Happy Opening Day!

Magnet #1133 - Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

What?

Ok, ok, wrong sport, wrong country.

Still, a world-class stadium.

Built in 1999, the Millennium Stadium seats 74,000 and was the first fully-retractable roof in the UK. They've hosted everything from Rugby World Cup finals to large-scale musical concerts to motorcup events. And they're going to be the football venue for the London 2012 Olympics.

Yet, somehow, I missed seeing this giant stadium on my Cardiff daytrip a couple of years ago. I know! It's one of the most iconic buildings in Wales, and somehow, I missed seeing it. Not only that, but I just looked at an aerial shot and it's seriously right across the street from the train station I came in through. I remember seeing the supercool spires poking up through the skies, and a lot of light around it, but somehow, somehow, I missed the building itself. It's why I bought the magnet, really, because I knew I'd missed it - plus, it's just a really cool magnet to have, all 3-D (2-D?) perspectivey and whatnot.

It's ok, though, because we have Cardiff back on the dockett for the June London trip - of course - we can't not do another Doctor Who/Torchwood walkabout, so I'll get a chance to earn this magnet for real. I was hoping we could see an actual Rugby match with some actual rugby cuteboys, but it looks like the timing won't work out. I mean, shoot, we're even 2 days late for Take That.

What?

Baby, it's hot outside

Magnet #875 - 2010 Vancouver Olympic Mascots

Remember when we were all watching the 2010 Winter Olympics, where we had these supercute little mascots, and I magnetblogged about them?

And like everyone at the outdoor venues were all bundled up in layers and layers of warm clothing?

Because it was cold outside?

Remember that? Remember how cold it was here? Remember?

Yeah. Those were good times.

Cold times.

The Olympics, the ads, and the mascots...sans Mukmuk!

Magnet #732 - 2010 Vancouver Olympics Mascots

Behind me on the wall of our golf event command center/war room here at work, is the giant tv that automatically goes on around noon, so that the boys can glance at the scores throughout the day. Scores for curling. For hockey. For skiing. But mostly for curling.

In fact, that's how my workdays seem to be breaking up. I know I've lost the morning when the TV goes on. I've lost the afternoon when the news comes on. And I've lost the night, when late-night repeat coverage goes on. Heh.

Oh, and then because the speakers are in my left ear, I can now totally tell what ads are playing by the soundtracks, rather than the picture over it. The P&G series about the moms and the laundry they do (unfair, I know, because I actually love the Moms/little Olympians execution). Coke. Toyota's I'm sorry ads. McDonald's chili sauce. That yourmarketingsucks site.

And tonight's newest that I just now noticed - Netjets? Really? That many people still have money that they can rent a jet that Netjets is advertising in primetime now?

Moving on...I know the IOC et al. frown upon unofficial Olympics merchandise. But, honestly, if you're not gonna choose the cutest magnet images for me to buy, and then on top of that, you're out of stock of the magnets I want on your online store, then yeah, I'm gonna make a magnet all on my own for myself.

I mean, how can you pass up these mascots?

Finally. Wow. Just wow.

I was going to do this whole magnetpost on who Miga, Quatchi, and Sumi are, but I just went to the Olympics site, and it's the best. site. ever! So great! Not only well-designed and just fittingly adorable as the mascots, but they've made the content relevant to kids - and adults - with mascot bios, fun games and not one, not two, but six Behind the Mascots Videos!

No way can I top that with a magnetpost. Just go spend time there. You don't even have to have a kid. Hahaha.

I am sad, though, cuz my Mukmuk the Marmot isn't in there. He's got a video, too, but basically, he's the big sports fan with the funny house filled with sport stuff! How cute is that guy? Dudes. He has a foam finger. Love.

Also? I won't lie. I just like saying mukmuk, really.

Mukmuk.

Mukmuk.

Mukmuk!

Just the two of us

Magnet #722 - Cyprus

A friend of mine had her friend bring this back for me from their travels to Cyprus. It's so pretty and blue. Mind you, it took me forever to realize that it was Cyprus, and not Ceylon/Sri Lanka. I was all excited because I was like, hey! Duran Duran filmed videos in Sri Lanka!!!

Anyway, so Cyprus used to be a British protectorate, and is basically an island skirmished over by the Greeks and the Turks.

Cyprus is located in the Mediterranean, something like the 3rd biggest island (after Sardinia and Sicily) in the sea...and at that, it's still only a sixth of the size of Connecticut! So small!

They have a few archaeological digs there, along with a ton of superold sites, such as the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the "Tomb of the Kings," which dates back to the Hellenistic/early Roman period. It's amazing how islands date back this far, makes you wonder how many uncharted islands out there have history even further back.

So far, this is one of my most exotic magnets, so I'm happy to count it as one of my own. I picked it for today, because I saw it and wondered if the Cypriots were fielding an Olympic team. And they are!

Check it out! Two Alpine skiers, Christopher Papamichalopoulos, and his sister (!!!), Sophia Papamichalopoulos.

Of course, I haven't figured out where they train, but dang, that's pretty cool. I wonder if they have to room together.

Go world

Magnet #721 - Canada

Got this one several years ago, and it only struck me to use a Canada magnet about an hour ago, when I thought, hmmm, I'm pretty much live-blogging the Olympic ceremonies right now on my Twitter/FB feed. Heh.

But, what's not to like about these ceremonies. I'm really enjoying them. Which is good, because they spent $30-40 million on it.

I love that it represents a lot of Canada that I don't always hear about. The four host First Nations introduction was awesome, though, I did hear there are something like 630 First Nations spread out across the country. That's kinda cool.

Plus, there's bears. Heh. And I almost want to drag out my church shoes and tapdance with this guy on my tv right now. Almost.

What I will say is that I am loving the ads during this broadcast - they're head over heels above the Superbowl ads.

Well, done, advertisers!

eta:
Huh. And then they brought in Peter Pan. Still, I love the Both Sides Now song, so I'll go with the Pete.

eta2:
Annnnd, I'll go even further out on the limb. I liked the slam poetry segment. A lot, actually.

eta3:
Oh, noes. That was really kind of sad. I feel bad for the apparent mechanical difficulties. Oiy. Someone didn't get to light a flame. Oops. But, man, 4 hours of intense mechanics, and it's down to the last 5 minutes. Dang.

Hey, Beibei!

Magnet #456 - Beibei from the Beijing Olympics

Eeeeee! How. Adorable. Is. This.

She's one of the mascots from last year's Beijing Olympics. Yes. A keychain my friends brought back for me, now turned into a magnet. Yay!

Beibei is a fish (in water behind her) - the symbols of prosperity and harvest.

I just love her cuz she's blue and green!

There were five Fuwa (good luck dolls). They have a rhyming name (like the way Filipinos repeat syllables/words), so we have Beibei (fish), Jingjing (panda), Huanhuan (Olympic Flame), Yingying (Tibetan antelope) and Nini (swallow).

But, what I didn't know (or most likely forgot) is that together, Bei Jin Huan Ying Ni means Welcome to Beijing!

Superbien! Yep. My new word, totally stolen from my friend's blog - where she's totally having Adventures in Chile.

Marathon man

Magnet #184 - The hurrier I go, the behinder I get

Congrats to Kenya's Samuel Wanjiru, for winning the country's first gold in the men's marathon, the final event of the Games.

But, for me, the real excitement (because I sort of get bored watching the marathons) was when poor Ejigu from Ethopia hurried and hurried, but on the last lap, he just started to fall behind.

In the end, he was overtaken by his teammate, Wordofa, who edged him out for the bronze.

He didn't hear us cheering him on, I guess.

Look, I'm not even going to try to be Bob Costas with his pithy closing remarks...it's been a marathon two weeks, and shortly the closing ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympics will begin.

Xie xie, China, for a fun two weeks. Ya'll get some sleep now.

And, cheers, London, we'll see ya in 2012!

Mad Ads

Magnet #183 - The Coca-Cola Company

Ads, ads, ads, ads. The Olympics have gone mad with ads. And I love them all.

There were about a dozen major sponsors,* and I bet without trying, you can remember the majority of them. Watch, I'll try: GE, Coca-Cola Company, Lenovo, McDonald's, and VISA.

OK, well, I didn't quite hit the dozen, but, that's pretty good recall, given the amount of money these companies dropped on the Games.

Think about it - add in the sponsorship rights. Add in the media placements. Add in the creative fees for the ad agencies. Add in the production money. Jeepers, we probably could have saved the world a few times over with that money.

And what did it get them?

Well, for Coke, McD's and VISA - they nabbed the top three unaided brand recall for Olympic viewers. Which basically means they had the commercials that people remember most.

Your turn:
Favorite ad (or advertiser) in the last two weeks?


*Kodak, McD’s, GE, J&J, Coke, Atos Origin, Manulife Financial, Omega/Swatch, Panasonic, Lenovo, Samsung, Visa

My kind of town

Magnet #182 - Chicago, IL

Goldengait has an uncanny knack for seeing future magnetposts. Chicago's my hometown as well! I was born there, and moved down to NC when I was five. (And, yes, that's another magnet altogether...just as soon as I can find a magnet with either snow or kidnapping. /inside joke)

Anyway, as GG mentioned, Chicago is in the running for the 2016 Olympics, in company with Madrid, Rio and Tokyo. It's still early days yet, since the IOC won't be picking the host city the 2016 Games until October 2, 2009.

While I'm happy that there's a U.S. city still in the running, this is another bittersweet situation for me, since I helped out on the LA 2016 bid last year. They had some great marketing material that I wish had had the chance to see the light of day.

I'm up in the air, while I'd love to have the Olympics here, within easy reach, we've already been host to quite a few Games. Meanwhile, South America has never hosted the Olympics.

Oh, and is it wrong that I want Rio to win because it has the cutest Candidate City logo?

Next stop. NYC 2012. Ok, ok. Fine. London 2012.

Magnet #181 - London

Sooo, we're in the home stretch of the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Know how I know? Women's Beach Volleyball is finally done.

Sincere congrats to May and Walsh. Get some rest. After what must have been a trillion matches, you guys must be as tired of playing them, as we are of watching them.

I caught only the tail-end of the match, so we're taking a break and looking ahead...

I volunteered for the NYC 2012 Olympic bid - passed out flyers, wore the really cool swag, went to the organized press events, worked other sister events (sporting events, ya'll), stood in the Hudson River (!!!!), and argued with locals to convince them that, yes, they did want billions of people crowding our public transit and stopping our sidewalk traffic by staring up at the tall buildings.

It was a heartfelt campaign, and you wouldn't believe the work, money, branding, blood, sweat and tears that the City put into the Bid. So when we found out that London won, it was bittersweet.

Part of me was ticked off, especially after all the City's efforts. The other part of me was happy, because it meant we wouldn't have to deal with global eyes upon us, or with all the construction, security measures and tourists.

Of course, now? The other part of me is thinking, man, even with all the controversy surrounding China's opening ceremonies, no one can argue that they put on the best live show - ever.

How can London top that?

Uh-huh. No pressure there.

After a while, Crocodile

Magnet #180 - South Africa

Nope. Never been. I think I picked this up volunteering at a travel trade show, might have been in the swag bag or something.

A little late, but apparently, on Monday night, Khotso Mokoena of South Africa picked up their only medal so far...a silver in the Long Jump, for 8.24 meters (No, I haven't a clue on the conversion).

Here's cool (if you don't want to read the longest non-paragraphed article ever written): When he jumps, Mokoena, whose name means Crocodile, always wears a lucky glove, an open-fingered number...lined with a bit of crocodile skin.

Well, count yourselves lucky, had the Crocodile not won this medal, the accompanying blogpost to this magnet would have been about the (ever-so-lovely) Thorsten Kaye's Shark Attack 2, which was set in South Africa.

Yes. I know. You didn't even know there was a first. Let alone a second. (And there's a third...but John Barrowman swears he only did it for the money.)


eta:
I made a cutesy favicon for joy magnetism. If Blogger doesn't override it, it should show up on your url box, your tab, and your favorites. Gimme a shout if it doesn't show up for you. Of course, I won't be able to help out tech-wise, but still helpful to know. (And again, thanking goodness that my name's not Delores. Heh.)

Beach Volleyball...again?

Magnet #179 - Sunset Beach, North Carolina

No, no, not another "I don't like beaches" post...though we were frequent visitors to Sunset growing up, a friend of mine gave me this one.

Picked a beach motif today because I'm wondering if ya'll have noticed that the Women's Beach Volleyball portion of the Olympics seems to be on like every. single. hour. of every. single. day?

Feels like every time I turn it to any Olympic coverage at any time of day that the girls are always on the sand. Ew. Sand. And, though it's an exciting game, a friend of mine mentioned that it seems to be the same game every time you tune in, and you can't tell that it's a different match.

I suppose you could tell, depending on the uniforms...but, to be absolutely honest, I kinda just wish that the boys had equal time.

Our own Olympic training

Magnet #178 - U.S. Olympic Training Center

We ended up in Lake Placid, somewhat on a whim, a bit of a stopover on a roadtrip through Upstate NY and Vermont. Actually, I think Lake Placid was on the itinerary, but our Olympic adventures were sort of a bonus.

We visited the Miracle skating rink, where the U.S. Hockey team won that infamous game against the Russians, moving on to beat Finland for the gold. And, we visited the 1932 and 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics Museum, the U.S. Olympic Training Center, and even saw where the 1980 torch was lit. Through the trees, we could see the ski jumps, too.

For sure when I woke up that morning, I didn't think we'd be luging the Olympic course. Yes, yes, they tamed down the course for the tourists, but the adrenaline coursing through your veins as you decide that yes, you will spend that bunch of money to try your hand at an Olympic sport - holy crap. But, after a fair amount of convincing, my two roadtrip buddies agreed that we might never get the chance to do it again, so what the hell.

No fear, no regrets, dudes. I have to say, that was one of the funnest things I've ever done. Hearing the rush of the sled against the walls, and hearing the screams of my friends behind me (yes, I won gold) was just the most amazing thing ever.

We even got our own little podium shot with us in our USA jackets, and our little bouquets. All in all, a superfun, and very cold day.

eta:
Added the link to the actual podium shot...but not at actual size.

Baltimore boy done good

Magnet #177 - Fort McHenry, Baltimore, MD

One of my sisters has a blog called "I live my life up and down I-95," which she started because she spent a lot of time up and down the I-95 corridor. She lived up near Boston, I live in New York, my other sister lives in DC, and then our parents live in North Carolina. I suppose when you've got your favorite rest areas, and you know which ones to avoid, I-95 starts to feels like an old friend.

But one place that I've never stopped is Baltimore. No reason, really. It's always on the way to somewhere else, but it's generally not even a gas station stop.

My sisters brought this back for me from Fort McHenry. Birthplace of the National Anthem. Site of more than a few major battles in U.S. history.

I picked this magnet from Baltimore because it's also the hometown of Olympics golden boy, Michael Fred Phelps, who managed to score his 8th gold medal today. And, last night, after the preseason football game at the Ravens stadium, they broadcast the race on the jumbotron, and 70,000 folks cheered him on. That had to have been amazing...even though, I spent a bit of that race peering from behind a pillow.

I'm not even a big Phelps fan - definitely not as big as my DC sister. But you don't have to be, to be in awe of such an amazing accomplishment. Jeepers. And, yet, I still find myself wondering how he's displaying that stuff over at his mom's house.

Oh! And the best thing ever? Last night's "Congratulations, Michael" commercial. Visa was supersmart for getting all the spots in the can, and I can't believe the pinpoint accuracy the ad scheduling folks over at NBC are working with. Last night's was my favorite.

Where Morgan says, "But 8, 8 gold medals? Well...we're going to have to invent a new adjective for that one."

It's not Fandango's fault, I suppose.

Magnet #176 - Fandango

Nope, not a thing to do with the Olympics - unless there's an Olympic event to do with movie-watching. And there should be, methinks. I would totally place. Or, put forth a good time, anyway.

I picked this Fandango magnet for today, because it feels like the summer movie season is not just dying out, but fizzling in a major way. We started out the summer buying tickets weeks in advance, getting to the theatre 2 hours ahead of time, to buying tickets 30 minutes ahead of time and walking right in. And that should have been our first clue. The second, was the only two dozen people in the gross and uncleaned theatre #9 (Shame on you, AMC @ 34th street).

Anyway - I finally saw The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor last night. Ummm, NO. I've had my fair share of movie disappointments this summer, but The Mummy 3 beat Indy 4 for worst movie this summer. And that makes me sad - because I freakin' loved the first one, and liked the second well enough. But, my word, even Scorpion King was better than last night's movie.

I had written up a huge long review of it, but this is a magnetblog, so highlights only.

The good: Neat use of the Great Wall of China (though I was looking for the Olympic cyclists on it). Russell Wong. Cool soldier statues (even though the fight scenes were just stupid). Shirtless Brendan Fraser. Weird mystical spells. Russell Wong. Dramatic sets. Shirtless Brendan Fraser. Pretty good soundtrack. John Hannah (even though he was lampooning his original part.) Russell Wong. Shirtless Brendan Fraser.

The bad: Yeti. Craptastic dialogue. Yeti. Forced emotional scenes. Yeti. Silly storyline. Yeti. Odd and not seamless at all special effects. Yeti. Casting of Brendan Fraser and Luke Ford as father/son age. Yeti.

And let's not forget Maria Bello, the wrong replacement for Rachel "I've got an Oscar now, why should I do another Mummy movie" Weisz. Her costumes and hair were fabulous. The part and her accent were just stupendously not.

From Rob Cohen, I expected a hell of a lot better. From Miller Gough Ink, I expected a lot better. As it was, I enjoyed the end title animations better than the actual movie itself.

Please, never resurrect this franchise again.

From Russia...with dolls

Magnet #175 - Russian matryoshka doll

I kinda wanted a Russian theme because of Nastia Luikin's all-round gold last night. Born in Russia, and raised here, she and her dad kinda sorta made me all teary-eyed, watching them during the medals ceremony.

This magnet kinda fits, cuz as discussed, some of those gymnasts are pocket-sized, and you could probably put a Luikin, within a Horton, within a Jiang. Or, actually, vice versa.

All this time, I'd thought my sister brought this one back from her time in the Peace Corps. Come to find out, she bought it at some Russian church festival in DC.

Wherever it came from it's quite cute, no? It's one of those Russian nesting dolls, where they have a doll within a doll within a doll. Supposedly, the Russians co-opted the idea from Japan, and applied to their own items - such as, (and how cool is this), the first Faberge egg that had the hen, chick, egg and yolk. Ok, I'll admit, seeing that one might freak me out a bit.

Although, you see these nesting dolls all the time, with not just cute babushkas, but animals and Santas...and even political leaders. This site - TolsToys - (Hee!) has some of the cutest sets ever. The ones that I giggled at though are the Democrats! Or Republicans! And even Madonna! (Hah! No, the other one!)

The only thing we have to fear, yadda yadda

Magnet #174 - ALG, you scare me!

I've decided that Olympic athletes scare me. No, no, I know they're perfectly lovely people, but they scare me. No matter what country, what gender, what age, what sport - they all have this grim look of determination on their faces. That, get out of my way, I'm comin' through, look.

It's a healthy fear, I think it's really just extreme awe at what these athletes go through to accomplish what they've accomplished. I also think it's probably because I've not been as passionate a competitor - at least not in 13 years of piano, or on the marching band field of competition. Shut. It.

Oh! But, here's something else that scares me. USA Today's Pop Candy did a blog entry on this guy who collects condiment packets. No, I'm being dead serious. You can see his packets page here (let it fully load, it's worth the wait) - and I swear I kept this page open all day yesterday because it was oddly soothing to see a full page of well...packets.

So, I thought I was weird about my magnets. This guy's cataloged all of his condiment packets. He has a swag section over at Cafepress. AND? Apparently, he gives away buttons, for anyone who has contributed a packet to his collection.

It's that last thing that's particularly intriguing. You almost have to validate your condiment packet in order for him to accept your donation! Do what???

When I started this blog back in February, I had mentioned that I probably had enough to keep this blog going for about two years. That was sort of my end in sight.

But I hadn't anticipated that everyone would want to contribute to my collection. It's been awesome, because, well, you know, I love magnets. But I don't give anything away in return...when people contribute, I generally use the magnet to blog against, and say that a friend gave it to me.

Now I'm wondering...do ya'll want buttons in return? Ooooh, or how about a magnet that says, "I contributed to joymagnetism, and all I got was this stupid magnet!"

Hmmm, food for thought. See? Now I'm scaring you.

eta:
FYI, background on today's Angry Little Girls magnet, if you missed it the first go around.

Mystic swimmer

Magnet #173 - Mystic Pizza

Yep. That Mystic Pizza. We dropped by Mystic, CT, on our way home from a Mohegan Sun daytrip.

Pizza was pretty good, but don't expect Annabeth, Lily or Julia to serve you. Do expect them to be staring down at you from any number of movie paraphernalia hanging on the wall.

I was mostly disappointed in the homemade magnet, though. It's one of those plastic frames with a rather poor color copy of the restaurant graphic inserted. Oh, well.

I picked today's magnet, because apparently, we're playing a new game: how many magnets can I tie-back to the Olympics?

Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I remembered that Michael Phelps has this weird diet of pizza and pasta. And I have this image in my head of him with a stack of steaming hot pizzas, with his almost-a-dozen medals round his neck. Heh.

Favorite quote today: Phelps, after his 200 butterfly win: "I mean, yeah, I did break the [world] record, but I think I can go faster. That's what I'm most frustrated about."

We think we can, we think we can

Magnet #172 - You can because you think you can

Yeah, it's a slightly cheesy magnet, but this one kinda tickled me, after watching our men's gymnastics team take bronze. And no, I don't have nearly enough magnets to cover each day, I promise.

If you listened to any of the unrelenting commentary, you know that the odds were against the U.S. men's team. No one believed that the Hamm-less team would place, especially when they were fielding a couple of alternates, and not a whit of Olympic experience among them.

But, they managed to pull it off. I firmly believe it was through the sheer will of the pocket-sized gymnasts, particularly that Horton kid, who seemed to do a darn good job of keeping his teammates focused and superexcited. So, yay for the boys!

(Yep, I know other folks took medals, too, but my post got too long...so ya'll can head over to NBC or SI for that.)