As real as it gets

Magnet #532 - Sea World

Love. This magnet is sooooo pretty. It's a 2-D jobbie, and I just love how Shamu the Killer Whale jumps off the water and magnet surface.

A friend brought it back for me from her trip to Florida - thanks! She's the one who found out her daughter had sadly outgrown the Disney Princesses. Dudes, I actually think she had a better time at Sea World than at Disney.

I'm not entirely sure how that happens - but from what I've heard and seen, Sea World has rides now! Dudes, not just rides, but additional experiences as well. A waterpark? Swimming with dolphins? Whoa.

I went when I was little, but unless my parents hid them from me (totally, entirely possible), I just remember the hot sun, and alllll the walking we had to do to get from venue to venue to see yet another show, another tank, another tidal pool with another talk about the sea creatures inside.

I did like those shows though - from the ski shows to the swimming with Shamu, they were fabulous shows. Fabulous stunts - I blame those stunts for my parents not allowing us to waterski down at the lake.

Oh! Ya'll have to read Shamu's wiki - I had no idea that first, she's been around since like the early 70s, and second that Shamu's a stage name. Well, I mean, I sorta knew - otherwise, she'd be the oldest thing in the world, but dudes, three parks (San Diego, Orlando, San Antonio), over 30 years - that's a boatload of Shamus!

Still, I didn't realize how many different orcas they have in captivity. It'd be here that I'd rail against the captivity of killer whales for human entertainment purposes, but this is a magnet blog. Anyway, I'm sure that Sea World treats their creatures well.

Of course, now having visited the website, and been serenaded by their ballady themesong for the past several minutes, I'm mentally planning when I'll be able to get to one. I'm thinking SD ComicCon next year. Hmmmm.

And the band played on

Magnet #531 - Stanley Tigerman's The Titanic, 1978

I freakin' love this image.

I think I love it more because it's totally not a Photoshop job, it's a photomontage! What I can't figure out is if Tigerman actually composed the two images together and then took a picture of the whole thing to make it one image, or if he left it as two. I think it's the former.

This image is hanging in the Architecture and Design section of the Art Institute of Chicago - I just love that it's hanging there with all the pencil sketches and drawings and models of great works around the world. You see, Tigerman meant for it to be a critique on Chicago's architecture in the late 70s - or rather, what was being taught in architecture schools at the time. That's why he used Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Crown Hall building sinking into the water, calling it the Titanic.

Such a great image.

And so apropos for today, when I feel like I'm playing triangle for that band that refused to leave the Titanic as she was going down.

Oh good gravy, how melodramatic can I be? You're lucky I'm writing this at the beginning of the day, rather than being maudlin about it later on tonight.

Bad mood at black rock

Magnet #530 - Bad Mood

Picked up this pin magnet at ComicCon here in New York earlier this year, and then promptly forgot from which booth.

A quick trip to badagency.com reminded me that I got it at Sherrilyn Kenyon's kick-ass, two-story behemoth of a booth. I mean seriously, I love how a single author competes with the big boy booths of NYCC and holds her own, even putting some of the actual publisher booths to shame.

I mentioned last year how I was impressed by this woman's marketing prowess. I still am. It's quite amazing how much she's grown her audience, simply by being available to her fans at cons, holding cons of her own, and of course, writing good material. And a lot of it.

Full disclosure here: I've not read her work. I can't. I know me, if I do, I'll end up investing in all her various series, and the hotness that are her heroes, and then I'll become obsessed. I've watched it happen to at least one of my friends. She's fallen completely under the trance of the Dark Hunter series and its heroes, having flown through the DH backlist in less than a couple of months, and even stalked Forbidden Planet here in town for the manga book.

And if I'm not mistaken, it was all because I gave her the free book that was given away at NYCC. See how that marketing stuff works? Whoa.

Anyway, I'm picking this for today because it accurately reflects my attitude at work, and is a metastatement for a few other things as well. And, that's all I have to say about that.

eta:
I'm not gonna lie. This marketing stuff really does work. Having just visited the Bad Agency site, I'm totally picking up Bad Attitude now. Double whoa.

I'll have fries with that

Magnet #529 - French fries

Another one of my new @KristinaMyers magnets from her Etsy store!

French fries are a happy-making food, no matter where you get them. And I don't care if the world judges me for my love of McDonald's, but no one can deny that it's the king of the french fry. Nothing better in the world than a large fry and a Coke from MickeyD's.

Speaking of... I'm gonna go out on a limb here: I love McDonald's.

Go on. Judge me.

McDonald's is awesome. It's always been awesome, and I don't care if I die early, it'll always be awesome. Let me count the ways:

When I was really little - I mean before my little sisters showed up - my parents and I would go to McDonald's for breakfast after church. Happy memories. I'd get a Big Breakfast - back when it was still big, and the English Muffin came standard. Best three-is-a family memory meal ever.

When we were all little - my dad would say late at night, "Who wants a sundae?" And we'd pack ourselves into the car, jammies and all, and run to town. And there we'd sit, while my dad ran inside to get our sundaes, fries, and sometimes, apple pies. Best dessert ever.

When we were older - we went on a zillion roadtrips, and between the rest areas breaks, McDonald's was always the place we knew we'd always find, and where everyone could have something to eat - include my very picky dad. Best roadtrip food ever.

When I was sick - hamburgers from McDonald's were the only thing that I could eat when I was sick. Best cure ever.

When I was in junior high - Bop! and/or 16 reported to me that Big Macs were Jaunty John Taylor's favorite food. And therefore my favorite food. Best fangurl meal ever.

When I was in high school - I would get a two-cheeseburger meal, eat one burger and the fries before band practice at the college across town. And on the way back, I'd eat the other burger. Ever had a winter-cold cheeseburger? I swear, it's the best not-supposed-to-be-eaten-cold food ever.

Even now, I'm still buying Happy Meals - because, even without the Ronald McDonald cookies with Grimace and the Hamburglar, they're still the happiest-making meals ever.

Oh, I don't eat there every day, like that guy in that stupid movie. And even though I know it's not the healthiest of foods or the haute'est of haute cuisine, and even though I know it makes me what they politely call "a little downmarket," I still flat-out refuse to listen to any McDonald's haters out there. The ones who refuse to set foot in a stores, or scoff at the Dollar Menu, and look down their noses at a McAnything.

Funnily enough, it's those same pretty people in the elevators judging my Happy Meal box at lunchtime, who are taking extra deep breaths to take a whiff of my french fries. And wishing that's where they'd gone for lunch. I know. They tell me. Haha.

Those Golden Arches have always been there for me, and I'm happy to be several of those billions and billions served.

West Virginia's bold experiment

Magnet #528 - Tamarack, West Virginia

Since the day we moved to North Carolina, we've been burning up the roads with road trips back to Chicago. But in all that time, we've never dropped by Tamarack, which was built in the early 90s and is nestled in the mountains of West Virginia.

What started out as a WV economic development project, quickly became a self-sustaining collective of folks from every corner of WV, helping boost the state's economy by selling their locally-made products. The Crafts Report called it "West Virginia's bold experiment."

I love that that's all they sell - stuff produced in West Virginia! They have art and blown glass and quilts and clothes and jewelry and woodwork and bronze and foodstuffs and a cafe and, and, and...it's crazy packed with the best that WV has to give. It's true, apparently, there's a stringent quality and/or selection process in order to get your stuff on their shelves.

The building is pretty cool as well - even though we only went in through the back side, judging from this magnet. It was designed, built and named by local firms. They designed the building to look like a starburst quilt pattern from the sky - I bet aerial shots of it are amazing in the summer. It's certainly pretty neat from the road. They also selected the name Tamarack for the tree, a symbol for its strength, beauty and versatility. Perfect, for what this building stands for, and for what it houses.

Oh! And they have magnets, as well. I'm cheating, because this one was given to me by a friend before I went for myself. Truthfully, when she gave it to me, I had to look up what Tamarack was - I didn't have a clue. And even after I looked it up, I was still kinda hazy, and slightly skeptical.

I was like, hmm, a whooooole building for just West Virginia products? Really? It's duly noted now, what Tamarack is, and if ever you're riding around WV, definitely stop by. I love my purchases, and I'm only sad we didn't stay a little longer.

Modern isn't boring

Magnet #527 - Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, 1884

Yay, I finally got to visit the Art Institute of Chicago!!

I loved every minute of it - even when we got lost and had to pass the same little elephant statue in the Asian art gallery four times. There was entirely too much to see in one day, let alone half a day. Though, detours and funny layouts made for a heck of a lot of walking around!

After reading so much about Renzo Piano's new Modern Wing, I was happy for the chance to check it out myself - yes, there's a separate magnet for that.

Dudes - most of what we saw today, I haven't seen in person - from Hockey's Collectors and Ruscha's City to Motley's Nightlife to architectural drawings by Louis H. Sullivan and Louis I. Kahn and Mies van der Rohe, and remants of reliefs and doors and windows saved or scavenged from various buildings around town. Good gravy, I could spend days there.

The AIC had a few Monet magnets that I've blogged on - the Artist's house at Argenteuil, and of course, different versions of his haystacks, and his Japanese footbridge at Giverny. But, they also had an extraordinary number of his paintings that I've never seen - ever. Which is just fantastic, if you've scoured the eastern hemisphere for all the magnets Monets you can possibly see.

The AIC collection also includes the final Sunday on La Grande Jatte that was submitted for the 1886 Impressionists Exhibition. I actually bought this magnet in NYC, because I've been visiting the piece at the Met for years. Of course, now I have to go read the back of the magnet, or pop on by the Met to verify, but, from what I can tell, the Met has one of the 50 studies he did for that final piece. Who knew?

Honestly, while I'm glad to have seen it here in town, I'm slightly annoyed that what we have at the Met is a study. (But then again, I also have issues with all the various Monet haystacks and lillies running around this giant Earth.)

Anyway, I've uploaded the unedited, somewhat haphazard (for now) FB album for the AIC and the supercool Millennium Park, sans any real captions yet.

Enjoy. Then, get your bums to the AIC and have a looksee for yourself. You won't be sorry.

"Note: We are now in the domain of virtuosity, romance & symbolism."*

Magnet #526 - Frank Lloyd Wright's Saguaro Forms and Cactus Flowers

Picked this one up at BEA, again from the Pomegranate folks, and using this one for today, since we had a pretty good Frank Lloyd Wright day in Oak Park.

We spent the morning at the new Modern Wing, and then we booked it through an hour traffic to finally arrive at FLW's house and studio by 3:35pm...only to make our way toward the back of the gift shop to see the sign above their heads say, "Next Tour: Tomorrow" and hear the cashier explain to several people that they were sorry, but there were no more spots available.

You have to hand it to the guy - he was incredibly patient with the huffy visitors there - to the folks ahead of me, and to at least half a dozen more people asking for the tour while I was browsing the gift shop. I mean, telling people who traveled from states and countries all over that they couldn't see the one thing they had come for can't be an easy thing.

So, we didn't get to take the tour. And that's fine, that'll give me something to look forward to on my next trip out.

I did get to visit the little shop - though it was supertiny, they did carry the Gug and Fallingwater lego sets. And, shocker! I did walk out without them. The Gug is priced out at something like $45 - which would normally be ok for something like that, but the darn thing is seriously not taller than my hand! Crazy. And, the Fallingwater is also pretty cool, but priced at $100 and not all that much bigger than the Gug, I just couldn't justify the cost.

In the end, I picked up even more Pomegranate magnets, and an Oak Park area map that plotted the houses of FLW and his ilk, plus other important houses, and created our own drive-by tour.

*A handwritten note from a Louis H. Sullivan ornamental drawing, which really has nothing to do with this FLW magnet, or day, other than I just liked the lyricism and thought behind the turn of phrase.