ACL Countdown: the shopping

So I am going to Austin City Limits next week. After a year and then some working in a music environment, I've definitely found my interests slipping from movies/TV to concerts/podcasts. As the days get shorter to the most anticipated vacation I've ever taken (I decided to go last October, and bought my ticket this March) I present to you my preparation:

Part 1: Shopping

What do you buy for a three-day grubby music festival set under the Texas sun? Definitely nothing designer. I have officially spent a lot of money (read: over $50) on the ugliest shoes I'll ever own. Chacos sandals with the toe strap. I cringed as I hit purchase, but upon seeing them tonight, feel a little more confident. The ugly plastic soles not only have the comfort I was promised in the price, but they are also mostly hidden, and the strap alone is fairly tolerable. I just have a week to wear them in before walking all over Austin in them.

Fun times are sure to ensure--so check back as I actually get into the music and food and all the other things that make Austin weird (and just perfect for me).

Mad Men Season 3

So I've been watching Mad Men, of course, and tonight's episode, with what was quite possibly the most unexpected use of (dark?) humor in the series to date, made me point out again the amount of blood appearing visually on screen.

Last week, with Betty's visions filled with the vivid red color plus Sally's lovely cutaway shot a la Lord of the Flies, I was weary: the red blood must surely signify death of some kind is coming. When the baby and Betty both pulled through fine, it seemed out of place. Why would they put all that there if it wasn't going to be meaningful, especially in a show that is ALL about the subtleties.

Tonight I think I've found an answer: Kennedy.

The creator already mentioned how he wasn't going to address the assassination-but it is an event that can hardly be ignored on the show. Tonight, with the squeegee man wiping down the office in the background, the message shot at me like a cannon. The blood this week, and last, is a harbinger of Kennedy's assassination and the death that would follow as the decade went on. Was it something that could be prevented by changing out actions? Everyone's ignorance of the blood around them definitely gives me an eerie vibe and somehow this fits.

any thoughts?