Support for this show comes from viewers like you. Thank you.

Ever since I got into watching PBS specials, I've always promised to no one in particular that once I start making good money I will be one of those donors that they thank at the beginning of every PBS special segment. I longed for the day that I would be able to pick up the phone and call one of those folks you see on TV at those telethons, longingly looking at the camera and expecting my call. 

Well, that hasn't happened yet. I gotta say, the different membership levels start off pretty high, and I guess I just haven't seen any good freebies worth becoming a PBS member for. I know it's very self-serving and not exactly the point of 'supporting public television,' but what the hell am I going to do with a DVD of Lawrence Welk's best hits? Or Ross's painting shows. Ooh, actually I would so dig watching Ross any time of the day: I can sleep listening to that man talk. Which is probably why nowadays a favorite nighttime habit of mine is falling asleep not to voices from the big black box with magic pictures, but from the big Blackberry beside my bed. Total side note: did you know that more than 50% of Americans sleep with their cellphones next to them? It's the new security blanket. Ok back to front note: As I was saying, podcasts are now a few of my favorite things. It really started with Chicago Public Radio's This American Life, and now I can't get enough of it. So, today I'd like to share and recommend these three podcasts that I have fallen madly in love with:

1) This American Life - I think the first TAL episode I've listened to in passing was last year's ep called "Someone Else's Money" (about the US healthcare system) but the first one I really got into was the ep called "Bait and Switch." Anyway, for those who haven't heard about TAL, it's a show hosted by the adorkable Ira Glass, who sounds a helluva lot like one of TAL's frequent contributors, David Sedaris. In the words of Mr. Glass, on TAL "each week, we choose a theme, pick a variety of stories to tell about that theme." Sounds kind of mundane, but then the TAL staff presents these fascinating stories about your average Americans. For example, in the Bait and Switch episode, you learn of a young couple who called the police about an abandoned car in their neighborhood, then subsequently got accused of stealing the car and spent years fighting their wrongful accusation in court. There's hilarious stories, like David Sedaris's SantaLand Diaries; there's heartbreaking stories, like the man who is inflicted with cataplexy; there's also just - for lack of a better word - amazing stories, like the girl from Michigan who became friends with infamous drug trafficker Manuel Noriega. If you're getting into public radio and public radio podcasts, this is the best, most surefire way to get addicted to it. It's wonderfully produced, intellectually stimulating, and beautifully told by people, not robots or actors. This is the one podcast that I actually give moolah to, 'coz I don't know what I'll do without my stories now. :)

2) Planet Money - I started listening to Planet Money because of TAL. Often TAL and Planet Money cross lines and do segments on each other's shows (as Chicago Public Radio is an affiliate of NPR). Planet Money has a lot of hosts, but I always remember two names: Chana Joffe-Walt and David Kestenbaum. I remember them because of their memorable names and because to me they were the primary owners of Toxie. It was through Planet Money's multi-episode project with Toxie that I finally understood (even in the simplest terms) what the eff went down with that subprime mortgage mess that we're (still) in. And that is the beauty of Planet Money: they make the most complicated, bore-your-pants-off topics and make them not only coherent, but also entertaining. For example, I was just listening to them talk about how to market their first line of PM apparel, and then they went and broke down the economics and logistics of actually developing a line and made it remarkably interesting. 

3) Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me - the NPR News Quiz hosted by Peter Sagal and announced by Carl Kassell. This is the best way for me to test my knowledge of the week's top news. It's done in front of a live studio audience, so it's really hard for me to sleep while listening to it. It also doesn't help that it can get very, very funny. Of course, the week's worth of stupid politicians, TV shows, and other pop culture shenanigans only cultivate the humor. The best part of the show is "Not My Job," wherein they quiz celebrities and other public figures on random stuff. Brian Williams is a definite favorite, but also Dick Van Dyke just this past Sunday (I don't even like Mary Poppins and I want him to be my grandpa). 

And a couple more I'm kinda listening to right now:

1) How Stuff Works - oh, what I now know about grow houses would make my Berkeley roots proud.

2) The Sound of Young America - fun interviews with celebrities and other pop culture figures like Rob McElhenney from It's Alway Sunny, and Samantha Bee from Daily Show.

3) Culturetopia Pop Culture Happy Hour - it's amazing listening to people who watch more TV than I do! 

What's your favorite podcast that you like listening to? 

Mumblings of a Mad, Asian Woman with a Full Belly.

I should take a creative writing class, non-fiction. I have to learn more descriptors than "amazing," "fantastic," and "awesome." I know I tend to use "definitely," a whole lot. I can probably make a drinking game out of it (raise your hand if you know the Robin Scherbatsky "But, um" Drinking Game reference).

So, yeah, this is just me thinking aloud before I go to sleep; fair warning, this is the butterscotch budino (so f*cking heavenly) talking. BTDubs, I've been yawning since I got back from an (you guessed it) AMAZING dinner @ 112 Eatery in the North Loop area. I really wish money was no object and neither is weight, so that I can spend the rest of my days just going around the world trying out different restaurants, and reviewing them, and making friends with chefs and people in the food industry, and traveling to all these hole-in-the-walls to these great, 5-star restaurants and trying the best, ethereal food ever, and all that. But, in my real world where the student loans need to get paid, and the clothes are as inelastic as Joan River's face, I gotta do what I gotta do.

But, that said, would it be so criminal to have a pipe dream of being a well-respected/renowned food critic and/or travel expert (I can do a Samantha Brown, I just gotta cut my hair, die it blonde, lose the weight, and act super cheery even on the shittiest days, for the camera!). Or even a podcast opinionator who talks about random stuff that normal people like me listen to, like This American Life, or Planet Money, or Monkey See. I guess the common thread in these Lalaland jobs is that a) it involves me sharing my thoughts and b) you taking it.

Which could either be very selfish and/or annoying, or entertaining and/or bearable. I know I am an excruciatingly talkative gal, insofar as it has become an actual component of "feedforward" for me at work (I don't mind, I'm here to 'develop my opportunities' anyways). But, my theory is, everyone in this world -- you, me, Ashton Kutcher -- would like to think that someone, somewhere in the world cares about what you, me, and Ashton Kutcher are thinking and/or saying. I might as well say something potentially helpful or useful or damaging or enlightening or invoke a reaction other than "WTF?" I don't want to just share 140 characters of what I ate for dinner @ 112 Eatery or a short status update of how I just watched The Script in concert. That's fluff that'll interest your closest, most recent friends. I want to write objective, useful commentary with enough organic, witty comments without sounding like Jimmy Fallon desperately grasping for a laugh. (I wanna be Conan, not Leno, damnit.) Additionally, an important aspect of this lalaland job is listening to other people's opinions and sharing information, debating over superficial subjects like best jucy lucy or dingiest club bathroom in the Twin Cities; I'll leave the heavy debates to the politicians and the people who just really like to argue in circles.

And, of course, the best part of this lalaland job is that it'll be me doing stuff I am obsessed in: TV, food, restaurants, traveling, what-not. How can you call it a job if it's something you enjoy doing for free anyway, right? But, again, since this is lalaland, everything goes my way and I get paid stupid big bucks to do it anyway. :)

So, yeah, my eyelids are starting to close. I hope I have an amazing dream.


God damn, I really need to take that creative writing class so I can be a bit more wordsmith-y without referring to my thesaurus all the freaking time.

Mad Men and the Art of Screwing with my Head

I like to act like I know more than the average Joe Schmoe, that I can spot the causality between A & B, or that I know how things will turn out. However, when I'm watching television, a movie, a play, or reading a book, I live in a state of suspense. I don't want to know how the ending will turn out, I don't even try to guess, and I disdain when people silently whisper to me who they think stabbed the grandma in the heart with a bayonet. So, you can only imagine how much I love Matt Weiner for consistently one-upping himself with his shocking "Mad Men" season finales every time. Every wrap-up not only makes you yearn for the next one, but makes you seriously ponder what the hell just happened in the last 13 or so episodes.


Trying to dissect Season 4 Ep. 13 "Tomorrowland" -- or any Mad Men episode for that matter -- is harder than writing an essay explaining the difference between Stalinism and  Leninism (trust me, I had to try). So, I'll just give my rudimentary, unsophisticated,  I-never-took-a-creative-writing-class, I-constantly-refer-to-the-thesaurus-to-sound-smarter opinion of what Season 4 meant to me as an engrossed lover of Mad Men.


Overarching Theme of the Season: Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (Plenty of spoiler alerts, btw.)


You get a big wallop of changes at the end of Season 3, with Don and Betty divorcing, Betty getting with Henry Francis (who really seems like a nice guy, really), Joan marrying Dr. Harris and consequently shutting things down with Sterling, the unfortunate dismissal of the lovely Sal Romano, and of course, the demise of Sterling Cooper and birth of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. If you think that's a lot to swallow, then you had to hold your head together with all the tumultuous changes, both good and bad, that could make your head explode.


One of the most interesting people to change was Peggy Olson, who I thought became more liberated throughout this last season. She's made great strides becoming the first female copywriter at Sterling Cooper, but she's really grabbed the balls of the company and her life in Season 4. She's much more aggressive with her male co-workers (including a laugh-inducing naked scene with the douchey copywriter Stan), has an ambiguous but fun relationship with the hippyish Joyce, and does not get pushed around as much (except for a pivotal, epic scene in my favorite episode all season "The Suitcase"). The thing is, even at her most abrasive and condescending, I still liked her.

Also, the relationship with Sally and her mother, Betty Draper - how I loathe her - has reached new lows. Obviously, having had pushed away her father and still living in the same house, I can understand how Sally could greatly hate her mom. I guess the biggest change with Sally was just how much more she acted on her impulses, i.e. running away from home, cutting her hair off, et al. I fear that, the more she does this, the more she devolves into being, well, like her crazy-mom. But, it'll be really interesting to see what Sally's bigger role really is in the lives of Betty and Don. Is she just the glue that makes it possible for Matt Weiner to keep Betty's character around? It's not that I don't like that aspect of Don's life, I'm just trying to understand it better.
 
Even the lives of "other" characters like Lane Pryce & Pete Campbell deserve a second of analysis. Pryce, who I deemed as the "British crony sent to clean up/out Sterling Cooper," has really grown on me. I love his internal conflict of high-brow Victorian sensibility (oh, and getting hit in the face with your father's cane was CLASSIC; I guess that's how they roll in England) and a lust for youthful recklessness. Sleeping with a hooker for $50 a night. Check. Falling in love with a black Playboy bunny in the 1960's. Check. You're the right Pryce (pun fail!). Pete Campbell, another grating, necessary thorn on my backside, has also become more likable (which I don't think is what Vincent Kartheiser would want). He is still the same greedy slimeball of yore, but with a more valid reason to be so -- he is one/fifth of the firm now. Plus, he's a baby daddy twice over, although publicly this time. His changes are more abrupt and obvious, but I love the lingering tension he still has with baby momma number 1, Peggy Olson. And there's not too many sideway, long glances between the two that it's annoying, but just random scenes throughout the season that keep the faint possibility of Pete/Peggy in the back of viewers' minds.


If there's a character as big as any of the partners, it's the firm itself. The show, after all, is about an ad agency. First of all, the real-life events of the '60s serve as an ep's backdrop and even play a big role in the characters' lives; Greg Harris's deployment to Vietnam is the most obvious example. But, the ads and the clients themselves are this show's best vehicles for brilliant narrating that glorious, hazy, and socially-evolving era. From the Samsonite ad that took after the memorable Liston-Clay bout in New York, to the earth-shattering departure of Lucky Strike that led to the brilliant new strategy by Don, every ad in every episode tells a story beyond the storyboard. Especially notable was how Don responded to Lucky Strike firing the agency, because it just gives you a more fascinating view of the present-day reality of smoke-free environments and the severe restrictions on advertising cigarettes. 

And, of course, in Season 4, change is spelled D-o-n. I can't possibly go through all my thoughts/opinions when I think of what Don has gone through this season. The whole separation thing, that's child's play and inevitable. The ascent from Creative Director to partner, whatever. It's really what happens with his relationships with different women that gripped me so much this season. I think his personal life kind of forms like a supply-and-demand curve with his business life; I can't explain it another way. He started off the season really at his personal lowest just as his new agency gets off to a fresh, albeit rocky, start. He was sleeping with hookers, for god's sake. He's Don.Freaking.Draper. By the end of the season, just as SCDP is laying off employees to keep the firm afloat, we find Don at a high emotional level, in love and engaged to his secretary. Again, I'm holding all strong cynicism until next season, given this shocker of an ending. He most definitely didn't get to that apex without three strong women this season:

1) Dr. Miller - a sex buddy turned girlfriend?! Who knew Don was capable of such things? But this is the first time I've really ever seen Don be honest about his past with anyone. I don't know if it's because he was trying to sort out through some pent-up issues with a psychiatrist, or if he was really just tired of hiding.

2) Peggy - Just as Dr. Miller is the one woman besides Anna who knows Don's past, Peggy is the only person beside Anna who knows Don's present. You can never remove the possibility of Don and Peggy in a "get to know you, in the biblical sense," but you would never want such a thing to happen. Because what they have is different, and its special. Again, if there's anything that perfectly captures what I'm talking about, it's "The Suitcase" Episode 7.

3) Anna - the one woman who really knew who Dick Whitman was/is. I really, really love the episode wherein we got to see the strong, comfortable, honest relationship between Dick + Anna '64. I like the cool facade that Don always puts on the other 99% of his life, but it is relieving to see him be vulnerable once in a while. It also makes me think that the reason why Don proposed to Megan at the end of Season 4 is, besides the fact that he is in love/lust with her, is that he spent the most meaningful time with her in California where Anna lived. On some level, Megan must've reminded Don of Anna, and he even gave her Anna's engagement ring from Don Draper 1.0. I want to say that means Don Draper (2.0) is ready to address who he really is (Dick Whitman) in the next season.

Or maybe he's just like Sterling, running off with his secretaries. Who's to say? With a mind as good as Matthew Weiner, we can only wait in agony for Season 5 and the exciting odyssey that is the late 1960s.

 

A trick is something a whore does for money.

The unknowing passerby to this entry should know that a) I'm not a pimp and b) I'm not putting all the blame on hookers; they wouldn't have to do the job if men can get the loving they need from legal sources.


To the devoted legions of the criminally-cancelled show Arrested Development, the title refers to one of the awesomest lines uttered by GOB, only slightly one-upped by the line that preceded it: "Illusion, Michael."


OK, if you haven't seen a single episode of Arrested Development, let me just stop you right there and advise -- nay, COMMAND -- you to watch this series. It's seriously worth the free trial week on Netflix, since all three seasons are on their Watch Instantly roster. And I swear you will end up watching all 56 episodes in less time than it takes to corn corned beef. Arrested Development is the funniest comedy in all of TV history. I know, that's a pretty bold statement. But, I'm just one person. Ask any one of the millions of followers of this awesome cult. Ask my sister who I turned on to this show and watched every single episode in record time. That's saying something, since my sister is not exactly pop culture savvy; hell, she doesn't even know who The Situation is. So epic is this show that I have literally seen every episode at least 4 times.


I've spent the last few paragraphs and the last neurons of my brain hyping up this show and you, the non-believer (for shame!) say, "But the show got cancelled!" I have one theory about why the show was canned, and that it was too brilliant for its own good. You have to be super ninja fast at catching all the jokes or watch the show more than once to get even 75% of the hilarity. And (I'm totally being blasphemous here), but it was probably good that its life was so short, because it will always maintain a reputation of being an effing hilarious show that never lost its edge for one second. From Tobias's stint as a member of the Blue Man Group ("I just blue myself") to GOB's love for his magic...and his Segway, to Lindsay's self-absorbed quips, and so much more, including all the stupid -- and wrong -- chicken imitations, this show is full of wondrous family dysfunction that will make you feel better about your family.


One of my fave TV websites, www.televisionwithoutpity.com, has a great article on things they'll miss about AD. I decided to make my own list of 10 AD Things I miss most, in no particular order:


10) Who? I'm sorry, I mean...Her? - The forgettable Ann Veal, played by Parenthood's Mae Whitman, is one of the funniest characters outside the Bluth family, because no one really gets Ann. Her holier-than-thou Christian attitude is only tempered with a hidden desire to learn "the ways of the secular flesh".




9) Annyong - Lucille and George's adopted son from North Korea, this kid not only tortures Buster with his ability to drink more than one juice box, but he also delivers one of the funniest and most sinister blows to bring down the troublesome Bluth family. You have to watch the series to the end though (it's pleasurable to do so, trust me).


8) Girls with Low Self Esteem - AD's version of "Girls Gone Wild," this video series was a central part of several AD episodes, including an episode wherein Lindsay angrily protests the creator of the show (played by the adorkable Zach Braff); and its title cannot be more accurate, don't you think?





7) Bluth Banana Stand - It's a frozen banana stand on Balboa Island. It's a Big Yellow Joint. There's always money in the banana stand. Need I say more? No.





6) "I've made a huge mistake" - Ah, who hasn't made one in his/her life? Except when the Bluth family members make them, it just seems funnier.


5) Work meetings - If every work meeting involves a magician with pennies bursting from his sleeves, or your mom swinging in drunk, the workday would be soooo much more interesting.


4) Lucille 2 - Played by the real-life mannequin doll Liza Minelli, Lucille 2 is Gangy's frenemy, has vertigo, was in a love triangle between GOB and Buster, and has more than her own share of funny moments.


3) Les Cousins Dangereux - The forbidden and awkward affection that George Michael has for his cousin Maeby has produced some epic scenes between the relatives, including a mock wedding that turned into the cousins getting married..for real. 


2) George Oscar "GOB" Bluth - What's not to love about the self-absorbed, womanizing, naive, and crybaby ("Taste the happy, Michael!") oldest Bluth? Answer: nothing. I think GOB has the purest of intentions, but achieves them in the most demented ways. He poisons his father to get him out of a house, blows up his family's yacht to fulfill a disappearing act for his magic show, and marries an unknown woman after a night full of escalating dares.





1) Tobias - Unquestionably the funniest character in the show, Tobias is just too hilarious beyond words. Everything he says is so ridiculous that one can only quote it over and over again, and prepare for laughs and applause. Bangers in the mouth... I just blue myself...Tobias, you blow hard... Excuse me, do these effectively hide my thunder? 'Nuff said. 

On this Week's Episode...

Hmm, I wonder what would happen if I start reviewing TV shows. After all, it is my second favorite thing to do, after shredding weights at the gym.












Psych.




I'm obvs (new term I learned from my friend Canada and urbandictionary.com) not a gym rat. I am Ms. Promiscuous TV watcher. And yes, that means I "display an undiscriminating or unselective approach" to my choice of TV shows. And yes, that means I'm a TV whore. Case in point, my most favorite widget in the whole world of Mac widgets is the TV guide widget. I just like saying "widget"; it sounds like the name of a little girl with strawberry blonde curly hair and no idea what hell adulthood's going to bring her. 


Ok, I'm obvs (again with this word!) off to a fun little tangent. Back to TV Land. Writing's always been a passion of mine anyway, and I rock the dictionary & thesaurus when I compose 100+ e-mails at work everyday. Now, if only I have something to write about other than shipping delays and testing protocols. I think like the character Joel Graham in last week's episode of NBC's "Parenthood" said, "I don't have a hobby."


I'm sure he was just feeling down in the dumps; after all, his life is all about his daughter, Sydney. I guess after a while, being a stay-at-home dad can take its toll on a parent. In fact, the last two episodes of  "Parenthood" tackled Joel's issues and insecurities quite extensively. I like that the show's writers finally took the time to explore this character who was really overshadowed during the 1st season by the other members of the Braverman clan. 


Ok, for those who haven't seen this television series, here are a few reasons why you should consider watching Parenthood:
1) It's set in Berkeley, California. 'nuff said.
2) It has a gorgeous cast. Sam Jaeger is cute, and who wouldn't want to cuddle with Coach/Mr. Incredible? C'mon!
3) The script flows naturally. The characters tend to talk over each other, interrupt each other, tease each other, and scream at each other. In other words, it sounds like any other big family with a healthy dose of crazies and normalcy. 
4) Even if you're dealing with multiple story lines (i.e. four families versus two CSI cases), each thread is easy to understand, and thoroughly engaging.
5) You will identify with one or more of the characters, whether you're the pot-smoking rebel child, the hyper, distressed, fast-talking mom (Lauren Graham AKA Lorelai Gilmore, who else?), or the hippy, stubborn dad (Coach!).


I identify not with any one character, but with the dynamic of the Braverman family. I love that the extended family frequently has family dinners, and that they're all within driving range of each other. That's something our extended family frequently do in California, where the food is plentiful and the Saturdays are lazy. (They also remind me of another new favorite show, about a slightly cooky, very Modern Family; more on that in another post.) And, despite the show's name, it doesn't just tell stories of what it's like being a parent (which I'm not), but also what it's like being a daughter, sister, cousin, aunt (which I am) to a whole host of people who love you and hate you, but really, they love you. 


And just like that, I wrote a TV review. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. :)