Year: 2008

Mad Men and King Corn

On the recommendation of SamJay, Carol and I are watching “Mad Men”, the AMC show that won the Emmy last night for best drama. We are, as usual these days, doing this by getting the DVD’s from Netflix, rather than “watching TV.”

We weren’t sold on “Mad Men” at first, especially because of the pilot featured historical inaccuracies, over-the-top situations, and ludicrous dialog. In fact, after watching season 1, disc 1, we weren’t sure if we’d queue up disc 2.

But Samjay urged me to stick with it, and we’re glad we did. The series picked up quickly after the third episode, presumably thanks in part to having a team of writers smoothing out creator Matt Weiner’s idiosyncrasies. The characterizations and relationships become much richer as the series progresses, and the acting is first rate. But c’mon, does anybody have a work life that’s as rich, complex and rewarding as the characters on TV programs?

I was surprised to read in the Sunday Boston Globe that “Mad Men” has only about 1.5 million viewers. The Emmy should help that, and thanks to DVD it’s easy to start at the beginning.

Something else I’ve seen that I recommend is the documentary “King Corn”. If you liked “Supersize Me” and you read “Fast Food Nation”, you’ll want to see this. “King Corn” is a journey of curiosity and learning, and it has a wonderfully leisurely pace with a critical, yet non-judgmental tone. The commentary from farmers and academic experts alike is honest and given equal consideration, although the conclusion about the effects of corn on the American diet — obesity and diabetes — is undeniable. Here’s the trailer.
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Murder, She Wrote

At last I can tell you about the secret project. It began with something I wrote a year and half ago, that you’ll find here at this link, about the unsolved murder of Dr. Linda Goudey.

Last February, a producer at CBS News, Nancy Kramer, contacted me. Her program is 48 Hours|Mystery, which is on Saturday nights at 10. Nancy asked if I could help her research the Goudey story. I can’t take much credit for what happened next, because the extent of my involvement was telling Carol about Nancy’s request, and exchanging some follow-up messages.

By coincidence, the day before Ms. Kramer contacted me, I’d received a message from a woman who had spotted the same post. She ran a bulletin board about the now-defunct Boston Regional Medical Center, formerly New England Memorial Hospital. I replied to the woman and I gave her address to Nancy. I have no idea if anything came out of their correspondence. Two things I realized very quickly about Nancy Kramer are that she is a true professional in every way, and she is always working.

Carol and Nancy exchanged messages and they talked on the phone. Then Carol contacted some friends and former colleagues who she felt would be able to help. She also gave Nancy the name of a psychiatrist from the hospital who knew Dr. Goudey. He’s now a novelist, and is something of a regular on daytime TV, but I won’t name him because I don’t know if CBS used him as a source.

I was sworn to secrecy, that I wouldn’t blog anything about CBS producing a show on the Goudey murder. I agreed, and in a very nice gesture of thanks Nancy sent a DVD of a program she had produced about Walter Cronkite. I used it as the source for this Beatles-related post.

For a time it wasn’t certain the show would go into production, but then a couple of months ago there was a break in the case, when the primary “person of interest,” Goudey’s boyfriend Dr. Timothy Stryker, was arrested — not for the murder, but for perjury. This video is from New England Cable News.

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There’s more NECN video, including a 1997 interview with Stryker, at this link.

Yesterday, we received a gift box of fancy foods from CBS, with this note:

Note from CBS News

We’re pleased the show is now real, and is going to be aired. Linda Goudey was a highly respected physician, who happened to be in the same specialty as my oldest sister, high-risk obstetrics. I hope the show brings the case closer to being solved, and Goudey’s murderer, whoever that may be, will be brought to justice. Being involved to the extent we have been has been very exciting, and without this blog it wouldn’t have happened.

48 Hours|Mystery, Saturday, October 25, 10 pm ET, on CBS. Don’t miss it! If there’s a change in the schedule I’ll let you know.

Private profits, public losses

There are so many bottom lines to the credit crisis, but for myself the bottom line is we’re seeing what happens with an ideology of “the market rules, so don’t rule the market.” A friend wrote today, commenting on all of the government bail-outs:

I wish someone would point out that this means the GOP is moving toward a socialist model. When they rant and rave about the horrors of socialism (in medicine), they need to understand what they’re talking about.

Ex-actly. In the ultimate irony, extreme capitalism has led directly to socialism, literally overnight. Bush started his second term touting a plan to privatize Social Security, and he’s ending it nationalizing Wall Street. This is not a normal business cycle downturn. It’s the result of market manipulation and a lack of oversight.

As D.F. Rogers characterizes it, this is the real trickle-down effect. The profits are kept at the top, while the losses are passed down. McCain wants to leave the tax cuts in place for the richest 1% of Americans?? At least with this latest calamity there’s some outrage. With so much tax money being ponied up, we’d better be able to impose some tough regulations and restrictions without hearing even one peep of complaint from the brokers.

A TRILLION dollars for Iraq. HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS for Wall Street. Why would anyone vote for the old white guy and the monster hockey mom?

McCain’s campaign of whiners

John McCain’s campaign is now piling on more misrepresentation. According to the Boston Globe…

The McCain campaign yesterday launched an ad that questioned Obama’s ability to deal with the crisis. Obama has “no background in economics,” the ad said. It quoted the Washington Post as saying that Franklin Raines, a former top executive of Fannie Mae, had advised the Obama campaign on housing and mortgage issues. The ad then said that Fannie Mae, the quasi-government mortgage company, committed extensive fraud under Raines, who “made millions” and stuck the taxpayers with the bill.

They’re trying to make it sound as though Raines was a key policy adviser. This comes from McCain, the guy who had Phil (“nation of whiners”) Gramm as his “economic brain”!