Shut UP! It's Oreo Fudge Cremes!

Magnet #1155 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The beauty of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-1945) being one of my fave presidents is that I've done a boatload of magnetposts on him - which means I can use this magnet for absolutely nothing but...Oreos.

That's right.

Oreos.

I've been streaming the heck out of FOX, Hulu and yes, CW lately, in a desperate attempt to keep up with my shows, and it looks like Nabisco's done a pretty extensive buy with FOX because I keep seeing the same commercial all over again.

Not even joking, every break for the last several eps I've watched of Fringe and now Bones, it's the same. tv. ad.

Luckily, the Oreo Fudge Creme spot is actually watchable and re-watchable. And watchable again. At least for me.

The spot's way below, but it basically features a family expounding on the indescribably delicious fudgey goodness of the cookies, each member using today's catchphrases. Like, for reals. Seriously.

It's a great spot mainly because as each phrase comes up, you totes think of the last time that you yourself used it...and if you're me, it was probably like five minutes ago. Get out, I know you're surprised. No way! I know, right?

The funny thing is that I can totally see the copywriters in some conference room arguing with the clients over which phrases to keep and use. Especially because there are totally a couple of phrases I haven't heard anyone use like Hello Sir and Mahjong. Whoa, really?

My favorite is Mom busting out with Shut the front door, because I keep getting dinged for telling everyone and everything to Shut up. (It's not bad manners, dammit, I swear, for me, it's a term of endearment! Work with me, yo!)

So. The question is, will I buy it next time I'm roaming Food Lion aisles? I dunno. The packaging's pretty, I'm sure the price point's fine, and I've seen the ad more than the supposed seven times to make me buy it. And did I say the packaging's pretty?

One thing's for sure, if or when I do try Oreo Fudge Cremes? I will totally yell out Franklin Delano!

I mean, what?

Warm Springs

Magnet #1039 - Warm Springs, GA

A friend of mind brought her husband to Warm Springs, GA, for his birthday, and brought me back this supercute magnet. They're the same friends I went with to Hyde Park, NY, so it's no surprise that they finally took advantage of being able to visit FDR's other place of residence just an hour south of Atlanta.

Back in the 1800s, Warm Springs had been known as a warm mineral springs resort, but by the time FDR had discovered them in the 1920s, it had already fallen on hard times. But, FDR believed the 88-degree waters helped his polio-related paralysis, and so he spent much of his time at the springs, and even kept a Little White House down there, where he supposedly did a lot of his New Deal work. On top of that, he also started the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation, still active today, a place where folks can go and partake of the therapeutic waters, but moreover, it's a place that strives "to empower individuals with disabilities to achieve personal independence."

The Little White House is a GA State Park site now, so you can visit it - it's been kept the same since FDR's death, and they have a couple of his special cars, and even an unfinished painting that he was sitting for.

Of course, now I have to go rewatch Kenneth Brannagh's Warm Springs HBO movie. Plus, I need to finally read the book I picked up at FDR's Library in Hyde Park, called FDR's Splendid Deception to get a better understanding of FDR and the massive effort to downplay, even hide, the extent of his polio-induced paralysis.

It's why I love this magnet, because one of the things I've never been able to get my head around is the public knowledge around his disability. Or rather, lack of public knowledge. Supposedly, no one really knew that he was paralyzed from the waist down, while FDR and his team went to extraordinary lengths to keep this "splendid deception." Ironic, that even on this magnet, from a place where he was trying to remedy his paralyzed legs, he's portrayed standing and waving from the back of the train.

And yet, of course, pockets of people knew. The press did what they could to downplay it - which is almost unheard of these days. The government knew. The servicemen and women he visited in a few hospitals knew. The folks of Warm Springs knew. People knew, and they didn't make a huge fuss over it.

I've always heard that if the average American public knew that FDR was wheelchair-bound, that he'd never have been elected. While that's probably true, I'd still like to believe that we'd have seen our way around it anyway. Otherwise, how vastly different would this world be?

Center of the culinary nation

Magnet #720 - Culinary Institute of America

Nestled upstate in Hyde Park, NY, is the supremely awesome Culinary Institute of America. And not just for the cool student stores there, where they have all this cool CIA swag to buy. Mind you, I never bought anything, lest anyone think that I can actually cook...or, that I'm a spy. Hahaha.

The CIA started out in the 1940s in New Haven, armed with 50 students being taught by a chef, baker and dietician. And now, 40,000+ students later, it's definitely lived up to its goal of being the center of the culinary nation.

What I love about visiting their pretty campus is the fact that you can visit one of the six restaurants to taste the fruits of their students' labor. I've never done dinner, but have heard it's amazing. But no matter, because I love, love, love their Apple Pie Bakery Café - so, so, sooooo good!

I totally want to get my parents to try visit, my mom for the good food, and my dad for the good bread. They'll love it.

Now. If I could only convince my dad that he does want to visit the Roosevelts houses up the street there. He loved Teddy's house at Oyster Bay, but it just so happens that he agrees with Teddy's politics more than FDR.

"The fruits of accomplishment"*

Magnet #606 - Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)

Poor Herbert Hoover. He was president during the 1929 stock market crash and the start of the Great Depression.

Whether you're Hoover or Roosevelt, or you're Bush or Obama, sometimes I feel world leaders often take the rap for more than they should - good and bad. After all, they're surrounded by dozens of people (elected and appointed) helping make the decisions that land us in various places and situations in history. And only history will be able to tell the full story.

So, I kinda feel bad for Hoover, who is more often than not, remembered for Hoovervilles, and all the negative stuff about his presidency, even though his fairly nonpartisan .gov write-up said he "brought to the Presidency an unparalleled reputation for public service as an engineer, administrator, and humanitarian."

Even the Smithsonian, who has this portrait of him, said that he seemed to be the "the ultimate problem-solver" and goes on to say that he's the only president that didn't make the cover of TIME while in office. That makes me sad for him.

Especially because he had to live another 30 years knowing it! That's why I picked him for today - today in 1964, he passed away here in NYC, at the age of 90. I will say that this presidential portrait reminds me of a much more debonair Dick Van Patten (as seen here from My Kind of New York) in Eight is Enough.


*From Hoover's inaugural speech:

Ours is a land rich in resources; stimulating in its glorious beauty; filled with millions of happy homes; blessed with comfort and opportunity. In no nation are the institutions of progress more advanced. In no nation are the fruits of accomplishment more secure. In no nation is the government more worthy of respect. No country is more loved by its people. I have an abiding faith in their capacity, integrity and high purpose. I have no fears for the future of our country. It is bright with hope.

Seeking asylum

Magnet #519 - RIHS Visitors Center Kiosk

I've been playing tourist again in town. I swear, there's always something to do in town, and even if you're doing the same thing you've already done a few times, seeing it through a new pair of eyes is fun. Plus, I totally saw some of Manhattan today that I've never seen before.

Like - the back side of the Holocaust museum downtown. Just above and behind that? Is a freakin' Disney-esque set of docks. Who. Knew!

Like the lines for the Statue of Liberty. Ahem. Anyone coming to visit me - I've done the crown pre-9/11. Ya'll wanna visit the old green lady? You're on your own - those lines were insane!

And, speaking of insane...I've sort of taken Roosevelt Island off the east side of Manhattan for granted. There's a skyway to get there - you'll know this tram, because it's the one that got stuck in the air in the first Spider-Man, and Spidey had to go save Mary Jane in mid-air?

I've been to the island a few times, and I'm totally going back at some point soon - just to visit every darn landmark they have over there! I can't believe it's taken me this long to look up what's over on that island! Sheesh.

I found out today - having read all the literature on it on their site - that apparently, both Boss Tweed and Mae West did stints there. And, Nellie Bly and Charles Dickens both came here to investigate and visit and write about the lunatic asylum housed on this island.

Hell yeah. Lunatic. Asylum. Dudes, I love that I read and am using (in the right context) the phrase lunatic asylum today. Hahaha.

But, besides the nuthouse, there's a house there from before the Revolutionary War! It was owned by the Blackwell family for something like 150 years. Dude. That's old. But, apparently, they renamed the island from Blackwell to Roosevelt Island in honor of FDR.

Oh! And at the southern tip of the island, they're trying to building memorial to him. I didn't read that part all too carefully, but apparently, Louis I. Kahn designed it. Intriguing - I'll be rooting around for more information on that shortly.

I think it's been a while since the last time I went, because this little kiosk right outside the entrance of the tram wasn't there before. It's supercute! And I won't lie, the only reason I actually stopped in, was because there was a little sign in front that mentioned "books and souvenirs." Fun!

In the end, I ended up with this giant magnet - the magnet that should have had the tram in the background. But, I guess you can't have everything. You should take a look at this cool video that explains where this kiosk is from - but they were in use for the trolley system back in the early 1900s. And, it's had a long trip to get where it sits today. Anyway, check it out.

So, if you have a spare few hours in town, definitely head over to Roosevelt and the visitors center kiosk, via the tram. Though in the summer there's too many people and too many people raising their arms to hold on to the handles (phew-y), so keep that in mind.

Still. A fun time.

Freedom is essential

Magnet #333 - Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms

Today in Washington, DC, the streets will be lined, the Mall will be packed, and elsewhere, hotels, bars, offices, churches and stadiums will be packed with people - all there to celebrate the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama. And it won't be just in Washington - it's all over the country, and indeed, all over the world.

But, for as much as change seems to be afoot, there are some things that will never change. And four of them are on this magnet.

In January 1941, Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered his State of the Union Address before congress - discussing four essential human rights that he believed should be protected universally. The excerpted text is below, but it's odd how much of it applies today.

In the future days which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression - everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way - everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want, which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants - everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear, which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor - anywhere in the world.

That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called "new order" of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.

- Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
from the Annual Message to the Congress,
January 6, 1941

The speech so moved Norman Rockwell, that he wanted to do something to contribute to the War effort. He knew he was too old to serve, so he spent six months and several sleepless nights, painting these four masterpieces, known as the Four Freedoms. Left to right: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear.

The Saturday Evening Post ran them, when the government turned them down. The paintings were a big hit, and of course, the Office of War Information jumped on the bandwagon - issuing them as a series of posters for the War bond effort. They even toured the paintings around the country in 1943, and raised more than $130 million in war bond sales.

The exhibition has traveled various galleries since, and unless they're out again, they should be on display over at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA. Well worth the trip. Though, if you head over to their site, they give some great information on each of the paintings.

I'm anxious to see how today goes. Whether you're happy about today or not, it's truly one for the history books. Though, is it weird that there's a part of me that's hoping someone's going to take that quintessential picture of people in front of a storefront full of giant flat-screen televisions watching the inauguration?

In the meantime, happy inauguration day. Stay safe and warm and peaceful and maybe throw in a little hope, if you can.

Never again

Magnet #289 - USS Arizona Memorial

"December 7th, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."

- FDR's Pearl Harbor Speech

I've never been to this naval memorial, but from all accounts, it's one of those that you never forget. The USS Arizona had 1,177 souls aboard, when she went down - that's just over half of those 2,335 killed at Pearl Harbor. Most of them are still down there, considered buried at sea by the Navy, making this place not only a memorial, but a haunting war grave.

I'll be honest, it feels weird to write this magnetpost about this memorial that I haven't seen, and still be so moved by it, while writing it.

So, I'm taking the easy way out, and just pointing you to the National Park Service site, as well as this other USS Arizona Preservation site, dedicated to the preservation of the ship below.

Hot dogs! Get yer dogs right here!

Magnet #233 - Hyde Park, NY

Let's make it a Roosevelt weekend...

Springwood was the home of FDR up at Hyde Park. As you can see, it wasn't a tiny home, either. It used to be a farmhouse at one point, but then the Roosevelt family made it into a stately home.

When you visit, they take you through several of the rooms, where you see FDR's stuffed bird collection, the room where he was born, the rooms where he grew up, where he did his work, and the elevator he had created to get up and down from floor to floor.

What's always fascinated me more though, is visiting Top Cottage, his little rustic getaway a couple of miles away. You can only visit via the shuttle bus, but I just love going to Top Cottage because a lot of history happened up on that hill. And yet, FDR never spent the night there. You can tell that the cottage was designed (by FDR) for entertaining, because the living room is a massive open area, opening out to a terrific little front porch that overlooks a little valley, while all of the other rooms are small and fairly spartan.

A few events happened out on that wooden porch. There's an infamous story about how King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited the US in 1939. They did a little tour around the States, visiting the World's Fair out in Queens; Trenton, NJ; Washington, D.C.; Niagara Falls, etc. And it was a very big deal - never before had a British monarch ever set foot on U.S. soil. FDR needed to build up relations with the UK, and after the King accepted the invite, FDR meticulously planned every moment of their itinerary. Crazy. But all of that is not what made that visit infamous.

Nope. It's that FDR invited them out to Top Cottage for a good old-fashioned American picnic. And fed them hot dogs! By all accounts, their Majesties loved the hot dogs, and Americans were torn between being totally appalled or proud to be an American. Even his FDR's own mother was a little freaked out over it.

There's just something funny about the thought of FDR explaining how to eat a hot dog to a prim and proper King and Queen.

My Day, with Eleanor

Magnet #232 - Eleanor Roosevelt

I can't believe I haven't done the other Roosevelts yet!

Happy 124th birthday, Eleanor!

Look, there's no way that I could ever do Eleanor justice about who she was, so you can visit the White House site or the Val-Kil site (which is the only National Historic site ever dedicated to a first lady) for more info on her.

What I will tell ya'll is that I positively love visiting the Roosevelt sites in Hyde Park, NY. Some friends and I went to visit last year (my second time up there), concentrating on the Eleanor sites this time. She was arguably the greatest First Lady, and though she wasn't always well-received, she still kicked ass.

Her home, Val-Kil, a shuttle bus ride away from the visitors center is just supercool to visit. I can't believe they sold off a lot of her belongings after she was gone. But, they've gotten some of it back, and reproductions of other things. But, it's just the neatest thing ever to sit see where she wrote her letters to Harry Truman, or her My Day column. I swear, you leave there all empowered and wanting to go save the world, or write a daily column, or compare how either Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain will measure up.

When you visit Hyde Park, there are several places to visit - Springfield, FDR's home; Top Cottage, the little getaway up on the hill; Val-Kil, Eleanor's place; Stone Cottage, Eleanor's little getaway; and the FDR Presidential Library and Museum.

Be prepared to spend a day or more up there, in order to see everything. And the shops! Don't forget the shops! Somehow I always end up poorer when I leave there, but rich in knowledge... and stuff.