Speaking of Legos and HARRY POTTER

This woman built Hogwarts entirely out of Legos!

Wow.

Discuss.

Netflix Binges Are Gross

The A.V. Club, for those who don't know of it, is a quirky entertainment website and newspaper that features articles and reviews on all the latest media (books, music, films, television, ect.). Their articles are often witty and ironic but always well written and reminiscent of something the student wearing Doc Martins and over-sized nonprescription glasses says in class. Regardless, I've come to respect their opinion and base most of what I watch off of their reviews.

A couple weeks ago they posted this article about how Netflix, everyone's favorite way to procrastinate, has come to change the way we watch television programs entirely. The author, Todd VanDerWerff, describes what he calls "slow TV" (watching week-to-week) as a more pleasurable and intellectual way of watching TV shows. And I have to agree completely because every series that I've "binge-viewed" just doesn't seem to have soaked in properly. 

For instance, I managed to watch all 6 seasons (that's 86 episodes) of  HBO's The Sopranos in a matter of 4 weeks. I boiled a show that was on and off the air for about 8 years into about 28 days of viewing. That's pretty sick, I know. Usually, I would stay up until 3am having watched about 3 episodes and when I finally fell asleep I would have violent, mobbed up dreams. And I'm almost certain that I didn't get half as much out of the show than someone who waited a week or months or sometimes years for another episode to air. In fact, some episodes have completely slipped out of my memory and I can't remember the names of some characters. The Sopranos is a brilliant series and it deserves more than to have become a blur of murders, Jersey accents and strippers. 

VanDerWerff ends the article with this, "With every new freedom comes a kind of loss, and sometimes, those can’t be quantified". And he's right, clearly.

 So, I hereby vow to never binge-view again ..and you should too..because it's kind of gross. 

Mad Men

Here is the place to post your thoughts on the MAD MEN episode we watched in class, "Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency." The show has been winning awards and high audience ratings since its premiere on AMC several years ago; and it was AMC's first original television program (they have siNce followed up with other very successful series including BREAKING BAD, THE WALKING DEAD,  HELL ON WHEELS, etc.)

How is this program different from other shows on TV? How has it influenced television or culture? (There is a at least one blog that has followed it since its premiere) What about the representation of women and gender? Are there hints of the burgeoning Civil Rights movement? What does the show imply about the advertising industry at the time? (this episode takes place in late 1962). What about morality, cultural norms, standards of behavior in the workplace?

Are there stylistic elements of the show worth discussing?

Oh, and this is the best thing ever.

Nick Drake's "Pink Moon" featured in VW ad

I was just going to post the video of the commercial, but then I found a very thoughtful article on it, calling this the "commercial of the decade" which is pretty high praise.

You can also skim through the article to view the video before reading it, too.

What do you think?

Here's another of my favorite Nick Drake songs: "Black Eyed Dog"

You're welcome.