's not honoring that. I don't think he minds her working, but I think he didn't really expect her to want to work. She's only 5-10 years younger than Betty, but she's got a completely different mindset, at least at the moment. Also, there's no way this scene would have worked if everyone had a cellphone. Eventually she would have picked up. The flashback to coming home from last September's California trip, when they were happiest, to them lying on the floor after a semi-physical fight, paraphrasing, "Every fight we have diminishes this a little bit." Megan is going to keep pushing back, and it'll interesting to see how Don reacts. At least tonight he was contrite.

-The fight also gave us an opportunity to see the layout of their apartment, which is huge.

-"I have an announcement to make. Today is going to be a great day." It seems like people on the show are constantly making announcements. I think Pete's used the phrase at least twice. Don and Megan at the end of last season. Lane last week.

-Bert Cooper tells it like it is, Don has been shirking work to hang with Megan, and I'm curious to see what the result of this conversation is. I still wonder what Bert's role in the office is besides talking about the oncoming scourge of socialism. And he still doesn't have an office. Maybe this is it. Keeping all the others in line. Was he a creative before turning into management? I don't think I can see that.

-And no Betty again. Or Lane. Or Joan. Or Pete past that line. Joan and Betty at least were more central characters last season, but they've been somewhat replaced by Megan. On the other hand, they've both had shows where their storyline was primary.

What did I miss?

###

Possibly related posts:

Mad Men Season 5 Episode 7 recap Every week, Chris Piascik (@chrispiascik) illustrates his favorite quotation from...
Mad Men Season 4 Episode 13 Recap I was really happy to work with Chris Piascik on...
Mad Men Season 4 Episode 11 Recap Each week, Chris Piascik draws one of the better quotations...

Dog toy eye view

aaron cohen — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 03:42:06 +0000

I always like these videos, but this one's especially well done. What It's Like to be a Dog Toy.

Via Stellar Interesting

###

Possibly related posts:

Snowboard eye view of snowboarding through powder Here's what it looks like when you mount a GoPro...
You Can Give a Dog a Fish ...and he'll eat for a day, or you can teach...
What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell All on the Web Hell yeah! This is the kind of web documentation I...

The 50 Most Loathsome Americans

aaron cohen — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 20:09:31 +0000

I somehow missed this when it came out 2 months ago, but BuffaloBeast.com's 50 Most Loathsome Americans list is a great read every year. Also interesting to see how much has changed with some of the folks on the list since it was published.

12) Donald Trump
Crimes: Besotted by his own garish ignorance, The Donald stumbled into a depth of buffoonery last year which made Gary Busey seem respectably grounded. Like an awful P.T. Barnum with an unkempt raccoon on his head, everything from floating a presidential run, dabbling in birtherism, and trying to moderate a debate (that none of the Republicans were stupid enough to touch) was unadulterated self-promotion aimed at boosting ratings for NBC’s ode to capitalist douchebaggery “The Apprentice.”
Smoking Gun: “I have a great relationship with the blacks.”
Sentence: Dipped in gold, buried in Ron Paul’s backyard.

###

Possibly related posts:

The 50 Most Loathsome Americans of 2010 Buffalo Beast is out with this year's version of The...
Mustachioed congressman backs out of support for tax break for mustachioed Americans The mustache lobby has a voice. They will not be...
How Republicans talk about the economy In a sign of how long I keep tabs open...

Teller’s magical copyright

aaron cohen — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:15:56 +0000

Teller, from Penn & Teller, is suing a Dutch magician for copyright infringement for taking one of his illusions.

A Dutch magician with the stage name Gerard Bakardy (real name: Gerard Dogge) saw Teller perform the trick in Las Vegas and developed his own version. Bakardy sells a kit—including a fake rose, instructions, and a DVD—for about $3,000. To promote the kits, he posted a video of his performance to YouTube and prepared a magazine ad. (With the video down, the link points to screenshots from the video filed by Teller in his lawsuit.)

I think the issue is the $3K DVD, and not so much the performance, but I don't know. Teller's had the copyright since 1983, and you CAN copyright magic apparently.

So what's left? According to New York Law School professor James Grimmelmann, copyright law protects pantomimes and choreographic works. So Teller may be able to claim the "Shadows" routine is protected under these categories. Teller describes "Shadows" as a "dramatic work."

Teller's case may hinge on exactly how similar Bakardy's routine is to Teller's. in a 1983 copyright registration, Teller describes the sequence of actions that make up his performance. Ars Technica was not able to find a copy of Bakardy's video, so we weren't able to determine how similar Bakardy's routine is to the one described in Teller's copyright registration.

Via Mudwerks / Kayfabe

###

Possibly related posts:

No one ever saw ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ posters during the war In a long article in the Awl about the copyright...
34 Reasons the MPAA Lost Their PR War Against You ZeroPaid has a good write up of the MPAA's Lost...

Mad Men Season 5 Episode 5 recap

aaron cohen — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 05:22:14 +0000

Every week, Chris Piascik (@chrispiascik) illustrates his favorite quotation from the episode, and I write up a recap.

"Everyone in this office has wanted to do that to Pete Campbell." First of all, this episode's historic references: The title of the episode, Signal 30, comes from a 1959 Driver's Education movie with mangled cars and bodies. Pleasant film. On July 30th, 1966 England beat West Germany 4-2 in the finals of the World Cup. In overtime, England's was awarded a goal on a ball that hit the crossbar and shot straight down. This was controversial. On August 6, Braniff Flight 250 crashed in Nebraska. On August 1st, Charles Whitman killed 16 people and injured 32 more, in an incident at the University of Texas. I'm not sure if there's more references than usual this year or if I'm relying on them as a way to start the recaps.

-Don continues to be in the background as other characters' story lines are highlighted. This episode it was mostly Pete and Lane with a little Ken/Ben Hargrove/Dave Algonquin. Not shocking for Don? He didn't want to go to Pete and Trudi's. Shocking for Don, he grinned like an idiot at baby Tammy Campbell and then told Megan he wanted to make a baby. He's in a great place, seemingly, and Pete resents him. In the first or second episode, I wrote about how Pete and Don had traded places, and that theme was addressed again tonight with the dinner party in the suburb and the visit to the brothel. The cab ride was also a good contrast between them. "Roger is miserable, I didn't think you were." "You don't get another chance at what you have." "And if I had met her first I wouldn't have thrown it away." Pete is ruffled, drunk, and embarrassed. Don is together. This exact contrast happens again at the end of the episode in the elevator. Pete's beat up and lost, "I have nothing, Don." Despite not being a central part of the episode, Don did have some great lines."She got this far on subterfuge. "Saturday night in the suburbs, that's when you really want blow your brains out." "It's too bad your husband can't close a deal like this." "I'm timing this for when we arrive. I want to hit the doorbell with my chin." "No one grows up wanting to be in advertising." "I'm too drunk for you to drive.""Let's make a baby."

-This season, also, Don talks more about his past, to brothel proprietors: "I grew up in a place like this," and to dinner party companions: "You miss the horseshit, huh?" There was a bit of this earlier in the season, too. I liked the interaction between Don and the madame. He definitely looked totally comfortable.

-Pete Campbell, Pete Campbell, Pete Campbell. He's so reviled a character, I find myself feeling sympathetic towards him. Creepy Pete in a high school driver's education class hitting on a senior. Smug Pete mocking Lane. Clumsy Pete making the sink worse. Arrogant Pete testing out a prostitute's talents. Deflated Pete riding down an elevator with Don. For the second time this season, he was threatened with violence from one of the partners, and this time there was no way for him to weasel his way out of it. I used 'weasel' in that previous sentence because that's how Mad Men recaps are supposed to talk about Pete Campbell. Can't be avoided. His driving classes were predicted at the beginning of the season while on the train. His seatmate mentioned taking later and later trains and also driving back and forth as well. The dripping sink, obviously, is a metaphor for Pete's current status. He's being driven mad at home, and to a certain extent, at work, too. He thought he had fixed it, but he'd made it worse, and Don had to put it back together again. I guess this shows some jealousy or envy of Don by Pete. Does Don have what Pete wants? Is Pete jealous that Don put his past life behind him and recreated himself? What are Pete's passions besides dancing the Charleston? If he could recreate himself, who would he be? Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.

-Cos Cob, CT. "No bakeries, no Greenbergs..." Oh, Trudi.

-Befitting the title of the episode, there were lots of driving references: The driver's ed classes, Megan telling Don he was driving to Pete's, Don doodling a noose next to the note 'Traffic Meeting', Megan driving home, Pete telling the cab driver he'll have to drive him to Cos Cob, CT (about 30 miles outside the city). Where are we going?

-"Then, pretend I shall." Well done, Lane, NOW you can be American. Or at least the Mad Men version of an American. Lane and his wife went to the pub to watch the World Cup finals with other British people. While there, he gets a chance at the Jaguar account. He wants to pretend to be an account man, but he's terrible at it. He has trouble relating to everyone, actually, and that's no recipe for sales. "Cooper speaks British." "You're a grimy little pimp." I think Lane thought the Jaguar account would be something that was his only, which explains his anger at losing it, but the fight... I guess he'd been bottled up forever and he just needed to pop. Riveting analysis right there, huh? Well, remember how Cynthia said Ken predicted the Texas sniper with his story about the robot killing all the commuters? Why did he do it? "Because he's a robot..." Maybe Lane snapped after one last insult from Pete and was tired of being a robot? So you can tie the sniper to Lane. You like that better? "If they try to make you feel different than them, you are. That's a good way to be." "I just seem to find no end to my humiliation today." Or ever my friend, or ever. Don't be the guy caught with chewing gum on his pubis.

-Ken's writing still, and has written enough to collect 20 stories and meet a wife. I don't remember the story that he had published (season 3?) being science fictiony, though. Incidentally, Kurt Vonnegut worked early in his career in public relations, which is almost advertising. I'm not sure why, but I don't think Pete was the one who told Roger about Ken's writing. It doesn't seem like Pete is on good enough terms with Roger to even bring it up. It's not going to stop Ken, though, he's just going to kill Ben Hargrove. And the pact with Peggy. Was that new? "If I go anywhere, you go with me." I'd like to know more about this pact.

-I don't think we'd ever really seen Roger showing ANY type of knowledge about business, so it was refreshing to see his 'how to'. An account man who can tell creative exactly what to put in the RFP would certainly be valuable, and Roger must have been deft at collecting this information during dinners past. Roger explained to Lane how to get the other party to open up, to connect on a level outside of business, but Lane just couldn't do it. He was thwarted over and over. "Just let him talk." "Then you're in a conspiracy. The basis of a "friendship"." I also liked, "Be nice to the waiter." This was Roger at his finest, just as him comparing his writing to Ken's was him at his lowest. "When this job is good it satisfies every need. Believe me, I remember." I'm not totally sure you do, Rog.

-"You don't stop a war before an election." Bert's political advice was prompted by Don saying something about Johnson ending the war before the election. Kind of strange they'd be talking about the election 2 years before it happened. What is this, now? Were presidential elections always 3 years long?

-I think the last thing to talk about is turbulence and violent change which has been a theme throughout the entire season. Pete's driver's ed Lolita was talking about this week, "Things seem so random all of a sudden and time feels like it's speeding up." She was talking about how her parents might not let her go to college because of the violence (she mentioned the sniper and the Chicago nurses from last week). Maybe Don's not been too much in the lead this season because his life is not currently in upheaval. I've never really thought about violent change as an overarching theme for the show, but I'll have to consider it more. It's definitely being highlighted weekly this year, though. Also, Pete, stop being a creep.

What did I miss?

###

Possibly related posts:

Mad Men Season 4 Episode 10 Recap Every week, Chris Piascik draws a quotation from the episode...
Mad Men Season 3 Episode 8 Recap This was another of those episodes where there a lot...
Mad Men Season 3 Episode 13 Recap Well now. I can't imagine many people were disappointed with...