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.

Clear eyes, full hearts

Magnet #403 - Friday Night Lights

Ya'll know I've been waiting on this magnet for a while, since I love me some Coach Kyle. (Yes, imagine this entire magnetpost with a bit of a North Carolina twang.)

I decided today's the perfect day to use this one, since Variety announced that DirecTV and NBC are picking up Friday Night Lights for not one, but two (!) seasons!

Hell.

Yeah.

Well directed, well written, well acted, well produced - it's just the perfect little show that could. Quality television all around.

I'm not gonna lie - the pretty boys (yes, I just unabashedly linked to a bunch of Taylor Kitsch picspam from a friend of mine's LJ site, so any guys reading this, don't click this link) running around a football field don't hurt, either. I mean, who doesn't want to come home to a Coach Kyle at night, no matter how pig-headed he's being.

Mind you, I'm managing my own expectations on this deal - two seasons is a pretty big commitment for a show that almost didn't finish the season last year or the year before. And, even if it's only 13 episodes each season, we'll shut up and take what we can get, man.

This is one of those shows that people just love. I think it's because no matter where you're from, we all recognize these people, places and situations in our own lives.

For me, it's the accents of everyone I ever grew up with down in Salisbury, NC. (Yes, I know there's a difference between NC and TX, thank you.) It's the high school football games I stood in the stands, and marched on the field for.* It's all the teachers and classmates that I had.

For me, Friday Night Lights just reminds me of home. (sans the really hot football coach, but if you substituted a really hot band director, you'd be spot on)

So, well done, DirecTV and NBC, for taking a chance, and mostly for taking the time to develop an audience for a beloved show.

And yay, for the FNL folks!


*Yes. I was in marching band. Shut it.

And not for nothing, but if I had one thing to complain about for FNL, is that they need a bigger marching band component to make it just a little more real. I'm just sayin'.

eta:
Two other places for more (than just squeeing over pretty boys) insightful information:
Jace @ Televisionary
Alan Sepinwall @ What's Alan Watching?

Chango Change-o

Magnet #402 - Chango

They say that the average lifespan of a restaurant is about five years, and it's probably less than that here in New York.

So, it's no surprise that since I've been at one work location since 1998, that I've seen no less than seven restaurants change hands within a 2-block radius.

Here's another one that bit the dust a few years ago - Chango.

Supercute on the inside, Mexican food was relatively good, and their margaritas were pretty good, too.

Mmmmm. A margarita, or five, would be great right now.

What? It's Monday!

You say goodbye, I say hello

Magnet #401 - Goodbye Kitty

So, I really haven't a clue how this magnet made it into my collection.

My best guess is that I bought it cuz it reminded me of an old LG laundry ad. The ad had either a teddy bear, or a pug dog sitting in the dryer, and the copy was all about getting the wrinkles out of anything.

But, as I looked closer at the magnet, I noticed a little TM after Kitty. That was a little strange, so, I looked it up.

Oh. My. God. Apparently, curiosity killed the cat!

As near as I can tell, it's a David & Goliath creation - a series of Goodbye Kitty posters/pictures/graphic tees/etc., where the poor kitty is being microwaved, vacuumed, blendered, etc.!

Eeeeep! They're anti-Hello Kitty! Nooooooooo! I love my Hello Kitty!!!!!

Besides the D&G stuff (including a Frogger-like game - Ack!), you would not believe the amount of anti-Hello Kitty stuff there is out there!

You mean, mean, mean people! She's never done anything to you people except be cute! She's the travel ambassador to Japan! She's every stereotypical Asian girl's best friend!

You people leave her alone!

*stomps*

Biggest little city

Magnet #400 - Joy in Reno

I've never been to Reno, but from what I could tell, in the ranks of casino towns, it's just above Atlantic City, but way below Vegas.

If I were to be completely honest, were I to visit Reno, I'd be spending a goodly portion of my time just sitting in front of the slot machines. For some reason, I think I can control the spins of the machine...just by pressing the buttons. It's actually kind of sad, really, how quickly I can go through a roll of quarters.

But, according to the Reno-Tahoe travel website, there's some fun stuff to do in Reno.

There's the National Automobile Museum (whose site doesn't work so well) and the Nevada Museum of Art (whose logo is cute as a button - confusing to the eye, but still cute), plus at least half a dozen historic buildings to visit (including a building that was given by the state of California, for the Transcontinental Highway Exposition).

What? We all know that I love the fun sights to see in any town.

Here's another - the Lake Mansion, owned by the founders of Reno, which apparently has been jacked up and moved a couple of times in its 132-year history. So funny. And they say it might be haunted. Really? Did the ghosts move with them? I'd bet the ghosts are slightly confused by their surroundings - maybe they need Melinda Gordon from Ghost Whisperer to help them out?

Oh. There's also a bunch of outdoor stuff, like skiing and golf.

Umm, yeah. See how I didn't even pay attention to any of that stuff?

What's your joy?

Magnet #399 - Double Happiness

Ok. How freakin' awesome is this magnet! My friend over at Your Nose Is Quite Big sent it to me from Beijing, China!

Thanks! I love it. I love it SO much! Seriously, I can't imagine that there's such a thing as double happiness!

Without becoming too maudlin, this magnet really does make you wonder what it would take in your own life to achieve such a joyous state. To be honest, I've never really thought about what would truly make me happy - you know, beyond the silly answers of world peace and a pot of gold.

But, I've been thinking a lot about this topic - particularly after having just read more than 200 essays essentially about what would make people happy. I have to say that it was extremely uplifting to see that things people were hoping for. Happiness for themselves, their friends and family. Happiness through God and Country.

Of course, there were the requisite nutjobs filling out the essay, but hey, who's to say that being master of all time and space wouldn't make me happy, too?

Where the boys are

Magnet #398 - Florida, Joy and the boys

Yep. So, if there's one thing to sum up our time in Tampa, it's this picture.

Remember last week, my post about hating being a Damsel in Distress? And that the production guys were bailing us out left and right?

Here's two of them right here. Without these two guys, Jay and Ash, along with the entire Evolution Studios team, we'd probably still be down there, looking at empty pavilions. You seriously can't get any better than than this team. Whether it was running down to the school buses a mile away to get coolers full of school lunches, or hauling 50 cases of bottled water for the students, or always being around when we had some ridiculous request or ten, or just needed someone to calm us down - I don't think they ever said no to us.

And, my other guy of the week, Mr. Erik Estrada, who did everything we asked, without complaint. Who signed every autograph, kissed every cheek, shook every hand - and was without a doubt, one of the nicest guys I've ever met.

I's a lucky, lucky girl, no doubt. Thank you guys, so very, very much.