nate mcguire

Ok so maybe Mad Men isn’t the best show ever created, but I’m pretty sure it is in the top 5 for the past couple years. There are certain things that distinguish a good show from a really great show and Mad Men jumped that hurdle, while drunk.

After watching the season premier of the show last night, I decided that my throngs of followers should be enlightened to a little bit of awesome. Directly from me. You’re welcome again.

No, this show doesn’t really have a moral; or any morals really, it is more than a little sexist, but hey, they’re the early 60’s and it’s awesome.

There’s a reason we respect the old dude in the corner office making the big money. It’s because back in the day, he was a man’s man, kicking ass, drinking, smoking, telling young people they’re stupid, and sticking up for what is good and decent about the world while coincidentally helping to ruin it at the same time. He’ll take your hat off in an elevator and shove it in your chest, and at the same time have three different affairs. Minimum. But hey, he’s tragically flawed, right?

Mad Men’s main character Don Draper, played by Jon Hamm, is American prototype of self-reinvention like Fitzgerald’s Gatsby, who never wants for anything and can accomplish everything but can never really get away from himself. For now, in the second season, this is all rosy and whatnot, but I’m sure as with any tragic character it will come crashing down somewhere around, oh, Season 4?

I don’t really want to get too into character development, because I’m not an English major or trying to kill you with boredom, but this guy is really interesting. This plays into a small part of my view of the American dream. A guy can go to war, steal someone else’s dog tags after they die, reinvent himself, ditch his poor family and name, and work his way up to the streets of Madison Avenue and into a prestigious ad agency. Sure, it isn’t really noble, but it is this American way that allows us to go from MLK being assassinated to a legit black candidate for president so quickly (not really that quick, but that’s all I’ve got). It is our ability to forget the past at our own risk and look into the future for something better and Don Draper epitomizes it.

The setting and details of the set and wardrobe are amazing. I don’t think if I had lived in the early 60’s I would have been able to tell the difference. These guys are blitzed out of their mind on scotch half the time and I’m pretty sure if someone ever smoked that much they would get lung cancer in approximately 2 weeks. Oh wait, everyone from that era does? Interesting.

The sets are realistic, the characters are believable and flawed, the background on the era is solid, everyone plays their roles to a T. Mad Men is a show that ropes you in, makes you hate it and love it at the same time. This show is just impressive.

Stop reading and watch the show already. With a martini.

I recently decided that this post should stay at the top when I edit it, because I will find more and more things that are going to suck about working. Such as:

08.28.07

umm yeah. I can’t take my xbox360 where I travel (too nerdy). Which is apparently going to be 80% of the time. So they’re telling me 4/5 days of the week, my COD4 time is…ZERO!?

an update on drinking. apparently these people just drink with the people they work with, which is interesting to me. too much generational mixing, not sure if I’m “down to clown” with that one.

08.21.07

so now that I’ve had a real job for a week (not long at all, i know), I’ve come to appreciate the freedoms that unemployment/college offers.

things that suck about work:

most importantly, call of duty time has severely decreased. I mean its totally unfair, how am I supposed to keep my kill to death ratio going up when I can only play like twice a week for a total of like an hour? not cool work, not cool.

sleep. this one isn’t too bad for me, but it needs to be mentioned. I’m used to going to sleep like at 2am at the earliest, and now I’ve got to go to sleep at like 11 and wake up at 645. whatthehell.  i can be a morning person whenever I get up, but still, not fun.

drinking. if you don’t learn anything in college, you definitely learn how to drink. and apparently people can still do this, but damn, I don’t know how.

oh, but you do get paid. good tradeoff?

I’m sorry guys, but it had to be done.

HAPPY MONDAY TO ALL.

Photo by Gwen Turner-Juarez

Really, stop staring at her; it’s bad for your eyes.

Obviously, Mad Men, which is tonight. Seriously, do you read anything I write?

Keep watching the Yankees. If they win tonight it is 9 in a row and counting. We’re going to the ‘ship.

I think I’m going to start watching My Boys, a “funny” sitcom thing, or so TBS says. It’s on at 9.30e, 830c on TBS, and it has most of its old episodes for free viewing on their website. Let’s check it out together.

Per the usual, Weeds, Burn Notice, and In Plain Sight (weird episode last week, by the way) are all scheduled for new shows again this week. Continue to watch and you will be rewarded.

I’m going to make an executive decision and tell you what you should be doing today, this Sunday, July 27th 2008. (34 days until my birthday, enough warning for a gift, I should think)

Sports Disclaimer: For those of you who don’t watch sports, get out. Get out now.

Tonight, one of the more important regular season games of the year for the Yankees, who will pound you and those you love into submission if you talk ill of them, are playing the evil Red Sox on ESPN in the second game of the third regular season series this year. Still following? The pinstripes lead the sox 6 games to 5 this year, and if they win it will be a “virtual tie” for second place in the AL East. (WTF does that mean ESPN?)

Anyway, watch it, it is America’s sport with America’s team. At least the one not in Dallas.

Oh, and if my team loses, there is no ranting allowed about how they suck, because ESPN’s Accuscore says they’re a 37% underdog and are going to lose anyway.

ESPN at 8.05e, 7.05c

Next, and probably more interesting to most of you, Mad Men, AMC’s hit show is back and better than ever, tonight in its Season 2 premier at 10e,9c.  If you didn’t listen to me before and watch season one of this show (worthless readers), then tune into AMC tonight and I’m sure there will be some sort of “last season, on Mad Men” stuff for the people who are too good to do what I tell them to.

Anyway, tune it making sure to use your HD dual tuner (other wise you’ll miss the Yankees), and watch Mad Men tonight. Do it.

Mad Men, AMC, 10e,9c

oh and this is for you guys, from tjl.

if the iPhone currently isn’t high enough on the awesome scale, check out these potential new features.

You don’t have to be a packer’s fan to love Brett Favre. But seriously, dude?

update on my favorite QB soon to not be wearing green.

i didn’t do it.

best group activity ever.

and I know you’re saying…hey nate, I thought you said you we’re gonna review like…restaurants and stuff, so what the hell?

well chill out man.

that should hold you over until your next dose of nate love. i know you can’t wait.

So I’m sitting here at work thinking, hey, how can I enrich my readership’s lives by providing them with an insightful and useful post about something interesting and make it enjoyable to read?

screw that.

I decided I don’t care about you guys and now will post something that I think is interesting and very not useful. You’re welcome.

call of duty 4 is awesome. and so is this reviewer guy. enjoy my gift, minions.

so congrats to my readers, only a small percentage of you are retards. 25% of you are still using IE though, yano, the crappy browser that comes on your computer and is so bad that its like being stabbed in the eye when you use it.

guest rant on the subject, and why we are smarter at natemcguire.com

you guys are idiots [tylerjameslee.com]

get firefox now, this shit is amazing

Here’s some shows to watch this week, along with last week’s shows and a quick thought.

This Week:

In Plain Sight - Don of the Dead - Tonight at 9c on USA

Weeds - Excellent Treasures - Monday at 9c on Showtime

Burn Notice - Trust Me - Thursday at 9c on USA

Feel free to provide some insight in the comments to add to this list, because these are just shows that I like to watch…

Last Week:

Burn Notice, definitely one of the cooler episodes, you’re finding out more and more about this guy and it just keeps getting more interesting.

In Plain Sight is just…plain interesting.  I like this show a lot, the main character has some guts to her. This episode was okay though, probably could have just watched the highlights.

Weeds, well, I was a little disappointed. I’m not really sure what the writers are trying to do with this, I feel like this season has lacked direction ever since the family left the sweet little town of Agrestic. Hopefully next week will get more interesting (and not too ridiculous).

Okay so this is the serious part of the post. There are some sweet shows coming back to prime time at the end of summer and you need to catch up on them. Seriously.

AMC’s show Mad Men, about a creative ad agency in 1960’s New York is coming back to TV for its second season next Sunday at 9c. This show is “sexy, stylized, and provocative”, plus it got 16 Emmy nominations and won the Golden Globe for best TV drama.

HBO’s Entourage, one of my favorite shows of all time, is going to be on HBO with back to back episodes for the rest of the summer, every Friday. If you’ve never watched Entourage or are seriously behind the times, get on that.

and this is just because I love you guys.

ok this too.

Kuby’s Sausage House

Yesterday, I was honored with a free lunch at Kuby’s, a family-owned, German restaurant and specialty store near the SMU campus in Dallas. This place is like a total throwback to old Germany (If I’d ever been there). The dude at the checkout sounded like he had just arrived. This place is crazy. They offer a huge variety of real sausages, cold cuts, cheese, and random other Germanic foods, as well as a full on authentic German restaurant.

I don’t usually end up at places like this, but I wasn’t in charge, so whatever. When we walked in the actual restaurant looked kind of like a shit-hole, either a bad sign or a really good one, crappy places can’t survive unless the food is amazing or excessively cheap. Thankfully this was the first. The place was packed on a Tuesday for lunch, and it is a seat yourself or sit at the bar style of place. So the menu consists of traditional delicatessen style foods, like Rueben’s and other sandwiches with various meats.

Okay, so to the food. At the ill-advised behest of someone who makes a lot more money than I do, I got the three sausage plate, because otherwise I wasn’t a man. Discovering after I ordered that the ‘men’ only ordered two, I figured I might have a lot left over. The Wurst plate, (1,2, or 3 sausages) has a huge selection of sausages to pick from, including those off the menu (I recommend the jalapeño cheese), and then it comes with homemade sauerkraut, hot German potato salad and red cabbage which are all crazy good.

So needless to say, I finished…everything. It was awesome, this place is a great lunch place, and probably great drinking food too. I would definitely recommend this place if you’re ever in the SMU area.

solid a plus. (not including ancient crabby waitress)