"Functional trinkets"

Magnet #967 - ABC

Oh, ABC. Or, really, I should just say, oh, television.

This year's crop of new Fall TV shows have disappointed me pretty much across the board - every network, almost every show. It's about a month into the new season, and there's no way that my only new appointment television show right now is CBS's Hawaii Five-0.

One show does not a successful new tv season make!

It's so bad I'm not even taking a whole magnetpost to whine over the lack of good shows. I'm just using this ABC swag magnet for today (one of my few magnets that double as a functional clip), because I just got done moving most of my entertainment-related magnets to the side of my fridge, all the while, cursing my always dwindling wall space.

One look at my latest magnets slideshow reveals some empty space to fill, so it's not like I'm actually running out of room. My problem is my need to keep them all together in their groupings, and with an ever-expanding collection, it's hard to do that. So the front of the fridge is my little art gallery, one panel has all the dimensionals, one has all the joy magnets, one has all the picture magnets, one has all the acrylics, one has all the Monets, and so forth. And within those, are subgroups of tile magnets, hanging feet magnets, floaty magnets, etc.

See? It's kind of crazy-making. Especially today, I think.

My "Magnet collecting" Google alert (shut it) just picked up this great little article on this magnet collector chick in Gastonia, NC, and now I'm obsessed with her walls of "functional trinkets." She has more than 3,600 magnets, which isn't as many as the Magnet Lady in Vegas (some records put her collection at more than 30,000), but it's way a lot more than mine. (No, I don't have an active count of my own collection, beyond knowing somewhat definitively that this ABC clip is Magnet #967.)

The thing is, she has hers all in her sheet-metal lined spare bedroom! Dudes! And, it's all white and pretty, and the magnets all have breathing room. And if you look closely at the pictures, the magnets are grouped together, all nice and neat, while mine's beginning to look like the walls of IKEA.

Sigh. It's definitely no reason to move, but damn, do I have magnetroom jealousy right now.

Best-laid plans

Magnet #868 - London

If you've read this magnetblog with any sort of regularity, you'll remember that I have this inexplicable love affair with London.

No why fore or reasoning, really, I just like it. I mean, really, ya'll know how much I love New York City. London's just the UK equivalent, is all.

I'm just using this Kristina Myers Crafts magnet for today because I have a few friends over there right now.

One lucky gal who moved her life over there and is Facebooking pictures, allowing me to live vicariously. And another one just on holiday, who has dropped off the map since she's been away. (I'm so sad she hasn't found the 1 GBP web cafes!)

Either way, they're both sitting in London - well, sleeping at this point - and I'm sitting here in New York, wishing I was there.

It's ok for right now, though, since I'm in the midst of planning the next big holiday - going to Comic-Con in San Diego in a couple of weeks. SDCC's releasing the official schedule one each day, starting yesterday. Dudes, seriously. The Excel spreadsheet was full before the official schedule came out.

Now? I haven't figured out how we're going to physically be in as many as 3 places at once. I haven't figured out how when we're hitting the floor. For that matter, I haven't figured out when we're hitting the bathrooms.

The funny thing is that while we're whining about how we're gonna get it all done...there are folks out there, like @televisionary trying to actually figure out their schedules as well. For work.

And that my friends, I'm seeing, is another blessing in disguise that I wasn't able to parlay my love of all things entertainment into a real job. I did that with publishing and now I can't read a book without editing it and criticizing its cover. I did that with advertising, and now I can't watch a tv spot or print ad without seeing all the behind-the-scenes issues.

Imagine, if I'd actually ended up at Warner Brothers or ABC. I wouldn't be able to go to Comic-Con just for the sheer entertainment of it all. I can go to all these panels and screenings and Q&As just for fun. And enjoy it. And Tweet it. And be a big old (not dressing up) geek about the whole thing.

So, I guess, thanks WB and ABC, for not hiring me after those crazy interviews! Looks like that was part of someone's plan.

Now. If only I could figure out the rest of the plan - for my SDCC trip. And for my life.

Whoa. How meta.

It worked, indeed.

Magnet #716a & b - Magnerine Polar Bears

Though I've had CBS on all day for pre-game coverage, I've had it on mute, while I just finished catching up on the LOST premiere.

What can I say about it that everyone hasn't talked about already?

Other than seriously, the only thing missing from the first two episodes beside my kitchen sink were the damn polar bears.

Honestly, could this show mess with my mind any more?

Must see T-what?

Magnet#586 - Reflections

Another stockhouse swag magnet that I just realized had a tiny tv on it. Perfect, as I reflect upon the fact that this time last year, my year-round TV Dance Card had 64 shows on it.

Now, it's the end of September and we're smack in the middle of fall premieres, I find my DVR at 65% full.

A sad state of affairs. Of course, that's after I wiped off a good 30% this past weekend, and have three hours of that Ken Burns' National Parks documentary sitting on it.

I can't figure out if we're still feeling the effects of the strike, or the dismal economy, but I don't know what's up with Fall TV this year. This is the first time in years that I haven't gone to the Paley Center premiere parties, where they preview the new shows a couple of days before they air.

Not a one show was worth rushing up to Midtown after work for me. Sad.

So what's left on the roster, and left to try when they air*?

ABC (7)
Private Practice, Brothers & Sisters, Grey's Anatomy, LOST, Castle, FlashForward, V*
(Tried and Dumped: Eastwick)

CBS (5)
NCIS, Ghost Whisperer, Numb3rs, Flashpoint, Three Rivers*
(Tried and Dumped: NCIS: Los Angeles and probably The Good Wife)

NBC (2)
Chuck, Friday Night Lights
(Tried and Dumped: Mercy and probably Trauma)

FOX (2)
Fringe, Bones
(Tried and Dumped: Dollhouse and Glee. Yes, that's right. I dumped Glee. You know there's a magnet a-comin'.)

The CW (5)
90210, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Supernatural, Vampire Diaries
(Tried and Dumped: Beautiful Life, and probably Melrose Place)

TBS (2)
The Closer, Saving Grace

USA (5)
Psych, Burn Notice, In Plain Sight, Royal Pains, White Collar*

BBC-A (3)
Doctor Who, Top Gear, Skins
(Hiatus/in production/not airing stateside yet, so doesn't count: Torchwood, Gavin & Stacey, Robin Hood, MI-5, Merlin, Being Human, Primeval)

AMC (1)
Mad Men

ABC Family (1)
Greek

FX (1)
Sons of Anarchy

Lifetime (1)
Army Wives

Sundance (2)
Architecture School, Iconoclasts

Total: 37

Always. Only Us. Part 2: And the not so Good.

Magnet #268 - Soapnetic

I picked up this holographic button, now magnet, from SSW. Soapnetic is SoapNet's online video outlet - kind of like NBC's deal with Hulu. And it would totally be a cool thing to watch, were it not totally and frustratingly not available through every ISP. Hmph.

I've mentioned a couple of times on joy magnetism about how I used to love Zach and Kendall from All My Children. Well, this guy's Cameron Mathison, the guy who plays Ryan Lavery, making my little lovable twosome into an annoying troika.

Without this becoming a long rant about how CamMat is the hardest working man in showbusiness with enough heat to launchpad on to something else, so why hasn't he gone off the show and done it yet is beyond me, I actually love the guy, I just wish Ryan would leave town for good already. If he could take the current AMC writers with him, that'd be superduperawesome.

And, that's all I have to say about that. Heh.

Always. Only Us. Part 1: The Good.

Magnet #267 - Thorsten Kaye at SuperSoap Weekend

For those of you who don't know, this weekend is SuperSoap Weekend down in Orlando. It's when ABC gathers up all of their soap talent and herds them down to FL to make a veritable mint off of all the soap fangurls in merchandising, park fees, lodging and food.

I've mentioned going to SSW a couple of years ago, and conning two of my friends to go with me. It's one of those friends that gave me this cute magnet.

The couple at the top is Alicia Minshew and Thorsten Kaye - who play Zach and Kendall (a.k.a. Zen, or Zendall) on All My Children. We love them. Or, we did, before the new powers that be at ABC started to screw about with them. Now, I don't even bother to FF through to hot TK's scenes.

So, that weekend, hanging out with my friends, plus a few more friends that we met down there, we had SO much fun! I have to say only the three of us could pack so much silliness and giggling into one weekend. From the moment my friend bumped into Blair from OLTL in the bathroom at LGA on our way down, to the moment where my other friend stalked hot boy Aiden Turner with her paparazzi camera, to the moment when I huffily ran into Nash from OLTL on the jetway at LGA after having landed. It was non-stop giggling.

Gravy, I don't think I've laughed so hard in my life. And, for the cavalcade of hotness, follow this link to the slideshow of the paparazzi shots my friend took.