That Bearded Guy On "Mad Men" Is Kinda Cute

I never particularly noticed actor Michael Gladis as one of the ad boys on AMC's brilliant, Emmy award winnning series "Mad Men". But as I work my way through Season 2 via DVD, I find myself intrigued and somewhat drawn towards his character, the debonair, nattily dressed junior adman "Paul Kinsey". Maybe it's just the new beard, which gives him a sort of early Orson Welles quality. Or maybe it's the way his character is so 60's-style suave, drinking brandy at a party or puffing on a pipe in the office. He's also the one guy on the show who seems to have aspirations outside of advertising, as he pecks away on his Great American Novel using an IBM Selectric (stolen from the office even!). Finally, he's causing a stir at Sterling/Cooper with his new relationship with a black woman. So Paul seems to be the new, subversive bad boy of the bunch. And he's kinda cute too.

Big Changes For Bleecker Street Station

The Bleecker Street station on the 6 line has been one of my regular "home-stations" for nearly 20 years. Oddly enough, though many other subway stations in my neighborhood have been restored, rebuilt or renovated, Bleecker remains the same cramped, dank, crappy station since I moved here. In fact, the last major upgrade the station received was in the 1940's when the platforms were lengthened to accommodate longer trains.

This summer, the MTA has finally begun a renovation that has long been in the works. The plan is to connect the uptown 6 with the Broadway-Lafayette station with escalators and a new entrance. Some architectural renderings were recently released and posted about on Second Avenue Sagas, my favorite subway blog. It's going to be long time before the project's done, not til 2011. But it looks like the fancy new, multilevel station with cool neon artwork will be well worth the wait.

From The Earth To The Moon Via Bethpage

In case you've missed out on the nostalgia-fest, today is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The airwaves and the Internets are filled with the famous clips, the iconic sound bites and the now elderly astronauts reminiscing about their heyday. I didn't think there was too much to add to this hubub until I read an article in today's TIMES about how NASA built all the lunar modules on Long Island, at a Grumman plant in Bethpage.

In fact, LI has a long history of being at the forefront of aerospace research and design, going back to Lindy's trans-Atlantic flight that left from Roosevelt Field (now Roosevelt Mall) back in 1927. Today, Long Island is known more for it's traffic jams and the Hamptons than for anything actually being built there. But it's interesting to note the major role it played in today's historic anniversary.

Cupcake of the Week: World's Largest

At the Mall of America (of course!), the world's largest cupcake was unveiled Saturday. Can you say slow news-weekend? Frankly, as much as I love cupcakes, I think there is something ridiculous and oxymoronic about it. The point of a cupcake is that it's a small, handheld cake. I mean, would someone ever try to create the world's largest minivan? Anyway, here's the deets from Fox News.

Shirtless Dudes From Cali Hit Soho....TOTALLY

I was walking home from the subway yesterday when I spotted two shirtless dudes wearing boardshorts and sunscreen on their noses, standing at the corner of Broadway & Houston. Apparently, they are the permanent doormen at the new Hollister store in Soho which just opened yesterday. Curious to see what that was all about, I stepped into the "Hollister Pier" which is a four story quasi-recreation of the Huntington Beach pier with supposedly live feeds of the real beach playing on Hi-Def windows.

Other than those windows, the space was incredibly dark and felt more like one of those "Dark Rides" at the boardwalk except, instead of a skeleton popping out from every corner, there were shirtless guys all saying the exact same thing; "Hey Man--what's up?" Scar-reeee! I wandered around and, no joke, was greeted 12 times in the roughly 10 minutes I was in the store. Oddly enough, I didn't see one cash register in the joint which I thought was odd given it is, like, a store and all. But there were piles of t-shirts with faux retro prints and board shorts that were nearly evening-gown length. I guess if you actually wanted to buy something one of the buff dudes would help you out, fer sure!

Anyway, the place is worth checking out for it's curiosity as a retail theme park. It also serves as a lovely respite from the July heat...they had the best air conditioning! Totally.

The White House on Flickr

There's been a lot of talk about transparency in government since President Obama took office. But did you know the White House has it's own Flickr page? I just found out today via The Awl and there are some interesting shots. Not exactly behind-the-scenes but at least more than the standard press conference and shake-a-foreign-leader's-hand pics you'll find on a news website.

If you want a little more spice, you can take a look at the Awl's feature where they've added some goofy captions (from The Daily Beast's Ana Marie Cox and Huffington Post's Jason Linkins) to some of the odder photos, like the one above: "Why yes, I'm very interested in your long distance plan." LOL. This is like the stuff we tried to sneak into my high school newspaper when the advisor wasn't looking.

Harry Potter is So Gay Friendly

The new Harry Potter movie opens today, which promises to be somewhat more adult than the previous flicks. In keeping with that theme, Towleroad posted a fairly adult looking Daniel Radcliffe pic today as well as a link to an interview on Moviefone in which Radcliffe, in repsonse to a question about the newly out Dumbledore, talks freely about how cool he is with the fact that people think he has a "gay face". His attitude is so gay-positive for the major star of a studio franchise that I had post it. Not only is Radcliffe talented but he sounds very bright, cheeky and, as he himself says, even a bit camp.

The Most Hated Filmmaker In America

Despite grossing over $300 million in less than a month, the "Transformers" sequel is clearly one of the most profitable films of the year. It is also one of the most hated by film critics, garnering a low 19% on the Tomotao Meter @ Rotten Tomatoes. While some of their critical vitriol is directed at the film and Hollywood franchises in general, a great deal of it is aimed at Michael Bay, the film's infamous director. Here's a sampling:

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” directed by the stunningly, almost viciously, untalented Michael Bay, is much closer to the norm of today’s conglomerate filmmaking." DAVID DENBY, The New Yorker

"You may recall that its 2007 predecessor was a mostly capable commercial for Transformers toys and Bay's previous films, from which most of the iconography was lifted as the man continues to pay homage to his favorite filmmaker." ROBERT WILONSKY, Village Voice

"It's tempting to dismiss Michael Bay's long, loud and ludicrous sequel to 2007's Transformers with one word — hunkajunk. It carves out its own category of godawfulness. I do accept that Bay is unique. No one can top him for telling a story with such striking, shrieking incoherence." ROLLING STONE, Peter Travers

And those are the nice reviews. When I was in film school, there was the notion that getting any reaction from an audience was what was desirable, whether it was love or cinema vendettas. Thus, one could argue that Bay is a master of terrible cinema. In fact, the NY TIMES reviewer Manhola Dargis suggests just that: "Make no mistake: Mr. Bay is an auteur. His signature adorns every image in his movies, as conspicuously as that of Lars von Trier, and every single one is inscribed with a specific worldview and moral sensibility. Mr. Bay’s subject — overwhelming violent conquest — is as blatant and consistent as his cluttered mise-en-scène."

Though I'd agree his movies are consistently terrible, I don't know if that makes one an auteur. According to the Encylcopedia Brittanica, auteur is defined as "theory of filmmaking in which the director is viewed as the major creative force in a motion picture." In the case of Mr. Bay in general and "Transformers" in particular, I'd have say to the major creative force is the EFX department followed closely by marketing. It is, afterall, a movie about Hasbro toys.

Though TROTF has proven to be "review-proof", it's hated director may not be. In a curious turn of events, despite the franchise's nearly billion dollar success, Bay says he will not be directing the next Transformers movie which Paramount has announced for July 2011. On his own website, he said he's had enough of robots. Is this code for film critics, perhaps?

Does Anyone Remember "Blansky's Beauties"?

While watching a "Rhoda" marathon on DVD over the weekend, a lively discussion about TV spin-offs ensued. Rhoda was a character from the "Mary Tyler Moore" show, the neighbor who was so quirky she got her own quirky show. Remember Carlton the Doorman? I mentioned that "Happy Days", which itself was a spin-off from a "Love American Style" segment, holds the world record for most spin-offs with 7. My friend found this hard to believe until I started listing them ("Laverene & Shirley", "Mork & Miny", "Joanie Loves Chaci"). When I got to one of the less successful ones, "Blansky's Beauties", it sounded to my friend like I was making shit up. Unfortunately, I was not.

BB was all about a cousin of Mr. Cunningham, Nancy Blanksy played by Nancy Walker, who happened to be den mother to a bunch of showgirls in Vegas. With scantily clad young ladies and lots of dance numbers, it was part of ABC's "jiggle TV" initiative that sorta put the network on the map ratings-wise, starting with "Charlies Angels". But I remember the show vividly less for the jiggle and more because I love dance numbers! :) Anyway, I found a clip of the show's opening which is 70's classic; cheesy song, freeze-frames and all.

America's Tweetheart

As you may have heard, Sarah Palin's "tweets" became big news after she hastily resigned her governorship, giving her only public statements since her rambling resignation on Twitter. So in case you're curious about what she's been up to this week or just looking for a giggle, here's Sarah Palin's Twitter Page. However, I think she'll have to change that "AKGov" handle soon. Any suggestions?