Mad for Mad Men

I'm going to a Mad Men party soon. To say I'm peachy is a bit of an understatement - I love the show so much I would happily enrol in the uni course.

It seems like most major fashion magazines have featured a 1950's/1960's inspired shoot in the last 18 months. But this one featuring Catherine McNeil in Vogue Australia is a show stopper, the styling is a flawless blend of vintage and contemporary references.

I know that there are no rockabilly characters in Mad Men - but I'm sorely tempted to slip into a pencil skirt and prance around with cheeky indifference.

Misfitted valentine

[misfits]

"a new union — salty British street humour with whizz-bang special effects" The Times

I've just finished watching the first two seasons of Misfits. I haven't been this excited about a television show since Community...or Mad Men... or Better off Ted...or The Wire...or Weeds...okay so I watch a lot of telly then.

I watched Blue Valentine last night - the film is an unrelentingly emotional rollarcoaster - it is not advised to go on a roller coaster after eating a family lebanese banquet for lunch followed by a Korean BBQ banquet for dinner.

I felt a little queasy during the scenes of domestic turmoil. But I think that could have been the brilliant acting and not the excessive baba ganoush.

"Eye" know that

I think I've been scarred for life.

The unfortunate incident of the fingernail in the eye became a saga this morning when i awoke to discover that the nail was still in fact lodged in my eye.

To save you from the gory details, its now been removed and my eye is healthy, but in a somewhat irritated state.

So with the day off work and Don Draper proving to be a sight too sore for eyes, I decided that this would be a perfect opportunity to catch up on Sunday Night Safran podcasts and organise my bookcase.

Besides unearthing an unhealthy amount of dust, i stumbled across a surprising number of double ups, including:

My obsession with books is to the extent that i enjoy reading about reading.

And i made the painful realisation that stray coins really do add up to a substantial amount when all those $10 penguin classics are piled together.

The after picture makes the bookcase look surprisingly untouched. With there being too many books to be organise them in any other fashion besides stacks three books deep, the exercise seems to have been somewhat pointless.

Except now the books are dust free, as i did an exceptionally through job of inhaling it all.

Despite knowing that i have more books than i know what to do with, i couldn't help but buy this little beauty when i went to the optometrist today.

For less than the price of a magazine it was positively nipping at my heels to be taken home, who am i to say no?

Munching on bookish thoughts

Finally book club has been resurrected! Some five months after the book was selected, we settled ourselves on a grassy noll, armed with an impromptu picnic and picked apart the “Brideshead Revisted”.

The discussion was somewhat short (blamed by foggy memories of what actually happened in the book) and soon left by the wayside by thoughts of travel, with a wonderfully dreamy suggestion of cycling to Byron Bay.

Given that Waugh’s world of Brideshead is one of obscene luxury, it’s only apt that such an expedition should be done in style – these cycling accessories would be perfect.

Note that her "hat" is actually a helmet. Say goodbye to the nerdy helmet look, but i wonder if it also stops the dreaded helmet hair?

ps. Heels are optional

Another innovative bunny has come up with a way of combining books and bikes - with the bike shelf.

All i can say is gimme, gimme, gimme!

And sound the drum roll, as the next book club book is dadadadadda: Revolutionary Road!

Which gives me just another excuse to watch Mad Men for "research" purposes.

A peach/ looks good/with lots of fuzz/but a man's no peach/and never was

I am obsessed with Mad Men. Each episode is a slice of perfection, as only HBO knows how to achieve.

It's a wonder how the Mad Men ever got anything done with the endless boozy breakfast meetings and sucking of cigarettes;c at calling the typing pool and conducting numerous extra-matrital affairs; fearing of the cold war, the soviets and "the bomb".

But the real life Mad men were smart and surprising poetic as evident in the Burma-Shave advertising campaign -

Countless witty advertising jingles dotted the highways of America from 1926 to the late 1960s.

Alvin Richard; Bel Air in Monterey (15 x 11'', 2009, acrylic on gessoed hardboard)

Get your culture jam on by reading some of these catchy (kinda) clerihews:

The Highway Beautification Act 1965 stopped the company from erecting new slogans, the subsequent lack of exposure lead to the loss of sales and the demise of an American icon. The Burma-Shave company eventually became the property of the American Safety Razor Company.

Not to be outdone by the ad's of the past - these contemporary Billboards are a visual feast.

Weekend DeLorean

The Flux capacitor has been topped up with plutonium, kindly "borrowed" from a group of Libyan terrorists.

Space has been cleared to allow for speeds of 88miles/hour to be reached.

That's right i'm going back in time this weekend!

Saturday night it's a hop, skip and jump back to the 1500's, as i celebrate the last week of a dear friend's singledom at a medieval court themed restaurant.

Then it's a tip, toe, tap and i'll be in the 1950's for the annual 1950's fair.

If the prospect of a finding a costume is stopping you from attending the 1950's fair - fear not! The makers of the deliciously stylish HBO show Mad Men are having a 10 day charity ebay auction, hocking off furniture, walk on bit parts and costumes, with all money raised going towards cancer research.

Movie night

I've seen two films at the cinema this week, booyah i'm on a roll! I've almost made up for not going to the cinema the last three months...not out of choice - i ached to see Toy Story 3 and Animal Kingdom, but Grafton is awaiting machinery from Germany before it reopens it's heritage movie house...and have been waiting for 2 years! Yikes-a-bee imagine having to always wait for DVD? And missing out on the crush of popcorn underfoot, tantilising trailers and the collective hush as the screen widens followed by the sneaky crinkle of a chip packet in the most unopportunistic moment - gosh i've missed the cinema!

I've sunk my teeth into "The Ghost Writer" and "Inception" - both as layered and ridiculously complex as Adriano Zumbo's V8 cake, proving to be the perfect antidote to stop me wallowing in my flu induced self pity - which makes me reconsider my usual flu remedy of craptastic chick flicks...

I wasn't keen on seeing Inception, as it's trailer was all flashing lights and explosions, it looked like yet another CGI blockbuster lacking in a storyline - however i was pleasantly surprised, it's a bloody complicated film and i would have dreaded condensing it into a 2minute trailer

Joseph Gordon-Levitt proved to be a dab hand at dancing in the delightful "500 Days of Summer"

and uses his fancy footwork in an amazing gravity defying fight sequence

What genre can't he do? With his current Mad Men haircut, he's a throw away to the film stars of the Golden years of Hollywood - perhaps he's Zooey Deschanel's equivalent of Rock Hudson to Doris Day?

And as always Ewan McGregor is swoon worthy - enough said.