Wednesday 28 March 2012

I Can't Even Imagine How Handsome That Man Must Be Blushing.


Mad Men, finally returned. Finally. And the wait really was worth it, even if if just for anticipation's sake.
Its hard to describe it properly, but during the opening credits of the show, and that iconic symphony- this strange feeling was rising in my heart.You know when you have waited for something for so long, ad then its finally happening right before your eyes, and its believable and unreal at the same time.
The fact that I'd finally be seeing a new episode of Mad Men b(after having seen countless reruns in the last year and a half) was simply unbelievable. Its just one of those things na, the realisation of the something you have waited for a very long time.Okay, I don't think I'm doing  a very good job of describing the feeling so let drop it.

Anyway, the show started with the Y&R stunt, and ended on similar, related note.The premiere is set in 1966 , just around the time the civil rights movement that was picking momentum, and these historic events formed a frame for the 2 hour episode.The 5th season picks up pretty much where sean 4 left off, give or take a few months.


First things first. Sally has grown up. She has this strange , grown-up air about her. I know, even in season 4 she has that peculiar poise but somehow it was more unsettling this time around. She's like a little grown-up, keeping track of schedules and all- you know? I think if in real life I were to come across such a 12 year old I'd probably find her annoying, but in her case I don't. Probably because as viewers we know she has gone through ayyy-lot. She kinda has to be the mother hen to her little brothers as well, so her evolution makes sense. At the same time you just know that this girl is going to have major issues in life as a grown up.

Okay, moving on. The thing that I think everyone wanted to know was wth would happen with Don and Megan.
1) Will they actually get married?
 Yes, they did.Megs is the proud owner of the most coveted title in the world : Mrs Don Draper.

2) Can Megan keep Don happy?
Well- from what it seems, Don is happy. Megs I don't really care about, I think there is a generation gap between Don and Megs which Megs doesn't feel too good about because she wants to party and have fun and Don feels that he's already giving too much too this relationship by wearing a smile on that gorgeous mug on a semi-regular basis, and if he gives anything more he'd be qualified as whipped. Okay, the last part may not be that true, but there is that feel, especially after the surprise party Megs throws for Don. Its interesting to see the relationship dynamic between Don and M. Its surprisingly normal. Its healthy, Its happy. You can't help but compare it to Don and Betty's tension filled, passive-aggressive relationship. You kinda miss their dysfunctionality. Its still interesting to see Don be a kind and calm person for a change. He's in that honeymoon phase of his relationship, and you see the effect it has on him. I like that we're shown that even Don can have a honeymoon phase, you hardly expect it- I mean he's no Roger Sterling ( who also married his 20 something secretary and was madly in love with her ; before he got over it) , whoalthough shares similar s vices as Don, yet seems to be much less weighed down by existential issues (does'nt take himself as seriously)/ I guess what the creator of the show is trying to tell  us is that core of every human experience remains the same/similar (?)

P.S- Meg is annoying. Its very hard for me to accept any woman with D, except Bets - and that too mainly because that's how I got to know her, and second it was not a very passionate marriage so it was much easier to deal with. With Megs he's different. Yes I  know, honeymoon period and all, but like Megs is upset and she goes home and Don runs back after her. Excuse me?
I swear the most relieving par of the entire episode was seeing that Don was mortified by his young, new wife's  burlesque rendition of Zou Bisous Bisous in front of a bunch of guests at the party.
You can see shades of the old Don. After the party, he doesn't even pretend to have liked Meg's surprise for his birthday. He's dismissive, and unlike what Megs expected, he doesn't lay a finger on her.
Oh wells.She got her share later.


Joan has had Roger's baby although I'm not sure if Roger himself knows , although he probably does.Joan is as smokin as ever, those curves and that meat could do no other human being as much justice as they do to her.She has taken time off work, and from what it seems she can't wait to go back to it. Also, I loevd how warmly Don met her when she dropped by at the office for a visit. I was discussing this with some friends last night, Joan would be the perfect Mrs Draper. She does the name justice. Speaking of which, I think something is brewing or has been brewn (?) between the two. Why?

1) Joan wants to go back to work, her snippy little mother wants her to stay at home with the child. Mother says something like Megan probably doesn't want you around her husband type, which was very off, since D and J have been working at the same place for eons. Typically I wouldn't look too much into it and pass it on as a  jealous mom taunt until....
2) When Joan comes to visit the office, and all the secretaries and Don are fawning over Joan/baby, Megan is walking past, she sees the little party and turns quickly  to slink away, before Joan notices this and calls her, to which she responds by running over like an attention starved puppy.
 Side note: its awesome how Joan can scare the living lights out of the secretarial pool without even raising her voice.Megs isn't even a secretary anymore she's a 'creative' now.
3) Joan and Lane are having a little bonding moment and Lane tells her about the party and Megs striplesstease and Joan is all like no! what about bout Don?( p.s- reminder Joan was once put in a similar position by he husband asked to perform for his hospital colleagues and she also sings a french song, but no comparison between the two in terms of style and sexual content)

Lane: I saw his soul leave his body

Joan:  I can't even imagine how handsome that man must be blushing.

Best line ever.

Haina? Haina? there is something very telling. I just cant put my finger on it. Yet.
I think we should start a bet on this. 

Peggy is the same old. Thank God that writer boyfriend Abe/Gabe is still around. They're cute together. I think she resents Megan a little, only because she misses Don's attention. Possibly also to see a man like him be transformed by a twenty something candy floss you know? Also I think Pegs has a bit of a Don-entitlement complex  where she feels she is entitled to him and everything he can offer only because they share a deep understanding. I think she also resents that he has never made a move on her.

Roger Sterling is awesome. He is an asshole, and has become so useless to the agency that even the secretaries don't mince words with him, but hell he gets the best one liners. Like really.His interactions with his young 'glamourpuss' wife are epic.I kinda wonder if their relationship is foreshadowing Don and Megs path since the demographics and circumstances are pretty close.





Pete and Roger's little cold war is fun. More importantly we see that (Pete and Pegs) are perhaps the only ones who are actually interested in work at the agency now. the senior partners, apart from Lane are all chilling. Don doesn't care either. He comes late goes early and only wants to spend time with this wife.

Hold on.

I think there was not one scene of Don pouring himself  a drink in his office bar. I would think that was a sacred rite. but I guess Megs has changed everything. We hate her, we hate her more than the know-it-all daughter in Gilmore Girls.
Its not her fault.
It just comes with the title.

Okay this has become too long, but I have to  say. I miss Betty. I need to see that ice cold stare , that bitchy attitude and that snarky tone. I'm kind craving to see how much more delusional she's gotten. I swear if they make her happy and warm as well it will piss me off.

What did everyone else think/ wouldn't it be awesome if all Mad Men episodes were two hour long?

Thursday 22 March 2012

Accepting Expensive Gifts on Just This One Occasion-II

I have found my must have shoes for this season.
I was playing my favorite at work game- If net-a-porter was my personal wardrobe, and I came across the most awesome shoes.
I want.
I need so bad/

I haven't shopped for a while,so I'm at that point when everything online seems gorgeous. Never has it been so pertinent to own trash. I'm actually imaginary buying bangles from f21. Just Imagine. Bangles! of all the things in the world. I don't even wear bangles.




These are Miu Miu.
Wow na? I know, they are a bit OTT, with the color, the heels and the glitter platform ,but its okay. I believe hooker heels are the most acceptable hooker inspired apparel that a lady can own, so don't be embarrassed by the heel, you will not be mistaken for a -- if you're walking down the street in these- although I will suggest : please don't walk down the street in these shoes-take a cab; some shoes are only meant to to be walked on polished and lacquered marble, nothing else. Also, if you belong to a the safe brigade, who are wishing that the shoes were in black/beige instead of turquoise-no! If these shoes were in black, trust me the hooker factor would be amped up way way more. Since these ones are in a candy color, the sex appeal  is a bit toned down, cos the color is kinda clowny na, and nobody thinks clowns are sexy. At the same time, the jeweled heel, is the  shoe equivalent of Victoria Secret cleavage .
Do you get my point?
Of course, don't wear it with a tight body con dress. Try to harmonize the shoes with your clothes by providing a contrast. Something simple, something hat doesn't overplay in the sexiness dept. The truth of the matter is, you never want to come across as trying too hard, so as long as you are avoiding that road, go for whatever you want.
I'd probably wear them with ankle length jeans and a white shirt, or a white sheath dress.
However if you want the shoe to be black for the precise reason of  maximum sex appeal and are seeking the full on hooker experience from your shoes : look online you might find them. They probably do exist in black. Neiman Marcus. Bergdoff Goodman. If a black version exists they probably have it.
The shoes are about $1000. Steep, but not so much if you look at it as an investment.

Tuesday 20 March 2012

Game Change

I saw Game Change last night.
It was awesome.
Like awesome awesome.
You know?
Good.

Game Change is an HBO tv movie starring Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson and Ed Harris.

First things first. The print was amazing. Like so amazing that I texted my sister in the other room saying that movie print was amazing. She was not interested in the print. She was doing homework. I knew that she wasn't interested. I still sent her that text because I was so excited. If the initial shock of the print being wow hadn't rendered me immobile for the opening credits I would have probably gotten up, walked to her room and told her myself. Mind you, its an HBO tv movie so I hardly expected it to be out already here, that too in good print, just a WEEK after its release. Yes a week.Good job Shahzad movie store.





Moving on, its about the 2008 presidential race; more specifically the McCain-Palin campaign; even more specifically about how the selection of Palin as republican VP nominee was a rash choice made by McCain (played by Ed Harris of Step Mom's ever absent dad fame), and his team of advisors, one of whom was  Steve Schmidt ( Woody Harrelson)- the man whose pov is most evident in the movie . I thoroughly enjoyed that election, so perhaps that's why I might find it to be more interesting than others -I was engrossed for almost the entire duration of the film if not all. Moore is amazing as Palin, she channels that particular 'Palin' brand of confidence, her skills as an entertainer, and her stuttered failings as a good politician and statesman (woman?) beautifully in every frame of the movie. She thought the Queen was the head of government of Britain. She thought the the war in Iraq was because Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11. Yes. True story, well at least according to the movie.
The movie also raises really interesting questions that seem more relevant than ever with the elections coming up again, and the race for the GOP nomineee already well on its way. One of them was whether popular 'personalities' such as Obama and Palin had what it takes to be a good president. Yes, they had the charm and star quality to capture audiences but not much else in terms of credentials- and nowhere near the experience that McCain had. You see that in the movie; Sarah Palin is being fawned over by the public, while the campaign advisors ask amongst themselves whether they would want a candidate as inexperienced as Palin to be in such close proximity to becoming the President of the United States ( McCain was 72 at that time, and had had prior heart conditions) by default.  Same goes for Obama; in the very beginning of the movie  we are told that this is a man who has done nothing but he manages to gather crowds like a celebrity does, just because he has that X factor- but what does that mean for the United States?
 Looking back at the Obama's tenure and how he has fared; the American public might understand the importance of having a president that is more than a great speaker and a crowd catcher.  Obviously I understand its unreal and faulty to place an entire country's expectations in the hand of one man and expect even a quarter of them to be met, but well that's what Obama's victory was about in a sense,in addition to the American public's deep dismay and distrust in anything republican after the Bush presidency.

Coming back to the movie.

Julianna Moore is amazing.
Woody Harrelson is awesome.
Pace is great.

And also, 

Do watch.

Really.



Newsweek Goes Retro

 Warning: This is about Mad Men.

So in anticipation of the Mad Men premier this Sunday, Newsweek has tied up with Mad Men, and gone back to their 1965 format (at least for the cover) to transport us to the time in which the series will pick up from. How cool na? The cover looks great (duh). What's cooler is that all the present day advertisements were given the opportunity to go back to that era. The featured ads are all done in SCDP format. How fun na? I'm so getting my hand on a copy. Advertisers like All State, Mercedes (who Don/Jon Hamm does the voice over for), Tide etc all jumped at the opportunity for providing retro ads, cos lets face it- its fun, and it's great branding opportunity.


My apologies for only featuring stuff about Mad Men since ever now, but I cannot help it. I've got  a problem , which I am not ashamed to admit- as acceptance is the first step to recovery, and I have also developed a giant block called boredom which I am not being able to work through.

So 3 things.

1) Apologies for not posting as regularly, or as well, or at all. I cannot tell you when I shall return to the old because I have no clue.
2) I am thorougly impressed by how far AMC has gone to promote this show, and ensure that the show gets crazy opening TRPs, and every person on the planet with internet knows about Mad Men's impending return - and that they are well excited about it. I thought only movies have this kind of a press and publicity exercises. If I did'nt already love the show, I'd probably hate it for the amount of publicizing it has done. But you can't blame them-they are returning after 17 months- and people in this day and age have incredibly short memory/attention spans, and are more capable of 'out of sight, out of mind' , rather than 'distance makes the heart grow fonder'.
3) Do you guys know (have I mentioned it before?) - in this season they will delve into Joan and Don's relationship? Hold up! I doubt it involves romantic twist...but I think it goes into both of their shared past more. Cos they have been working in the same company for a while now na , and they share this comfort which has never be explained. Sooo that's interesting. Although I bet my left hand there has to be someeeethhhiiinnggg at some point-initial mai, before they decided it was totally platonic you know. I wonder who came onto who?


Anyway, checkout the retro ads that were featured in the Newsweek.








Wednesday 14 March 2012

Mad Men is (almost) Back!


12 more days to go. Well 13 for us in this part of the world. And then, we will have a 2 hr Mad Men season premiere! Isn't that awesome. And btw, ive been noticing since like, yesterday, they've really amped up the pr and marketing mechnanism of the show- a lot of buzz is being generated for the upcoming season. Obviosuly that had to be done, come on, the show is coming back after a year and a half, and while there are loyal followers like me who have been waiting for it with breath that is baited, there are other viewers that are not so committal, or perhaps have forgotten the charm of the show and adopted other blah shows that I do not care to name- but  still it is interesting that as opposed to me relentlessly searching for material to read up on Don and Mad Men- today on Huffington Post- there was an entire interview about it with Jon Hamm, aka Don Draper. Things are looking up.
Anyway, since the creator of the show , Matt Weiner is very secretive and incredibly anal about anybody finding out anything (even the cast) in the plot before he ordains it, there is no trailer of the upcoming season. The teasers that are circling the net are primarily just montages of the previous seasons. Oh well, we've waited this long, I guess another 12 days won't be too much. Also, if the cast is to be believed, the season is supposed to EPIC. I dunno, all I care to find out about is wth happens between Megan and Don. Also, its a bit snippy of me, but I wanna see Betty- how she looks after her pregnancy and all, also she is supposed to have become a bigger bitch; which is morbidly fascinating to watch. Somehow its really comforting to see  a gorgeous woman, with an incredible figure and a beautiful wardrobe be so deeply flawed. Redeems our own self esteem you know?

Anyway, checkout the incredible teasers. They get you real excited about the show.


Don is back:



Joan is back:



Betty is back:




Roger is back:




Mad Men is back:




Had fun? Don't you just love the format? so cool, doesn't give anyyyyything away, but gets all the excitement bubbling. 13 more days everyone. 13, lucky number 13.

Tuesday 13 March 2012

Why Marc Why??

Marc Jacobs, imo, is one of the hottest gay men around if not the hottest. Like honestly I'm trying to think of someone who is better or rates higher and I can't . Maybe Barney for some, and yeah, he's funny and great and all that but Marc Jacobs has such a different look. I guess I like darker guys. And hello, do you remember his ad for his perfume, Bang? Have you seen his bod? Actually, his sexuality has nothing to do with it- he's hot.Period
Having said that,  I don't get his clothes much these days.Well for his own label , I still kinda do, but for LV...no! Like, the fall 2012 collection shown in Paris the week before last ( I know I should've posted about the various fashion weeks, but I just can't bring myself to it-suffering from a block) I. honestly didn't know what to make of it. I tried imagining myself in any of the pieces, and it was tough, tough for me to fall in love with any one thing. Especially as compared to the spring/summer 2012 collection.Now that was a delight. And those clunky shoes with the diamond buckle in the fall 2012? what was that? why does Marc hate women all of a sudden. Like, maybe I'm just not fashion savvy enough to 'get' his collection because according to the reviews the fashion elite was tripping on its pointy, metal capped toe heels while I was having a hard time liking, like liking liking anything. Maybe I'm just a fashion hick in that sense. But at the same time, when something looks off , I know- i.e,Marc Jacobs photographed at a recent outing.

But first, I have a question,  how weird is too weird? and how weird does one have to be to negate from their attractiveness ranking.How weird are you to crush on someone who is weird?Lost? , okay, just see first:



These are the diamond buckle horrors from his fall 2012 btw, and like seriously? a hot pink dress? and little toiletry case held literally like a clutch?(or maybe an actual clutch)
Okay, okay. let's be rationale about this.Maybe it was a costume party. The guy behind him looks like he's in costume. No need to freak.
 Okay I checked, it's not costume- he actually wore that to fashion week in Paris. The guy next to him is an architect. I don't know how the last bit is relevant or important, but oh well.
The face, still, looks kinda awesome, but neck down its one horror after the other. I mean kyun? why would you do that? I understand, it might've just been out of pure convenience, cos hey- these clothes are just lying around in your atelier/or wherever and you just put them on. You put them , stand infront of the mirror and think, 'hey this doesn't look so bad', turn to side profile , 'not bad at all' . Out of sheer boredom, and feeling proud of how good your bod has bene looking for the past few days, you decide, ' oh, what the hell, life is too short, I think I'm going to wear this out today'.And then you actually do. Most people, would retract their decision between the thinking and the actualizing. Marc Jacobs managed to pass that level, since his creatives capabilities surpass most human beings. Yet, understanding all of this and of course the terribilità that creative personalities suffer bi-weekly, I still can't help lamenting when I see this picture (I ve seen it a few times through the course of the day, keep thinking/hoping that it may have been a dream)

Why Marc Why? I understand you could never be attracted to me, but that doesn't mean you can't let me be attracted to you. Don't worry, this is a harmless crush , in fact not even a crush crush,  I haven't gone lovesick and dreamt about kids or drapes with you. But please don't resort to this.If it was a one time thing, something you just wanted to try, or freak the media out (those paps can be so annoying na)- great, job well done. But don't make it into a habit. I don't want people to associate you with womenswear , well, they actually do do that- but not as the designer who is in drag, or models his womenswear line (I'm actually not sure of the dress is his design, but the shoes are definitely his). I'm only saying this because I care about you. Else I'd never. You know that.

For those who have forgotten how incredibly hot he is: