Federal Shutdown, National Parks, and Spring Break

With a federal shutdown looming, we're all worried about how it will affect us and the country. One effect for my family will be our spring break. We have planned a week long trip to the national parks in the southwest. Well, guess what? If there's a federal shutdown, those national parks will be closed.
Beyond my own selfish reasons, there are all the businesses around the parks that will be effected. Spring break is probably most of their first flush weeks after the slow winter season. I hope they have a hole left in their belts to tighten to till summer.
Let's all hope the government figures out who they want to screw and for how much soon or maybe they could get the corporations to pay their taxes. Whatever the solution, figure it out before my spring break, Please!

Mad Men Season 5 Late Start

Looks like Mad Men won't be back until 2012, and possibly without Matt Weiner, which would be no Mad Men at all. All the likely suspects are reporting that AMC has said they will go forward with Season 5 with or without Weiner, but with the late start not until early 2012.

Apparently what's holding up the works is AMC's wish to cut the show length so they can add commercials, and cut two actors to cut the budget. As much as I hate the idea of no Mad Men, I see why Matt Weiner won't agree.

Everyone cross your fingers that they come to agreement soon. Otherwise we may be greeted with a show that is unrecognizable. In the wrong hands our Mad Men would go from brilliant to sappy soap opera in nothing flat.

Someone might want to remind AMC of the old saying "You leave the party with the guy that brought you." Or something like that, anyway the essence is Mad Men brought AMC to the fore and they shouldn't ditch them for a bunch of zombies.

Geraldine Ferraro RIP

Geraldine Ferraro has died. She was such an inspiration to this teenager in the 80's. I just want to send out my gratitude for everything she embodied to me. Perhaps if she had been the presidential candidate that year, we might have avoided all the Bush years Sr. and Jr.
All the same Thank you Geraldine!

Elizabeth Taylor TCM Tribute

The lovely Elizabeth Taylor has passed. So Sad.....

TCM will host a 24 hour tribute to Elizabeth Taylor April 10TH.

6 a.m. – Lassie Come Home (1943), with Roddy McDowall and Edmund Gwenn; directed by Fred M. Wilcox.
7:30 a.m. – National Velvet (1944), with Mickey Rooney, Anne Revere and Angela Lansbury; directed by Clarence Brown.
10 a.m. – Conspirator (1952), with Robert Taylor and Robert Flemyng; directed by Victor Saville.
11:30 a.m. – Father of the Bride (1950), with Spencer Tracy, Billie Burke, Joan Bennett and Don Taylor; directed by Vincente Minnelli.
1:15 a.m. – Father’s Little Dividend (1951), with Spencer Tracy, Billie Burke, Joan Bennett and Don Taylor; directed by Vincente Minnelli.
2:45 p.m. – Raintree County (1957), with Montgomery Clift, Eva Marie Saint, Lee Marvin, Rod Taylor and Agnes Moorehead; directed by Edward Dmytryk.
6 p.m. – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), with Paul Newman and Burl Ives; directed by Richard Brooks.
8 p.m. – Butterfield 8 (1960), with Laurence Harvey and Eddie Fisher; directed by Daniel Mann.
10 p.m. – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), with Richard Burton, George Segal and Sandy Dennis; directed by Mike Nichols.
12:30 a.m. – Giant (1956), with James Dean and Rock Hudson; directed by George Stevens.
4 a.m. – Ivanhoe (1952), with Robert Taylor and Joan Fontaine; directed by Richard Thorpe.

Mad Men Season 4 DVD

Lionsgate sent me an advance copy of the Mad Men Season 4 DVD this week. With all the uncertainty about Mad Men Season 5, I was over the moon to get this. If you're as big a fiend as I am, you should really get this methadone until the real thing is available.

Here are the bonus features.

• "Divorce: Circa 1960s" - A three-part documentary about divorce during a time when the traditional family was the core of American society.
• "How to Succeed in Business Draper Style" - CEOs, advertising legends and executive coaches use scenes from Mad Men to detail Don Draper's 10-point blueprint for success.
• "Marketing the Mustang: An American Icon" - The birth of the Ford Mustang as well as the marketing and advertising campaign that launched this American classic.
• "1964 Presidential Campaign" - Archival footage of President Johnson's and Senator Goldwater's speeches, campaign commercials and the Presidential Inauguration of the most lopsided elections in American history.
• Mad Men Season 4 commentaries - Matthew Weiner and Mad Men's cast and crew take viewers behind the scenes in feature-length audio commentaries for all 13 episodes


P.S. The box is really cool too. The Vertigo-esque has a 3D element that makes it much better than how it looks on a computer screen.

P.P.S. David Hinckley of the Daily News is reporting that Mad Men season five will be delayed to the Fall based on "sources". Check his article.