Oh, Minnie, you're so fine

Magnet #221 - Minnie Mouse

Blogging from the sunshiney state of Florida tonight.

From Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club.

No. I don't play golf.

Yes. It's weird, I know.

Go with it.

Down here on client business, and so far it's been a fun 24 hours. Yay, Tampa!

Minnie was the closest thing I have to Tampa...but no worries, I'm totally hitting the airport shops tomorrow. I like a little shop.

eta:
I just realized. I came to Tampa. But I never saw Tampa. And now I'm leaving. Huh.

BTW, found a supercute Tampa magnet. Whu-hoo! Doesn't have my name on it, though. That's kind of annoying.

A-maze-ing

Magnet #220 - Garden Maze

An acre's never seemed so big. The Garden Maze at Luray Caverns, Virginia was terrific fun.

It's one of those old-school giant mazes that you have to figure out how to get to the middle. It's more fun when you travel in packs, though it's funny how you start to compete with other random people in the maze.

It's also funny how as time wears on, you start to second and third guess your choices...mainly cuz you've run into a green wall. Or two. Or ten.

Kinda wish I'd visited the little shop to buy this magnet, before we went through it.

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.

Who are those guys?*

Magnet #218 - Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks

A giant in the industry has passed. I woke up today to the very sad Paul Newman news. Man, will he be so missed. I loved that guy. I'm sure everyone else will do fitting tributes to him, so I won't even go into it here.

Instead, here's another giant of his own industry.

The Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks are home to the Giant Sequoia General Sherman, one of the tallest, oldest and largest living trees in the world. It's something like 2,300 to 2,700 years old! And it's about 10 feet shorter than the 22-story Flatiron Building here in town. Amazing.

I went to visit during my Woman on her Own Roadtrip a few years ago, and the park was just something to behold. There's a certain sense of quiet in the forest as you walk around, and you can almost feel what it's been like for these big trees hanging out in the forests these thousands of years. I would bet money that the people wandering in shadows of these trees have provided absolutely years of entertainment...for the trees.

*Obvi, from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. One of the best movies - ever. Never seen it? Here it is in a nutshell. We used to use this clip in our new business branding presentations. Awesome.

It was allllll a dream

Magnet #217 - Dallas, TX

Soooo, apparently, 22 years ago today, America saw Bobby Ewing emerge from the dead. In Pam's shower. With Pam freaking out, and the rest of us going, what. the. hell.

I remember watching that episode, too. That was crazy. Like, supermondo crazy. I mean, daytime soaps used to do it all the time, and still do it. But, for a nighttime soap with a more mainstream audience to do it, man, people were con. fused.

The questions were rampant - was everything that happened since his death undone because it was a dream? was it just Pammy's world that went nuts? was Bobby all shriveled like a prune? how much water did he waste? what kind of drugs was Pam on? did JR know? maybe he wasn't shot?

And, who was crazier, us for watching this show with rapt attention? or them, for coming up with that crap?

Well, clearly, that's a draw.

Bear Market

Magnet #216 - William Beard's The Bear Dance

Jeepers.

It's such a bear market out there that the bears are practically frolicking in the streets.

Actually, this is what I imagine all the bears do when I leave the vicinity after hours and hours of fruitlessly searching for them.

Duh-na-nu-nuh! Duh-na-nu-nuh! Chh! Chh!

Magnet #215 - Beverly Hills

Of course, I watched the original.

Of course, I watch the reruns.

Of course, I am watching the redux.

What I can't figure out is, is 90210:

1. An homage to the original?
2. A spoof of the original?
3. Trying to be to this generation, what the original was to that generation?
4. Trying to be a serious Spelling-esque drama in its own right?

I suppose the answers don't really matter since The CW picked it up for a full season. That's fine. I'm kind of light in the Tuesday 8pm hour anyway.

Now, if only the 9pm hour would calm down just a bit. I think The Mentalist may fall off the dance card fairly early. I love me some pretty, pretty Simon Baker and Owain Yeoman, but maybe not enough to give up Privileged (my new Gilmore Girls replacement) or Fringe (my new Pacey show). And I've already tiered Greek down to online status.

Ah, Fall TV is the most wonderful time of the year!

eta:
Ok. Let's put all these swirling rumors to rest. George is NOT gonna show up in this last season of ER. He's just not.

Except you totally know I'll watch the damn series finale, just in case that damn man decides to prank us again.