Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

T R E 4 5 O N

A Senator Walker would be an insult to the state and the nation.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

The willow is too close to the house.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

This really is a full service blog.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / This is not a “Mad Men” open thread

This is not a “Mad Men” open thread

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I’ve had about enough of Jon Hamm after watching football, and the accompanying commercials, all day, but due to a problem with my RSS reader, I had been missing James Wolcott’s brilliant Mad Men synopses. Wolcott has the silkiest chops in the blogging game and his piece on last week’s show is worth reading for the title of the lead-in alone.

Also, this is a general open thread and also too, I think this is the comment of the day.

Reader Interactions

81Comments

  1. 1.

    mcd410x

    Johnson’s entire body hit the ground—everything—before he rolls over (still on the ground!) and tries to stop by putting the ball on the ground. If Johnson spikes the ball, if he throws it in celebration, if he does anything other than what he did it’s a TD and a Lions win. It was an amazing catch, and it’s a shitty, shitty rule.

    Total horseshit.

  3. 3.

    Corner Stone

    Hell. There ain’t nothing free about “free” sex samples. And anybody with a blood supply to the big head knows it.

  4. 4.

    Sakura

    I posted this in another thread but no one responded, so I’m going to try asking again here:

    OT, but I was just on TPM and they have a photo from the protests going on in NYC today (on the front page)… and this woman is wearing a tshirt that caught my eye. It says “Waterboarding Instructor”. Is this some kind of wingnut thing I haven’t been aware of until now? Are these people PROUD of wearing shirts that (in my view) glorify and, if I may say so, even encourage torture?

    Or am I just misinterpreting the message of the shirt?

    Here is the picture I saw.

  6. 6.

    Will

    Anybody got a recommendation for a good place (free, and free of spyware, malware, adware, and attempts to install crappy software) to watch earlier Mad Men episodes online?

    We just finished the watching the DVD of Season 3, don’t have cable, and don’t get AMC here.

    And of course, now we want to watch the episodes of Season 4 that have run so far.

    Any suggestions for a good site to do that?

    Thanks….will

  7. 7.

    Corner Stone

    I gotta tell ya, that big “Get your Smokey on” ad at the top really isn’t doing what it’s supposed to.

  12. 12.

    Martin

    @Sakura: Every society has their population that are willing to shove people into ovens. That’s not surprising. What’s notable is that we have a political party that encourages this behavior to be shared rather than suppressed as taboo.

  13. 13.

    RSR

    oh, this is great. I’ve wanted to introduce my wife to Wolcott for a while (quoting him just doesn’t work), and the Mad Men thing should do it.

  18. 18.

    Sakura

    @DougJ:

    You discussed it somewhere else? I must have missed it. And I was pretty sure it was saying she supports waterboarding, I just couldn’t believe it when I saw it.

  20. 20.

    Yutsano

    @mr. whipple: Amen.

    Had something odd happen to me tonight. I doctored up a frozen pizza for dinner (another Bourdain indulgence, don;t judge me!) and one of the ingredients was beldi olives (Moroccan, dry cured, try them if you can find them) and the olives overwhelmed the pizza. It’s absolutely delicious, just not what I was aiming for.

  23. 23.

    That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)

    @Violet: I’m the kind of liberal that thinks that these questions are ridiculous and don’t tell anyone anything useful. Which would be the one book I would take with me when escaping Earth? None of the ones that are offered as choices, that’s for damned sure. Ditto for the bumper stickers.

  27. 27.

    Yutsano

    @Violet:

    I’m a Social Justice Crusader.

    Moi aussi. Although the Rushmore question I hated mostly because none of the above wasn’t an option. That and I couldn’t pick and choose the faces.

  28. 28.

    Allison W.

    @Violet:

    LOL!!! It Says For Me:

    Reality-Based Intellectualist

    You are a Reality-Based Intellectualist, also known as the liberal elite. You are a proud member of what’s known as the reality-based community, where science, reason, and non-Jesus-based thought reign supreme.

    That was fun. I don’t consider myself a liberal though. I’m just anti-evil.

    And yeah, what’s so elitist about making decisions based on facts?

  32. 32.

    Origuy

    I left Friday morning to go camping and orienteering in Tahoe. No TV, radio, newspaper or internet (I checked my email once.) Can someone give me the highlights of the weekend?

  35. 35.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    Maybe I’m the only one who didn’t know, but for any William Gibson fans, he has a new book out, Zero History, the third in his Bigend series.

  36. 36.

    Yutsano

    @asiangrrlMN: That is becuz we r rugged individualists who prefer things in our own fashion. Or something like that anyway. I got the whole quiz was tongue-in-cheek anyway, I just thought the thing was more than mildly retarded.

    Yeah Bible Spice I said retarded. What you gonna do about it you flaming money hoor?

  37. 37.

    MattR

    Interestingly I was pegged as a Reality-Based Intellectualist both when I was flippant and when I was “serious” while answering the questions. It’s like it is in my head and really knows me.

  38. 38.

    Violet

    @asiangrrlMN:
    Heh. SO surprised at your results.

    @That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
    I wouldn’t pick any of those books either, if I could pick from any book in the world. But like voting in the upcoming elections, I went with what I considered the least-worst choice.

    It’s fun seeing everyone’s results. Although I don’t know any of you IRL, your results seem to match reasonably well with my impression of on your online personalities.

    I wanted to change the answers too, but that would kind of take away from the whole quiz concept.

  39. 39.

    Violet

    @Yutsano:
    Yeah, it’s just a stupid quiz. The whole concept of those online quizzes is silly. But they can be kind of fun.

    @MattR:

    It’s like it is in my head and really knows me.

    Heh. Me too! I got the same result on both quizzes with different answers. It’s got me pegged.

  40. 40.

    Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther

    @asiangrrlMN: I thought I might find you here! That was a really lovely comment you left over to my place, and very true: If we only love those who have only ever done good, no one will ever, in fact, be loved.

    @Yutsano: Thanks for your congrats yesterday! I’m so sorry I don’t have a nice gay Jewish boy up my sleeve for your friend. He’s a looker, too!

  43. 43.

    MattR

    @Origuy: For us to mention anything else so close to the actual date would be disrespectful of all those who died.

    /anti-mosque douchebag

  45. 45.

    Yutsano

    @Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther: It’s a task I wouldn’t mind handing off to SIA or Siubhan either, as they’re both locals. And Josh is open to dating outside his religion as long as his partner understands what his career is. He went to Jerusalem Pride in 2009 and blogged about it, I wish I could remember the exact
    URL for it.

  46. 46.

    scav

    @Yutsano: Ditto on both although the book was easy (Hitchhikers). Wish I could have managed the Intellectual whatever-it-was on one of the tests so that I could have been a bespectacled elite until the need arose and then could dash somewhere (a store selling cell phones nowadays) and whip on the cape to do battle somewhere. sigh.

  47. 47.

    scav

    @scav: well, that’s a shock. My alter ego is a New Left Hipster — decades of graduate school down the drain. . . or perhaps recovered from.

  49. 49.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Yutsano: Wait, what? You want me to set up a gay Jewish dating agency for your friend? Or, you want me to convert (by which I mean: convert *EVERYTHING*) so I can date him myself? Or what, now?

    I’m not saying I won’t, mind. I just like to know what I’m getting into before I make big commitments.

    P.S. I’m taking the liberty of assuming SIA feels much as I do, although we have not discussed your offer.

  50. 50.

    Yutsano

    @SiubhanDuinne: LMAO. Nothing so drastic. I’m just trying to find him a good other half is all. And no you can’t cheat and suggest me, I’ve been over all that already. Just know that he’s 5’5″ 185 and could probably dead lift you rather easily.

  51. 51.

    Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther

    @Yutsano: Wow. Jerusalem Pride 2009. Now THAT would be an interesting blog post! I may have to look for it myself! I think that was the year that representatives of all the major religions within Jslm’s borders issued a joint statement condemning homosexuality. Whoot! Good times.

  52. 52.

    Yutsano

    @Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther: That was part of the reason why he went: to participate in that declaration. That and of course to see Israel and Jerusalem and such. He had an absolute blast. I’m kinda surprised you’ve never heard of him before.

  54. 54.

    Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther

    I have a funny thing to report:

    So yesterday (as I shouted all over the place in this very locale and several others), Nick Kristof linked to my blog from his blog. Huzzah! Needless to say, this has led to a rather larger Sunday readership than I usually get.

    BUT: Back in the days of the Gaza flotilla madness, John front-paged me — and like THAT, my stats went through the roof, close to ten-fold.

    The Kristof bump? About six-fold-ish. A bit less. Maybe 5.5-fold.

    By which I mean: JOHN COLE IS MORE POWERFUL THAN NICK KRISTOF.

    No surprise to me, but still, I thought the world should know.

  55. 55.

    Comrade Luke

    Am I the only one that gets Wolcott’s feed completely unformatted? It makes it impossible to read.

  58. 58.

    Yutsano

    @asiangrrlMN: Oh shush. I love him enough to want to see him happy with someone, what does THAT tell you? Plus you are more aware than others on here of a rather glaring issue regarding names no?

  61. 61.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @ellaesther: Those are some pretty amazing stats, they are! I have to say, even though I linked to Kristof’s blog last night as soon as I saw your post, I did it all over again this morning and it was just as thrilling the second time to see him give you such a nice shout-out.

    And, I know exactly what asiangrrlMN means. Knowing you, however virtually, puts us only two degrees of separation from Nick Kristof, which is pretty cool. And we’re all only *one* d.o.s. from the even more powerful John Cole. Plus, Nick Kristof has never called us a bunch of jackasses who can DIAF, whereas John says it all the time. That’s gotta count for something.

  66. 66.

    Yutsano

    @Comrade Luke: This is a double special result for me. I get to make a soldier in Afghanistan very happy with the news that his Redskins were victorious. I might not get to send that until the morning however. Ah well such is life.

    @Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther: We do what we can with what we have and let the Lord sort out the rest. I think that’s in the Talmud somewhere.

  69. 69.

    Steeplejack

    Reality-Based Intellectualist on the first quiz, Working Class Warrior on the update.

    Second quiz tries to be funnier and ends up being lamer.

  70. 70.

    Yutsano

    Okay, time for me to do this now:

    I’m gonna have to go off the night shift from here for awhile. I start the new gig at the IRS in the morning, and the training is 8-10 weeks from 9 to 5. Because I have a slightly monstrous commute now, I’ll have to leave at 7 AM tomorrow to get there on time. I’ll miss all the fun & stuff but I’ll still be posting, just not as late.

    Be excellent to each other, and PARTY ON DUDES!!

  72. 72.

    Mnemosyne

    @PaulW:

    McCarthy used to joke that he had somehow been affected by his episode of “The Twilight Zone” where he played a guy who was over 200 years old.

    He came pretty darn close to 100, so I’d say he did pretty well.

    I am also a Social Justice Crusader, BTW. With Hitchhiker in my back pocket.

  73. 73.

    Evie

    I’m so sick of those fucking Mercedes commercials. And I only watch tennis. I can’t imagine what it’d be like watching multiple sports. They are killing my Don Draper buzz.

    Hope Jon Hamm made a lot of money for the voiceovers — I’d like the overkill travesty to be worth it.

    (p.s. – this is why U.S. stars stick to advertising on the other side of the planet)

  76. 76.

    MattR

    @asiangrrlMN: Came back home last night so I could meet up with friends for the first Sunday of football. Heading back down after work tomorrow evening through Sunday the 19th. I have been loving the weather since Earl came through (75 to 80 with a nice breeze). How’s things with you in the land of a thousand lakes? (I keep wanting to say Great White North despite knowing that is the wrong nickname)

    (EDIT: Is it wrong if I am kinda hoping we have a few more named storms so we get to Matthew? We just got Tropical Storm Julia so we are only three more away.)

  77. 77.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Yutsano (if you’re still around): Good luck in the new job training! See you soon (earlier).

    Night, all.

  78. 78.

    DickSpudCouchPotatoDetective

    On a blog which only a couple of weeks ago was trolling for its own identity, the comment of the day is a little piece of sex snark. Alrighty then.

    Also, Rubicon is the biggest and most pointless mindfuck in the history of television. I’d rather watch Glen Beck.

  79. 79.

    Anne Laurie

    @Belafon (formerly anonevent): Cyberpunk was taking off just as I wandered away from reading much sf, so my first Gibson novel was Pattern Recognition, which quite impressed me. Wasn’t until the Spook Country came out — to quite mixed reviews — that I realized there was going to be a trilogy, and decided I’d wait for the final book to be published. At this point, I’ll probably have to re-read PR before tackling the next two… and, tragically, all those intervening years of websurfing have done terrible things to my attention span. But the reviews of Zero History do make it sound like it’ll be worth the effort, don’t they?

  81. 81.

    SBJules

    The reason I don’t watch Mad Men is that I actually lived through that time.

    At the time of the Clay-Liston fight I was living in a big apartment complex in Provo, UT, going to BYU. I earned some money cooking dinner for some football players in the same complex. It went well until the night of the boxing match. The “boys” were listening to the fight on the radio and almost immediately quit using their knives and forks. When they reached into a freshly baked apple pie to eat it with their hands, I left, never to return. Imagine if they had had a television.

    I learned then to stay well out of the way whenever there was a boxing match anywhere.

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