The song I put on to drown out the sound of heart rate variability program assignment killing me not so softly, and it works
Remember remember, the original occupiers: The Edukators. The protagonists attack corporate greed (“It’s not who invented the gun, man. It’s who pulls the trigger”) the old fashioned way - breaking and entering - AND in German, can you say that St. Paul-ers? Doing it the constitutional way is super trendy now though - first amendment, you still got it - even though I think we were all thrilled with the message Bernie Madoff got (click here). But in this new era of peaceful protests, Sebastian Errazuriz puts the posters of the 99% on plywood and sells them at a highly inflated price to the 1% (and let’s be real, probably give 1% to the 99% he has profited from 100% - Calculus AP what’s good). Personally, the only 99% I’m into is the 99% of my problems that aren’t bitches; I still #occupyallstreets.
I’m nothing if not a creature of habit, and Sunday Funday is no exception. Potential morning fry-up, at the very least a morning cig and a latte from that coffee shop that isn’t even that good (and, p.s., can’t compete with the Starfuckers next door) but you feel all local and shit going there knowing the staff. It really is a lovely day all around, and while an (ex) friend of mine recently found God (no I never looked for Him, and yes I am currently listening to Jesus Walks) and probably takes his one night stands - that seem to defy the rules against premarital drunk and sloppy sex - to the most profitible institution on Sunday mornings, I focus more on Sunday night.
Ya sure, I’ll casually quote some Voltaire (If God did not exist he would have to be invented) but the real superstar this weekend was Woody Allen in Love and Death (1975). Highlights include,”If it turns out there IS a God, I do’t think that he’s evil. I think that the worst you can say about him is that basically he’s an underachiever.” Add that to a spliff and some bomb ass Thai food (disclaimer: I made the Laksa soup and Iceland provided the spring rolls), expect to go to sleep enlightened on one of the many days of rest that I allow myself to have. May whatever force you chose be with you, and when in doubt , aim for The Church of SubGenius
Been an epic week (lies - can’t tell you what work I’ve done but I can describe every episode of the fourth season of Gossip Girl to a T) and all learned from watching glamorized interpretations of life (and Love and Death by Woody Allen - go watch it NOW) is that you can’t make a hoe a housewife and Ari Gold loves a cheater but hates a liar (or is it the other way around?) Don’t worry, J. Cole explains it all
![Another day, another 44 minutes of television closer to the season premiere of Mad Men, and yet another interview where the actors PLEADTHEFIFTH. This loyalty to Matthew Weiner has gotten out of hand, Loyalists never come out on top at the end - as Paul Kinsey so nervously said: Loyalists are always hung, and you don’t want to get caught in the fallout. Well I’m a mother fucking Patriot (Revolutionary speaking, otherwise: how about them Giants?) and in the home of free and the brave, we give out spoilers when NY Mag asks us for spoilers - and yes I realize the irony of this metaphor seeing as I am an American Girl in London. The British Are Coming!
What can you tell me about the character you’re playing in New Zealand?Elisabeth Moss: She’s different from anyone I’ve ever played. She’s a detective and has a wall up around her emotions. I usually play vulnerable characters.
Were you longing to stretch?EM: No. I’ve been really lucky that Peggy has changed so much since the pilot. It doesn’t get old.Jon Hamm: [Breaking in] I have to say, that’s bullshit. Sorry to be late! EM: Who is that?! JH: It’s Jon Hamm. I play Don Draper! EM: Jon, I’m really sorry. You’re not actually doing this interview anymore! It’s so awkward … JH: I’ll just listen in.
No, I still need both of you. I’m hoping one of you will spoil season five for us. Any surprises? JH: There are a lot of things where all of us as a cast were like, Whoa, okay. Uh, all right, so this is happening. It’s a world that’s consistently in a state of flux. There are things done that can’t be undone.
Can you be more specific? EM: There’s something that Matt said, that these characters have to figure out what they want and how to go after it. That summed up my character.JH: Matt has also said it’s every man for himself—that’s obviously not gender specific. Everybody is acting in their own self-interest, and that creates some pretty good dramatic tension.
Jon, you directed an episode this season. Did you ask to do that?JH: Actually, it was asked of me last season, and I didn’t feel like I was ready. But by this season, I’d seen John Slattery [who plays Roger Sterling] and Jennifer [Westfeldt] direct. So I felt confident enough.
Some of the best moments of the series are duets between you two, as in “The Suitcase.” What is it about Don and Peggy? JH: It’s not a mistake that the show starts on Peggy’s first day at work. In many ways, the story of Mad Men is the story of Peggy Olson: a young, ambitious, talented girl finding her way in this crazy world. I think Don and Peggy have a special relationship. They’re unsatisfied with who they are and are willing to do what it takes to become something else. EM: People are constantly asking if they’re gonna sleep together. I always get annoyed, because their relationship is more than that. And to keep that going over five years without selling out and having something else happen—that to me is really interesting and rarely done well. JH: People want to put us in a “Sam and Diane” box, but it’s about their mutual appreciation for the work. That’s where the material strikes its resonant chord, when it’s ostensibly about one thing and then it becomes about so much more. That’s the fun thing about Don and Peggy, and that’s the deeper thing aboutMad Men.
Not all of Mad Men shows that restraint. The season-four finale, when Don proposed to his secretary, left a lot of people puzzled. Have you ever read a script and said to yourself, “Really?” EM: Matt has never led Peggy in the wrong direction. I’ve never had a problEM with anything he’s done with her. Jon’s in more of a position to be able to speak up with things like that to Matt. JH: I don’t want to get into a bragging contest about who has more influence with Matt. I made a decision early on that I was just gonna put myself in this guy’s hands and say, “Okay, man, what’s it gonna be?”
We’ve waited so long between seasons. How did you feel about the unusual delay? EM: It’s been a lot longer for the audience than it has for us. We usually take about eight months off, and I guess this was just about a year. JH: It was a bummer, but at a certain point you’re like, “Well, we have some time off, so let’s not just sit on our hands.” That’s an incredible opportunity as an actor, and I certainly haven’t had it through much of my career.
Were you worried, during Weiner’s negotiations with AMC, that it might not all come together? JH: I was never really worried. Too many people stood to lose too much money.
With two seasons left to shoot, do you have a sense of where your characters will end up? JH: I think Matt has a very clear, very beautiful ending for this story, and I look forward to telling that story and arriving at that ending.
So, you know the ending? JH: I know exactly what it is.
Elisabeth, do you know? EM: I’ll plead the Fifth on that one.
Doesn’t that remove some of the suspense and excitement of reading new scripts? EM: You might have an idea of where something might be going, but the way that it gets there is always surprising.JH: He’s consistently shown that whatever we think is often wrong. And I think that’s been surprising not only to the audience but to us as actors.
Elisabeth, just like Peggy, you’ve been through some personal complications in your twenties—most recently a divorce. Do you use that real-life experience to navigate Peggy’s coming-of-age?EM: When I made the pilot, I was 23. I’m 29 now. You change and grow and become an adult, and I’ve learned a lot in the past six years, professionally and personally. It’s definitely informed who Peggy is.
Peggy’s grown more cynical. Have you?EM: I hope not. I think I’ve gotten smarter. I was a kid when I started this show. JH: No, Kiernan [Shipka, who plays Sally] was a kid. You were a young lady. Kiernan’s been on the show longer than she hasn’t been on the show.
So maybe Kiernan’s not quite ready to direct any episodes. What about Elisabeth? EM: [Laughing] It would be pretty funny. I’ve not been asked, so I haven’t thought about it. It would be pretty intimidating. I hope they would listen to me.
Why not? On the show, they listen to Peggy—well, eventually they do. EM: My point exactly.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0ell0ZxGU1r50cm9o1_500.jpg)
My flatmate and I are doing a wonderful job of showing our neighbors downstairs that not only do we stay up until 5 am on Saturdays playing charades listening to Queen, we also wake up hungover on Sunday afternoons (where the rainy weather in London has made me awfully romantic) having philosophical conversation about the sexual orientation of the French dude who sells me croissants and listening to French music to try and understand his ambiguously meterosexual ways (maybe we’re missing something that Edith Piaf can explain). Alas, Jacques Brel’s ballad is roughly translated to: “In the port of Amsterdam you can see sailors dance, paunches bursting their pants grinding women to paunch. They’ve forgotten the tune that their whiskey voice croaks.” Life lessons, and but no insight to my coffee shop crush, only weeks of unrequited flirting ahead (I got a free latte the other day! What does it mean, what does it mean?!)
I’m the poster child for middle children - “fly over states” - so I really enjoyed this Ted talk from Jeffrey Kluger (writer at TIME Magazine). This is the shit I complain about on all my first dates (no seconds). Lovely that now I have some ammunition for Shabbat dinners, ya know this is getting sent out to my whole family ASAP.
I had a similar party last night and woke up in a similar state this morning (then rally-ed and went to work), oh and I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast
Compilation of three verses from Aziz’s debut mixtape, “TwentyOne,” that’s set to drop March 12th, the five year anniversary since I failed my road test (but I remembered to put on my seat belt! safety first, bitches) and five days before my 21st year of contributing absolutely nothing but pollution (smoking kills) to this highly overrated planet, is over and I turn the insignificant (but always worth blacking out to) 22 years old. Thought that was a cute coincidence, what’s not cute is that I’m almost 22 and still need to bribe my friends with goodies (hookah and shnitzel) to drive me around. Ya win some ya lose some.
(Source: freshnewtracks.com)
Even a broken clock is right twice a day
A (for now) nameless friend of mine had never heard the song No Scrubs by TLC (stop reading if you haven’t either - you’re not welcome on this blog). By the Six Degrees of Separation for Hype Williams, I also stumbled upon a fly (albeit, a few months old) cover of No Diggity (Blackstreet ft. Dr. Dre and Queen Pen) by an Aussie, Chet Faker. Call me crazy (everyone does) but this is a solid metaphor for us 90’s Kidz; all our favorite throwbacks have been electrified in the house, dubbed and stepped, and their bases have been drummed. What’s worse? This isn’t next generation homicide, this is self mutilation and suicide. I would never deny a good electro beat entrance to my Itunes, but curse the day Avicii remixes Macarena.
