Rosscott, Inc.

Again, we love Mad Men. Love it. It’s great. I dare you to tell me why it ISN’T great, simply so I have a reason to punch you square in the solar plexus (I’ve decided that’s a good place to start). OK I’m getting straight to it. Thanks again to Kottke, here are some great Mad Men illustrations done in a 60’s style that the boys at Sterling Cooper would be proud of (if, yknow, they were real and stuff).

Holy crap.  You mean they aren’t clean shaven and standing up straight all the time?  This blows my mind.  Link here.

This week’s Mad Men loving comes from Systemic Jen, who provided linkage to a great post all about the typography featured in the show Mad Men.  As mentioned before, they use Arial in their credits (FOR SHAME) but redeem it in many other ways.  They use some typefaces that, while available, were not popular and therefore likely used at the time, but hey, they are doing a damn good job.  Favorite quote from the article:

I sometimes feel like these characters are living in a retro museum instead of 1960s New York.

Go check it out, and appreciate the level of detail that goes into this amazing show.  And thanks, Jen!

Also, thanks to Systemic and member of the System Council Marty Day, who brings us a little Jon “Don Draper” Hamm love.  Seems Jon Hamm is a friend of Jimmy Pardo, the comedian behind the hilarious podcast Never Not Funny.  He was featured on the most recent episode (#403), and it is amazing.  WARNING: The podcast costs money, so keep that in mind before I get your hopes up too high.

What can I say?  I have a large man-crush on Jon Hamm and I’m not ashamed of it.  How about you?  Do you love Jon Hamm?  Are you ashamed to admit it?

AMC’s Mad Men blog has just posted about Mad Men questions featured on Jeopardy.  Between that and the Michael Korrs clothing line, this cable show is having a real effect on the culture around it.  I may start wearing a hat to work.  Link

Thanks to Systemic Marty for pointing me to the Best Week Ever blog.  Seems this year’s Simpsons Treehouse of Horror will feature a Mad Men parody.  Click the link to see more sccreen shots and get a little more info.  Link.

It’s the end of the season, so this kinda stuff will calm down soon enough.  Meanwhile, here’s a great interview with Matt Weiner, the show’s creator.  If I had to name the article, it would be “Matt Weiner Takes Up 20 Minutes of Your Work Day”. They try and stay very true to the original interview, providing the reader with as much information as possible:

He speaks quickly and in a stream-of-consciousness kind of way, which I’ve tried to capture in transcribing his answers. I hope that will give you an essence of what it’s like to have a conversation with him. You’ll find that he not only answered the questions completely but he went above and beyond, often exploring tangents that were not part of the original question. You’ll get a lot of bang for your buck in this Q&A, I promise. (Although there is one question that gets a one word answer!)

Link.

He’s on the cover of GQ, and he’s seen looking at a horse.  As for the interview, he’s a bit of a dude.  Oh, and Obama is in there too.  Link.

I’m about to get out of here, but a few quick things before I leave the internet alone for the day.

My Mad Men correspondent Mollie sends me news of a Mad Men Revue:

Lionsgate is working on a plan to book more dates for the “Mad Men” musical revue that played the El Rey Theater in L.A. last month as a benefit for the L.A. chapter of the Recording Academy. The show featured musical numbers from the “Mad Men” early ’60s era and a dash of Rat Pack-esque shtick performed by supporting cast members of the Emmy-winning AMC drama.

I’m there.  Who’s with me?

A wonderful visual guide to the financial crisis (thanks, Carni).

Meanwhile, here’s a great vid my friend Jen sent out about the Philly Hot Dog launcher.

Lightning round!

• An interesting article on “print literacy” and “screen literacy” in the new age of LCD screens everywhere.
• They ran cables for a bridge across a giant gorge with ROCKETS.
• And because it’s thanksgiving, a muffin sent me news of Alton Brown on Pie (mmm pie).

“Yeah, big time!” he said. “I grew up in the ’70s and ’80s so I had Star Wars, and Close Encounters, and Blade Runner and 2001. It was an awesome time for sci-fi.” When Mr. Hamm was asked if he still does anything geeky, his girlfriend, Jennifer Westfeldt, rolled her eyes and affectionately nodded yes. “Oh yeah, I’m a big comic book guy and–” “Video games, video games, video games!” exclaimed Ms. Westfedt.

Jon Hamm, Sci-Fi Geek! | The New York Observer

It has been remarked before that this blog has been a bit of a love fest for Mad Men.  Since season 2 ended, I haven’t had much to say.  NO LONGER.

1. Jon Hamm is on Twitter.  Twitter is now 1000% more handsome (I stole that line but damn if it isn’t true).
2. He starred as Lex Luthor in a recent Funny or Die video.  Worth watching.
3. Oh, and while we’re at it, the creator’s son is 8 years old and loves fashion.  Check out the cutest fashionista ever.  Be sure to click through to the GQ article, which has a great slide show.  Link.