Our "Public Servants"

Yeah, I have posted this before.  Do not care.  It is more appropriate than ever.








Ardent

Oh dear, some folks be sad.

Pardon my French, but I'm gonna get my schadenboner on.  (h/t to the brilliant Veep, natch!)

Yes, that is right,

Veep went there last night -- its final episode of season two -- and used the c-word on American television.  Good for them.  And, it was perfectly appropriate, and, honestly, a pretty accurate description of our "public servants" at "work" in our nation's capital, when Vice President Selina Meyer finally told us all what D.C. really stands for.

This was an absolutely smashing -- if you will pardon the expression re Veep's penultimate episode of season two -- season for Iannucci, Dreyfuss, Chlumsky, Hale, and all the writers and other "veeple" involved with this incredibly smart and swear-y series.

My favorite thread, or arc, this season was the brilliant depiction of sexism, and the objectification of powerful attractive women.  There was a run of episodes near the middle where so many of the male characters could only relate to the very attractive Vice President in a sexual way.  Women have had and are still having to deal with this "Axis of Dick" issue forever.  Everything a powerful woman does in so many cultures always ends up being reduced to the lowest common denominator of how "hot" she is doing it, or whether she plays up her "hotness", or plays it down.

The Axis of Dick described by Meyer really does exist, and it is our mission to tear that shit down once and for all.  (A little more every day.  A little more every day.)

I also liked how they gave Meyer more power, more responsibility, and let her succeed a bit more this year.  She is a still a typical In the Loop/The Thick of It Public Servant type, saying the wrong thing so often, hot mic problems, terrible advice, rash judgements, etc, ... But, this year, you more got the feeling that Selina might end up on top when all is said and done.

I do not even know if I could begin to track down all the great insults, and nicknames that season two produced, so, I am not even going to bother.  Maybe I will find a link for you guys.  But, no, now that I think of it, I will not.

Just watch the show.  However you can, whenever you can.  Veep is hands down, by far, my favorite television program in years, since The Wire, actually.

Great great stuff.  See ya next year, Veep!

Ciao!

P.S.  The video above will most certainly be taken down soon.  Watch it while you can!

mds

Thank frickin' goodness for Call the Midwife.

The Wife and I were away from our television set last Sunday, enjoying our second anniversary celebration, thank you v much, and we had an absolutely bloody marvelous time. (Hotel Vitale, Michael Mina, a movie, Boulevard, the City, the Ferry Building -- much more on all of this tomorrow.)

These ladies could solve the whole Israel/Palestinian thing, I have no doubt.

So, we settled in to watch our Sunday lineup yesterday instead.  Man, am I glad we did that.

Although Veep was hilarious as usual, it was v strange, and uncomfortably awkward all the way through. Even though it was nice to see two more In the Loop vets make an appearance.  No Veep next week, it gets a week off for Behind the Candelabra, which Renee and I are seriously looking forward to.  Veep is fine, great, still almost perfect; they just had to have an episode to really raise the stakes and set up the last four installments.

But, can we talk about Mad Men? Seriously, what the fuck was that? Honestly, the way the last few seasons have gone I can finally confirm that I am strictly watching Mad Men in the way I watch The Newsroom on HBO.  Purely for the gore and carnage on the side of the road as we drive on by. Sunday's episode, The Crash, was a complete travesty; an abomination.  The Wife and I believe it would have been much better if it all had been a dream.  Because we certainly could not believe what happened on screen.  Completely implausible, and frankly, smacking of self-indulgence and pretension.  Why so many people consider this program one of the greatest dramas ever is beyond me.

Then, we finished up with Call the Midwife, and faith was restored again.  Great acting, great writing, great stories, and some thoroughly cheesy soapy moments.  A breath of fresh air after Super Awkward Hallucinatory Sunday.

There is hope.  Perhaps the future is not broken, after all.













Mwah, ... 

"I am an angry bird, and you are a pig!"

Veep has become insanely other-worldly good this season.  I do not even know where to begin. They got their first season under their belt, added brill new characters, and are even starting to throw in great new guest stars, i.e. the fabulous Dave Foley as the Finnish Prime Minister's husband last night.

There just is not any better show on television right now in my opinion.

What is intriguing is that the liberal political blogs are still reluctant to do live open threads about the program, or even frickin' use the hundreds of great lines in their postings.  This troubles me. Fair enough, if you do not like the show on its merits, but what I really suspect is that many serious Lefties can not take a joke.  (I also understand if folks do not like the program because of the swear-y language -- even though Lefties have been lambasting Winger blogs for being prudes for ages now.)

And, Lefties, including myself, have been ridiculing the Wingers for decades now as the Political Wing with Absolutely No Sense of Humor.  There is a lot of truth in that.  Wingers are getting busted by satirical websites daily, seriously embarrassed.  But, one of the most important characteristics of a sense of humor is the ability to laugh at yourself.

Even though Veep has never made a big deal about Selina Meyers (and the Administration's) political party affiliation, it is becoming increasingly obvious to viewers that she is a Centrist (just like all Democratic Veep and POTUS' since LBJ) Democrat.  And, if the "serious" political blogging Lefties can not deal with that, or are going to get up on their high horse about satirizing serious political issues, and how mean these folks are, then I give up.

I am 'bout the Leftiest guy any of you know, and I am still a pragmatic proud Democrat, too.  But, I also know that No Matter Who You Vote For The Government Always Gets In.

Mindbogglingly highly recommended, everyone should be watching Veep right now, best thing on teevee by miles.

All my love,
From the Axis of Dick,
Ardent Henry

We saw this "kid" on an episode of It is Always Sunny in Philadelphia the other day.

A.J. Brown:  Yeah, so, ... uh, item:  We need to have a conversation about the mood of the British Parliament, the bumps in the road ahead, and whatnot --

MALCOLM TUCKER:  I'm sorry, I don't, this, uh, situation here ... is ... is this it? No offense, son, but, I mean, you look like you should still be at school with your head down a fucking toilet.

A.J.:  Your first point there, I'm afraid I'm going to have to take it.  Your second point, I'm twenty-two, but, uh, item:  It's my birthday in nine days, so, if it would make you feel more comfortable, we could wait.

MALCOLM:  Don't get sarcastic with me, son.  We burnt this tight-ass city to the ground in 1814, and I'm all for doing it again.  Starting with you, you frat-fuck.  You get sarcastic with me again and I will stuff so much cotton wool down your fucking throat it'll come outta your ass like the wee tail on a Playboy Bunny.  

************

A couple of notes:  The "kid" is an actor named Johnny Pemberton, and the second season of Veep starts on April 14th, a week after my birthday.  Woo-hoo!

Mwah, ... 

I was not exactly super looking forward

To the Girls season two premiere last Sunday.  In fact, I was a tiny bit bummed that I would have to wait until April for season two of Veep.  Oh well, that will make for a nice birthday present for me from HBO, Armando Iannucci, Jesse Armstrong (also co-producer and co-writer for Peep Show), Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, and the rest of the gang.

Hannah! DTMFA!

Plus, I have desperately been trying to get the Wife all caught up on Downton Abbey.  (I will have a post on DA for you on Monday next.) We nearly watched Girls off-handedly, as a throwaway.

But Girls was superb, and I am all psyched up again for this new season.  There was a lot of sex in the opener, natch, but I loved a lot of the dialogue, and the fact that Ms Dunham is not afraid to shoot interior scenes in close to natural lighting.  The whole episode was particularly dark in terms of light and palette, which is refreshing because those are the kind of settings these twenty somethings would be living in.

And, of course, episode one would have been worth it for the character Adam's immortal quote, "When you love somebody, you don't have to be nice to them all the time."  This was a big favorite at our house, and has prob been Tumblr'd to infinity by now.

I still hate Adam.  I still hate Marnie, and I am not looking forward to her ensuing reconciliation with her old boyfriend, either.  And, I am still rooting for Shoshanna.

There will be ups and downs for me and Girls over the next two months, I am sure, but I am, looking to forward to the ride, nonetheless.

************

Looks like it is Girly Night Part Infinity times seven tonight! With Meghs and the Wife.  Woo-hoo!










Love you all,
Ardent

Many of you probably already know this:

LL Cool P showed up late for his "I really care about the help those less fortunate than I" photo op this weekend.  Those who were there to eat, had eaten, and the kitchen was closed, having been all cleaned up.

No problem! Ryan lined up the photographers and the beat writers, and he and his wife promptly washed perfectly clean dishes just so everyone would know what a real empathetic, sweetheart of a guy he was.

And the press went along with it.

Man, Armando Iannuci and his crack writing team -- the folks behind In the Loop, The Thick of It, and Veep -- have got to be kicking themselves right now, "Why didn't we think of that?!"

Oh, I am sorry, they already did write something like this for their fro-yo episode of Veep! I think the Mittens/LL Cool P campaign is suffering from the usual and expected Conservative Inability to Recognize Irony -- which is one of the greatest tests of intelligence -- and are now taking clues from Selina Meyer's team on how to run a campaign.

That this OEE is even remotely close right now says a lot about our electorate.  Ugh!

************

On a completely different -- and much happier -- note, Treme keeps chugging along.  We got to see Sugar Boy Crawford last night, who just passed away last month.  And, it was great to see Marcia Ball, too.  She looks and sounds fantastic, still.

So, here's a video of her:

Mwah, ... 






P.S. Special thanks to Pnut for part of this post.









mds

"A quickie?"

"You are such a coward.  Take your backlog of Mojo, your shit clothes, and your eighth of dope, and your flute, and piss off!"

This is about half of my Mojo collection, and the Dylan and The Dead one you see in the shot above? I own it.

H3LV371C4, H3LP M3! (UPDATED, 6/15/12)

Mavis sleeps peacefully, Molly nearly trees herself in the bathroom window sill.  Mavis sleeps peacefully -- well, with both eyes ever so slimly open, thus peacefully for her -- Molly roots around in the wine keller.  Mavis sleeps peacefully, Molly attacks the vertical blinds of our "windoor" -- as is our habit, Renee and I, to call such a thing.  Mavis sleeps peacefully, Molly bats around a stray golf ball.  Mavis sleeps peacefully, Molly rubs intently against my bony slender legs.


It is a lovely lazy quiet day by the golf course on the top of our golden Walnut Creek hill.  I am not like the Wire song, I do not feel mysterious today.  I am drowsy and enchanted, instead.  


And Molly has finally found a sunbeam to luxuriate in, nearly stretched to her maximum length.  


************


I am ever so tempted to go see Moonrise Kingdom again today.  But I am not.  I am going to be an obscene man of leisure, and do nothing.  Probably watch the entire first season of Veep and ... well, I do not know, ... 


Speaking of Veep, they closed out with their best episode, an absolute tornado of cynicism and unbelievable swear-y greatness.  Congressman No-Jaw, indeed.  The Thick of It, In the Loop, and Veep are so salty and pleasurable and satisfying and addicting.  They are a true guilty pleasure.  Not guilty pleasure meaning appreciating bad art in a campy sort of way, but guilty pleasure in the way you find yourself perhaps indulging yourself too heartily in all the non-stop schadenfreude.  You become alarmed at your own "schadenboner" (to quote directly from S1-EP7.)  


Thank you so much HBO for bringing Armando Iannucci and his crack team of writers Stateside. I can not wait for season two.  


************


Nick C and I went and saw Citizen Kane last night.  There was nobody there, about two dozen folks, an absolute flop.  Whereas, last month, when we got a bunch people to go see Casablanca, it was a packed house.  


I do not care, really.  It was a fantastic experience, and the digital version of Kane looked and sounded way better than the digital version of Casablanca.  I forgot how funny Citizen Kane is.  It practically is a comedy, with Welles and his entire team constantly winking at us the entire time.  


The film still completely blows me away; an astonishing work of American art, the richest and most perfect satire of Twentieth Century American Pop Culture ever produced.


Last night my favorite part was the parrot, leading to the walk out, leading to Kane's devastating meltdown.  Welles was heard to say after finishing his meltdown take, "My God, I really felt it."


************

************


St Helena is so calling us right now.  We will be getting away for two days and one night very soon, staying at the Hotel St Helena, or, as Renee and I like to call it, The Big Valley Hotel.  The cable box is awful, the shower is full of character, every room has a crazy Western folk art theme, on some floors the rooms all share a community bathroom, the hotel is v old, and at one time was a bordello.  It is right on Main Street in St Helena, next to one of my all-time fave restaurants, Market.  I love the place.  Renee does, too, but prob, not as much as me.  (That shower thing.  And she has v curly hair.) The main reason I love it is because when you look down on Main Street from your window, you really do half expect to see Missy and the rest of the Barkley clan on the street.  (They are probably checking up on their Napa vineyards, I suppose, ... ) The Barkleys own all of Northern California, dontcha know?


We'll hit Frog's Leap, hopefully Radio-Coteau, and Ridge.  I want to go to Market and Bouchon. The Wife wants to try Ad Hoc, and, of course, we will hit every single foodie shop in the vicinity. Maybe I will buy another bottle of Lail Georgia? Yum.  


We need it.  And Renee has earned it, besides; getting promoted, and all.  


Last Sunday, on our way to the Mount Madonna School play, I said to the Wife, "Let's just turn around right now and go to St Helena."


She said, "No, we'll go when we are supposed to.  That way I have something to look forward to."


h/t to my facebook friend-y, Freda M, who said, "Five years ago today -- I got lucky."


So true, me too.  I got very lucky, indeed.  












































Mwah, ... 

PS:  I just read that they have just made a film version of The Big Valley, coming to a theater near you, soon.  Ugh.  Just watch the old teevee program, that is all you need.


mds








UPDATE, 6/15/12:  I did not stay home and watch Veep.  I went and saw Moonrise Kingdom again.  


mds

David Thomson's recent post in The New Republic

Re Lena Dunham's HBO series, Girls, is a fantastic read.  Here it is.  And, apparently, he has the same itch wanting to be scratched that I do.  That is, that these times are desperately crying out for our version of Citizen Kane.  His suggestion that Ms Dunham be the one to do that is shrewd and more than just a good idea.  Thomson is also correct that Girls simply can not sustain itself for any serious length of time.  The subject matter does not allow it.  They should wrap it up after two (or maybe) three seasons.

The "It" girl.

And, I would just like to say, with the caveat attached that Veep and Girls are by far the best things on television right now, that I did not like the turns both programs took last Sunday.  I thought Girls went sappy and cheap, and that Veep just is not as good when it becomes too serious.  (Though the last shot/scene of Veep was an absolute masterstroke last week.  So, there is hope.)  Actually, both programs will be fine, and I will seriously be suffering from withdrawal in a few weeks when they wrap.  (Plus, we have Sorkin's The Newsroom to look forward to!)  So, remember the caveat.

************

Today is going to be a wonderful day.  I can just feel it.  And I do not even care that the Rangers lost 21-8 (!) yesterday.
















xxxoooxxx

I thought Veep was very good

Last night.  It is an American version of The Thick of It, with all the bungles, swearing, and incompetence.  And I thought they made the switch across the pond seem seamless.  And, it is just going to get even better.  A lot of people were probably scratching their heads.  They are not familiar with these In the Loop/The Thick of It guys.  It will grow on folks, and should prob be a cult-y sort of hit for HBO.

Mark my words, most of the lefty political blogs that are bitching about Veep now, will be posting scenes and quips from it themselves in a few months from now.

I had nothing to fear, after all.  Veep is going to be one of my all-time faves.  (And Sorkin's new show, The Newsroom, happening in June, looks dynamite, too.  HBO are Kings.  But when do we get the third season of Treme?)

Being a "boy", as it were,

And a nice boy, I think it is fair to say, my favorite story arc of Lena Dunham's new series for HBO, Girls, is going to be the one involving Marnie and Charlie.  Charlie is obviously the sweetest guy in the world, affectionate to a tee, and perhaps a little too sweet to his Sweetie.  Naturally, in Dunham's Universe, Marnie is "repulsed every time [Charlie] touches me" and presumably will be threatening to end the relationship once or twice every episode.

The Marnie/Charlie arc is an opposite twin of the Hannah/Adam arc, and some in the audience are left to wonder, Is there no "boy" out there who can fit the (Mythical?) Happy Medium?

"Mom, give Jess a chance.  He understands me."

(When Renee and I first started going out, one of the things she said she liked best about me was that underneath my sensitive, feminist, nice guy exterior I was "still just a dude."  High praise, indeed.  And I completely mean that.)

It was the first episode of Girls last night, so, sure, some of the writing seemed a little show-offy, and some of the pop culture references fell flat. (And speaking of which, why is it that no one seems able to drop facebook in to the conversation of a film or teevee show without embarrassing themselves? Or is it just me? The only time I have seen facebook successfully incorporated in to conversation is when Anna Chlumsky does it in In The Loop.  But of course, those guys have a writer who's only job is to add pop culture references and swear words to the finished scripts.  *sigh*  More on the In The Loop/The Thick of It/Veep team in a minute.)  But despite that, it is plain to see that Girls is going to be the teevee event of the Spring and Summer, and will be a fine addition to Blockbuster Sundays, alongside Mad Men and Game of Thrones.

It is especially nice to see that Whit Stillman's lovable, difficult cad, Chris Eigeman, now has credits in both Gilmore Girls and Girls.  I have a really decent Gilmore Girls joke here but no one outside of a few people at the Food Hole Walnut Creek would get it, so, I am going to skip it.

************

Man, does Veep look awful, or what? My heart sinks and I cringe every time they show those crummy clips.  I will be there, seven PM on Sunday, but I am really expecting the absolute worst. (At least Girls is on right after it!) And, I think I have figured out why Veep is going to stink.  Peter Capaldi.  The Thick of It and In The Loop are completely hung on Peter Capaldi's character, Malcolm Tucker.  (And Malcolm Tucker is based on Tony Blair's infamous Press Secretary, Alastair Campbell.)  It is not just a cultural barrier, moving from UK politics to US politics, it is the fact that without a US Malcolm Tucker equivalent the show will fail.  Plus, you have Capaldi's talent to match, as well.  Capaldi's performances in The Thick of It and In The Loop make for an absolute tour de force.  Malcolm Tucker completely overshadows Capaldi's entire career.  He will always be known as Malcolm Tucker now, full stop.

I would love to be pleasantly surprised on Sunday but I am doubting it.

************

Meanwhile, the Rangers are an American League wrecking crew with a four game series with the Tigers in Detroit this weekend.  Fabulous stuff.

And my staycation is over.  It is back to work tomorrow.





All my love,
Michael

I am very excited

About the new upcoming HBO series, Veep.  Renee is wary, not excited.  I think she is worried about Julia Louis-Dreyfuss being the star, or, maybe she does not think that that swear-y The Thick of It/In the Loop style will translate well to American audiences.  In the Loop was a considerable cult hit here in the US (it probably helped that James Gandolfini starred in it, too) but most Americans have no idea about The Thick of It.  And I do not think The Thick of It would be a massive hit here if shown on Sundance or IFC or whatever.  The Thick of It is probably too English for a regular (whatever that is) US teevee audience.  Of course, I would dvr every episode and watch them over and over again, myself.  And re Ms Dreyfuss:  No, she is not one of my personal faves, but when she had excellent material in Seinfeld, she was very good.  And, the writing team for Veep is the same folks who did The Thick of It and In the Loop, including the one writer whose job it is to add clever swearing and hip pop culture referenced insults.  (Wow, what a job, right? Why can not I get paid to loll around the house and add snappy clever insults to great scripts?) I could be completely wrong.  Maybe Veep will be a disaster.  We will see.

************

I am less excited (but keeping an open mind) about the new upcoming HBO series, Girls.  Girls is the baby of Tiny Furniture writer/director/star, Lena Dunham.  And it looks to be, the film, Tiny Furniture, stretched out to series length.  Tiny Furniture was not my cup of tea, for sure.  But, my favorite part was Jemima Kirke's fabulous creation of her character, Charlotte.  Charlotte is by far the best thing in the picture; a cynical, drug-addled, lazy, insanely sexy, spoiled rotten twenty-something City-girl going on forty-five, who affects a ludicrous sort-of English accent all the time for no reason at all, naturally.  Love it! Give me more!

And, good news, Ms Kirke looks to be playing a character like Charlotte in Girls.  (Just watched trailers for Veep and Girls, and it looks like Renee might be right.  Veep looks empty and quiet. Girls looks fresh and fun.)

If Veep stinks, I will always have The Thick of It on YouTube.

Mwah, ...