We are Carolina

Magnet #410 - Michigan state, with a little Tar Heels on top

Talk about leaving your mark...

Carolina 89 - Michigan State 72.

And, here's the video of Franklin Street, because you know they've gone insane down there, closing off the street, crowded as hell, bonfires and all. See?

What?

It's what we do. It's who we are. We are Carolina.

The funny thing is how much we underestimate or take Carolina for granted, both the school, and the basketball.

To wit: Before going, I never thought of UNC as a particularly great school. But apparently, it is. It's a state school. Practically half my high school went there, so it never dawned on me that Carolina was a hard place to get into. It was the only school I even applied to. (It was that, or join the Air Force, but that's a whole other story - let's just blame Algebra, shall we?)

It's also never dawned on me that basketball wouldn't be a big part of someone's college years. I have never understood people who don't have a huge attachment to their college sports teams as we do. But, then I remember, ah, it's because we grew up on Tobacco Road.

Finally - and I swear this will sound cockier than I actually mean - but, we tend to take it for granted that our team will be awesome. I mean it. When we aren't good, we're actually surprised.

But, there's a reason we're good. Great kids, great coaches. It's our history we compete with the hardest - the great coach and great kids who came before.

As my sister (a Carolina alum, but unabashed Dook fan, don't hold it against her...really) put it: "You just forget. You just forget how good it is. You just assume that every other school is just as good."

No truer words.

By the way, no, that's not photoshop work up there on that magnet - I always keep a stash of Carolina stickers. You never know when you need them.

Well done, boys. Well done. No practice tomorrow.

eta:
Back in '93 (yes, showing my age), before I was allowed to head over to Franklin Street with a bunch of my friends, the boys made me go back to my dorm room and pull out my favorite sweatshirt - a very sacrilegious, but so damn cute, Dook sweatshirt. And, as I watched, the boys literally tore it to shreds and used it as fodder for the bonfires. Bonfires, like the ones in this slideshow from the Daily Tar Heel.

Methinks it was a worthwhile cause.

Stone cold crazy

Magnet #409 - Metallica's And Justice for All

So, guess who got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this weekend? Eeeeep! Just another reason to visit Cleveland. (No, I'm serious, I'd totally go...after all, the building itself was designed by I.M. Pei.)

My friend picked this up for me at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex downtown, because ya'll know I loved that place. Like, a lot.

I mentioned once before that when I'm ticked off at work, that I like to put on my headphones and blast my Metallica Pandora station. Loud. Probably louder than someone who is hard of hearing should do.

Can't help it. I like the pounding music and the harsh lyrics. And generally, only when I'm mad. Otherwise, I can't stand it. It's weird. I can't tell if I'm encouraging my bad mood when I'm listening to it, or if I'm soothing it away. Cause or effect.

Eh, either way, I still love it. The other funny thing I like is the actual boys in the band - but only because I watched that Some Kind of Monster documentary about the boys. Not sure how true to life it was, but it totally made me fall in love with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. I know! Seriously, if you know me, you know how crazy that is. And yet, you know you're not surprised.

What's really crazy is that you really can't call me a real fan of the band. I still can't tell you the complete track list from any of their albums, nor can I tell you who else is in the band besides Lars and James. Shoot, I can't even tell it's a Metallica song blasting in my head until I peek at the Pandora tab. All I can say is that whenever there's a song that I'm totally rockin' out to, nine times out of ten, it's a Metallica track.

What? Just trying to be honest here.

But, the other reason I picked this magnet for today, is because it's the NCAA basketball finals tonight (we all better know who to root for, by the way), and because during this tournament, they've been airing the greatest Guitar Hero ad ever - the one with Pitino, Roy and Bobby (and oh, yes, I suppose you have to count Coach K). The ones where my boys Lars and James ask them what they're up to? So. Freakin'. Funny. And the follow-up ad? Even damn funnier.

Except dang. A week ago, I could have sworn that these ads were totally computer generated. Seriously.

Until I saw this video with the coaches. Dang, those boys are crazy spry for some old guys.

First, let me just say that I think it's freakin' adorable that the Carolina boys played enough arcade games to earn 70,000 tickets to get Guitar Hero for their locker room.

Second. I don't think I needed to see Coach K up close in boxers.

I'm just sayin.

Wildcats not so wild

Magnet #408 - Meow Mix

Yeah, this magnet might be one of the biggest stretches ever - but seriously, how many Carolina magnets do you guys think I can own?

Can I help it if my alma mater totally kicks ass and I have to keep mentioning the milestones with my magnets?

Of course, if I had my druthers, I'd be in Chapel Hill right now, with the hundreds of folks that have closed down Franklin Street with the bonfires and the booze and the happy, fun times. Instead, I'm magnetblogging about it. With a cat magnet.

Anyway, a cat-loving friend of mine gave me this magnet - a free bit of swag at at Meow Mix Acatemy experience that they did down in Union Square a few years ago. Seriously - they did this whole big experience, where people could bring their cats and learn all about their habits - catnapping or cat-isthenics, or making a new toy for your cat. I'm not a cat person, but I still am sad that I missed out on this.

However, I'm glad for the magnet, because the Villanova Wildcats were tamed by the Carolina Tar Heels last night - 83-69.

As usual, I didn't watch...well, that's not entirely accurate. Though I was keeping up with the live updates online, I did think that when we were up by 18 toward the end that I'd be able to watch. Then I turned it on. Then we were only up by 12. So I turned it off.

See what I do for you boys? I totally took one for the team again.

Yay, Tar Heels! Don't go crazy excited, we've still got one more game to play, and maybe, just maybe, ya'll might be back out on Franklin Street on Monday night, too.

In the meantime, ready, Carolina Band?

There'll be a Carolina Victory,
When cross the field our foe has fled.
Cheer our team to victory,
For we are Tar Heels born and bred (Rah! Rah! Rah!)
Glory, Glory UNC,
Our hearts will live with thee.
Fight! Fight! Fight! for the blue and white
Are rolling to victory!

A daughter all of her life*

Magnet #407 - Cockney Rhyming Slang for Mum and Dad

Me friend bought me this supercool magnet down Londontown, and we had a good giggle over Cockney slang, where saying "I think I'm going a bit Mum and Dad" really means, "I'm going a bit mad."

But, I'm going to be a bit literal in my usage of this magnet for today, because frankly, I can't Adam and Eve what I just heard not an hour ago, and I know me Mum and Dad would be mad as well. Mad, mad.

There we were - the sister in DC, the Save the World sister in Nepal and her fiance - all Skyping away, havin' a giraffe or two, just larkin' about. We spoke for a good long while, because STWsister is leaving at six on Sunday morning to go to South Base Camp. Of Mount Everest.

Yes. That Mount Everest.

Apparently, a bit of dosh will get you and your sherpa up there, and she has to fly in to the closest airport, and then will do 14 days of walking - just to get to Base Camp. She's not going farther up, but it's something she's always wanted to do - go to Everest.

And, that's something I understand. Everyone has things they want to see, do, experience before they die. Of course. And, it's not like thousands of people don't do this exact trek every year. Plus, she's in the neighborhood, so yeah, I totally get it.

But how you gonna go visit the highest mountain in the world and not call your parents before you leave? How you gonna go trekking for days and days through some of the toughest climes (and probably climbs) in the world, and send only an email to your parents, leaving your two sisters holding the bag? How? In what world is that ok?

Two words: It's not.

She better bring back a damn magnet, that's all I'm sayin'.

Anyway. To bring this back to me, because after all it's not called joy magnetism for nothing...

How come I'm the only one who got the 50-mile radius rule handed down to them in college?

Don't know it?

After my parents found out that I drove from Chapel Hill to Western Carolina University for my best friend's 21st birthday party, they laid down the law:

It's ok if you go places, that's fine. But, please, if you go outside the 50-mile radius, just call us and let us know. That way, we know where to pick up the body.

So tonight, I mentioned that parental law to both my sisters (one's five years younger, the other is eight years younger), and shine a damn light, neither one of them have ever heard that rule!!!! Bah.

This weekend, someone's gonna be going a bit Mum and Dad, but me, I'm just thinking about how the life of the oldest of three daughters is so vastly different than the lives of those that come after. I mean, it's close to two decades later, and I'm still quoting the parental rules...but that's what I've heard the Irish say: *A son is a son till he takes him a wife, a daughter is a daughter all of her life.

"If you're gonna be a bear...

Magnet #406 - Two Canadian bears and a canoe

...be a grizzly."

C'mon. That's like the best quote ever.

A friend of mine told me that yesterday. Heh. Oddly, a friend who knows not of my bear obsession.

Actually, I picked this magnet for two other reasons as well.

First, the canoe. Today is Iron Eyes Cody's birthday. He would have been 105 years old. For those of you who don't know - Iron Eyes Cody was the guy in the Crying Indian PSA for Keep America Beautiful that my company produced back in the 70s, which debuted on the first Earth Day in 1971.

Remember? The booming drums, dramatic music, and Iron Eyes in full Native American regalia, canoeing down a river, beaching his canoe, and walking to a roadway shoulder, only to get pelted by polluters and their fast food - cut to a lone tear falling down Iron Eyes' forlorn, stoic face.

Sounds cheesy, I know. But, without tooting anyone's horns, to this day, it's still widely regarded as one of the most memorable and successful commercials ever, as well as one of the most effective awareness campaigns.

Mind you, we're in much the same environmental boat (/pun intended) nowadays, but it's certainly not for lack of trying.

Second, the canoe again. It reminded me of that surprise ER cameo that George Clooney did back in the day.

Remember? In Seattle, he was lookin' all hot, wearin' flannel, and workin' on his boat, when Carol came around the back of the house. Hot.

I knew in my head that he wouldn't be on last night's ER series finale, but in my little heart of hearts, I expected Doug to show up in a tux at the Carter Center gala, then in jeans at the bar, then in shorts for one last pick-up bball game, and even to the very end, in his yellow smock, rounding the corner of the ambulances, asking Carter to get a move-on.

So, even though ER spent a small bundle on that wonderfully executed CGI wideshot of County General (photo by bethie, thank you), I was a tiny bit disappointed when my boyfriend didn't show up.

What? You were, too. Admit it.


eta:
A whole eta, because I'm still marveling over that gorgeous CGI wideshot (screencap from the NBC player) of County General. It just was a simple overlay, but here's what's really there.

Finally getting to see County General was fantastic. Kind of like when General Hospital: Night Shift first revealed the Port Charles skyline, General Hospital and the waterfront in their opening titles.

Speed-dating Philly

Magnet #405 - Philadelphia

Today, in 1792, Congress authorized the first U.S. Mint, in Philadelphia.

A few years ago, while in town for a client-related trade show, I did one of my signature whirlwind tours, where you cram as much as you possibly can into as little time as possible. Or, almost every item on this magnet.

I took the train down in the morning, and by the time we met the clients for drinks and dinner, I'd already walked from the Convention Center down to the Independence Mall, done the tour at Independence Hall, visited the Liberty Bell in its new digs, visited the Independence Visitor Center, sniffled at the National Constitution Center, and visited the U.S. Mint visitors exhibit...as well as scoring the Oregon quarter from their nifty little vending machine.

It's what I do. It's who I am.

Hey, it's better than when I used to just make people drive by the Liberty Bell and peer at it through (sometimes) rolled down windows.

Although, classic me - I must needs go back to visit, because apparently, I missed Ben Franklin's grave!

On a wing and a prayer

Magnet #404 - Joy in New Orleans

I was planning to use this magnet a friend gave me for my really long rant I've prepared about LifetimeTV's Nora Roberts' collection of cracktastic tv movies and even more cracktastic (and quite cross-purposes) cover art for their ad campaign.

However. We'll get to that later, because dudes, I've just been validated. By Wikipedia.

So, I've been to New Orleans, but it was for the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition - the last World's Fair held in the U.S. What, you know I love them!

We tacked it on to the tail end of the rather disastrous cross-country family roadtrip that I've mentioned a couple of different times. We were all tired from this like lonnnng trip, but we decided to drop by Louisiana on our way back from Houston.

True to form (for my family), I remember driving through the French Quarter, not actually walking through it. Plus, I have a dim recollection of going to see a lot of the exhibits, including a shuttle and space capsules, and seeing all the fun buildings, etc.

But, here's my most shining memory of the Louisiana World's Fair:

You'll see in that Wikipedia link this:

One of the fair's more famous attractions was the Mississippi Aerial River Transit (MART). This was a gondola lift that took visitors across the Mississippi River from the fair site in the Warehouse District to Algiers on the West Bank.

Ummm. yeah. So then if you click on the MART wiki, you see this:

In forshadowing the future problems the gondola would face, on its maiden crossing, after being blessed by Archbishop Philip Hannan, the ride would temporarily stall.

Ummm. yeah. My most shiningest memory?

Being in the gondola with my family. During a thunderstorm. The whole family, including my parents, my grandmother, 11-year-old me, the six-year-old sister, plus the three-year-old sister. Oh, and Uncle Father Oscar (the priest uncle).

Stuck. Over water. Swaying. With my mother praying, on the verge of panic.

Longest few minutes of my life. I wasn't even scared of the fact that we were over Big River. It was waiting for my mom to calm down...and us having to be very, very quiet during the crisis.

Oddly, anytime I tell that story, no one ever believes or remembers that there was an actual tram over the Mississippi River!

But, there's proof now! The gondola system was built for that World's Fair! Sadly, by 1993, they had to demolish it, due to no one wanting to ride the darn thing in real life.

And, no wonder. It had been blessed by the Archbishop, we rode with a priest, and still we were stuck in the air.

Whoa.