Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. In Peggy’s case, he’s literally the same old boss. This entire season has been about characters thinking they’ve made important new changes to their lives, only to find themselves cycling back to where they’ve been before. In fact,…
“Game of Thrones,” season 3, episode 5: A salon
Last night on “Game of Thrones,” we hit the season’s halfway point — and we’re moving towards a big wedding as Tyrion and Jon Snow plot and Daenerys assembles her dragons. We’re discussing it all now!<a href=”http://branch.com/b/game-of-thrones-season-3-episode-5″>”Game of Thrones,” season 3, episode 5</a>Continue Reading… … Read More
Linsanity revisited
It takes a fairly long time to write a book, for obvious reasons having to do with conceptualizing and writing and editing and the ambient neuroses that come with all that. For less obvious reasons having to do with things I’m not anywhere near as familiar with, it also takes a very long time to publish a book. When Jeremy Lin was off on his giddy and sudden ascent around this time in the 2011-12 NBA season, publishers were clamoring for a book on Jeremy Lin, any book on Jeremy Lin that they could sell immediately to the many people who were suddenly very interested in Jeremy Lin. But, for all the reasons mentioned above, and because Linsanity’s bright bloom was so brief, no proper Jeremy Lin book ever came. There was a glossy Collector’s Edition magazine-y thing with many photos of Lin on sale at the drugstore, next to assorted other Linsanity-related detritus—I remember a lot of pull-out plastic banners—but as it was all marked down and marked down again and finally gone, there was no Jeremy Lin book.Continue Reading… … Read More
Vanilla Ice “goes Amish” in new reality TV show
Vanilla Ice, in another attempt to be relevant in the new millenium, has announced that he will star in a reality TV show called “Vanilla Ice Goes Amish.” The L.A. Times reports that Ice — real name Robert Van Winkle — “will embed himself in the Amish community, which prides itself in a strong work ethic and some awesome barn raisings. And they accomplish their master craftsmanship without the aid of electricity.”He called the show “pure magical”:[embedtweet id="326829223568371713"]The show will air on the DIY network, where the “Ice Ice Baby” rapper hosts “The Vanilla Ice Project,” currently in its third season.Continue Reading… … Read More
“Mad Men” recap: The prestige that comes with ketchup
In “To Have and to Hold,” we enter Dante’s third circle of Hell, Gluttony. This is where we should find lots of characters overindulging in food and drink and other addictions—like smoking cigarettes, making out at hip clubs, and swinging (or at least talking about it). Now granted, I don’t see anyone getting flayed and tortured by a three-headed monster, and I felt pretty sure there would at least be a “stinking slush” falling from the sky. But Don and Stan did smoke a joint and look at giant pictures of hamburgers and hot dogs for a few hours, didn’t they? (OK, fine. If next week isn’t all about Greed with a capital G, I’ll leave the circles of hell behind. Here’s hoping we make it all the way down to Violence, Fraud, and Treachery!)After the premiere’s death-and-paradise fixation, and last week’s repeated guilt ‘n’ betrayal theme, I was starting to worry that every single episode of the sixth season of “Mad Men” would serve up Big, Obvious Themes and Giant, Flashing Symbols. As one of a giant herd of writers who enjoys unpacking these symbols, I don’t want to bite the hand that feeds. But there is that point when the subtext upstages the actual text to such an extent that it’s hard to focus on the emotional center of a given scene. For example, the second you see Joan’s friend, Kate, putting make-up on Joan’s mom, Gail, you know you’re about to be swept away on a tide of double meanings. “Mary Kay always says it’s really all about making yourself feel better,” Kate tells her. “And that always starts with you doing something for you.” That’s the justification of the Glutton, anyway.Continue Reading… … Read More
Market Buzz: Rebound on the cards
On Tuesday Russia closed lower. The MICEX lost 0.54% to 1352.37, and the RTS was down by 0.74% to 1356.35.TGK-9, TGK-1, MosES, FSK EES, RusHydro, and Raspadskaya stocks traded best on April 16, adding between 2% and 6%. European stock markets closed lower extending losses for the third straight day. Weaker-than-expected German ZEW data released yesterday raised concerns about global growth.The Stoxx Europe 600 index dropped 0.8% to 288.16 following Monday’s 0.7% loss on a sharp drop in gold prices.Germany’s DAX 30 index gave up 0.4% to 7,682.58. French CAC 40 slid 0.3% to 3,698.55. UK’s FTSE 100 declined 0.5% to 6,312.48. Mining businesses slightly rebounded after a wide sell-off the day before on weak data from China, the world’s leading industrial metals consumer. Wall Street closed higher Tuesday for the fourth straight day on positive updates. Unemployment claims fell as data indicated a stronger job growth. The US housing report and corporate earnings were also strong. The Dow Jones set a new high, up 0.42% or 62.9 points at 14865.14. and S&P 500 also climbed 0.36% or 5.64 points to1593.37. The NASDAQ Composite demonstrated slight growth rising 0.09% or 2.91 points at 3300.16.The earnings season picks up on Friday when JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, the biggest US banks by market value, report results.The US will release its producer price index today, expected to have shrunk by 0.2 % in March. The retail sales update is also to follow Wednesday, with figures are expected to remain unchanged. Another important update will be on the consumer sentiment data. Asian stocks are mostly stronger on Wednesday on positive US data, indicating growth in the country. Japan’s Nikkei is up 1% to 13,355.32. Hang Seng added 0.1% to 21,694.42. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.9% to 4,995. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.3% to 1,917.13 on tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Brent oil is adding 0.3%, WTI is just 0.05% lower. … Read More
“Game of Thrones,” season 3, episode 3: A Branch conversation
Season 3 of “Game of Thrones” rolls on, and while Daenerys and Tyrion plotted in their own way, Jamie Lannister has never been more disempowered — even before he was short one hand.. Salon’s writers are discussing episode 3 now!<a href=”http://branch.com/b/game-of-thrones-season-3-episode-3″>”Game of Thrones,” season 3, episode 3</a>Continue Reading… … Read More
