MAD MEN

Excellent T.V. show about MADison Avenue advertising executives in the 60's. Explores human psychology and marketing manipulation...two of my favorite topics. The first episode was better than the other two I have seen, but the show is still insightful and entertaining. I was won over by the show (well, initially it was the cover box and Christina Hendricks) by a part in the first episode where they were trying to market cigarettes now that it was undisputable that they were bad for you. They had a psychologist come in and suggest the use of the freudian idea of humans having a death wish. This was initially rejected by the main character (top ad. executive). Later you see him lying on the couch and as he's about to fall asleep he watches a fly buzz around the room before going straight at the light. Ultimately, however, the advertiser rejects this idea and comes up with something better. He understands it, the appeal of it, but knows its not good enough and that it would never fly with the company execs.

Fast, Cheap and Out of Control

Great Documentary. It explores four different people and their professions. Each profession has a unique and insightful perspective on life and humanities relationship to nature. A robot specialist talks about how we may just be made up of systems...there is no magical "life" to us. He talks about a future for us that will have robots everywhere and shows some robots (documentary was made in 1997) who don't take commands but still walk around...he describes it being "in their nature." There is an elderly topiary artist who talks about how he must work with nature and mold nature into the way he wants it. He also states nothing can surpass the hand shears - this is an art that stands a part from what any sort of technological advance could give us.(?) A Mole Rat specialist talks about his fascination with a species of mole rat found in Africa that sheds light on our species. This mole rat defies what it means to be a mammal. It is basically coldblooded, has no hair and can do peculiar things like decide to only partially digest some food so that their babies can eat the fecal matter. The rats also seem to have amazing evolutionary adaptation ability. Finally a circus wild animal tamer talks about animal psychology and how although weaker than a Lion he is able to control it (basically by making it believe he is stronger).