Mad Men has raised the stakes again!

The last two episodes of Mad Men have blown my mind. I am still trying to process the insane turnaround that occurred after the lawnmower incident – that was a brilliant little piece of insanity. Then this week’s episode made me hate Don Draper just a little bit before I saw him emasculated by Cooper in the last 5 minutes. Part of me said, “It’s about damn time,” while the other part of me was kinda disappointed that Don isn’t bulletproof after all.

Matt Weiner said in an interview that this season is about “Who is Don Draper?” and so far rather than one answer they have provided several: tenderhearted father, asshole boss, slightly pervy drug user, good/bad husband, and now – fully bound and contracted employee. What will happen the rest of this season is anybody’s guess, but I hope to see the various threads of the Don Draper question woven together into something vaguely man-shaped

Hoping FlashForward isn’t a Flash in the Pan

So who cares if FlashForward is a 5-season serialized drama featuring time travel, 2 Lost actors and Mr Sulu from Star Trek? It’s still a startlingly original premise, even if it bears the stamp of JJ Abrams’ other popular creations (well, maybe not Felicity). I can’t wait to see this new show, and only hope it lives up to the ads.

Mad Men: Back and Bleaker than Ever!

You know, writing the headline for this post suddenly caused me to associate Mad Men with Charles Dickens’ Bleak House, which is not an altogether out of line comparison. Both creations explore the values and social mores of a time period through the stories of multiple characters with interconnected lives. And though it’s hard to compare the characters of Peggy Olsen and Esther Somersen, they do have in common the fact that they are central female characters who start out as innocent and naive, are “scarred” by an unexpected event (smallpox/unwanted pregnancy), and come out stronger and more confident.You could dig even deeper to find Pete/Trudy comparisons to Richard/Ida, and on and on, but as I’m not a full-time English major anymore, and I’m not getting graded on this blog, it may have to wait for further reflection.

Anyway, as I was saying, Mad Men is back and it hurts so good. I find even the smallest scenes to be more suspenseful than a horror/thriller movie. The scene where Don’s daughter is driving with Grampa seems primed for tragedy, but nothing happens. Or when Peggy decides to smoke pot in the office. You can never predict which actions will have consequences and which will not, which is the subtle brilliance of shows like Mad Men. Every scene has the resonance of a ticking time bomb that may or may not go off.

A Vocabulary Digression

So this has been bothering me lately: more and more in pop culture, I hear people using the word “regime” to describe a “regimen.” The worst offender seems to be BBC America, where I have heard this on “You Are What You Eat” and “How Clean is Your House?” As in, “new dietary regime” and “new cleaning regime,” respectively. It makes it sound as if a dictator is entering their home to impose a new government that makes them eat and clean!

This was bothering me, so I looked up “regime” on dictionary.com, and found that my irriration is only partly justified. Apparently, the two words come from the same French word, régime, which entered English in the 18th century. I also learned that the fifth definition listed for regime is “Medicine/Medical. regimen,” while the first definition of regimen is “Medicine/Medical. a regulated course, as of diet, exercise, or manner of living, intended to preserve or restore health or to attain some result.” So while technically they are ok using regime, regimen is clearly the more accurate term.

Definitions for regime:

1.     a mode or system of rule or government: a dictatorial regime.
2.     a ruling or prevailing system.
3.     a government in power.
4.     the period during which a particular government or ruling system is in power.
5.     Medicine/Medical. regimen (def. 1).

Definitions for regimen:

1.     Medicine/Medical. a regulated course, as of diet, exercise, or manner of living, intended to preserve or restore health or to attain some result.
2.     regime (defs. 1, 2).
3.     Grammar. government (def. 9).

Starting to like “Being Human”

Ha – the title of that post could be read many ways, especially if you read the quotes as irony. Anyway, I’m starting to like this show. Some clues that I was going to like it: 1) The Arctic Monkeys song in the first ep when George is running through the woods. 2) The reference to over-the-top “Changing Rooms” designer Lawrence Llewellen Bowens, and 3) the “Hotel California” reference that wasn’t trite. The show also taught me some new slang, including “pedos” which I guess means “pedophiles” which the flatmates are mistaken for in an early episode. As with many of my favorite shows, it mixes humor and drama with savvy pop-culture references, like the great character Gilbert, a ghost stuck in the 80s with musical tastes similar to my own mpey favorites like The Cure adn The Smiths. Anyway, as the drama in this show ramps up, I’m  starting to care about the characters and where they’re going next.

On Rereading the Harry Potter Books

After seeing the latest film installment in the Harry Potter series (HP and the Half-Blood Prince, probably the best film version so far), I found myself wandering to the bookshelf to pick up the books again. I won’t admit (nor can I remember) how many times I have reread these books, especially the earlier ones, but I find them just as satisfying each time. It’s rather like visiting old friends and talking about old times. The great thing about reading the earlier ones is picking up on the hints and foreshadowing of things to come, not to mention the casual name-dropping. A witch or wizard mentioned in an aside in Azkaban may show up as a pivotal character in Half-Blood Prince, and it takes rereading to pick up on it. Also, when you’re not in a rush to get to the finale and solve the mystery, you can pause to enjoy the subtle humor of these books. For example, the wise-cracking mirror in Harry’s Room in the Leaky Cauldron in Azkaban or the muggle jokes in Chamber of Secrets. These books may be delicious the first time, but they have a whole new flavor when reheated.

Pondering Vampire Weekend Lyrics

As I wait (and wait) for another Vampire Weekend album, I find myself listening again (and again) to their first album, and I don’t seem to get sick of it! (Sure, I was excited when I heard about Discovery, their collaboration with Ra Ra Riot – another personal fave I don’t seem to tire of – but as cool as those songs are, it’s not the same as a new VW album.) So, as I find myself with VW songs in my head from repeat listening, I start to wonder – what the f$@& to these lyrics mean, anyway? Sure, I have my theories, but the English major in me wants to go to the source – a definitive explanation of what these songs mean. So I discovered www.songmeanings.net, which … pretty much lets anyone post their theories. So much for a definitive source, but it’s a start!

PS – There was a lot more to this post, but my computer barfed, it was lost, and I’m too bitter to rewrite it. Suffice to say, if you go to www.songmeanings.net you will find some good explanations of their lyrics. Stupid computer …

This post will self destruct in T minus 10 seconds …

I often find myself thinking of time in terms of T minus so many minutes … which I know is from the movies but I have no idea what it means. I have always assumed it means time minus how many minutes you have left until the evil supervillain’s bomb goes off, or the special hatch doors shut, trapping the flesh-eating alien inside. Well, thanks to the magic of Google I not only know what it means, I know that other people have wondered the same thing! According to the “experts” (aka random strangers) at Yahoo answers, I have learned that “t-minus means time minus is a terminology use by the military and nasa to specify the amount of time left for a special event like a lift off or an attack.” So am I satisfied? No indeedy. I want to know what movies implanted this in my brain, so I turn to my “friends” (aka random strangers) at imdb.com for illumination. OK, so they are no help, so back to Google, which confirms that it did in fact come from Alien, as in, “The ship will automatically destruct in T minus five minutes.” To which Ripley responds, “You… BITCH!” Which really should be my response to all problems. Anyway, mystery solved! Sleep well, America!

A “Blanket” statement

I never thought I would blog about the whole Michael Jackson circus, but I guess it was inevitable. I just have  to say how disappointed I am with the media for dubbing his second son “Blanket.” It would be one thing for a comedian to use this term, say in a late-night talk show monologue. But now the mainstream media has picked it up. They no longer even use a disclaimer like “Prince Michael II, aka Blanket.” They just call him Blanket now. How disrespectful is that? This child is totally innocent in all of this mess, and deserved better. As if he will not have enough issues growing up, now he has to be called a derogatory name referring to an embarrassing incident from when he was just a baby? It disgusts me. I thought it had gotten ridiculous enough when the media started nicknaming celebrity couples like Brangelina and Bennifer, then individuals like Octomom, but now that they are doing it to children that crosses a line. Not that I should be surprised …

Torchwood: Redeemed

As a major Doctor Who fan who has been going without for more than a year (excepting the awesome David Tennant specials, finally getting airplay stateside), I lifted my Torchwood ban and decided to DVR the Children of Earth miniseries. Am I glad I did! When Torchwood first debuted last year, I had high hopes – the concept for this Dr Who spinoff was strong, the world was already established by Who, the Cardiff location was fun, and the charismatic Captain Jack seemed like a good anchor, along with the addition of Gwen Cooper and a strong cast from other favorites such as Bleak House and Absolutely Fabulous. Imagine my disappointment when the show devolved into a soap opera, spending too much time brooding in the basement with the whiny Tosh, Owen and Ianto. Too much (unappealing) sex and not enough sci-fi.

So imagine my pleasant surprise when I started watching Children of Earth. Having not watched in a while, I don’t know what happened to Owen and Tosh, and I don’t care. Now if we could get Ianto to stop whining, we would really be in business! Anyway, the plot of Children is a solid Who formula with good suspense and the always cringe-inducing addition of Creepy Children (see Who’s excellent Season 1 creepfest The Empty Child). I am still watching Day Three, and am really enjoying the addition of Lois Habiba as well as the inclusion of Gwen’s husband Rhys. Hey, can we get Lois as a regular? I don’t know where Children is going in Days 4 and 5, but I really look forward to finding out!