Cross Town Thoughts
Oh Donald. What have you done? What are we to do now? Listen to the rest of the boring pack for another year. You gave us so much entertainment. And now it is done. Yes, you don’t reserve your boorish comments for just women. You are an equal opportunity insult machine. Prisoners of war as cowards and such. But, there are some places you cannot go. And you went there. Megyn got to you.
At least H-Rod is immune from that particular attack. Shark. Jumped.
Let’s face it. Modern communication replaces relationships with remote if well chosen words. Texting. E-Mailing. Most of us now live an epistolary life. Rarely face-to-face encounters. Letters of the days of old. But quicker. Frequency. Check. Intimacy. Blank. That said. Written immediacy of connection counter balances distance. Most of the time. Better than Emoticons and Instagram. Words still matter.
Jonathan Galassi’s Muse. Ludic novel in the spirit of St. Aubyn’s Lost for Words. Satire. Pastiche. Love for words. Great read.
Let’s hear it for the girls. Women’s USA soccer champs. Not only did they win with a Jersey girl hat trick, but garnered the largest television audience for any FIFA match. Including Men’s World Cup. I didn’t see any falling fakery or operatic hijinks. Just solid play. In this case, pay should equal be.
Jerry Weintraub, producer of the original Jersey Boys, died today. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Oceans Eleven. A wife who got along really well with his mistress. Used to see him at Jilly’s with Old Blue Eyes. You go, guy.
Never to be bridge-and-tunneled. Have I mentioned how funny BravoTv’s new scripted show Odd Mom Out is? Really. Good. Broad City-ish.
Game of Thrones season finale. Spoilers-ish. Cersei, Jaime, Stannis get their what for. Khaleesi encounters her original peeps. Jon Snow will soon be playing tennis with Andy Samberg. Arya gives as well as she gets. Tyrion rules. Sort of. Snippets of humanity between beheadings.
Hillary v. Jeb. Is that all there is? Probably so. In the meantime, off to vacay.
Check out 2015 book reviews for summer reading consideration:
The Green Road, Anne Enright.
The Wonder Garden, Lauren Acampora.
The Mad Boy, Lord Berners, My Grandmother and Me, Sofka Zinovieff.
At the Water’s Edge, Sarah Gruen.
Ruby, Cynthia Bond.
All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr.
The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins.
The Magician’s Lie, Greer Macallister.
Boston Girl, Anita Diamant.
The Devil You Know, Elisabeth de Mariaffi.
Hillary is making her umpteenth I Am Running for President “introductory” speech. This time on remote Roosevelt Island in New York City. To conjure her spirit animal Eleanor. And her mom. And her granddaughter. Okay. We get it. It’s all about women.
It’s just that Vanilla Ice Chappaqua Grandma isn’t exactly going to energize the young ones. Or the persons of color. To get out and vote. Of course, she’s the only game in town. I just wonder why she wants the job at all. Because she’s a woman? Is that all there is? We’ll listen and see. Bon weekend.
Imagine what happens to our favorite characters post-MadMen7 in the ’70’s:
Don Draper changes his identity again to hide more bad behavior. He moves to San Francisco and becomes ‘Hal Riney’ where he builds the West Coast network of Ogilvy & Mather. Then, he starts his own eponymous agency and launches “You’ve Only Just Begun” campaign with Paul Williams for Crocker Bank.
Sally stays close to her Dad and moves to L.A. to study acting. She is the youngest winner of an Oscar for Paper Something. Her brothers are much happier with a loving aunt and uncle. Creepy Glen forever goes away. Yay.
Pete is recruited as CEO of Procter & Gamble. He hires Salvatore as his CMO. Peggy ditches Stan and rises to Creative Director at McCann. Roger tires of zou bisou Marie and returns to his original wife, also his real life Talia Balsam. Zou bisou Megan back in New York is the “Irish” ingenue star of Ryan’s Hope.
Joan, the smartest best business person of the bunch, my fave, leverages her success in the new entrepreneurial venture to become Managing Editor of Cosmo Magazine in its heyday. Yeah. I know. I can’t let go.
Plutarch’s fleek Romans were sleek. For today’s pop icons fleek connotes perfection. On point. As in Caitlyn Jenner? Rumer Willis? Rainy Monday. What can I say. Tyrion Lannister and Khaleesi together. Definitely.
Rand Paul has been consistent in making the right case. It’s not about whether data gathering under the Patriot Act makes us safer. The point is that it violates the Fourth Amendment. Slippery slope. Potential for abuse in the wrong hands.
Recent literary prize-winners were women. Mantel. Catton. Enright. Tartt. Why the need for a women-only prize? Edward St. Aubyn spoofs the process in his Lost for Words where the prize went to a Cookbook. What’s wrong with that?
Top Ten Reasons we’ll miss David Letterman
10- Marquee on 53rd and Broadway
9- Preserved Old Ed Sullivan Theater. Regis
8- Memories of City Squire Motor Lodge. Red Coach Grill
7- One hour earlier in San Fran
6- Paul Shaffer. Chris Elliott under the stairs
5- Snark before it was invented
4- Early morning crazy Dave comes to Late Show
3- Rupert Jee. Larry ‘Bud’ Melman. Mujibar & Sirajul
2- Jaundiced political acuity
1- Gorgeous suits. Worldwide pants
Let’s see if I can stay awake for tonight’s final bow.
Thank you, Matthew Weiner. For the fitting finale. And best television show of our era. Person to Person. Call from Don to Peggy where she reminds him how much he is missed and puts the Coke account in his head. Call from Don to Betty where they make their poignant peace. And the right plan for the kids.
Pete’s life looks ideal as he boards a LearJet with his original family. Joan stays true to character and chooses financial and career independence. Roger is a standup guy assuring their son’s future. How long will his new zou bisou wife last? Who cares? It’s Roger. Peggy continues her career at McCann. Albeit with a bit of a schmaltzy twist. That was the only unlikely and unsatisfying storyline.
Sally stays strong and will hopefully have many adventures. And then there’s Don. Just as his struggle with Dick is about to hit bottom again, he is resurrected from the ashes. Yoga. Connections. Revelations. Survival. Take him back to McCann with the biggest campaign in its history. Of course, Don creates the iconic Coke ad, hippies on a mountain singing about love and harmony.
It’s the Real Thing?! It’s the Draper thing for sure. Well done.
Hopes dashed for a fond farewell. Penultimate episode devolves into personal story lines. Unlikely reconciliation. Dick Whitman stranded at a seedy motel. Betty and Sally’s relationship wrought with realism. Rang true. But, please. Let’s get back to the Ad Biz! It’s time to plead for a truly Mad End. How about Sterling, Draper, Campbell & Holloway get swept up by dragons. They are dropped into Khaleesi’s Crownlands to promote her rule. Game of mAd thrones. Tyrion hooks up with Joan.
In golf. Players. No orange is the new red. Rickie ditched his traditional Sunday color and won. 3-hole playoff was so much fun. Plus one.
Side Trek . NYC 