Zou Bisou Adieu

MadMen7. Know when to fold ’em. Don got zoo bisou’d up the wazoo. Au revoir Québeciennes, Maman et Megan. They took him to the blanchisserie. Funny. Should have ended le mariage in L.A.  And. What was with the waitress Diana off-ramp? No contextual sense. Yet. Mommy flashback? Another dead child in his past? If not, yuk. Icky couple in the elevator. Did we have to see matronly neighbor again? Hope Matt Weiner recovers his taste for the last five episodes.
Game of Thrones needs a boost, too. Sometimes it’s better to say adieu plus tôt.

Tom Brady wearing Joltin’ Joe’s #5 at Fenway couldn’t pass a baseball.

bAd Don is Back!

When we left MadMen7 last year, Don had finally shed his Dick (capital D), and returned to being fabulously Draper. Roger took advantage of bittersweet circumstances to enter the M&A era keeping Sterling Cooper intact. Under McCann Erickson. As the 1960’s ended, everyone was gathered around their televisions to watch the first lunar landing in awe. Bobby Morse took us and Bert out in style. The Moon Belongs to Everyone. The Best Things in Life Are Free.

It is next year. Episode 8. bAd Don is back. Yay! If that’s all there is to life, then let’s keep dancing. Joan remains the best character. Bottom line no drama. All the men could learn from her. Wolf Hall will have to wait for a binge.

I did have Wisconsin, Joe.

2014

GOOD

mAdBen & Neil deGrasse Tyson at CannesLions10383719_841943909179198_4846207022091497883_o-2

Parts Unknown. Bourdain in Massachusetts.
MadMen7.
Bobby Morse’s dancing exit.
Of Mice and Men O’Dowd Franco
Realistic Joneses. Letts Collette Hall Tomei
Sushi Nakazawa
Eleven Madison Park

BAD

Rape of the leaves. Construction next door.
Sochi Olympics. Return of Putin.
Crying Wolfowitz. Right-wing and media fear-mongering.
Ebola.

mAd Story

2007 MadMen Season 1
Northampton High School Grad

2008 MadMen Season 2
NYU Honors Seminar- Ogilvy Exec speech inspires

2011 MadMen Season 5
NYU Grad Highest Honors, Econ
Ogilvy Associate

2014 MadMen Season 7
Cannes Young Lion

Happy 25th Birthday, mAdBen!

Mad Men 7

Episode 7 of MadMen7. Matt saved his best for last. Focus on the AdBiz. Ditch ancillary characters. Megan mercifully ends the charade. Pete consoles Don with the line of the night. “Marriage is a racket!” Don sheds his Dick (capital D), and returns to being fabulously Draper. Betty & the kids dismiss that phase. Peggy loses her surrogate son. Will her real kid with Pete show up again?

Nuclear Ad family is back. Don’s creative partnership with Peggy recaptures its heart and soul. Joan remains my favorite bottom line girl. So to speak. Roger takes advantage of bittersweet circumstances to enter the M&A era and keep Sterling Cooper intact. Under McCann Erickson. I thought Don would spin himself and a few others off. But, this works in the historical context even better.

As the Sixties ends with everyone gathered around their televisions to watch the first lunar landing in awe, song and dance man Bobby Morse takes us and Bert out in style. The Moon Belongs to Everyone. The Best Things in Life Are Free. See ya next year.

Madocrisy

Mad Grads. Make up your minds, seniors at Smith. One of few remaining all-female colleges. Do you want to see women succeed? Break the glass ceiling? Become leaders on the global stage? Christine Lagarde would have been the perfect speaker at your graduation because she has accomplished all you pretend to desire. You could have learned so much from hearing her perspective. Would you rather a man lead the IMF, banks, businesses? Plus, there’s that free speech thing. They don’t teach that at Smith? You have a great Economics Department. Its professors all disagree with your protests. Good for them!

5/15: I so agreed with Tim Egan’s column, “The Commencement Bigots”. My comment was a NYTimes pick. As an alum of Mount Holyoke, the first and still all-women’s college, I was all the more disappointed in Smith students’ protest of Christine Lagarde, the first woman managing director of the IMF, as this year’s speaker. Women’s Liberal Arts Colleges were founded on the principles of open-mindedness and respect for all opinions. In all walks of life. Not exclusively but most especially those of highly accomplished women.

Taking a few days to recover from MadMen7 episode this week. Bad Betty is back. She was a bit nicer mother when she was fat. Don’s continued connection to Megan is confounding. Ménage à trois notwithstanding. His career strategy seems feckless. And where is Weiner going with the nipple-slashing cray cray storyline? Is it that the Ad World will ultimately turn everyone truly Mad?

Over at Thrones, Tyrion’s soliloquy rises to Shakespearean superlative. Dinklage tour de force. And the rest of it. Talk about madness. Delicious.

Sterling & Silver

Adam Silver tarnished Don Sterling’s patina for life. A polished decision by the new Commissioner. NBA behaviors need further scrutiny on all levels.

MadMen7. Sterling Cooper Draper’s most businesslike and influential partner is none other than Joan. Shrewd and strategic. The guys are mired in emotion and game-playing. Peggy reacted unprofessionally as well. Don’s decision to accept demeaning conditions and slither back to Pryce’s old crypt is either pathetic or brilliant. Meanwhile, resentful mother Betty acts like a child and is cruel to her poor son Bobby. But, bad Betty is true to character.

Game of Thrones. Stark’s Valyrian steel passes from Jaime’s tainted grip to Brienne’s hand to avenge Ned’s death. Who is the boy king’s father? Khaleesi amasses more followers. Where are those dragons? White Walker baby…

 

So Long Sochi

Bye bye. Sochi Games. February. Putin. Russia-Ukraine alliance. Won’t miss ya. MauDowd’s brilliant NYTimes column on leadership. Thoughtful Inaction vs. Thoughtless Action. Obama vs. Bush doctrines. Christie as future king.

Is Spring around the corner? Happy and positive prospect. mAdBen captured the sentiment from his mAd office window. Can MadMen7 be far behind?

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