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Mad Play

Tiger is back! Mad sick chip on the 16th. Jack Nicklaus said it was the gutsiest, best golf shot he’s ever seen. It was so much fun to watch. Long time coming.

Lane’s demise was predictable. As was Jaguar not starting. Don should have protected himself and the agency by confiscating Lane’s keys and making him leave immediately. Wait until he finds out about the big loan. Don is now haunted by two suicides for which he feels culpable. He bears no blame for Lane’s, he was too humane. Glen and Sally. Strange. Gratuitous. One more episode.

Matt Creamer’s AdAge recap spot on. Change in profit margins of ad agencies when fees/commissions replaced fat retainers. Life is crappy theme. Sally’s first period frame made him drop his iPad. In so many ways. Eeeyuu.

Dear Mr. President. Hurry up and get a new team. Leadership. Now. Krugman is right. It’s not the time for austerity in this teetering global economy.

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Side Trek Falls

side-trek-falls

Travelled to our favorite SideTrek tableau, Shelburne, a new way. Took a bucolic route from Conway past Bill Cosby’s rolling colonial acres. Off off the beaten trek. A blue clapboard Garrison on an old post road. Book mills, inns dot the meandering byway, scenes of Indian skirmishes as part of the Mohawk trail.

The Bridge of Flowers was in earlier than normal bloom. Town is abuzz. Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin are coming. They will be filming  Labor Day based on a novel by Joyce Maynard. It’s about a 13 year-old boy, his Mom, secrets. Set in a fictional New England hamlet, Holton Mills. Juno director, Jason Reitman.

We made a stop at Wandering Moon jewelry boutique and hit pay dirt. For me. Silver bracelet by a Manitoba artisan. Owner Laura Roberson’s finely crafted earrings. As we headed out to Route 112, a metal sculpture guy bid us adieu.

Back home through Goshen past the original 1775 Williams House.

Photos by the talented Dr.Husband, including the Richard Russo-esque header – State Street, in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts.

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Mad Notes

The funniest thing I’ve seen in a while, the Obama-Dylan show. Best quote, George Will calling Trump a ‘bloviating ignoramus’. Best restaurant continues to be ABC Kitchen. MichelleO just had dinner there. Meryl was a cool sighting. For all who are bored with MadMen discussion, have heart. RHONY starts next week.

A final ‘mad’ note. I’ve had lively interactions with wise and wonderful women over the past days who think my perspective on Joan’s decision was askew.  When she took charge of the negotiation with Pete for a NON-silent partnership, that changed the landscape. She took control of her destiny. If she had done it for the money, she’d still have been considered a secretary slut at work. This deal put her in a different arena, using her leverage for a once in a lifetime game changer. It gave her equal status with the boys. Look at their behavior. ‘Whore’ is in the eye of the beholder. I make no distinctions for gender. Only 2 more episodes.

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Mad Women

1967. Things tipped earlier in Manhattan than in the ‘burbs. Peggy took her shot. Go, girl! Without good looks, she needed extraordinary drive, focus and talent to succeed in the mAd men’s world. Joan made a decision to use her physical assets to control her financial future, rather than continue to have them used and abused by Roger or even her own husband for no return. Megan’s beauty got her Don, and an easy chair at the copywriter’s desk. Making her Peggy’s peer. Megan has ad talent. But, she’s determined to be an actress. So, she’ll need to re-deploy her other skill on a casting couch to launch her new career. ZooBeeZoo.

Poor Don. He’s confounded and befuddled. When Joan strokes his cheek and tells him he’s one of the good guys, it’s clear. He’s not in Kansas anymore.

Here is Matt Creamer’s review. Don’t agree that Joan and Peggy were competing against each other to be Queen Bee. They both ended triumphant this week. If Don had talked Joan out of doing the deed and they got the account anyway, she wouldn’t be a partner. If Peggy had stayed, she’d always be Don’s protégée.

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Capitol Steps

Connecticut’s capitol is at the heart of major fords. Congrats to Will, UConn Law School grad, moving on to Greener Skies. Colby will soon be creating huskie compositions at Storrs. mAdBen’s commute from 11th Ave will often extend to a landmark headquarters in the insurance hub. Steps away from Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe abodes, Max’s Downtown gets a recent NYTimes restaurant nod. JeanJean&Co. rave about la cucina Italiana at Treva in West Hartford. Charter Oaks to all.

 

 

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Weekend Sol

Lots of sun, son this weekend. Ben Piccata. RecipeDetours.com.

Taking time out from Facebook, still think it has jumped the shark. How to monetize the advertise to thirteen year-olds? Any money to be made has been. Spanish banks out of pesos. Uh, Euros. Jamie Dimon cannot intervene in every trade. Get real. They take like a nano- second. Joshua voted out, finally. Could never stand his screeching. Love Phillip ‘Cocker’. Philadelphia’s Barnes Foundation collection has moved to rave reviews. 

Elaine’s landmark on Manhattan’s Upper East Side is sorely missed and no replacement has yet been found. Wish I could buy it. Those were the days.

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Week Day Trek

 

On a respite before the next rain, enjoyed a weekday side trek. Meandering up Route 5, we happened upon School Street in Hatfield, Massachusetts, where we found an Old Mill Inn and Pioneer Valley Vineyard. Little vineyards are cropping up along the Connecticut River. Will it be the next Napa? Not with our typical winter weather. Some varietals can do well here as in upper New York State.

 

We continued southeast past our Atkins Farm fave to Andrew’s Nurseries in South Amherst. Lots of garden goodies. In search of a sundial or artwork for our old oak stump as a pedestal. This photo in Hatfield, too. Not bad for a Monday.

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Antie Glo

It’s what my college roommate from Westchester called my Aunt Gloria. No. That’s not it. Ants! They took the glow out of our modem. After days of intermittent internet service, we discovered their new residence. Gross.

Last night’s MadMen episode. Didn’t get the DarkShadows allusion except for obvious foreshadowing that started weeks ago. Betty is still fat, though.

AntiGlobalBanking. Until regulators are hired with the same quant skills as traders, get compensated at least as well, and have cross-border reach, Jamie Dimon, Congress, Obama- nobody can change Wall Street! Broken record alert. How many times do I have to say it?

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Mama Día

April Summer. Soggy May. Supposed to be a sunny Mother’s Day. Once a year we celebrate Moms. Like Valentine’s Day. Don’t get why there’s one day a year that obligates spouses and children to recognize us for stuff we love doing anyway.

Author Jay McInerney has a new book out about wine, A Hedonist in the Cellar. He was reminiscing about ordering his first bottle as a young man. A lovely 70’s staple, Mateus Rosé impressed his date at The Log Cabin restaurant ‘in Lenox’. Everything West of Boston seems to conflate. It was/is in Holyoke, Jay. An hour away. Jay once dated Lisa Druck aka Rielle Hunter. Wonder if she was that date?

Make Mama ‘Succulent Salmon’. RecipeDetours. So easy.

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Love & Marriage

Go together like a horse and carriage. Can’t have one without the other. Fine. I personally do not care if men marry women, women marry men, women marry women, men marry men. Local gentry can make it elementary. All I care about is that if you have kids, be parents first. That rarely seems to happen. Live together. Get married. Whatever. Just take care of your kids if you have them!