Category: All Posts

Mad Men merry-go-round

On DVD, Carol and I have finished watching the first season of Mad Men, the Emmy winner for best drama. Last week, on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, a scene from Mad Men was featured, where ad man Don Draper pitches an idea to Kodak, suggesting another name for a new slide projector caddie, other than The Wheel.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/SEP/MadMen.flv 448 252]

In response to a question from Terry Gross, the show’s creator, Matt Weiner, said the idea in the opening is that when Don Draper has a fall — and he has many — he manages to land safely and look good.

I never cared much for Robert Morse when he was young, but he’s excellent in Mad Men as the aging co-founder of the ad agency.

The writing’s on the wall

Want to dress up your drab walls? Handy with a Sharpie pen? Get doodling!

Man decorates basement with $10 worth of Sharpie

One has to wonder how a media outlet becomes aware of something like this. Well, having been in the news biz a long time ago I can tell you — somebody calls up and says, “I’ve got something (or done something) I think you’ll be interested in.” Yes, shameless self-promotion is the safe assumption. But, then, with this blog, who am I to talk?

Super K3

While awaiting the results of the MRI of my lower back, I shall cheer myself up with the lovably likeable ladies of K3. The Belgian beauties must not be confused with the Hungarian band K3. I don’t know who had the name first, but I know who should stop using it.

Studio 100 has done very well with Free Souffriau as Mega Mindy, so it only makes sense they’d give Karen, Kristel and Kathleen a shot at playing superheroes.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/SEP/K3Superhero.flv 450 360]

In this quickie video the girls strut their stuff live, in their more familiar go-go boots…

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/SEP/K3Zwolle.flv 440 330]

… and here’s a featurette about the making of a K3 video. I don’t have to tell you that’s Kristel Verbeke on the left, Kathleen Aerts in the middle and Karen Damen on the right… do I? 😉

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/SEP/k3Interview.flv 440 293](Does Karen have a tongue stud? Yikes! That’s hard core. Well, I guess I can deal with it.)

Being a fan of the Monkees — a topic I leave open for D.F. Rogers to indulge online someday — I’m intrigued by the idea that a Pop group can be assembled by audition, and achieve a synergy that’s as compelling as any ‘organically’ formed quartet or trio.

Because I don’t understand Flemish, I have to appreciate K3 for everything else they do well. Precisely because I don’t understand the words they’re almost abstract sounds, and they take on their own appealing quality.

Kristel Verbeke is the most beautiful woman in the world. (There, I said it!)

Kristel Verbeke with hubby and baby

K3 have been at this for ten years, and Kristel is married and has two children, yet they keep going, being silly into their 30’s. Perhaps that’s one of the benefits of being in Belgium, where their audience is relatively small, but loyal.

K3 Wallapper

Baseball been berry, berry good…

Sometimes I just can’t keep up with the exciting doings of always-on-the-go D.F. Rogers, holder of two Boston Red Sox season tickets.

D.F. Rogers with Red Sox baseball

Well, in my 22nd season in my seats, I finally got a foul ball! Last night, at Fenway, versus Cleveland, 8th inning, Masterson on the mound, Ben Francisco pinch hitting. He hits a wicked foul line drive past third. It bounces off the wall that sticks into the field (near where the ball boy/girl sits), the ball goes up and into the stands. It bounces off several hands trying to catch it, it looks like it will bounce onto the field but the guy in front of me has it bounce off his hand and right into my outreached hand. I had about 90% of it and the guy next to me had a few fingers on it, but it was in my hand. No fight 🙂 Case closed — I had a foul ball! That’s the way the ball bounces. An inning later, Papelbon gets Martinez to hit a high pop-up to Cora — and the Sox clinch a playoff spot in a tight game!

I assume a ball hit by the Sox would be considered a better collectible…. ? Hey, wait a second. Admit it. This is you holding an apple at a pick-your-own farm, inserted onto a Fenway background.

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.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/SEP/KingCorn.flv 440 330]

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.

[media id=228 width=480 height=380]

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.