"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.

Book 'em, Danno!

Magnet #955 - Hawaiian Islands

For someone who hasn't been to, and has no plans to ever go to, Hawaii, I sure do have a boatload of magnets from there. It's weird! Not sure who gave this one to me, but it's supercute, thanks.

A fond memory I have living in Chicago in the mid-70s is running into my parents' room, hurrying as fast as I could go because I could hear the thundering score of Hawaii Five-O on the tv. By my count, I couldn't have been more than five or six years old. With a big crush on James MacArthur, who played Danno.

Thirty years later, things haven't changed all that much. Tonight's the third episode of the Hawaii Five-0 redux, and I can't freakin' wait til 10 tonight. Of course, the only difference is that now I have a crush on Alex O'Loughlin, Scott Caan, and Daniel Dae Kim.

If anyone had told me that H50 would be my favorite show of the season - indeed, one of my favorites in a long while - I would have scoffed. When I first heard about it a while ago, I was determined to shun it.

After all, who can beat Jack Lord and James MacArthur? Plus, while I love and own Moonlight, would dreamy Alex O'Loughlin be able to fit in hard-ass Jack Lord's shoes?

On top of that, seriously, CBS? A whole press release about the use of the letter O vs. number 0? Come now. (And yet, I'm diligently using the two different characters - it really does make a difference, I suppose.)

My fears were somewhat allayed when I saw the first teaser for the show, and saw Alex O'Loughlin running around in his bullet-proof vest. It was hot. (It still is. So is this.)

By the time I saw the full trailer, I was already looking forward to the premiere - even though I forewent the SDCC panel in favor of some floor time. (And am now sorry I did.)

But when I finally saw the pilot, it seriously took the opening sequence before I knew the show was going to kick ass...and about 14 minutes in to realize that it would be my #1 show of the season. Now I can't wait for the season to be over, and six months to pass, so that I can own the H50 DVDs.

Best of all, I got to watch the pilot with my parents, which was fun and totally nostalgic.

My dad came downstairs in the middle of the show, glanced at the tv, and without any hesitation or context, goes, "Oh! Chin Ho!" (Score one for Daniel Dae Kim. Actually, score two, because I didn't even go through a "there's Jin Kwon" phase - he's already Chin for me.)

On the flip side, the first time my dad saw Alex and Scott, he asked us, "Who are they?" That's not surprising. Jack Lord was 48 when he did the H5O pilot in 1968, while James MacArthur was much younger at 31. Both O'Loughlin and Caan are 34 - buddy-cop contemporaries, than anything else.

But, it works. Good gravy, does it work.

Mind you, I'm not completely blind, there are a few issues that they need to work on.

I don't necessarily like how the boys have gone and saved Boomer Kono in the last two episodes, and how they've banded together to "always protect her." (even though they were supercute in their uniforms during her swearing in)

I don't want them to always do the boy banter, while it's superadorable, it has the possibility of relying on its cuteness.

I wonder if they're gonna get more people in those empty offices.

And I want them to watch their brand/product integration - they're treading close to annoying me with the pervasive Chevy product placement.

Even with the above, I'm definitely looking forward to how this iteration of the 5-0 goes.

eta:
Having watched episode 3, ummm, yeah, it's till number 1 on my list.