Happy 45th, Doctor Who!

Magnet #275 - Doctor Who

Today marks the 45th anniversary of Doctor Who, which, according to the fabulously neat BBC archives, aired this day in 1963 on BBC TV.

I've mentioned DW quite a few times here, because I'm a bit of a fan. And though it loses me geek credits, I'll freely admit I'm pretty much a johnny-come-lately, watching only in its new incarnation, and unabashedly calling David Tennant my Doctor.

But, in all seriousness, you really have to respect any show (and a proper sci-fi show at that) that can capture a nation's heart for 45 years. I can't think of an American counterpart to this show, one that pretty much every adult can remember watching at some point over the decades, a show that's transcended generations and genres, and formed a whole culture of hiding behind sofas and Dalek and TARDIS references all over the place.

We just don't have anything of that ilk here, so thanks for sharing, UK!

SAG Is as SAG Does, or, Really? A strike? You stupid idiots

Magnet #274 - Stupid Is as Stupid Does, Forrest Gump

Bought this magnet at a Bubba Gump. Shut it. The food wasn't bad, and yes, I had something involving shrimp.

I don't have a Kennedy magnet, otherwise, we would have talked about the 45th anniversary. But then I saw this Yahoo article about SAG (Screen Actors Guild) poised to call for a strike.

Really? Actors? Really?

Did you not know that the WGA strike cost YOUR industry $2.5 billion? Have you not seen the stories about how we're still feeling the effects of that strike - with a shit TV season forcing idiotic programming decisions, and a movie season with tentpole movies being switched, so that all the shit movies we're left with won't cluster up too much? Did you not see the ramifications of lost jobs and productions within YOUR industry?

Ok, never mind YOUR industry.

Let's talk about how overall the American economy's gone to hell. Have you not heard that America has lost A MILLION JOBS in 2008? Did you not see the financial and auto industries practically collapse? Have you not seen the billions and billions and billions of dollars that have been doled out to SAVE actual industries that keep our economy running?

Or maybe you're just not worried, because Obama's here to save the day. YOUR industry came out en masse making tons of videos and commercials and donations to call for change. Maybe you think that in exchange for all that work, that Obama and the new administration is gonna bail out the entertainment industry when you fly your private planes to Washington with your hats in hand.

Whatever it is, America's already in trouble. I fail to understand how a strike of 120,000 people in a multibillion-dollar industry will HELP America.

Apparently, SAG is going to "launch a 'full-scale education campaign in support of a strike authorization.'" I can't even wait to see what gets leaked to the public. You know, the public that's already suffering...for real.

eta:
This magnetpost really became more of a rant than I intended. But I really, really, really would like someone within the industry to make me understand why this strike is necessary.

Oh, and I would like to see whether or not the American public will give one ounce of crap about Hollywood actors whining about Internet and DVD rights.

eta2:
By the way, anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows how deeply my love runs for all of the entertainment industry, and exactly how many movies and tv shows I watch. That's no secret. Hell, you can scroll down to the bottom of this magnetblog to see how much TV I watch.

But you know what? My TV and my movie habits are entertainment.

You don't keep me breathing.

You don't pay my rent.

My job notwithstanding, you don't actually make me money.

So, I gotta say, GO AHEAD. STRIKE.

I will be one of the American public who will not give a shit if YOU torpedo YOUR industry.

Carry on, my wayward...redbird

Magnet #273 - Cardinal

Today, in 1783, North Carolina ratified the Constitution, making it the 12th state in the Union. Yay, North Carolina-lina!

The cardinal's our state bird, and while I really, really, really don't like birds in general, I do happen to love the cardinal.

When I was little, my parents picked up these funny books about Southern dialect and customs. I'm fairly sure that they'd be pretty laughable now, but growing up, it sort of became our guide to knowing our neighbors and classmates.

In one of them, there was whole section on different animals and the Southernisms centering on them. Here's what I remember, and what I still practice whenever I see a cardinal:

1) They're good luck. They're the luckiest birds in the universe, so if you see one...then you're...in luck, I suppose.

2) If you see one flying by, make sure you blow a kiss toward it, and it will carry your kiss to your sweetheart. My apologies to any of my crushes that were bowled over or attacked by redbirds with these kisses - what can I say, we had a ton of cardinals in our yard.

3) If you see a cardinal perched somewhere, name it, and your wish will come true. Honestly, I don't think Herman or Henrietta or Jimmy-Bob ever really worked out for me.

4) If you see a cardinal perched on somewhere, make a wish quickly. If you complete the wish before it flies away, it will come true. If you don't, well, then, refer to number 1 above, I guess.

Right. All that for one animal.

Wait til we get to bunnies.

Standing on the edge of a quay*

Magnet #272 - Singapore River, Quayside Dining

My friend brought back this magnet from his Asia trip. I looked it up - apparently, there's some excellent dining alongside the quay.

I just picked this one for today, cuz I thought it was pretty...I've never visited Singapore, so I've been wracking my brain (and Google) to see what I could say about it. Here are a few tidbits:

1) Did you know that Road to Singapore was the first of all the Road films that Bing and Bob did together? And that George Burns and Fred MacMurray were slated to play the leads originally?

2) For years, it was completely illegal to chew gum in Singapore. They've relaxed the reg recently. Now you can chew it...for medicinal purposes.

3) You can take an iPod guided tour of some really cool works of art by Stella, Warhol, Chihuly and Hockney...at the Ritz-Carlton hotel lobby.

4) They have a London Eye-esque observation wheel - the largest in the world at 540 feet tall, almost 50 stories. Takes 30 minutes, and you pay about $20 to ride it. It's called the Singapore Flyer, and has the best tagline ever: A moving experience at every turn.

5) The Singapore Sling was invented at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore in the early 1900s. I'm totally having one at the next possible occasion: Gin, brandy, pineapple and lime juice, Cointreau, bitters, and Dom Benedictine (whatever that is).

6) You know how NYC has yellow cabs, London has their red phone boxes and Rio has that giant statue of Jesus as their symbols of the city? Singapore has a Merlion, this creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish, to welcome all visitors to town.

I must confess, I'm slightly freaked out about the thought of a mermaid and a lion procreating, but c'mon! The Merlion alone might be worth the airfare around the world!

*Lyrics to Duran Duran's Night Boat. When I was in 6th or 7th grade, I had to look up what the hell a quay was because of this song.

North & South

Magnet #271 - Gettysburg

So, 145 years ago, Lincoln gave his infamous Gettysburg address, which I talked about with somewhat grave seriousness a few months ago. (If you haven't been to Gettysburg, and driven around the battlefields and the little town, I highly recommend it. It's quite moving, and a little frightening to think of all the valor and violence that happened there.)

Which leaves me free to talk about a couple of my favorite miniseries of. all. time. North and South. Or North & South.

First up - John Jakes' North and South. Tell me ya'll have seen this miniseries. C'mon. It was amazing - it took something like 2 years to make and I heard was one of the most expensive (and most watched) miniseries - ever.

It tells the story of families - the Mains from South Carolina (headed by Orry, played by Patrick Swayze) and the Hazards from Pennsylvania (headed by George, played by James Read). The two men meet at West Point, and form a lasting friendship, and see each other through love and loss, trials and tribulations, nutty families, blahblahhotboysblah. Fantastic saga.

Of course, this version of North and South is not to be confused with the other North & South by Elizabeth Gaskill, brought to you by the BBC. I know. Confusing. It's not a remake, I swear.

Girl in reduced circumstances from the South (Margaret Hale, played by Daniela Denby-Ashe) meets diamond in the rough industrialist in the North (John Thornton, played by Richard Armitage), and form a lasting bond, through love and loss, trials and tribulations, nutty families, blahblahhotboyblah. Fantastic love story.

I could go on about both, and don't worry, eventually I will.

But for now, seriously. Netflix them both. You won't be sorry.

Just don't do it all at once. You'll get confused.

Particularly by the accents.

Keep a song in your heart

Magnet #270 - The Lawrence Welk Show

Go ahead. Giggle. And snicker. You know you want to. It's ok. Really.

Some of my earliest memories back in Chicago, I must have been 4 or 5, are of me, running through the house looking for my church shoes, so that I could tap dance along with the tap dancer on The Lawrence Welk Show. No. I'd never had tap lessons. My parents and I used to watch this show together, while my dad hummed usually off-key and falsetto.

In case you've never had the pleasure, it's your basic musical variety show that started back in 1951, and is still running on PBS to this day. Quite impressive, since they haven't had a new episode in like decades. But, I think they still air it just to keep my dad happy, and to drive my mother insane.

A few years ago, on my Woman on Her Own Roadtrip through California, I was driving down some lonely highway, and I started seeing signs for Escondido. I knew the name, but didn't know why. I exited to get some gas, and then I saw signs for Champagne Boulevard, and at that point it struck me that I was at Lawrence Welk's place in Escondido. Seriously, I distinctly remember humming the theme song, as I made my way to the resort.

I drove onto the deserted lot - it was something like 9:30 or 10 in the morning, and nothing was open. So I explored a bit, taking pictures of the Welk Auditorium. There was a gift shop that hadn't opened yet. Dudes, of course, I was gonna wait for it to open. I was so excited I called my dad up in NC to tell him. He laughed his ass off at me for being there. But, really. How could I not?

Then the buses started to arrive. There I was, in a sea of blue-haired ladies and golf-shirted men, completely out of my demo. Again. The little Filipino girl, with an armful of all things Lawrence Welk for my parents.

That's ok, cuz I was totally loving every damn cheesy minute of it. And as I drove off toward San Diego, I could hear Lawrence Welk's sign-off in my head.

"See you next time, and until then, keep a song in your heart!"

Cue closing credits.

We are NOT amused

Magnet #269 - Queen Victoria (r. 1837-1901)

Hands down, my favorite monarch of all time is Queen Victoria, (oh, and that guy she was married to. Heh.). And, it's for a million reasons, none of which have all that much to do with the quality of her reign, or how much she did or didn't do for her country.

She was just awesome. Imagine, becoming Queen of one of the largest superpowers in the world...at 18!

She married Prince Albert - in a white wedding gown. They totally give her credit for making it de rigueur for brides to wear white. Dudes, up til then, women would just throw on a pretty frock. Yay, Vic.

She was one-half of the Victoria and Albert love story. Whether or not you believe it or not (I do), Victoria and Albert were completely devoted to each other and their nine kids. She was devastated when he passed away, and wore only black for the rest of her life.

She had a great hub. Prince Albert was in charge of the supercool Great Exhibition of 1851, and supervised the building of the Great Crystal Palace (which burned to the ground in 1936). My goodness, what I wouldn't give to have seen this building. Oh, and let's not forget that the Exhibition seeded the fabulous Victoria & Albert Museum, one of the world's greatest museums of art & design, and one of my favorites in London.

She was a tough girl. Apparently, she'd had several assassination attempts against her, and she totally didn't let it faze her at all.

She's the whole reason that I LOVED that Tooth and Claw episode of Doctor Who, where the Doctor takes Rose back to 1979, and they end up in 1879 and meet Queen Victoria instead. And then in between battling the weirdo werewolf at the Torchwood house, the two spent the episode trying to get the Queen to actually say "We are NOT amused." Seriously one of my favorite DWs ever.

Ok, ok, I'll stop now, this post is getting a little too geeky-fangurly...even for me.