Edu Satire

Edu Satire: "I really enjoyed these videos and thankfully not because I have ever had an administrator like these examples! Sorry if you do...

Even still, the message resonates with me because this is exactly the kind of 'reformist' attitude that is thrown around by some who somehow float their way to the top...

You Tube Playlist

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A Smart Place to Stop: Tap Tap... Tap Tap... Tap

A Smart Place to Stop: Tap Tap... Tap Tap... Tap: "The room was silent except for the tap, tap, tapping of computer keys this afternoon. What is it about computers that helps kids find their ..."

Mad Men Week 10

After the climax of the "Don and Peggy" episode (The Suitcase) and the surprising jolt of the following episode (Summer Man) the back leg of Season 4 has a lot to live up to. Episodes 9 and 10 were very fine but perhaps the climax of the season has already been reached.

I thought Peggy's storyline ended quite definitevely at the end of Episode 9 when she opted for the elevator down with Joan and ______ instead of the other elevator with her new lesbian bohemian buddy. Don suddenly made his way back to the lightness in Ep 8 and now it seems that a new, semi-fabricated plotline has plunged him into a different kind of depth. His relationship with Pete, while interesting and well-played seemed only to hint at further conflict rather than sit and creep in, as with Don and Peggy weeks earlier.

I thought Roger's storyline perhaps to be the most interesting this week; that and the new developments in Don and Betty's post-marriage life. The bomb that Lucky Strike lays on is sudden and must remain a secret (clealy the big word of the day in this one).

I'm curious to see where this goes. "Hands and Knees" marks a swift turn after the middle section of emotionally intense masterpieces, but perhaps one whose larger sense will fall into place in the home stretch.

In Defense of Week 8

There seems to be quite a bit of disagreement as to the merits of Mad Men's eighth episode of season four. Critics decry the voiceover as a totally cheesy cinematic trick and the moves of the characters as too-made-for-TV.

I'm not so sure. First of all, I think that after "the suitcase" episode of week seven hit such a climax that there needed to be some new turn in week eight, one that would not necessarily match the emotional intensity and late-night caffeinated/alcoholic buzz of week seven.

In fact, it was a total wake-up.

Yes, voiceovers are mostly cop-outs, but Mad Men does not only master at storytelling, but also in how it tells its stories. Each week, style and narrative play off of each other to create that ultimate effect that makes us love the best in movies and television.

So, why a voiceover? Why bring the inside out in scene after scene?

If this episode is a wake-up for Don Draper then it must jar the viewer in some sense as well. The early use of the Stones' "Satisfaction", the new setting of the swimming pool. The constant light, whether daylight or even candles or streetlights at night signaled a stark shift from the darkness that pervaded weeks one through six, and especially week seven.

We should think of the style as a shock, similar to the one Peggy receives in the elevator; one we did not see coming, which we aren't totally comfortable with, one which adds a new layer of depth and confusion, but which is ultimately, necessary to keep going on.

I'm Caught Up

Tonight officially marks the night when I have completely caught up with "Mad Men". And as I sit here deep in thought about the last two episodes ("Waldorf Stories", "The Suitcase"), I realize there is nothing new that I can see... until Sunday...

I look forward to joining in the conversation week to week, which inevitably enriches appreciation of a show like this.

Eminence Front

Why did I not know about this song until now?? I cannot stop listening to it. Something works here.

Local Travelogue

Oh, the places we'll go. When James was in town visiting we naturally centered our journeys on food and drink. Here's where we went:

Perch (Park Slope)
Breakfast: Fried egg in toast with bacon

Brooklyn Bread (Park Slope)
Lunch: Delicious broccoli rabe/chicken/mozzarella on crusty hero

Tomato and Basil (Park Slope)
Brunch: Reheated pizza slices!

Cherry Tree (Park Slope)
Afternoon pitchers of PBR

Aunt Suzie's (Park Slope)
Dinner: Red sauce Italian tasty

Mission Dolores (Park Slope)
Late evening craft beers, pitchers, and Bushmill's

White Horse Tavern (West Village)
Afternoon pints and snacks

The Spotted Pig (West Village)
Late Lunch: Their famous burger and shoestring fries - better than Corner Bistro? We think not.

Astor Center (East Village)
Classic Films, Classic Cocktails: A very cool class - we tasted bourbon, scotch, rye, and made our own cocktail as well.

The Edge (East Village)
Evening Yuengling, darts, and pool

d.b.a. (East Village)
More craft beer... Founder's IPA; then back to The Edge for darts

Lucky Jack's (Lower East Side)
Memory Lane? Some one on one pool.

The Gate (Park Slope)
Afternoon pints on the deck. Perfect.

Fette Sau (Williamsburg)
Meat coma. Just too good.

Dram (Williamsburg)
Classic cocktails. Mixologists. Delicious. Stomach feeling better yet?

Full Circle (Williamsburg)
Skeeball. Good canned beer. Skeeball.

Loving Cup Cafe (Williamsburg)
A southern feel. More cocktails. Deadly buy-back shot. Decent band. Who covers Corinna Corinna, Sweet Virgina, and My Soul all in one set? Some of us know.

d.b.a brooklyn (Williamsburg)
Deja vu? That shot from before is creeping up.

Matchless (Williamsburg)
Matchless indeed. Left soon after arrival.

Anthony's (Park Slope)
Delectable pepperoni margherita pizza

Pacific Standard (Park Slope)
Sunday night trivia may need to be a new tradition...

Why "Mad Men" Is Worse on AMC

I've caught up. Now I get to watch "Mad Men" with everyone else. But I'm slightly disturbed and underwhelmed by the new experience. And I'm not talking content. Somehow, though, I can't help but wonder how much the proverbial medium affects the message.

Here are five reasons why "Mad Men" was better when I watched it through Netflix or Amazon.

1. The AMC Logo
There's something cheap about having to watch a show with a network's logo prominently displayed in the corner the whole time. HBO doesn't do it. Neither should AMC.


2. Awkward Commercial Breaks
I'm not just talking about the fact that it HAS commercials, which obviously detracts, but it seems like the show is not produced with commercials in mind. The breaks seem sudden and unevenly spaced. Not something DVR really helps with.


3. The Titles Before and After Commercials
To make matters worse, AMC has decided to place an awkardly edited title slide of the shadowy Mad Men figure set to a beat or two of the theme music. Chintzy.


4. The Fidelity
Maybe I have Time Warner to blame for this, but there is no comparison between watching the show on Blu-Ray or even Amazon on Demand to the HD version on cable. The darks are splotchier and the colors duller. Not nearly as crisp.


5. Coming Attractions
Yes, I know it's my choice to watch these, but sometimes they just spring up without notice. I decided not too long ago that I do NOT want to know what's happening "next week on..." ANYTHING. 


It's interesting how TV's move to HBO and Netflix has kept the viewer hidden from the more commercial aspects of what television viewing is necessarily about. I don't think I mind with most shows, even ones I consider to be "very good" (like "24" in its heyday or any sitcom), but when I consider a show to be transcendent I expect it to well, be transcendent---above all of the above.

"Mad Men" Buzz

As the July 25th season four premiere of Mad Men approached I had to avert my eyes from the constant stream of buzz surrounding the show---in the New York Times, in entertainment magazines, on many blogs that I follow. Clearly there is something about this show that makes us all want to respond, to talk about it.

Luckily I had a lot of time this summer to catch up, having just started on Season One earlier this year. As with most great shows that I am behind the ball on, Netflixing to catch up with, I do what I can to pace myself, to make the show last just a little bit longer, to let each show linger on the tongue.

But I knew I had to go a little faster if I wanted to be a part of the conversation.

I am finally caught up (well, only two episodes behind, but at least in the current season) and I am eagerly going through  my queue of commentary on the show. I'm not quite ready to offer up any unique take on this show, except to say that I believe that it is "literary TV", much like The Sopranos or The Wire. I find myself thinking about the characters and themes, directing and acting at various times throughout my day.

As I said, it lingers. And I want more and more tastes.

btw...
*My favorite so far may be Katie Roiphe's "cultural study" in the New York Times, "On 'Mad Men,' The Allure of Messy Lives". Katie argues that part of the show is appealing in part because our current culture is so steeped in organic food, yoga, and moderation that we might be missing the fun of stylish misbehaving. I actually felt inspired to be a little reckless after reading this; a catharsis for my own frustration at the pressure for perfect health and moderated lives that seems to surround these conservative times.

The Cost of a Good Drink

herradura.com

I bought a couple of bottles to restock my sad bar (which really is just a couple of bottles atop an air conditioning unit) and when the total cost came to $82, I wondered, should I really be spending this much on scotch and tequila?

Naturally I rushed home to do some calculations. It turns out that a decent scotch (like Johnny Walker Black) and a decent tequila (like Herradura Silver), which both cost about $38 for a 750ml bottle, are quite worth the investment.

A 750ml bottle is equivalent to about 25+ ounces. One "drink" of straight alcohol is about 1.5 ounces. (And yes, I do pour into a 1.5 oz. shot glass to measure first.) Meaning there are just under 17 drinks in a bottle. In the end, I would be paying about $2.25 for each drink.

smuttynose.com

Obviously this is insanely cheaper than a bar, so we won't even go there (unless said bar has a healthy pour).

But let's talk about beer. And since we're not talking about moonshine liquor, let's talk about decent beer. Take a Pilsner Urquell or a Smuttynose IPA, for example, which typically cost between $10 and $13 for a six-pack. Let's average it at $11.50. This would mean each beer costs about $1.90. And seventeen beers would cost close to $33, netting me a $5 savings.

As a result of my highly scientific calculations I have appeased my guilt for the time being about my purchase this morning.

A Cableman Visit That Worked?!

I had the fortune this morning of having an appointment for sometime between 8am and 11am to fix a nagging problem I've been having with my Time Warner service. Naturally just as the new season of "Mad Men" begins I do not receive any picture for AMC and a handful of other actually decent channels (like IFC).

Have you tried resetting your cable box? Yes, like a hundred times.

Okay, well call back again tomorrow if there is still a problem. Okay.

Ummm... cable's still not working. Okay, we'll have to send someone out. And the next available appointment is in like two weeks from now. Perfect.

So I woke up early for the big morning, careful not to go anywhere without my phone lest they call and I'm not there to pick it up. This also means there is not enough of a time window to take a shower or run out to get half and half. Guess I'll have to wait for the morning coffee too.

But there is a good side to this story. The guy who came was professional and solved the problem real quick. Turns out the Radio Shack cable amplifier I've been using for several years now was making the signal too strong. Hmmm... okay...

Well, my channels are back and now I guess I can feel a little better about spending a buck forty a month for this stuff?

Inception

I did it. I broke down and went to the movies. After all, I have plenty of time to fill, and as much as I know there is a HIGH chance of frustration at the cell phones and the whispers and the overzealous munching of popcorn and the crankling of plastic candy wrappers and the squeaking of seats, there is still a ROMANCE with the theater that I have not yet escaped.

But, I did refuse to go to the Park Slope Pavillion. Too many bad experiences. Friends have told me BAM is a good place to see a movie. So I went there. When you go to BAM you feel like a Brooklyn insider. There aren't even any signs outside of the building to let you know you are at a movie theater. I sheepishly opened the door into a building that I thought (correctly) was the theater and bought my ticket for Inception.

I don't remember the last movie that has received so much press and word of mouth than Inception, the concept is cool, and it's the kind of film that seems made for a theater. So what did I think?

As Fischer's dying father utters on his death bed, "disappointed." I was all ready to call my friends who have seen it and talk forever about hidden meanings, plot twists, and metaphysics, but I walked out shrugging my shoulders, thinking, "This was pretty cool, but whatever..."

Ultimately I did not care enough about the characters involved and much of the plot (not the action, the backstories) felt forced. I really didn't feel anything when it came to Cobb and his wife; didn't really care that much about whether the inception worked! What did the spinning top mean at the end? I don't really care about that either.

Perhaps my expectations were too high or perhaps this is just a decent popcorn heist-flick dressed up as much more than it really is by the hype; by the power of an idea.

Powerwashing

When I go back home to Jersey on a summer weekend, or any weekend for that matter, there is not much to do. It is nice to get out of the city for a little while, but I find myself retreating upstairs to my computer most of the time while I am home. I don't know what to do with myself. And I am not content just lying around reading a book or watching TV.

So I fidget. I wander up and down the stairs, check my email and wander aimlessly online. Go back down, open the refrigerator. Look in the garage to see what new memento from childhood I might find this time. Times with my family revolve really only around food, and generally just dinner. So when 5:00 rolls around we can crack open a bottle of wine and have "something to do" for a few hours around cooking, eating, and cleaning. And then, all of a sudden, it's 8:00 and the house goes quiet.

It turns out that just this month my mother has decided to put the house up for sale. This is the same house that's "been going up for sale" for nearly the entire time I lived here, starting in 1988. Sure enough, though, a bright yellow Weichert Realty sign now stands prominently on our front lawn. Naturally this means that there is now "a lot to do."

One of the things that apparently comes with selling a house is powerwashing the concrete patio in the backyard. Twenty years of dirt and browning concrete will not do. Now, I'm sure that on some cable channel there is some show about all the things one needs to do to sell a house at maximal value. And I'm sure that powerwashing is one of them. But the truth is that I don't think it would even cross my mind that this is a task that could be done.

Nevertheless we had to get out there this morning before the evil sun of 2010 beat too brightly and inch by inch spray away the caked dirt on the concrete in the backyard. The powerwasher we were using, borrowed, old, run on gas, leaking water everywhere, made us only that much more inefficient.

Yet there was something strangely satisfying about the process of holding the "power rifle" down the ground and methohdically carving out sections to whiten and make new again. "No, I do not want a break; let me just finish this section..." I had something to do. I felt useful. And, so, mildly happy, I jumped in the pool.

The Subway at 9:30

So this week I have been attending a professional development workshop that begins at 10am on the Lower East Side. This means that I am on the F train at about 9:30. It is amazing how different the commute is versus my normal 7am commute during the school year. I can't help but feel frustrated at not having a door spot where I can work on my crossword and not stare at the ridiculous New Yorkishness that so irritates me during a morning commute. Men in long sleeves and scarves on a hot and humid summer day; teenagers bopping to anything-but-private-headphone hip hop; women squeezing their way into seats and updating their make-up through pocket mirrors. I like the extra sleep, but ultimately I'm still tired anyway. I miss my 7am F crowd... For now...

A Williamsburg Tour

It is not often that I want to travel out to the neighborhood to the north. I don't know if anyone can even mention Billyburg these days without someone rolling their eyes. But, I was meeting a friend and, to be honest, I often have a lot of fun out there. So I did my research, created a google map of potential pit stops and G-Trained it up at around 7:30 on Friday evening. Here's what I found:

BARCADE: My friend Reena has told me about this place and the concept seems fun: great craft beers on tap, video game stations from the 80s lining the walls, big, open space. I did not experience what the late night scene might be at this place, but the late evening crowd was a good mix of people varying in age and level of hipsterness. Friendly, huge, airy Williamsburgy space. I did not play any video games but did enjoy the nostalgia their mere presence evoked.

We then took a lenghty walk in the dusky sky to FULL CIRCLE, a skeeball themed bar. This was definitely the best place of the night. The music was superb... I remember hearing a few deep Talking Heads cuts and an alternate take of "Sweet Jane" on the playlist. When you walk to the back of the bar there are three skeeball stations and a sort of stadium seating setup behind them where people sit, watch, and cheer on the players. Contrary to what I had imagined, there was no lengthy list hanging on the wall to sign up or flocks of skeeball nuts hovering around with special skeeball gloves and personal sets of skeeballs. In fact, we were able to easily play as many games as we wanted. And the strangers in the bar were all very friendly.  I guess I'm the asshole with the pretensions. By the way, I am proud that I was able to score a 360 after just a few tries. Not bad for never playing.

The next stop was BERRY PARK,  a huge oasis of a place with a welcoming roof deck on top. The place was filled with good looking young people doing their thing. Again, not pretentious. Just chill. Walking onto the rooftop I had a flashback to some of the places we went to in Portland, OR last year. Although I was very hungry at this point, I did not order from their fancy pants menu. I waited instead for street pizza.

This is important. I tried a slice from a pizza joint on Bedford and N 9th St. It comes up before the massive throng of people at the L stop a few blocks away. While the slice was slightly thicker than I generally prefer, the taste was excellent. I remember thinking that this place needed to step up its game because clearly it's going to miss out to the places nearer the subway. So, I just had to compare. I stopped in to get a slice at the place right at N6th street. And guess what? I couldn't even finish it. Horrible. And guess what else? The place was packed. Hmmm...

Eight Albums For July

July, the first full month of summer, offers me plenty of time to reaquaint myself with music I had forgotten about or just haven't gotten to. It's also one of the few months when I can actually listen to a new release thoroughly when it comes out. Summer releases have a certain amount of staying power because most people are listening to music more---as anthems for road trips or even just out at the bar. Here's to summer...

1. Wilco - "AM" (1995)

Pure alt-country sounds refreshingly raspy anew.

2. The Roots - "How I Got Over" (2010)

Hip-hop faves make soulful summer album.

3. OK Go - "Of the Blue Colour of the Sky" (2010)

This too shall not be passed.

4. Tom Petty - "Mojo" (2010)

The blues with a Petty twist.

5. Monsters of Folk - "Monsters of Folk" (2009)

Took a break, love it again.

6. God Street Wine - "$1.99 Romances" (1995)

Reunion tour brings high school memories.

7. The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - "Fruit" (2009)

Thanks Sternberg. Band name describes music.

8. Band of Horses - "Infinite Arms" (2010)

Only listened twice. Pleased. Want more.

Six Albums For June

June is always an interesting musical month. Graduating students usually means that nostalgia creeps into the mix, especially when hunting for graduation video songs, while at the same time, spring and summer begin to run crazy and the sun just calls for good times...

1. She & Him - "Volume 2" (2010)
Sweet, sweet Zooey brings it home.






2. The Rolling Stones - "Exile on Main Street" (Reissue Bonus Tracks) (2010)
Yes, pass that wine over here.

3. The Talking Heads - "Speaking in Tongues" (1983)
This must, indeed, be the place.

4. Old 97's - "Blame it on Gravity" (2008)
Chill alt-country soothes the summer soul.

5. Bruce Springsteen - "The Rising" (2002)
Why did it take eight years?

6. Beach House - "Teen Dream" (2010)
Strangely addictive slowcore had to be.