Accents

Magnet #1241 - Honey bear

Big movie weekend, with the last installment of Harry Potter coming out and of course, Winnie the Pooh. I mean, I even picked up this magnet at Dan Nicholas Park a few weeks ago because I knew I'd eventually see Winnie.

In the end, I didn't see any movies - unless you count the Kellie Martin TV movie double-feature on ABCFamily today. (I honestly don't know how many times I've seen The Face on the Milk Carton, but come on, don't you always have to watch when it's on? Just me? Ok, then.)

Instead of the movies this weekend, I got to hang out with my cousin and his girlfriend, both from Australia. So much fun!

Ya'll know I love playing tour guide in town, so we ended up getting @coolhausNY ice cream (Finally! Now I can shut up about it!), walking the High Line, going to Forbidden Planet, the Strand and the Met on Saturday, and shopping on Sunday. Busy, busy weekend!

But, the best part is hanging out with yet another cousin - there are 30+ of us first cousins (yes, we populated the world) - so it's always interesting to meet a new one. Especially since all I knew of him, was his baby picture from almost 30 years ago. We spent most of the weekend comparing cultural notes on country, television, regional differences, and of course, our accents.

For as long as I can remember, hearing Filipinos with accents always makes me giggle. Like, the extremely Southern/mountain accents of a couple of Filipinos that we grew up with. Or, even the Filipinos we met in England, with their British accents.

But, the Australian cousins have the best, most distinctive accents of all of us, and so, are the ones I'm most jealous of. I've always wished for a cooler accent - I mean, sure when I'm in NY I have a Southern accent, and when I'm in NC, I have a Northern accent. But by no means are either of those two accents fun conversation topics, or even at all exotic.

I've also learned this weekend that I should never try to mimic the Australian accent. But, don't think I didn't just write this entire magnetpost with an Australian accent running through my head.

Upstairs, downstairs

Magnet #861 - Maymont

Have ya'll seen that Clive Owen movie Gosford Park? The really good one - about the genteel Brits in the English countryside and the lives of their upstairs and downstairs servants?

That's what the Maymont House Museum reminded me of. The U.S. version of that movie. Maymont was the 100-acre Gilded Age estate of a wealthy Richmond couple, the Dooleys. There's a nature preserve and a set of gorgeous gardens, plus the house on the estate is available to tour.

So, yeah, you know we totally did the tour. It starts you off belowstairs, with a rather well-done and in-depth self-guided tour, telling the story of how the Walker family, and the rest of the servants lived and helped serve the Dooleys family over the generations. So very cool. I mean, on these tours, you always get to see the dumbwaiters, the bellringer switchboards, the pantries and the kitchens, but, how often do you get to learn the details?

I mean, dudes, it took 10-12 hours to do laundry - one load! And, the manpower needed to host a tea party, you would not believe!

When it's time, they have you meet around the house at the front door. Not the side, where the carriage entrance was - you have to love houses with carriage entrances, it puts you right in that carriage in your best day/evening dress! But, at the front door, you're greeted by one of the docent volunteers to take you through the house, presumably because the mistress of the house has gone away for the day, leaving the guide to show you around.

What a good tour and a sweet tour guide, too. You can see the tour via this lovely blogpost. But our guide took us through the receiving and dining rooms downstairs, as well as the bedrooms upstairs, all the while answering our questions where she could.

She gave me a bit of perspective, explaining to me that though the Dooleys were very wealthy - they weren't near as wealthy as those Vanderbilts down in NC - which I have to take that they couldn't have been part of Mrs. Astor's circle in NYC, could they have? I dunno.

Anyway, you'll see through that blogpost that the house was certainly the epitome of the Gilded Age - for better or for worse, filled with such Gilded Age-y ornate furniture from all over, fueled by some definitely eclectic tastes.

On the good side, that eclecticism also included a number of Tiffany pieces that were pointed out along the way - which was no surprise, since the Tiffany exhibit at the VMFA has totally taken over Richmond, in such a wonderful surround-sound branding way, that I can hardly believe it. The piece on this magnet is actually a major panel in the house in their grand foyer.

So gorgeous. So unsigned! But no worries, Tiffany confirmed that it was from their studios.

On the bad side, the eclecticism (yes, that word sounds ok - odd, but ok) really freaked me out when we got to Sallie May's room - where, upon her death, she had her bed from their second house, Swannanoa, brought to Maymont room, so it could be on display. Which wouldn't have been so bad, had it not been this huge monstrosity...in the shape of a swan.

A swan. A big giant swan.

Of course, both sisters were more worried about the Tiffany whaletusk/silver vanity table and chair. Disturbing, to say the least, but man, I'll see that swan in my nightmares.

And we'll likely be riding it, right into belly of the Kraken.

"Finest prison in the world."*

Magnet #857 - The White House

This magnet's part of my presidential set I bought at the Kennedy Library a while back. They stuck in a few symbols of the Democracy in the packet.

The White House is definitely something I need to check off my list - touring it as an adult. I remember doing it as a kid - maybe - but I know I've never done anything but peer through the gates of the whatever lawn since then.

But, I'm particularly curious, having just toured the White House of the Confederacy (yes, there's a magnet for that) this past weekend. I can't actually wait to see how the real White House differs from Jefferson Davis' residence.

Now, I just need to get that letter to my congressman started.

* “The White House is the finest prison in the world.”

- Harry S Truman

"If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going"

Magnet #787 - 787 Dreamliner

I love tours. I've said it before, I'd take a tour of a paper bag and the factory that made it, if there were one available.

So when I was in Seattle late last year, I totally went to the Boeing plant in Everett, after hearing what a great tour they had. And, dudes. They totally had the best tour ever! It comes in a close second to the VIP WB Tour, my favorite tour ever.

Part of this enthusiasm I know is because of the work I did with Brazil's Embraer years ago - and I loved seeing the concept work, the factory shots, the brochureware that we did. Seeing a plane go from a drawing to a fully flight-tested piece of machinery that flies? In the air? With people? That's pretty freakin' cool.

So, yeah. All over this tour. On the drive in, you kinda freak out when you pass by the largest building in the world, with apparently the largest digital graphic sign in the world. It's the Boeing factory, where they build the 747, 767, 777 and the 787 Dreamliner.

The Dreamliner's the latest in the long line of airplanes from Boeing, and it basically carries 210-330 passengers depends on the airline carrier (who, by the way, decides exactly how many bodies they want to fit. So Delta, when you're squeezing us in, it's your fault, not the manufacturers. I'm just sayin.). It's been a long time coming, and they finally testflighted it the week after I was there. They've got several big orders on the line, so it's cool that the 787 Dreamliner program is finally...getting off the ground. (Sorry, I had to!)

The 787's supposed to fly more people for less fuel and energy and time, and uses soooo many different parts from so many different places, the darn thing has its own plane! They've had to retrofit the 747-400 into a cargo plane called the Dreamlifter. It's sooo fat and cute, I love it! It was actually my favorite plane there.

The tour actually starts at the Future of Flight building, where they make you check all your electronics. Dudes. My blackberry and my cell. Talk about trauma. I was a little freaked out over not having either on my person. For two hours. Heh. But, the corporate video was pretty good - you have to love a good corporate video. If they're good, they make you tear up, and go, dang, what a great company! Then again, a lot of their corporate ads do much the same for me anyway.

Then, they pile you all into a motor coach, and you get driven out to the giant factory - where you get to enter from the basement...which was supercool. It's like miles and miles of corridor, I would bet money any action flick would so want to use for a location shoot. The coolest thing ever. You can totally pretend that you're in that action flick. As I was. In my head, of course. Saving the world from evul. Right from the bowels of the Boeing factory.

They take you up to the factory, and you get to walk around on a bird's nest type level, where you're above all the action, but totally seeing it all. How they're riveting the planes together, how they're putting components together, how they're painting. From start to finish.

And it's not just one plane, it's like several. At one time. Turn here, and here's where the nose is being attached. Turn here, and here's where the tail section's being attached. Turn here, and the wings are getting ready to be riveted on. That's just how big the building it - several, several football fields big! It's amazing! They apparently have 1,300 bikes to help the factory's 30,000 employees get around.

After a quick trip around the tarmac, the tour ends with a ride back to the admin building, and of course, a trip to the gift shop - seriously, I could have walked out with like a dozen magnets. Restraint, people, that's also what I learned there. Plus, they hand you a superfun, and of course, well-designed DVD piece filled with fact sheets. What? It's part of what I do for a living, look at what other people's branding! Mind you, it's not like I'm running out to buy a plane, but still - fun!

But, no best tour ever would be the best tour ever without the best tour guide ever. And that's what we had. The best tour guide ever. No, seriously. He knew his stuff, he was a former Boeing designer, a former serviceman, and it helped that he was a funny, funny guy.

The fun part for me, is that he was also a Big Band guy. No, like he plays in a Big Band combo. He's a little young for that generation - like my dad, he was born a bit after his time. But you know that sax part in Peggy Lee's Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree? Totally him, when he was like 16! It was Christmastime, and I literally had just heard that song on the way in. He was tickled. As was I.

But, then, he went on about how he knew a few people from the actual Glenn Miller Orchestra. I love Glenn Miller! Because I'm secretly a 90-year-old chick in a mid-30s body! But whatever!

The dude even had a couple of Glenn Miller orchestrations - one of which was American Patrol, the song my dad hummed to us growing up. So, yes, in the middle of the Boeing plant in Everett, WA, I held up my hands and did the hand dance my dad always made us do, as I hummed along with the tour guide. What?

Like I said, best. tour. ever.

James K. Polk, Silent Sam, and what was your name again?

Magnet #767 - James K. Polk (1845 - 1849)

Even though I officially refuse to acknowledge the existence of post-season college basketball this year, I do find myself thinking about my alma mater in recent days, as we've hired a junior account person from Carolina, and I've interviewed another candidate who lives like 30 minutes away from where I grew up.

So, James K. Polk, our 11th president, it is, then.

He was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and I've been to his birthplace. Sorta. I've been down the very, very dark road that leads to his birthplace, but didn't actually get to see anything (see very, very dark). Ok. Permaybehaps, it doesn't count.

I can however, as a former student tour guide for UNC, guide you to Polk Place, the quad named for him.

I can also take you past Silent Sam, a Civil War monument for the 321 Carolina alumni who died during the war, and those who joined the Confederate Army. Sam's silent because he only fires his rifle when a virgin passes by. (Ok. Fine. I've later learned that he's silent because he doesn't have one of those cartridge boxes for his ammunition.)

Oh, yes, on a campus as big as Carolina's, I've got a million little stories. The Davie Poplar. The Old Well. Sitting on the loveseat at McCorkle Place. The Morehead-Patterson Belltower dunce cap over Wilson Library (remember that one for later, peeps).

There was this big crush I had during summer session, and he asked me to give him a private tour (of the campus, you gutter-dweller). Of course, I eeeee'd quietly, and we started on our merry way.

As we passed by Morehead Planetarium (which used to be where astronauts trained!), I was explaining all about the Morehead family (how alum John Motley Morehead III started Union Carbide, and how they award the biggest scholarship on campus, and they were totally one of the founding families at Carolina, etc.). Crush was totally listening, but he was nodding way too much during the family part of it, and I looked at him, and he was like, yeah, I know all about the Moreheads.

And I said, "Really, how? Wait. What was your last name again?"

Crush: "Morehead."

End tour.

Sigh.

Best stuff on earth

Magnet #653 - Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

Ok. I've mentioned how much I love ice cream - a visit to the Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour is pretty fun. Not only do I love behind the scenes stuff, but I love seeing the factory in action.

But, I think I've now gone twice to B&J's in Vermont, and not seen the factory actually in action - just get to see the empty floors and empty machines. Nothing sadder than a factory at rest. But, I will say that it's the place I first discovered one of my favorite Ben & Jerry's flavors - Dublin Mudslide. Mmmmmm.

I had to do an ice cream post, given that I've been trying to recreate all the gelato I had in Italy. They say you should have it twice a day - while I didn't live up to that, I did manage to have a lot of it.

My favorite gelato in any store, in any town? Nicciola - hazelnut. Best recreated by Ciao Bella's Nicciola sorbet. So. Freakin'. Good.

Even when it's 38 degrees outside.

Larger than life

Magnet #638 - Carnegie Hall

My parents kinda hoped that I'd play Carnegie Hall, probably since watching The Competition, with Amy Irving, all about these competitive pianists who fell in love. I dimly remember going to see that movie. Ironically, competitions ended being one of the things I hated most about my 13 years of piano lessons. Ugh.

Still, one of the best things that piano and band instilled in me is a love of performing arts, and being behind the scenes of famous venues. So, every so often, I take a day off from work, just to play tourist town. A couple of years ago, I ended up packing one day with tours of Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.

Carnegie Hall and the behind the scenes tour is fairly impressive. Designed by William Burnett Tuthill (An architect. And a cellist. Wha?) back in 1891, the interior and exterior architecture's really cool. And while the seats are still rather small, the theatre is daunting and crazy intimidating. You can just feel the history of great performances within those walls.

My favorite part of the tour, though, was the performing arts museum they have there as well. They had Benny Goodman's clarinet! I was so excited, I had to call my dad right afterward to tell him to tell him. I distinctly remember crossing a busy 57th street oblivious to oncoming traffic as I busily yapped about how cool was it that I played the same kind of clarinet that he did. (While my dad basically said, duh, that's why I bought you that Buffet clarinet.)

The other tour that day was Lincoln Center, which sadly didn't have a magnet back then, but I'd bet money they'll start selling them after this current major renovation is complete. But, that tour was supercool as well, split between the actual Lincoln Center complex, but also the Rose Jazz Center at Time Warner Center.

Aside from learning about the architecture and design of all the buildings and venues in both locations, we actually got to see and hear the NY Philharmonic rehearse on one stage, and Placido Domingo rehearse on another.

What a fabulous day! Besides being outside the office on a weekday, I got to see Benny Goodman's clarinet and watch Placido Domingo all in one day! C'mon! How cool is that? Ok, well maybe cool isn't quite the applicable term here, but really, you can't get more New York performing arts cool than that.


* "It has been said that the hall itself is an instrument," said the late Isaac Stern [of Carnegie Hall]. "It takes what you do and makes it larger than life."

That old ball and chain

Magnet #507 - West Point

Up the Hudson River from me is West Point Military Academy, where the nation's best and brightest go to school, train and become officers of the U.S. Army.

I can't remember if I had to know this for school, or for my dad, or if I just wanted to know who the only 5-star generals were, but I remember learning about the Generals of the Army: General George C. Marshall, General Douglas MacArthur, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, General Omar N. Bradley, and Henry H. Arnold. Of the five, only Marshall didn't attend West Point, instead, he came in from Virginia Military Academy.

But I do remember reading bios on MacArthur and Bradley (and at least a dozen other bios along the way), talking about how challenging West Point was. So when I finally took the tour a few years ago, it was a fantastic getting to walk those hallowed grounds. Great tour!

It was on this same tour that I learned about the Great Chain. Apparently, during the Revolution, at West Point, they tried to block off the Brit ships from sailing up the Hudson from NYC...using a chain! What? I know!

Look, I know I didn't have that great of a history class in high school, but I swear, don't you think that if I heard, "and they used a giant iron chain tied across the Hudson River to stop the Brits" I would have remembered? Seriously. In the end, it never was tested because none of the ships went up that far. Huh. Really, though? A chain? Across the Hudson? River?

Anyway, the other reason I picked this magnet for today was because I just finished watching this week's Army Wives. Yes. I admit. Lifetime has my demo pegged, what can I say?

Whatever. I can't help it. I love this show. It's crazy, I know. Maybe it's because I'm not married, and I can't tell if it's an accurate portrayal of marriage and parenting. Or maybe it's because I'm not in the military, and I can't tell if it's an accurate portrayal of serving in the military and being an army spouse. But, it's the third season, and I'm still just as engrossed as I was from the pilot.

Not watching? That's ok. I'm used to being the only person in America left watching select television shows. Heh. I am THAT old ball and chain.

Raindrops and roses

Magnet #500 - 100% Happy, 100% Joy

Yay! 500!

I do love that I'm blogging on my 500th magnet with a magnet that I made. It's from one of those bottlecap sets that you can buy at like a Michael's or a Jo-Ann's, only I just stuck a magnet on the back, rather than making it into a pin.

I guess if I'd made it into a pin, it would have been like the little bottlecap Mr. Fredricksen gave to Russell on UP. Speaking of UP, I'm gonna go against the grain, and say that it wasn't my favorite Pixar movie. In fact, I fell asleep.

I know! It's a total unpopular opinion!

But, I suspect you'll find that a lot here on joy magnetism, because if there's one thing that I try to do in my life, it's stay true to myself and what I love - no matter how dorky or unpopular or obsessed people think it makes me.

So in honor of my 500th magnet, a review of my 500 favorite things - hahahhah, no, just kidding, only a handful, really. In no particular order: (cue Sound of Music music)

1. Architecture. Frank Lloyd Wright. McKim, Mead & White. Zaha Hadid. Frank Gehry. Daniel Burnham. Philip Johnson. Louis Sullivan. I.M. Pei. My taste runs the gamut, I just know what I like.
2. Magnets. joy magnetism. Nuff said.
3. Tours. I love them. I would take a tour of a paper bag, if it were given.
4. Television/film. I love them both. Love opening weekends, and no matter how much I weed out, there's a baseline of at least 30 hours of tv each week. Except reality. Hate. Kinda meta, methinks.
5. Travel, roadtrips and Roadside America. Practically grew up in a van, and there's nothing better than discovering some lost byway and crazy tourist trap. Here. Or abroad.
6. Books. Yes. When I'm not doing any of the above, I love a good book. Who doesn't?
7. Chocolate. No one understands how I can keep bags and jars of chocolate at my desk and not gobble it up. Psst. It's because I don't share the good stuff.
8. Duran Duran. I know! It's crazy that my little boyband from the 80s can still make a girl squee.
9. Trains. They're awesome. If I could train everywhere, I would.
10. George Clooney. And various and sundry cuteboys. If I list them, gravy, we'd be here for days. Just know: Cuteboys. Uniforms. Big guns. (No, not those guns.)
11. Doctor Who. Ten is my Doctor, and if David Tennant decides to do the big-screen DW while Matt Smith does BabyEmoDoctor Eleven on tv, that'll be interesting. (I'm thinking that this last one shouldn't count, since arguably, it's only been within the last three years or so. It could just be a fleeting thing that ends when David hits the road.)

There you have it. The oddest combination of me I can think of - even my best friend in the world giggles at some of the things I get into. And she's known me since we were in Kindergarten.

But even she doesn't share half of these things with me. And she shouldn't - that's what makes us friends, each bringing something different to the table.

Huh. I feel like I just filled out an online dating profile. Hahahah.

Anyway, happy 500! And they thought it wouldn't last.

eta:
Heh. Upon completing the labels for this post, I realized that I had existing labels for just about every item above, which I guess just means I'm pretty consistent in the things I talk about here, the places I go, and the things that interest me. Yay, consistency, I suppose.

Mr. Clooney goes to Sony...wonder if he'll take the tour, too

Magnet #496 - Sony Pictures

Soooo, Clooney and Heslov packed up their Smokehouse production bags and moved cross town over to Sony Pictures in Culver City. You may have heard.

Or, if you're like me, you've heard the same news no less than 50 times in the last week. Not that I have a Google alert on George Clooney or anything. Heheh.

Rumors abound about the move - whether or not it was money, or a better production deal, or whatever. Honestly, I don't care. That's his business.

While I'm sad he's leaving Warners, I'm superexcited that they're going to Sony Pictures, the former MGM Studios lot, where great films such as Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind were produced.

It's also home of the second best studio tour ever. (Here's the best studio tour, ironically, Mr. Clooney, it was Warners.) So fun, that I've now done it twice! Take this tour. I can't say it enough. (Plus! They have a little shop!)

The first time I did Sony, I'll never forget - it was the Monday after Spider-Man came out...when they busted the box office wide open at $115 million. In their little lobby atrium, they had a coffee and pastries breakfast set out, courtesy of Spider-Man. They also had a giant (giant!) inflated Spider-Man lined along the wall. And, as you rounded the backlot to their other entrance, there was a giant banner across the entrance that screamed $115 million. It was fantastic to be a tiny, tiny, tiny part of such a successful studio weekend. I can only imagine how much fun it is every week there's a successful opening. (Mind you, it probably sucks after a sucky opening, I'm sure.)

Though here's a better description of the tour, my own tour was just the bee's knees - getting to visit different soundstages of movie history, walk down little backlots (in a stupid and rash decision, they destroyed a ton of the more historic lots), visiting the Jeopardy! set, going into the scoring and recording facilities, but also seeing the supercool Art Deco Irving G. Thalberg administration building with all the Oscar statuettes in their lobby, and hearing names like Thalberg and Mayer and Selznick and Gable and Garland and Rooney.

And bonus! We got to visit the deserted commissary. If you click on that last link, they explain a little about why the commissary was so important...but the deal is that Clark Gable used to have this giant leather chair in the comm and it was only for him, no one else sat there. But, when the love of his life Carole Lombard was killed tragically in a plane crash coming home from a USO tour, Gable was devastated, and they kept the chair empty, waiting for him to come back. And when he finally did come back to the lot and into the commissary, everyone in the room gave him a standing ovation. (Though, honestly, that's kind of weird, I bet it made him a little sadder. But whatever. Bygones.)

That first trip was also special, because it was just me on my own wasting time before my meeting with a bigwig producer (totally a different magnet), hanging out around the Sony studio, taking the tour, having lunch with the locals, and also visiting the nearby historic old Culver City Studios, run by historic old David (the O stands for nothing) Selznick, producer extraordinaire. If you haven't heard of Selznick, definitely check out his book of...memos.

The man wrote a trillion memos to everyone. About everything. And pages worth at a time. It's such an insightful way to see his casting and production decisions for movies such as Gone With the Wind, Rebecca, Prisoner of Zenda, and Anna Karenina, and to see what kind of man he was in general, in his dealings with his stable of stars like Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. Fascinating.

The second tour, I went with some folks, and we also had a blast. The little intro video, getting to go into some of the same buildings, etc. We even got to stand outside one of the soundstages, listening to Coldplay rehearse for some tour they were about to launch.

The best part about that trip, was that it was near my birthday, and we'd gotten tickets to watch some ill-fated pilot that Dean Cain was shooting. Even though they said it received the highest audience favorability scores (ever), it just was not the best pilot ever (sorry, Dean). But as they were clearing out the audience, I watched as my friend fought with security guards just to go talk to Dean. And I was like, dang, I didn't know she liked him all that much. In the end, she was jostling people out of the way just to get Dean to sign my birthday card. So funny. I still have that card, too. LOVE.

(Oh, as an aside, since this is aiming to be a long-ass post, sorry - here's what's not funny. I get the need to make a buck, but damn, Microsoft, I would love to see the research results that validated your decision to produce that stupid vomit ad for IE8, not to mention the whole ill-conceived and -executed campaign. Aiming at Millennials? The vomit I get, the stupid text lexicon I get. But, why in the hell are performing cruel and unusual punishment in the form of fugly pants for my Dean Cain? And, how many Millennials actually watched Lois & Clark. Hi, one generation up, my friends.)

Anyway, so, back to my fun Sony post...

Yay, George Clooney and Grant Heslov are now at the historic Sony Pictures lot! May you guys have a great run together, and plenty of atrium breakfasts along the way!

Inside CNN

Magnet #416 - CNN New York

A little shout-out to my news-loving friend upstate - happy birthday! Funnily enough, I did a FB search for the CNN product page just now, and she was the first fan listed!

I got this at the Time Warner Center, here in New York, just after a tour a few years ago. But, oh noes! I don't think they still give this tour! Which is a shame. (Even more of a shame is if they closed down the supercute little shop with all the cool TW stuff!)

You might not believe it - it was a fun tour. Our tour guide was supernice, even though they really are just walking you through the twisty windy corridors...of their offices. Heh.

But, you do see the studios, and you do get a peek into the newsroom to see how they work. They did the whole greenscreen weather trick, just like in Atlanta (yep, a whole other magnet), and, at the BBC Tour, too.

Apparently, we tourtakers are easily amused.

I do like to think they weren't lying when they pointed at the far corner of the newsroom, telling me that it was Anderson Cooper's office.

Otherwise, I'm giving a silent wave (and an eeeep) to the wrong place, every time I pass the building.


eta:
I was looking to see if I could find if they were still using the CNN: Most trusted newsource tagline (I think they are), but I found this interesting branding blogpost about CNN's house of brands. Interesting, because I've never even considered how much I've been associating the anchors with the shows on CNN - well, at least Wolf and his Situation Room, and Anderson with his 360.

Home is where the Steelers are

Magnet #344 - Heinz Field

Wherever I go, whenever I can fit it in, I love taking stadium tours. My only true allegiance is with Carolina Tar Heel basketball, so it doesn't matter what team or sport the stadium is for, I just love touring the venues.

There's something majestic about quietly standing in the stands without the loud cheering crowds, while looking down at a field without a single player. And, it's way cool to stand on the 50-yard line even though you can't catch a football, or be in the locker rooms without the boys in it (though, I wouldn't mind if the boys were in it), and hang out in the press boxes or private boxes to see how the other half watch the games.

Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, has one of the best tours out there. Highly recommended - no, it's not Three Rivers, but even if you're a sometime fan, you can still feel the history of Steelers past on this site.

They traipsed us all over the stadium grounds - it was fantastic. We totally weren't allowed on the field - our tour was during the season, so they didn't want a bunch of tourists messing up the grass. But, I still managed to steal a couple of blades of grass for a friend of mine - that's me, the rule-breaker. Heh.

They also walked us under the giant ketchup bottles, which reminded me of the giant Coke bottles over at Turner in Atlanta.

Still, we were up in the private boxes - cushy-cushy snap, it's a great view from up there. And in the private lounge areas, and just above their little players private dining area. We went into a couple of famous people's boxes, and the real Steelers fans that we were with, were completely bowled over by being allowed in. I'm not gonna lie, while I was excited for them, it totally flew over my head.

At least until we went through their Steelers hall of fame area, where we were able to take time to look at the memorablia and read about the great players and coaches. Totally learned a lot more just wandering through there. And bonus, we were with maybe 15 people, rather than 15,000.

Oh, and the little shop! Dudes, how fun to run around and pick up tons of Steeler stuff without having to fight your way through mobs of people! Somehow, even though I myself am not a huge fan, I ended up dropping a ton of money anyway. Heh, I even picked up a Terrible Towel for my boss, not knowing the significance.

WHAT? I said I wasn't a huge fan! And now I know, okay? Now I get it.

Well, I know enough to theme this Superbowl weekend with Steeler magnets, anyway.

But, for the real scoop on what's the haps with the Steelers, definitely check out Cotter's One for the Other Thumb blog. He'll get ya educated.

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.

Honor. Courage. Commitment.

Magnet #231 - U.S. Naval Academy

I might have too many magnets from Annapolis, MD.

But, hey, this one's a good one, cuz the U.S. Naval Academy opened today in 1845.

Awww, even if I didn't get to do the tour, maybe now I never need to...especially since I have enough magnets. Eh, that's impossible. There are cuteboys in uniform running around Annapolis. Yeah, I think I'll go back eventually. Then I can actually see more than just the auditorium with their heavy-handed, yet tear-inducing recruitment video.

Good gravy, there is no way I'd been able to actually go to the Academy - too much math involved for me to ever be successful. Plus, too much discipline. My hats off to the Academy men and women, though. And thank you for your future service.

I wonder how many of them watched that Justin Lin/James Franco movie, Annapolis? I love me some James Franco, but I just didn't know what to make of that film. Was it a drama? Was it a buddy pic? Was it an inspirational tale? Was it a sports movie? Was it romance? Did it make any money? Wait, no, looks like it made like $17mil. Overall. Whoa.

Fun tagline though: 50,000 Apply. 1,200 Are Accepted. Only The Best Survive.

It's a great, big beautiful tomorrow!

Magnet #226 - Unisphere, Symbol of the 64-65 World's Fair, Queens

So, this weekend is Open House New York, where several buildings and attractions in all five boroughs of NYC open their doors for the public.

I freakin' love this weekend - where else can you get more than a hundred tours around town - all free! They have several different types of tours, geared toward kids, architecture, sustainability, the arts, etc.

The only problem I have with OHNY (besides that it's sponsored by Target who hasn't built a damn Manhattan location yet, thus taunting the crap out of me), is that it's only for a weekend, and it's virtually impossible to do more than a few tours in that amount of time. And, then, you have to localize your tours, so that you're not running around all five boroughs like a madwoman.

For example, this is the first year that I'm doing Queens. Yesterday, we did the Trolley tour around Flushing Meadows/Corona Park, where we had a young tour guide tell us about the different areas inside the park. And later today, we're hopefully going to be able to make it on to the Architectural tour.

Another obsession of mine are the two World's Fairs (1939, 1964) that NYC has hosted, both in this park. The Unisphere on this magnet was built by US Steel for the 64 World's Fair, and was meant to symbolize peace through understanding. Corporate sponsorships were the order of the day, and it allowed them to unveil several supercool things to the world, such as:

• Disney launched the Carousel of Progress and It's a Small World.
  
• Ford debuted their Mustang, in this weird automated carousel of cars thing, where people could get in line and ride the car of their choice. Some of the guys that used to climb through the fences to avoid the entry fees say that they used to just come for the day, and ride the Mustang, timing their places in line to "get" the Mustang. And then once it was over, queue up again for it.
  
• The Vatican brought Michelangelo's Pieta all the way from home!
  
• The Belgian Village featured Belgium Waffles - which stands out for fairgoers as one of the most memorable foods of the fair.
  
• Clairol launched some sort of hair product there (hairspray?), and they hired several local girls to be hair models.
• New York State's Tent of Tomorrow Pavilion was a highlight (/pun intended) of the fair. I've heard from a coworker that it was just the coolest thing ever because of the glass ceiling. But also on the floor of the pavilion, Texaco sponsored a to-scale roadmap that you could walk all over, and see all of the Texaco locations in NY. Pretty nifty. Nowadays, the steel infrastructure is definitely falling by the wayside, its last bit of notoriety being used as spaceships for Men in Black.
• Robert Moses (one of the city's most renowned planners/builders/all around city-shaper) had built an almost 10,000-square-foot panorama of the city - with almost 900,000 buildings! You can still visit it today at the Queens Museum of Art - and it's superfabulous. I could literally spend hours looking at it. It's basically in this giant room, with a veranda kind of thing along the wall, and you look down on it trying to pick out certain buildings and stuff.

Oh, I do tend to go on about this stuff, this is probably my longest post ever. Sorry - it's just fascinating the amount of money that people poured into this fair that ended up pretty much a financial disaster.

Anyway, so most of this fun stuff you can find out online, or at the terrific Queens Museum in Flushing, there's actually a superdupercool documentary about the fair that PBS did. They show actual footage of the fair, and interview several attendees. So freakin' neat.

Anyway, off to the fair...grounds!

eta:
So, I wrote all of the above before the 2-hour walking tour with an architecture professor and his PPT with superneat personal pictures of the fair. All of that, plus reading a postcard book on the way home, might qualify me to be able to give that tour all on my own now. Heh. Anyone want to go to Queens? I'll totally FB my staycation in Queens sometime tonight. Odd. I had wanted this year to be my Get-to-know-Brooklyn year, but it's turning out to be my Get-to-know-Queens year, instead. Heh.

eta2:
Those that know me, know that I love eta'ing my own posts. But, here's the FB pic album of the weekend.

Will the real Wladziu Valentino Liberace please stand up? Please stand up.

Magnet #222 - Liberace Museum

Awww, yeah. The heights of cheesiness, baby!

Actually, I know Liberace was this bigger than life guy, and toward the end he was more of a caricature of himself. But this funkily-designed museum off the beaten path in Vegas gave me a different perspective on the real Liberace.

Behind the candelabra, funny outfits and razzledazzle jewelry was a musical genius. No, I swear!

He came from a musical family (heh, band geeks would get this, but his dad played with Sousa. Sousa!), and started playing at four years old. I dimly recall there being a giant ring at the museum - there was some story about how he deliberately practiced with big, fat heavy rings, in order to strengthen his fingers. I mean the guy played to capacity crowds the world over, television shows and accolades left and right. Dudes, he even has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (ok, ok, that's twice the maintenance his estate has to do)

Anyway, as a child growing up in the 80s, I just remember the exaggerated version of Liberace. Apparently, that whole ring thing worked out for him, since everyone between the Hiltons and the Queen Mum contributed to his collection of big-ass rings. The guy wore outfits with monkey fur, for goodness sake.

But, like I said, he started out and was a serious musician...and a serious superstar. No. Really, just ask any of the many little old ladies who visit this museum - every day. They don't play, man, they luuuuurve that guy.

Allons-y, Alonso!

Magnet #219 - Titanic Artifact Exhibit

So I went to this exhibit several years ago in Raleigh, NC. Given that it's an exhibit about a very real tragedy that ended in more than 1,500 lost at sea, it was still a very cool experience.

When you first arrive, they give you an identity of one of the passengers - from steerage (if you're me) or first class (if you're a Jonas Brother) - and you go through the exhibit, learning more about the experience for that particular passenger, as well as what happened that superscary, cold night. There's even a spooky room that has a giant iceberg that you can touch that gives you a sense of how cold it was.

The real reason I'm using this magnet, is because, through very minimal urging on my part, I managed to get some friends of mine to do a very long Doctor Who Series 1 and 2 marathon over Labor Day weekend.

I found out that one of those friends, who was originally puzzled over my newest obsession, has been trying to catch up on Series 3 on BBC-A and on PBS ever since. And periodically, she's been leaving me vmails or texts or emails or FB wallposts about Doctor Who. She's finally come over to the David Tennant side - she was adamant that she looooved Christopher Eccleston, but David managed to woo her. Heh.

I dropped all of Series 4 on to DVDs for her and got the funniest message yet. A very jumbled and excited vmail thanking me for the DVDs. She had gone home sick that day and found my DVDs in her mailbox. She'd already started watching them, and her favorite quote (of course, because it's like one of the best kick-ass DW quotes ever) was:

I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the Constellation of Kasterborous. I'm 903 years old and I'm the man who is gonna save your lives and all 6 billion people on the planet below. You got a problem with that?

eta:
Huh. I keep forgetting to tell that friend about Midshipman Alonso Frame being touted as RTD's choice for Eleven. Supercute. But, as long as it's not Eddie Izzard, I'm fine with whomever.

Oh. And, obvi, today's title was my own pick for fave quote from the Voyage of the Damned eppy.

If men were angels...

Magnet #208 - James Madison's Montpelier

...no government would be necessary.

- James Madison,
4th president,
"Father of the Constitution"*

Happy Constitution Day! This day in 1787, our founding fathers signed the Constitution, forever cementing the foundation of U.S. history.

And, at James Madison's Montpelier today, they're celebrating another foundation - that of wrapping up their five-year campaign to restore the presidential mansion back to its former glory.

Interesting, but slightly freaky fact: James Madison died on a July 4...the same date that Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe and John Adams died. But, when Madison died, he was pretty much broke, leaving Dolley to have to sell off Montpelier. Each subsequent owner renovated, and in the end, the house was almost unrecognizable. Indeed, the last owners - the duPonts - had a 55-room house, versus James and Dolley's 22. Whoa. But, if I remember correctly, the last duPont owner left her entire estate to restore Montpelier.

That's where the fun begins. When they began the restoration, the house began to talk. We had a terrific tour guide, and based on her passionate lecture, it truly must have been supercool to work at Montpelier these last several years, discovering all the secrets of the house, not really knowing what was under that floor, in that wall, or over that door.

They found out that there were like 51 doorways in the original house...and by the time we visited, had only found 38 of the missing doors...only they weren't missing, they were just in different locations.

They found out that the windows beside the grand entrance? Didn't open outward: they slid right into the walls - something unheard of back in the day.

Dudes, they even found a rats' nest with bits of a Madison letter (!), and wallpaper, which let them figure out what wallpaper to use!

Ok, ok, suffice to say that the Montpelier tour was one of the coolest live exhibits that I've ever been to, and I'm totally looking forward to going back.

*Source: I rarely ever need to source things, usually because I can link to them, but I find it incredibly funny that a lot of this tour that we did back in 2006 was repeated in the Madison article in American History magazine (Oct 08) that a friend saved for me.

Pip, pip, cheerio, and all that rot

Magnet #196 - Tower of London

Country #7 - Great Britain

Since I've done several London posts, and likely to do more - short and sweet for this one.

So at this point we're in the home stretch, the last stop before flying back home. We've just spent the night swaying back and forth across the Channel, where I remember very clearly rocking back and forth in the bathroom, telling my friends that for sure, Gopher, Isaac, and the Doc weren't swaying to and fro on the Love Boat.

After more tours, and more tours and more museums, we played our last concert at the Barbican, and that was the end of that. Oh! And I totally got ripped off, having to pay like $150-200 for Phantom tickets. For standing room and obstructed view! Though as every band geek knows, back then, the tix were worth it, though, even if it wasn't anyone of note as the Phantom.

Whirlwind trip to be sure...one not to be forgotten. I mean, if you think about it, I remember the fun stuff. And the historical stuff, well, that will always be there to revisit.

Oh, except for that chapel at Windsor Castle. Damned if they didn't have to rebuild it, after it burned down shortly after our visit.

I swear, it wasn't us, though between that chapel bridge in Lucerne and this one, I was starting to wonder...