Mad Men contest part deux

Okay, so I don't want to cast aspersions on this process but...

The voting has been crazy. Doing my super-PR girl thing, I got the word out there about me. There have been over 500 clicks on my link - bit.ly/adgal (which is why I use bit.ly, they let you track clicks) but I am landing on the 8 or 9 page! EVERYONE in the contest has only 2 stars with the exception of one girl. She has three stars and has been sitting pretty as #1 in the contest for over a week. That is pretty strange considering that no one has stayed that steady in this game. Her shot is alright but I doubt she has more friends voting than all the rest of us who have been blogging, Facebooking and Tweeting about it. I am pretty positive that the only people who have been voting are friends of contestants and Maddicts. It is clear that everyone is going around ranking themselves a 5 and everyone else a 1. This, though logical, seems silly and unfair. There are pictures that do not capture the essence of this competition ranking in the top 20, and that is silly!

It's turned into one big f-you fest and I don't like that. It's who's friend network is bigger and who can find auto-voting software to outsmart AMC. :( Very disappointing.

I hope the powers that be take a good look at the votes before picking the winners.

All that being said, I am not a sore loser. I had fun doing this and would do it again and I do, desperately want to play in the costume room for the show sometime (okay, maybe the props too).

So please, vote for me. We have until Monday. Again, my link is bit.ly/adgal

Ever feel like you were born at the wrong time?

I have... I have a passion for the advertising of the 1950's & 60's. Well, needless to say, my favorite television show is Mad Men.

So when I heard that Banana Republic (one of my favorite stores) and Mad Men were hosting a contest, I knew I had to enter! The prize? Priceless! A chance for a walk on role on Mad Men but the Banana $1000 gift card doesn't hurt! So I got a good friend of mine who is an incredible photographer to take some great pics of me wearing my favorite 50's style (Banana Republic) dress all around Denver! They came out amazingly!

So how does this work? Well, I need all of you to go to this website (AdGirl Talia) and vote for me (you don't have to register). Everyday! :) Please give me 5 stars. The competition is interesting, I would say most of it is headshots and wedding pics, a lot of snaps taken on a night out but there are some die hard Mad Men fans (we call ourselves Maddicts) that have done a good job. The public vote gets you through the first round. Top 10 women and top 10 men. Then the creator of Mad Men makes his choice - 60% on Mad Men style and 40% on creativity. Well, I really hope to win so I need your help! Please vote often and high! :0)

Thanks!!! Oh and here is the link to the other pics from the photo shoot - Photo Shoot (pics by Ben Barefoot)

And here are some pics from the new season (you just try to tell me that I don't look like I fit right in! :)) - Mad Men Season Three

Mad Men Contest

So the BRILLIANT minds behind Mad Men and the clothing line, Banana Republic have come up with a fab contest.

Submit your best "Mad look" and win a walk on role one Mad Men...

Well, since I A. am addicted to Mad Men and B. am a Mad Ave gal myself (okay, not NYC but I am a PR/Marketing professional in Denver) and C. have a very special affinity for the 50's/early 60's... especially in fashion, I am entering the competition.

I will send out the link to my page when I submit so stay tuned. AND please vote for me! :) After looking at the 400 or so pics they have up now, I am confident in my photo shoot! :)

There she is, folks — that’s Molly Goldberg, a woman with a place in every heart and a finger in every pie.

If you are like me (a week ago) you have NO idea who Molly Goldberg/Gertrude Berg is.

I was listening to NPR on Friday and heard a very interesting story. It was about this Jewish woman in the 1920's who created a sitcom, The Goldbergs. In fact, she created the genre of sitcom, to an extent. It started as a radio show and then was adapted to television. It went off the air in the 1950's. Sadly, most of the episodes were destroyed but there are a few historical records of the radio show and television show.

I read a great article on MyJewishLearning.com about The Goldbergs. Read it here
Also, there is a new film out called, Yoo-hoo, Mrs. Goldberg (a signature call of that show), by Aviva Kempner. Here is the interview with Aviva on NPR (which is what sparked my curiosity).

Gertrude Berg was an actress and writer (screenwriter, eventually), one of the first women to hold those roles. She was born in NY to a Jewish family and wrote about what she knew, Jewish family life in NYC. She was the first person to receive the Emmy for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series but things weren't always funny for Gertrude. She was loyal to her cast/friends, almost to a fault. When her television husband, Phillip Loeb, was accused of Communism (he was involved in the Actor's Equity Union and AFRA to better conditions for actors), Gertrude stood by him... until she was forced to let him go for fear that the show would be taken off the air. She did, however, keep him quietly on the payroll because he was eminently unemployable after being blacklisted by McCarthy. Though she provided for him, Phillip Loeb sank into a depression. Being unable to work and with failing eyesight, he ultimately committed suicide in 1955.

Gertrude addressed real issues affecting Jews in America with her scripts. Ms. Kempner mentions this in her interview with NPR, "Very early on as Hitler rose in power, she had a very overt Passover scene on radio," says Kempner. "Some months after Kristallnacht, she had a stone being thrown through the window on the radio show, and while no one was addressing the Holocaust on TV, she had an episode where she got letters from her relatives."

But Molly Goldberg was everyone's mother during those 26 years (20 years on radio and six years on television)... imagine that! 26 years! We are lucky if a show lasts one year these days.

She was the stereotypical Jewish mother but not in a negative way. Always positive and with dignity. It didn't matter where you lived or if you had ever met a Jew, you loved Molly Goldberg.
President Roosevelt supposedly said, "I didn't get us out of the Depression, The Goldbergs did."

Once the television show went off the air, Gertrude moved onto the Broadway stage earning a Tony for her work in A Majority of One.

Gertrude Berg (zt"l) passed away in 1966.

What a powerful history that I never knew. I will be looking for anything I can find from the amazing 26 years of The Goldbergs and if you want to see something now, the article from MyJewishLearning.com has a few clips.

Mayim Balik on What Not To Wear

I have to say that I was incredibly disappointed in this episode of What Not To Wear.
What they neglected to show is that Mayim is an Orthodox Jewish woman and she following the laws of tznius (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tznius). They even had her study partner on the show to talk about it (http://www.jewinthecity.com/a/2009/05/mayim-bialik-to-guest-star-on-a-very-special-jew-in-the-city.html) but they cut it.

They criticize the length of her skirts and encourage her to hem her skirts shorter and wear sleeveless tops but that may not be what she feels is appropriate. Why can't we find modest and attractive clothing? Why can't longer skirts look attractive? Why isn't modesty attractive?

I was really looking forward to this episode to see beautiful modest clothing in respect of Mayim's beliefs but I was disappointed... I still love Stacey and Clinton but I think they missed a great opportunity to speak to a chunk of the population who dress modestly.

Quotes

So... I am a total quote girl. I love them, I am touched by them, and I horde them...

But I am simplifying my life so I am going to put them all in this blog post and take them off my Facebook, etc. I'll keep adding so you keep checking. :)

"You have to keep moving forward. As long as you’re holding on to where you were yesterday, you’re standing still." -The Rebbe

"Faith, in its most sublime function, provides man with a level of courage that he could not otherwise achieve"

“…A Rabbi is a person in search of that which can never be found, but he knows that the search is what is important. Somehow to translate faith into life and love into action. And when he experiences it, he catches a glimpse of what everything is all about. And suddenly pettiness disappears. And hurt and aggravation fade away. And there is a light most wondrous to behold. Some people call it redemption. The Rabbi calls it God." –My Grandfather

Reb Nachman of Breslov said: "The voice of my beloved- the pulse. If you want to know G!d, you need only to listen to His voice within. You need never be lonely for Him or out of touch with His inner spirit; you can always touch your pulse and say, "Ah, there you are."

"Intolerance lies at the core of evil. Not the intolerance that results from any threat or danger. Not the intolerance that arises from negative experience. Just intolerance of another being who dares to exist, who dares to diminish the space in the universe left for you. Intolerance without cause.

It is so deep within us, because every human being secretly desires the entire universe to himself. Our only way out is to learn compassion without cause. To care for each other simply because that “other” exists." - The Rebbe

"In a single bond I am bound with Him; my soul is united with Him, burns in Him, cleaves to Him."
- Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai on the day of his passing, Lag BaOmer

"Hayom katzar, v'hamlakha m'rubah" -
"The day is short, the task is great"

"Actors are not made, they are born."
-Angela Landsbury

"I have great faith in fools; my friends call it self-confidence."
- Edgar Allan Poe

"In the midst of difficulty, lies opportunity."
-Albert Einstein

"A sorority is more than letters on a sweatshirt, I say. More than traditional songs, a gold pin, rituals, and obligation, or a way of life. A sorority is learning about people, a sorority is giving without expecting a return. A sorority is earning respect from others, as well as for yourself. A sorority will not solve all your problems. But I have made good friends and found confidence there to help me take life one step at a time."

Sherlock Holmes Trailer (w/ Robert Downey Jr?!?!)

Okay folks... watch this before you read my blog (but keep reading... please!)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOr4i-wbH-M&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0]

Okay...

So if you have ever read any of my blogs, you know I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan. I like him because he is flawed. He isn't all brawn and no brains. He loves to engage is mental gymnastics and can spend hours sitting in a chair thinking with his eyes closed before taking action. And yes, I know what you are going to say ... he's a boxer, he's hyper, he has ADD sometimes and yes, he does... but never once did Doyle write a scene where he was boxing or engaging in that type of physical behavior (I believe, I haven't researched this). He eluded to it... but never was Holmes interrupted in the middle of a boxing session. Knowing about that time period, I am inclined to say that Doyle wrote the boxing in to "place" Holmes in society. That was something that gentlemen did. They went to Gentleman Jacks to box. Nothing that I have ever read (and I have read most everything on Holmes) has given me the impression that he was an "action hero."

This new film (and only judging based on the trailer) seems to be an Americanized action flick with a predictable format that they decided to name Sherlock Holmes. I had my doubts from the start. The best Holmes-ian productions have been British. And hey, not discriminating here... I'm American but Doyle was British, Holmes & Watson were... Americans may have a hard time enjoying the subtly of the British humor and what not but an Americanized, cowboy-esq, action hero Holmes doesn't sit right with me.

Needless to say, I will see the film and let you know what I think but ... ... ... ... right now, I'm not sold...

The State of the Nation(‘s arts writers)

Okay. I get the economy is bad... trust me, I REALLY get it! But there has been this disturbing trend of laying off arts reviewers from major newspapers.

The LA Times has a section for Movie, TV, and Music reviews... no dance. Very little about dance on their online site. The Village Voice in NYC? Last I heard Deborah Jowitt, the dance critic, was laid off from the periodical. I hear she is still writing dance for them (she was a biographer of Jerome Robbins) but I don't think she is full time as a dance critic any more.

NYTimes? Anna Kisselgoff is a legend. She is still writing. But those are the biggies, guys. What about the locals?

Here is Denver we lost our full time dance critics a few years ago. Now they all wear multiple hats and are called "Arts Critics." And they do an enormous job. I am not knocking these hardworking folks but when a contact recently told me he couldn't make it because that weekend he had to go to a RollerDerby Dolls event, rock concert, and then a night club opening to cover for the paper, I decided that this has gotten out of hand. How can someone be an expert when they have to see so many different forms of entertainment to keep their jobs? They do a phenomenal job writing the articles but they don't get to connect to the work quite as well when they are running to the Philharmonic for their evening show, all in the same day.

The reason this came about is because our partner, Curious Theatre Company in Denver received this most AMAZING review by a writer for the Westword here in Denver. It is possibly the most beautiful review I have read. The show was incredible but this review, beautiful. Here is a link to the review - The Westword Eurydice

Final word, don't shove the arts to the side and call it okay. We may not be breaking news but we deserve column inches too.

Okay, off soapbox.