"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"

The NJ governor has proposed that state parking lots be privatized and state workers pay for their parking. I’m afraid this is another of those “red meat” tosses to a rabid base of angry constituents who believe that unions and state workers are the cause of the budget deficit and privatization and lay-offs are the answer. I’m always amazed that the rich can convince the middle class that all their financial woes are caused by the poor. Like that line from The Usual Suspects: The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114814/quotes

I thought the following comment from yesterday in http://www.nj.com/starledger/ sums up nicely the stupidity of such supposed cost saving measures.

Posted by justthefacts March 11, 2010, 10:55PM
Instead of raging against the average state worker who earns $52,000 a year and the college educated teachers who earn an average of $62,000 per year, rage against the Private Sector who Christie's wants to turn the state over to. The Private Sector whose managers earn 277 times what their average worker earns. This is the same Private Sector who rips the State off and the citizens of this state on a daily basis. You want to rage and pick on someone try raging against the private sector instead of state workers and teachers who can't pay their own monthly bills:

Rage against the Utility Companies (PSE&G etc.) who have you over the barrel for ever increasing utility bills that are bankrupting families.

Rage against the Health Insurance Companies whose premiums are out of control and bankrupting this country.

Rage against the oil refiners (Exxon etc) who are ripping you off at the pump and causing plenty of hardship.

Rage against the banks that pick you apart with service charges and almost destroyed the economy of this country.

Rage against the brokerage companies on Wall Street and the slime balls that work for them earning millions in fees and bonuses while getting bailed out by the federal govt.

Rage against the food producers who rip you off at the supermarket.

Why in the world would you want to turn the state over to these rip-off experts? Perhaps because they primarily consist of wealthy Republicans who can profit greatly from privatization. These are the same wealthy individuals Christie is protecting from any income tax increase by shifting the costs of the state onto the backs of the poor and middle class.

Knitting Friday

Yesterday, we went for a really nice short hike at a park in Princeton, NJ. I liked it because I wasn’t wearing hiking shoes but we were able to walk over a mile on a paved path. Which means this can be a spur of the moment hiking area - no need to worry about hiking shoes. Also, the foliage was quite interesting: thick deciduous tree forests, a good sampling of pine and unpaved trails running through them

Then later we stopped at the local branch of our county library and got our library cards renewed (yes, we had let them lapse [they have pin numbers now!] but don’t forget as I’m typing this I can just turn to look at the thousands of books in this room [OK, it’s an addiction] and that’s not counting what I get from Libri Vox and Project Gutenberg on the Internet.) We wanted to renew the cards so we could log on and download audio books. That is, audio recordings of copyrighted books because at the rate I’m going I’ll be though with all the public domain stuff on Libri Vox pretty soon. (No, not really.)

While we were at the library, we looked at their extensive video collection. They must have the entire collection of Masterpiece Theater from PBS. What a treasure trove.

Walking out into the evening sky, I thought: This is the type of stuff which gets the first cut in cost savings. moves. Parks and libraries, who needs such egalitarian luxuries? I wonder if people thinking this even realize how ugly it will be when the whole world turns gray?

And now, on to knitting.

Here’s a picture of my top to bottom knitted shell. It was such an easy knit and is modeled on Mohair Minimalist which can be accessed under Patterns at Ravelry. https://www.ravelry.com/account/login The MM designer modeled her creation off another designer and my shell is a further take off from this.

My Needlework Group wants this shell to be their next mini-lesson.

They: We want to make that.
Me: How about I show you what’s available in needlework on the Internet next time?
They: No, we want to make that.
Me: (sigh)

So I guess I’m teaching this shell next month. Just to be ready, I’ve started a second one in a worsted weight with the same needles and the same number of stitches.

I differed from the MM pattern this way: My cast-on was 80 stitches. I doubled my stitches like the directions but at the bind off area, I worked: Knit 45 stitches for front, bind off 35, Knit 45 stitches for back, bind off 35. Then on the following row, I cast on 20 stitches at each bind off area.

What’s really weird is that these directions work on my original shell using fingering weight and my OTN shell using double knit weight.

My next shell (and yes, there is going to be a third one) will have a K1, P1 ribbing at the neck and not the straight stockinette stitch which causes the rolled collar. While I don’t dislike this look, I want to try a flat look at the collar.

Additionally, I did not allow the bottom hem to roll. (What a place to add extra width!) On the shell pictured, I bound off and then worked one round of single crochet followed by two rounds of extended single crochet. I probably should have added more rounds but I was getting bored. With the OTN, I’m going to drop down at least two needle sizes, US 6, and work a bottom band of seed or garter.

On shells or vest in general: Someone saw the first shell and said with a turned up nose: Oh, that’s so 1970s! Well, I guess it is but it’s also ‘30s and ‘40s and ‘50s - you get the picture. (I think I might even find such a pattern from two centuries ago.) So, I might call it a long-lived pattern. It looks great with a tee under it. In cotton, it’s a summer top. By not binding off the sleeve stitches but putting them on a holder you can go back and work the sleeves into long, short, or elbow length.

Right now, I’m thinking about making a sweater to match the black shell (I have enough yarn.)
Then, it would probably become a “closet set” and only pulled out when I had a fancyish place to go. It would get less wear but it’s not a bad thing to have that party outfit ready; especially since you know how much I hate to shop.

Happy knitting.

"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"

Website Wednesday

Well, this is probably another defining moment for the Obama administration. Joe Biden is in Israel looking for peace and the Israelis announce they are building more illegal settlements. Wow! What timing! Do you think they were trying to shove this in the face of the US? Do you think? Whatever. Let's see if the US does more than its usual "tsk, tsk" this time. You know how well this administration has handled health care reform so far. (Note: Folks, that last sentence was sarcasm. I know that sort of thing doesn't translate well on the web all the time.)

But on to Sara Teasdale. Did you ever hear of the poem, I Am Not Yours by Teasdale.

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-am-not-yours-2/

I didn''t realize that Teasdale was so sensual. Maybe it was the name: Teasdale, like taking tea in the dale, a nice maiden lady. Was I wrong. This is not a poetry assignment for a 6th grader.

Me to the girl: Why did you choose this poem?
Girl: It was short.
Me: Did you teacher OK it?
Girl: Yes.

I'm sure the teacher (who is one fantastic English teacher) saw Teasdale's name as I did and thought: Oh, what a sweet choice.

But I must admit I had a blast analyzing this poem. I had forgotten how much fun it was to do something you were trained for. I even used Twilight to explain the "addiction."

Now, on to my website pick:

http://www.pandalous.com/

I have Paul Krugman to thank for this pick, or rather a commenter to one of Krugman's columns who linked to it. A lot of commenters will link to some lame website but Pandalous is a real find.

It says of itself:

We're a new, vibrant internet community with a growing membership; we've set out to gather a diverse, thoughtful, and articulate crowd to share in the experience of living.
Why Pandalous?
We found as we grew up that it was going to be more or less impossible to get all the people we missed talking to in the same room (or even the same country) on a regular basis; Pandalous is the living room we wished we had. Of course, being online, it’s part metropolis, part community. You’re very welcome to pull up a chair….
We hope you’ll stay a while and introduce yourself.

They talk about everything on Pandalous. I started reading a discussion of Caravaggio's Medusa. It's quite insightful. Or, how about: On Shakespeare and Lil' Wayne. Apparently, it's really not as antithetical as you might think.

Or how about a real life problem: How do I control my anger? A good discussion follows this question which branches out to tackle revenge and Montaigne. Plus, at the end of some topics you are directed to "siblings" of this topic with "This topic has the following siblings:"

This is definitely not a "rant and rave" discussion site. It's lively, thoughtful and diversely interesting. It's well worth a visit and a bookmark.

"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"

Movie Monday

Well, I have been thinking about movies all day. Not particularly the Oscars which I don't think I've ever watched. Even if I had an interest I think the plethora of commercials would flatten me.

Have you ever seen photos of early Oscar ceremonies?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Academy_Awards

It looks like a crowded restaurant scene. Apparently, Hollywood didn't realize it could milk the actual ceremonies until later. It always amused me that the Oscars are such an "inside" award; peers voting for peers but outsiders, the general public, are supposed to ultimately foot the bill.

Sundance had a documentary on yesterday, The Red Carpet (I think that was the full name.) Basically, it told about designers paying big bucks to actors to wear their clothes for the walk on the red carpet (any red carpet will do.) Some actresses said that the money they picked up for being clothes horses helped them turn down lousy parts. Well, I guess hawking some overpriced designer does have a plus side.

I wonder if karma caught up with James Cameron last night. I have a feeling that his Titanic Oscar win speech: "I'm King of the World"never left Hollywood's craw and last night was pay-back time. (On a side note: How did Titanic ever win all those awards? It was an awfully acted and plotted film.)

It was nice to learn that Sandra Bullock won. Her winning role sounded awful; so did that film. I read the plot of The Blind Side; fodder for right wing conservatives but apparently Bullock is the antithesis of this thinking. (Yes, I did watch an interview of her once.) I've always liked her as an actress. (This seems to be a rather universal feeling.) I don't know if she's a very good actress who has been stuck in pedestrian plots or just an above average performer who adds class to any dreck she's stuck in. Whatever, it was a nice win; perhaps not a professionally deserved win (cripes, she was up against Mirren and Streep) but a nice win.

No, I didn't see The Hurt Locker. Should I? Will this movie turn the tide of world thinking towards pacifism? No? Then I'll stick with my usual schlock.

And in that vein, I did read reviews of The Reader as I promised last week and I wasn't in left field with my original comments. Once you got beyond the "I love Kate Winslet." group you could read a lot of comments best summed up in that ubiquitous acronym: WTF?

I'd like to say that this movie had all the parts but didn't sew them together. Unfortunately, I can't even get that far. I'm still grappling with Hanna's sexual prowess and her illiteracy. What was that all about? Do they go together? Like bread and jam? You can see how lost I am.

And now, I'll end my movie ramblings with one final thought: Evita. I didn't know that Antonio Banderas could sing. And second, and really annoying to me: the show-stopping song, Another Suitcase in Another Hall is not Evita's song in the play but the song of Peron's discarded teenage mistress. (Yes, I saw another interview about that song in the play version.)

OK, it's a great song and I can understand if Madonna selfishly wanted to sing it; but it is so incongruous to the setting in which she sings it. She has just come to Bueno Aires with Magaldi. He was obviously her first affair which had taken her from the bosom of her family and her home town. (She could have been the town hooker for all I know.)

Evita sings about how being kicked out at the end of affairs is so difficult. Duh! She hasn't even experienced this yet. However, sung by the teen mistress, the song has roots and tells a story. Just a small point but it's been grating on me.

Now, I think I'll go and chase kids off the lawn. I sound cranky enough.

See you next Monday.

"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"

I’m beginning to like my banner. It gives me, and I hope others, something to think about. Like going for a definition of capitalism; just a simple one: an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capitalism
Well, that definition is a little more extensive than simple but it’s right on the money (no pun intended.) I never seem to be able to find any reference to workers in capitalism except as it’s implied that they produce the goods so the rich can own them.

Knitting Friday (begun on Thursday this time)

Waiting for a program to load this Thursday afternoon, I think I’ll start my knitting blog for tomorrow.

This one is pretty pathetic. I have been working away at knitting this week but a lot of time was spent in helping kids with homework. Is schoolwork just getting more complex in NJ because the NJEA has seen the light? Or has our new governor lit a fire under them? (He campaigned on fighting the unions, especially NJEA.) I’m not wild about the education standards in the USA. I deplore the fact that we don’t challenge our children intellectually. (Go sports! Should be our national motto.) But when the battle goes into the trenches, while I want accountability in all organizations, including unions, I’ll stand with the unions in this fight. Develop better teaching standards, eliminate tenure plus union protection for teachers, curtail costs (consolidate administrative jobs to curtail costs; bring raises in line with living costs)

However, if your state is broke: go after the money where it really is - Saddle River, Princeton, Ridgewood, Basking Ridge, Deal , the list goes on – with a progressive state income tax. Now that would be ballsy thinking.

But I digress. This is Knitting Friday. I’ve been working on a common problem this week and I’m still looking for a solution. When I say “common problem” I guess I should also say “simple problem.” I remind myself of a woman who enters a bake-off with pancakes to compete against someone’s entry of a 7-tier wedding cake, but I will plow on.

The problem: Cast on 8 stitches and join.

These are common beginning instructions for so many shawls, especially on that fantastic Yahoo group, MMario Knits. I would like a dollar for every shawl he starts that way. I just look at them and move on. Regretting it. but knowing that this cast on makes me feel like I’m working with gorilla hands in boxing gloves (sorry for the slam, King Kong.)

So now, I’m working on a solution. Take a look at the pictures on the right. Take a look at the center of the squares. The right square in garter is taken from:
http://yarnomat.com.au/2010/02/square-in-the-round/ where the original directions are for CO 4 stitches and join. Now perhaps 4 stitches and not 8 would be easier to join but I don't think so. (The left-side square is similar to the right but done in stockinette so I had to work a garter border to prevent massive curling.)

Both were started with a Chain 5 and a join to make a ring. Then for the garter is was: Ch 3, 2 dc, in ring *ch 2, 3 dc*in ring 3xs, ch 2 and join with a sl st to the top of the first ch 3. (The stockinette square I did the same except I used half double crochet stitch instead of double crochet.) This will give you 4 stitches on each side which matches the number of stitches in the original pattern which you need to start the square.

Then I used US 8 DPNs and with the loop as stitch 1, I picked up 4 stitches for each side of the square on each needle. for 16 stitches. After that, I started in working the pattern.

It was so simple without the clumsy beginning you always get when joining a small number of stitches. I'm not happy with the beginning center yet and I'm going to experiment with using single crochet. However, I am planning to tackle a MMario shawl for next week.

I'll leave you with a pattern I cast on for last night. It's Mohair Minimalist and it's a free Ravelry download so I can't link but if you're a Ravelry member take a look. It a shell which starts with a cast on of 68 sts and a join. After that it's an increase across a row for beginning the body and binding off for the sleeves further on. What attracted me is that it is a straight knit in stockinette. Of course, I'm not using mohair, which has a lot of stretch, so I'm improvising already. But that makes knitting fun.

Happy Knitting.

"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"

Thoughts on Thursday

I’m sitting at the computer, back to the TV, working on some knitting stuff for tomorrow’s blog and I hear Kathleen Sebelius, the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, talking on a morning pseudo-news show. She talking about passing health care reform but she says something like: Small businesses which are the backbone of this country.

Nothing to do with health care really but my little ears perk up.

When did people start believing that small businesses are the backbone of this country? OK, I don’t want to defame the name of a God a lot of people believe in here, but Jesus H. Christ! WTF?

The backbone of this country is the convergence (you could say the perfect storm) of immigrant workers and robber barons which occurred in the second half of the 1800s. Before that, the country was small business and agrarian. After that, tens of thousands of people settled in this country and found work with big businesses - railroads, steel mills, meat packing munitions, etc. They found work in terrible safety conditions and spent most of their lives paying off the “man” for living in his housing or buying at his store. (Read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.)

But these jobs were the beginning of prosperity for millions in this country. After a long, hard, and bloody struggle, unions emerged and workers saw higher wages, better working conditions and the economy saw the beginning of a middle class.

That was the backbone of this country. I would like to be Pollyanna and think we grew under a Utopian, idyllic, birds chirping in the background, economy where the worker controlled the price of his labor.

We didn’t.

"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"

First, I think that my banner can be attributed to Thorstein Veblen. I would probably get definite proof if I splurged and bought: Veblen on Capitalism: Intellectual History in (sic) and Out of Context. However, it looks like a college-type text and you know how expensive they are. Plus, the Internet price for just a complete review of this book is $10!

I did a Google search for the phrase and really got spooked. The first hit is the review I mention above; the second and third hits are my blogs. Jesus H. Christ! It must have been a slow day.

Website Wednesday

I'm keeping this short today because I have to go food shopping. Oh, I know, you're thinking: Big deal. But it is a big deal. We've been hit by snow watches and snow warnings, not to mention actual snow, so that I've been staying away from grocery stores to make room for all the hordes of people who descend on them as soon as the word "snow" is mentioned. It's got to bred in our bones because it happens every time.

So, for the last few days I've been existing on frozen vegetables, (not that there's anything wrong with them) potatoes, and cheese. Well, OK, I'm stretching the truth. We do have a few bananas, one pineapple, a few onions and I found frozen chicken burgers (very tasty though dry the way I kill-cook them.) But even I'm noticing that there's dancing room in the freezer. Oh, I forgot the frozen ravioli. Here's a quick recipe:

Spinach/Cheese Microwave Ravioli
1 serving of spinach and cheese mini ravioli (regular size will also work)
1 jar of pasta sauce

1. In a large microwave bowl, place a layer of sauce on the bottom
2. Add a serving size of ravioli
3. Cover all the ravioli with another layer of sauce.
4. Cover the bowl and place in the microwave at a regular setting for 2 minutes
5. Stir the ravioli and microwave for another minute.
6. Check for doneness (add 30 seconds more intervals if necessary.)
7. Remove and eat. Be careful, the bowl may be hot.

That's it. You can add veggies towards the end or cooked meatballs, whatever.

I discovered this when I had a starving boy who just couldn't wait for the traditional ravioli cooking method. Now I think the packages suggest this as a way of cooking ravioli.

And on to the website:

http://www.costhelper.com/

Here's their About Us for their simple and but very important service:

CostHelper.com aims to be the premier shopping and cost information community on the Internet.

Each topic contains an article researched and written by our editorial staff. Our writers and editors are committed to providing high quality, accurate and objective information. While the site is supported in part by advertising, we clearly demarcate the independent editorial content from links sponsored by advertisers.

But our articles are just the start. We invite members of CostHelper.com to share their own knowledge and experiences with others, to create the broadest, most detailed community resource possible. Our vision is to create a place where you can find cost information on whatever you are looking for, wherever you may be looking, so you can easily plan your budget, find a great price that others are paying, and get started on buying what you're looking for.

We hope to become your destination whenever you are budgeting or thinking about a new, complicated purchase.

I checked out their site on Knitting and Crocheting costs (because I know something about this) and they seem right on the money.

What I really like is all the links they have within a topic.

For example: check out Divorce Costs and you get a link to divorce laws by state. Now I hear you saying: But how do you know this is all legit? OK, I would have to do a lot more research to answer that definitively but, for example, the NJ New Jersey Divorce Residency Requirements link cites the NJ Statutes so I'm inclined to give CostHelpers a lot of credibility. Another site about the cost of vinyl costing links to the This Old House site for more information. So you could come here for some quick answers and wind up spending a lot of informative time.

I like to bookmark sites like this. You'll be surprised how often you'll be using it.

OK, it's 7 a.m. and I have to light a fire under me. I think I'll make a shopping list this time.

Enjoy.

"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"

Movie Monday

It’s March 1st and my birthday month is over so it’s back to serious work.

The Reader: A review

Where to begin with The Reader? This is one of the most frustrating reviews I’ve ever written and I don’t mean just these postings but in my varied career of reviewing stuff.

First, the acting: Kate Winslet is superb as the bright, illiterate Hanna who ages 30 years so realistically. Ditto for David Kross as the young Michael Berg. Superb reality shading acting from both. What do I mean by that? Well, we all know that movies are phony. We’re looking at actors pretending and existing in a phony reality for the length of the movie. Superb acting shades reality and you become “one” with the scene, suspending disbelief as you watch the performances.

You can tell that Winslet put a lot of thought into her Oscar winning performance. From her hairy underarms to the slight paunch as she ages to the shots of her “old” hands and feet (Could they have really been hers?) I checked and she is 13 years younger than Ralph Fiennes (who plays the adult Michael Berg) yet it is impossible not to believe she is twenty years his senior as she is in this role.

I thought the supporting actors did a great job (except for Michael’s fellow law student who is given the thankless lines of musing the morality of the Nazi camp guards - moralizing is always a tough role to play well.) The chief judge at Hanna’s trial (Burghart Klaußner) and the law professor (Bruno Ganz) are just two I’ll mention. I was pleased that Klaußner avoided the Spencer Tracy type of acting (ala Judgment at Nuremberg) and brought surprising humanness to his role.

OK, so you get the point that I thought the acting was top drawer. You may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned Fiennes. He was fine in his role. (In fact, in my four [!!] viewings of the prison scene between him and Hanna, I cried. I have no idea why. I’m not a movie crier but there was something in that short scene where the lovers meet for the first time in almost 40 years that struck a chord. Since I’m not a movie crier; that had to be good acting.) My only problem with Fiennes (and this is going to sound so picky) is that the facial structure of the young Michael Berg could never, except with extensive plastic surgery, grow up to look like Ralph Fiennes. Because of this, I just saw him as a good actor, not in the same league and Winslet and Kross.

Well, it’s five paragraphs down from the top and you may have caught on that I have not discussed the movie, only the actors. OK, now I’ll bell the cat: I just don’t get the movie. I makes absolutely no sense to me. Unless I look at it as being deeply metaphoric, I can’t figure out the logic behind any of this.

I think I’m at a disadvantage because I have not read the book nor looked at any comments/reviews regarding this film. Like Mortimer Adler’s advice for reading great books, I think a movie should be judged in the context of itself without director’s meaning, author’s intent, etc.

I have a feeling the director said: Oh, they will have read the book (I think this was a popular book) so they’ll get this. I didn’t get it.

First, I didn’t get Hanna. She was a sexually experienced, high-functioning illiterate living, not as a backward maid on a farm, but in a bustling city. We also know she is an excellent worker since she is offered two promotions on different jobs. Both times she has to move away because she would need to read and write in the new position, something she can’t do. In fact, Hanna would never have been on trial for war crimes if she hadn’t been illiterate since she only took the SS guard job when she was promoted at Siemens and had to leave there.

Second, her sexual experience. Hanna wasn’t seducing Michael in the good old missionary position. I think the expression is that she had been around the block, many times. What kind of sexual life did she have prior to Michael? Remember, she has no friends.

Third, why did she methodically seduce Michael? Did she think from the get-go: He’s a school kid, he can read, he can read to me, I’ll seduce him so he’ll stay.

Fourth, why doesn’t young Michael tell the court that Hanna is illiterate? It’s not because he visits the camps because it’s after his visit there that he tells his professor that he has information helpful to a defendant (that she is illiterate and could not have written the church burning report) and the prof says he must speak the truth. He doesn’t of course and Hanna is convicted and given a life sentence because she is considered the ring leader. I found it interesting that Hanna was 23 or so when she allowed the prisoners to burn in the church and Michael was a 23 year old law student when he remains silent and allows Hanna to receive a life sentence. Both were betrayals, in different degrees.

Finally, why doesn’t Hanna speak up in court and say she is illiterate? We may think that she willingly becomes the scapegoat here but years later she tells Michael that she has never thought about the camps. The dead are still dead. Does she mean this? In frustration, I’d say: From this movie, how the hell would I know?

And that’s my biggest problem with the film. Aside from the great acting, I’m watching a plot that makes no sense. It’s like hearing a singer in pure pitch sing gibberish.

I finally boiled this whole thing down to something that made some sense to me: Hanna represents the scapegoat we eagerly punish to assuage our complicity. Michael only becomes human at the end of the film when he shares his history with his daughter. While he is much too young to actually be guilty of crimes against humanity in WWII, he metaphorically represents the collective guilt all adults share when they stand by and do nothing. Something unfortunately, even after so many genocides, victor countries still run from.

Yes, I know I’m really stretching it but I’m really coming up empty.

And now, I’m finally going to look at reviews and comments on this movie and hopefully figure the damn thing out.

Perhaps this will be continued next Monday.

"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"

Knitting Friday

OK, it's Saturday. I lie.

I finished the beige cardi/shrug, pictured right, since my last Knitting Friday. It's in Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool and I used one skein and about 1/3 of a second. However, I made it long both body and sleeve wise. Even with that I probably have enough yarn left for a vest. At the bottom, of this post I'm reprinting the generic pattern for this cardi.

You'll notice that the first point in the directions is: If a CO of 50 sts works, use it. If not, just CO the amount you need and increase 20 sts at the end of your collar.

I find that works with DK weight (which I consider yarn that works with US 10.5 needles.) Right now, I'm making a summer one in gray cotton/acyclic and I'm using US 5 for the collar with a CO of 80 sts and then an increase of 20 sts to 100 sts to use with US 6 when I start the yoke.

The second picture shows a blue cardi/shrug with a row of seed stitch every 5 rows on the P side. This sweater is the trial run; that is, done in my "not really for prime time" yarn of Red Heart with Wool (I bought this yarn at a Smiley's hotel sale thinking it would be as nice as Wool Ease - it's not) and it's turning out well. I don't know if I'm going to put rows of seed stitch by the cuff; that could be overdoing it.

I've made three cardis in st st and I decided it was time to add some pattern to this top-down pattern. Top-down patterns are tricky with yoke patterns because every RS row has the increases. You can work cables, lace, etc. in the middle of each section but a complete row pattern is trickier. However, you can work in a one row, 2 stitch pattern if you work it on the P row.

I got this idea from a top-down cardigan which ran rows of garter throughout the yoke. Since my front bands are seed I changed my rows to seed. Next time, I want to work the P row in *YO, K2tog* followed by a P row of *K2tog, YO* (to prevent a slant.)

You can probably tell that I love these cardis (hate the name, though.) They are the first garment I have made, beside shawls, over 2 years. I had given up with pullovers some time ago and concentrated on shawls (still my best love) but these cardis are so easy, so addictive and so versatile.

Try one, you'll see what I mean. See you next Friday. Happy Knitting.

Generic Cardi/Shrug - I think I posted this before but I can't find it
(Note: I got the inspiration for this pattern from the Cali Cardi which is still listed on Ravelry but the link to the pattern doesn't work. Plus, the pictures shown on Ravelry are not of the Cardi I first saw at the flyhoney.com site [now defunct.] So I guess the closest representation of the original is now my pattern.)

All I copied from the Cali Cardi pattern was the CO 50 sts and the increase to 70 sts at the end of the collar. After that, I didn’t follow the directions. Here’s what I would recommend.
1. If a CO of 50 sts works, use it. If not, just CO the amount you need and increase 20 sts at the end of your collar. Be sure the increase leaves you with a multiple of 5.
2. I worked about one and ½ inch of collar in seed stitch (Seed is very “giving” so you don’t need to make a buttonhole.) before I increased to 70 stitches.
3. I did my increases in a purl row so I was ready to start the body and raglan increases from the RS.
4. I used US 8 needles for the collar and the bottom hem and US 10.5 for the body with Paton Classic Wool. (I used 3 skeins for a sweater length (not short) and regular sleeve length.
5. After your collar increase, divide the stitches by 5. That amount will be your front stitches, one less than that amount will be your sleeves and 2 more will be your back for:
6. 14 front + 13 sleeve + 16 back + 13 sleeve + 14 front = 70. Put markers between sections.
7. The first and last 5 stitches of the front are done in seed. The body of the cardi is stockinette.
8. I make raglan increases this way: Work to 2 sts before the 1st marker, K f&b in that stitch, K 1, slip marker, K f&b in 1st stitch after marker. Repeat these increases at every marker on your K (RS) rows.
9. Work this way increasing every RS row to your armhole. 8.5 inches for me.
10. Next RS row, work across increasing as usual, to 1st marker, put the sleeve stitches on a holder, work across the back increasing as usual, then put 2nd sleeve on holder, work across 2nd front increasing as usual.
11. Work body to length. Change to US 8 and work hem in seed. Bind off and then work a crochet crab stitch up one side, across the neck and down the other side. Don’t do the bottom hem. This makes a nice edging. Cut yarn.
12. Put sleeve stitches on holder to dpn US 10.5 needles and pick up 2 stitches at the underarm (to match the 2 stitches you increased in the body on #10.
13. Work in the round in K to cuff.
14. Change to US 8 dpn and work your cuff.
15. I work *K1b, P1* for about 3 inches but anything goes here. A short seed cuff would look nice.
16. Steam lightly and you’re done. Add a button to the collar.

"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"

Website Wednesday

I'm going with this banner until I track down its source.

Two things come to mind re: my website choice this Wednesday. First, from the past: I was at a small party when I was a teenager (couldn't drive yet) and we wound up sitting around talking (I was in the artsy/brainy [at least we thought we were] gang) about trains. That was it, trains, and more trains.

The boy who drove me home said: I guess it was pretty boring if you weren't interested in trains.

Second, converts to a religion are usually much more devout than original believers. This is what I've heard. It sort of makes sense. Original believers just grow up doing what the rest of their herd does; converts, coming late to the game, make informed choices (usually.)

And, here's the website:

http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/

Now why did I mention those two small items as a preface? Because I have become a fanatic for audio books and you may not share my interest so this may be one big bore to you.

You must realize, however, that two weeks ago, I would go to bed with my knitting and the TV. During the day, I would sit at the computer knitting, reading. and typing Or, very occasionally, I would sit in front of the big TV and knit.

You would think that I liked TV. I sure thought that I liked TV - but I didn't. However, I do love audio books. I would even be corny and say I "heart" them.

It's like the convert who sees the light. I saw the light and it told me that I like to use my ears and not my eyes.

Now, I have mentioned audio books before, I think on a Movie Monday, and the site I cited is:

http://librivox.org/

This is a Libri Vox streaming site (I don't know if that's the right term) but you don't download the books.

The site I'm recommending this Wednesday seems also to be a Libri Vox site but here you download the books.

Why am I recommending this new site? First, the book selections at BooksShouldBeFree download as iTunes or MP3.

I think a lot of people would like this feature. I don't but I'll still recommend it for others. Why don't I like downloading? Because I download to a laptop and it takes sooooo long. However, the audio quality is so much better with downloads as opposed to much of my streaming which often comes across as a recording caught at an extremely slow and wrong speed.

Now, you're not going to get copyrighted books here. In fact, all the recording start with: All Libri Vox books are in the public domain. (If you are interested in copyrighted books, most public libraries in the US allow you to hear these books for a limited amount of time.) But the assortment of public domain books (on both sites) is fantastic.

Right now, I'm hooked on Jacob Abbott, a prominent children's author from the 19th century.
Children's author? His biography of Charles II of England tracks at college freshman on Flesch-Kincaid! I'm reading his biography of Charles I of England (the other ones' son.) You know my dislike of the modern turn in biography where the author is practically "in bed" with his subject describing his thoughts and environment in minute detail. None of this with Abbott. I guess you would call him an old-fashioned biographer but definitely not an expurgating one.

So take a look at either site (streaming or downloading) for a great selection of audio books. You may become a convert.

"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"

I'm trying to source this banner quote. A commenter called Captain Bat Guano mentions it in one blog but I don't think it's original with him. Thorstein Veblen comes to mind but that's going to need more research. I like the quote. Unlike God, it explains a lot.

I guess I have two choices: bemoan my not posting on Knitting Friday or moving on. OK, let's move on but not before saying: my photographer was working, my newsletter was due, I was depressed, the dog ate my homework.

Move Monday

My movie package had The Reader on for the first time last night but I chose to watch the PBS Masterpiece Classic of Persuasion by Austen.

First, a tiny bit about The Reader. It will be on again, and again probably, so I can catch it later. I did channel switch to it for one minute where Winslet was sponge bathing a naked teenage boy. WTF?

But my viewing choice of Persuasion was a disaster. Now, Persuasion is the only Austen book I do like and I've seen the fine production with Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root. That production took time to develop the flirtation Louisa Musgrave had with Captain Wentworth. That production showed the crucial denouement scene when Wentworth writes Anne a letter as he overhears her talk about who carries breaking-up heartbreak longer, men or women. In that production you understood the anguish Anne feels and watch her relationship with Wentworth develop anew.

But last night? Remember the scene in A Night at the Opera with the Marx brothers where Chico and Groucho are negotiating a singing contract? By the time they're finished the document has been reduced to one line.

That's how Persuasion felt. Blink, and Louisa has jumped from the wall and been injured. Blink, and Anne's brother-in-law, Charles, has delivered Wentworth's pivotal letter to Anne and Anne is reading it. Blink, and Louisa is engaged to another man leaving Wentworth without any obligations. Blink, and Anne's invalid friend is walking quickly through Bath telling Anne what a rat Anne's cousin and her father's heir, Mr. Elliot, is. (This scene is truly annoying because in the novel, Mrs. Smith is an invalid and remains in her home with her nurse bringing Bath's gossip in to her.)

Simple, but effective scenes are either eliminated or tweaked to be false. For example, in the Root/Hinds Persuasion, Wentworth notices how Anne is tiring on the long walk the family is taking. When his sister and brother-in-law's carriage appears, he asks them to give Anne a ride. A small scene but it shows the stress Anne is under and that Wentworth is concerned for her. However, in last night's version (2007), Anne stumbles and falls and lags way behind the walkers. The carriage appears, Wentworth whispers something and Anne is offered a ride. It was like: How do we get from point A to point B as fast as we can? Oh, I know, it'll be quicker if Anne stumbles and falls.

I think this commenter on IMDb says it best: The film moved along at such a speed, that it was hard for me to feel like I really cared about the characters.

That's a major problem especially with a classic which is so well known. It is impossible not to compare it with other productions and also with the original novel. I can make allowances for different interpretations of novel points but changes like having Anne chase after Wentworth (who abruptly leaves her home) through the streets of Bath and suddenly come upon Charles who hands her Wentworth's pivotal letter. Why, when and where did Wentworth write this letter you wonder? All this production makes you feel is that the letter will put Anne in Wentworth's arms and end the damn thing. (Edit: Thinking about it further, I don't think it was Charles who handed Anne the letter since after reading it, she runs into Charles and Wentworth. Or maybe it was Charles and he moved on and Anne caught up with him and Wentworth. See the problem? Everything happens just to advance plot points and therefore becomes quite forgettable fast.)

It was very disappointing.

Is Health Care a Right or a Privilege?

Website Wednesday

Last night, I was watching a Sundance documentary about a famous graphic artist; once you see his work, you'll recognize his work even if you didn't know his name. And I got to thinking: there's a great difference between design art and fine art. Design art (logos, advertising, graphics) tells you what it wants you to get from it (the message) while fine art opens up the world of your imagination. I was happy I finally figured this out, though I got bored and switched channels.

My website pick may not be examples of fine art but you'll get your share of interesting graphic/design art and photos at:

http://visboo.com/

I did some detective work but there doesn't seem to be an "About" section for Visboo. From a cached page, I get: At visboo anyone can become popular, just create an account and start posting....We have already 716 members....syndicated content powered by FeedBurner. Plus, an account sign-up area.

However, the current site (2/17/10) has none of this information. All you get on this page is a "Mail us" link.

Whatever.

Mystery site or not, this is a great site for fun and information. Currently, the How the Horror Photos are Made entry shows you, well, how horror movie shots are made. You know that screaming kid who awakens to the monster in her room? Apparently, she and her worst nightmare are not even in the same shot. Click "Read more" and watch set designers and make-up artists prepare this type of shot. (I like the fact that many entries walk you through the "how it's done" process.)

Now, here's where it's great to be on the Internet: Arthur Robbins' name seems to be hyperlinked at the top of every entry. Clicking his name gets his other contributions to Visboo. Googling his name you'll find, among other sites:

http://www.flickr.com/people/peinturatu/

and from here you can go on to see Robbins' art and read all about him. (Some zany stuff here.)

Is Visboo the creation of this Arthur Robbins? Either this fact is buried so deeply on the site that I'm missing it or my Sherlock Holmes skills have failed me or this is just a mystery I may never solve.

Take your pick for an answer; it really doesn't matter. This is an easy site to get into and enjoy. You get a variety of topics with more than just surface information. Bookmark Visboo for repeat visits; you won't be disappointed.

Note: Some entries are child-friendly; some are not.

Is Health Care a Right or a Privilege?

Movie Monday and why there was no Knitting Friday

First, some technical stuff: I have no idea why, when I click on a posting from 2009, I get a black page. Now perhaps I am the only one in the universe who experiences this but I have been trying to fix it with no success. So, apologies if you too are greeted with the Black Screen of Doom.

And now: why no Knitting Friday?
1. It is my birthday month and I like to celebrate a lot.
2. We have had a really big snow storm in NJ so it's shovel time!
3. And finally the most immediate reason for no Knitting Friday, I'll tell to you as a mini-lesson: When you go to the MD for a routine visit and you get told you have an unexpected ailment, even though you probably go into mini-shock mode, be sure to get the correct name of your ailment before you leave the office. Really, don't forget to do this or else you may be spending an anguished amount of time googling a very, very serious condition. While if you had heard the word "pseudo" when your condition was mentioned you would have saved yourself a great, great deal of angst. (I didn't even know that ailments [outside of hypochondria that is] could even be pseudo!) 'Nuff said.

I also got a knitting shock early Friday morning - long before the shit hit the fan - when I laid out my blue shawl to take one more look just as I was binding off the final stitches and - I had a wrong row 3/4 down the shawl! Yes, I ripped it out back to that point because like Poe's purloined heart it would have hounded me until eternity if I hadn't. Knitting does teach you patience.

Movie Monday might have to be tweaked since I'm spending so much more time listening to audio books. I'm really hooked on LibriVox, which really pronounces much more easily as Liver Box. For Valentine's Day, I started listening to Persuasion. It is my favorite Austen probably because I see a darker Austen in this novel, though I do think she probably could have used a good editor midway.

My movie pick is: Nochnoy dozor* in Russian or Night Watch in English. Made in 2004, this is a mind blowing experience. I look at this film as a layman film critic and think: This is what movie making is all about. It's quirky with some ragged edges but it draws you in and drags you along for an unbelievable cinematic ride. I know, that sounds (and is) so cliched but once you see the movie you'll understand what I mean.

The plot has the "Others", forces of Good and Evil (ever heard that plot line before?) battling each other in Moscow through the ages. How formulaic, you say. Definitely - but then again, it isn't. It's vile, funny, satirical, outlandish; a feast for the eyes and the mind.

Be sure to take a look at it. It's on IFC and it's available in Netflix on DVD and Blu-ray.

*This movie is apparently part of a trilogy, like the Matrix. Another movie in the series is Dnevnoy dozor or Day Watch.

Is Health Care a Right or a Privilege?

Website Wednesday and More Random Thoughts

1. I changed my banner. I guess this is a fundamental question to where you stand on the human empathy scale.

2. Tomorrow is my birthday. Today, we're awaiting the second wave of a blizzard. We may end up with 2 feet of snow. I've been going around the house moaning: Oh, I need milk. Bad joke, but what is it with people who jam the food stores the day before a storm? Eliminating those with small kids who may need milk, don't people have enough food in their homes for a one-day snowstorm? Don't forget, I just saw the PBS show on the Donner Pass fiasco. Now, there was a group of people who really didn't have food. (Though I guess you could say they improvised.)

3. Yesterday, I was typing in the office and Obama's press conference was on in the next room. He was answering questions about dealing with the Republicans. It was obvious that he still wants to negotiate with them; still feels they could be reasoned with. And, like a flash, it came to me: He sounds in tone just like Neville Chamberlain.

Here is Chamberlain after the Munich Agreement with Hitler (1938) which was after the UK had allowed him to take over Czechoslovakia and other parts of Europe:

After everything that has been said about the German Chancellor today and in the past, I do feel that the House ought to recognise the difficulty for a man in that position to take back such emphatic declarations as he had already made amidst the enthusiastic cheers of his supporters, and to recognise that in consenting, even though it were only at the last moment, to discuss with the representatives of other Powers those things which he had declared he had already decided once for all, was a real and a substantial contribution on his part.
http://www.nevillechamberlain.com/speechpages/neville-chamberlain-0002.html

And from the report on yesterday’s Obama’s press conference:
During his news conference, the president spoke about the concept of bipartisanship, insisting Democrats, who hold huge majorities in both the House and Senate, have to win concessions as well as make them. Mr. Obama noted, for instance, that Mr. McConnell had praised his support for nuclear power, clean coal and offshore oil drilling in his State of the Union address.

"Of course, he likes that. That's part of the Republican agenda for energy, which I accept," Mr. Obama said. "And I'm willing to move off some of the preferences of my party, in order to meet them halfway. But there's got to be some give from their side as well."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704820904575055480248706828.html

And no, I’m not comparing Obama to Chamberlain nor the Republican Congress to Hitler, I’m just saying I hear that same tone of resigned conciliation of “Hey, let’s at least meet our “enemy” half way. He’s got some good points.”

Once more back to the late 1930s and Hitler discussing his adversaries and agreements he had signed in the past:

"The enemy did not expect my great determination. Our enemies are little worms, I saw them at Munich. [...] Now Poland is in the position I wanted. [...] I am only afraid that some bastard will present me with a mediation plan at the last moment." (meaning he wanted to invade, period.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Agreement

So much for Chamberlain's conciliation. As I remember that all ended very badly.

And now for the website:

http://www.metmuseum.org/

This is the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC) website and it needs absolutely no plugging from me; I’d assume it gets zillions of hits a day. It is a treasure trove for art, art history and history.

What you shouldn’t miss:

Now on View: http://www.metmuseum.org/home.asp

You get to see the current exhibits and hear an informative audio.

Timeline of Art History: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/

This is the treasure trove where you could spend all your waking hours for months.

Here, be sure to click on the top bar: Thematic Essays and Works of Art. This are definitely a Wow! sections. Be warned that this is no elementary school level reading. One reading section leveled at Grade 12.4 on the Flesch-Kincaid scale.

But if you have any interest in how our species represented itself and the world throughout the centuries, this is the place to go.

Enjoy.

Is Health Care a Right or a Privilege?

Movie Monday and Random Thoughts

A lot of thoughts today, some of them in regard to movies:

1. My cream puff chocolate ganache tart (recipe last Friday) was "to die for." Some people still too full to eat again. I would not use 70 creams puffs nor 2 cups of chocolate and heavy cream next time. Next time, I'm thinking about using a rectangular pan, spreading the ganache on the bottom, placing the layer of cream puffs on it and then covering that one layer with more ganache. Also, I would use orange extract: orange flavor and good chocolate, perfect together!

2. I spent the weekend listening to audio books. I had mentioned this last week and I seem to be continuing with this form of entertainment: audio, not visual.

I've listened to all of Book I and the beginning of Book II of Emma and I still don't like Austen. Oh, I did like the chapter where Emma with the insouciance of the rich explains why Mr. Martin will just not do for Harriet (she sorrowfully expands this theme again later when Mr. Elton, her pick for Harriet, doesn't pan out.) And I did like the chapter where Austen discusses Jane Fairfax's past. But saying that, to me, Austen is so superficial. It's the old question of: if these were your last 6 hours on earth how would you like to spend them? Well, not with Austen.

I did listen to all of Wilkie Collins, Haunted Hotel: A Mystery of Modern Venice; all 28 chapters plus postscript. This book was read by multiple readers which was refreshing. Haunted Hotel "talks" the mystery until almost the end when you get some gruesome bits (pun intended.)

Right now, I'm on chapter 11 of Candide. I think you get the satire in a much sharper form when Voltaire is read aloud; and what a quick read it is.

3. So, I'm being to realize that knitting and audio books go together much better than knitting and movies.

4. Which brings me to two movies: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Twilight.

I was watching HP on Friday night (these movies are turning very dark, beginning with HP and the G of F.) There I am, watching HP and thinking: I know that bright Hermione is going to wind up with that dorky Ron. But why? And then I'm wondering: I get the metaphor of the abusive relationship in Twilight but how does a bright girl marrying 'beneath her' in HP send a better message? Isn't this just another variation on the anti-feminist meme that every girl needs a boy in order to be complete? (Full disclosure: Ron was much smarter in the first HP. Remember? He was the one who played that wicked chess game at the end.)

OK, I'm not going to beat this into a bloody mass but it does bring me back to Twilight which got a royal trouncing from many critics and feminists.

I get that you could have a great drinking game for every time Edward worries about "killing" Bella. I get it, it's right-wing mantra of ex before marriage = death. That's pretty clear and cringe worthy to anyone much past pre-teen.

But why does every movie have to pass the litmus test for the feminist woman? (And another full disclosure: I am a feminist woman)

Maybe it's because I remember the goofy, stupid "bodice rippers" I read when I was so, so innocent. I didn't care if those male heroes were abusive. I just cared that they were male. Oh, it is such a innocently-sensual time; and it lingers so fleetingly.

I know it sounds crazy but I think from the outlook of that pre-teen I once was and all the pre-teens who now are, Twilight is perfect. Yes, it's wackily out of touch with everything we want our daughters to aspire to. Yes, it glorifies the magical anticipation which is never matched by the final realization. But, as I've said before, folks: Chill. (I've been told by an 11-year old girl that New Moon is so much better. Can't wait!)

And that is the last word I'm saying on Twilight.

See you Wednesday.

Knitting Friday

A very late post for Knitting Friday. Tomorrow is my birthday party and at 2 am this morning I figured out what I wanted for a b-day cake. So for this birthday, I'm the one who will know what the cake looks like and every one else will be surprised.

Of course, this was not a cake to be bought but to be made. So, I tootled down to Sam's Club because that's where I knew I could by a mother-lode of whipped cream filled, really, really good frozen mini cream puffs. They sell them in packages of 70 and I used every one of them.

Here's my very easy recipe: (Remember, no one has eaten this beauty yet.)

Chocolate Ganache Cream Puff Cake

2 cups of very good chocolate in small pieces
2 cups of heavy cream
70 mini cream puffs

saucepan, whisk, stainless steel bowl, spoon, spatula. large ceramic tart plate

1. Butter the bottom and sides of a large fruit tart ceramic plate.
2. Place cream puffs solidly around the bottom of the plate and then mound the remaining puffs on top of these cream puffs, starting at the second round. With the very few you'll have left, shaped in the middle of the plate - like a wide, small hill.
3. Place two cups of good quality chocolate pieces in a stainless steel bowl. (I use chocolate chips.)
4. Place two cups of heavy cream in a sauce pan and bring to a full boil (watching all the time) over a high flame.
5. Remove from heat as soon as the cream boils.
6. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk the mixture until it's smooth.
7. Cool slightly till it's no longer hot.
8. Start to drizzle the chocolate mixture over the cream puffs until all the cream puffs are completely covered.
9. Refrigerate till the chocolate is firm then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate till serving time.
10. Whip up some more heavy cream and serve it on the side.

That's it. Rum would taste good in the chocolate but we're having kid guests and I don't want to answer the question: Say, what's that great flavor?

OK, I know all this has nothing to do with knitting but we're under a lot of suspense on the East Coast: we are going to get pummeled by a wicked snow storm in just a few hours. (You can't believe how crowded Sam's Club was with everyone getting de-icing stuff and staples; not so much with the Super Bowl party type stuff though.

I do have a hat/headband pattern I want to share with you but I'm going to wait until I get pictures. For now, I'll leave you with a link to a shawl from Knitting Pattern Central. Finally, a shawl I might knit:

http://tanglesandmud.blogspot.com/2010/01/first-pattern-ever.html

Got to go. I'm so psyched about this snow.

Happy knitting.

Movie Monday and Website Wednesday

OK, you figured it out. I’m taking Wednesday off. Well, it is my birthday month and I like to get as many “off” days as I can in this short, short month.

Plus, my web pick for Wednesday sort of fits into Movie Monday. Here’s how.

I like to multi-task. In the past, it’s been watching the tiny index card sized TV on the computer screen, knitting, and reading blogs. Yesterday, I found:

http://librivox.org/newcatalog/search.php?title=&author=&status=complete&action=Search

This is a site for free audio, non-copyrighted books. The readings are quite good. Some books have different readers for each chapter and all the selections only run one chapter when you have to click again to continue (a small inconvenience.)

I started with two chapters of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens. I’ve read a lot of Dickens but there is something special about hearing the cutting, bitter satire in Chapter 2 when Ralph Nickleby and his cohorts petition the city their United Metropolitan Improved Hot Muffin and Crumpet Baking and Punctual Delivery Company should take over the existing muffin business and run out competition. It’s such a silly topic to use as the microcosm for Dicken’s real targets but just because it is such, it’s most effective. There is no question as to the bitter disdain the author holds for Ralph and his ilk.

Last week, I mentioned that I’m watching Emma on PBS so I decided that my second audio book would be Emma (No, I didn’t finish NN but that’s the advantage of separate chapters; I can just pick it up at Chapter 3) because I wanted to see if my dislike of Austen was based on my movie introduction to her since though I’ve read Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion, I’ve seen the movie/TV version of those two, plus Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park.

Nope, it wasn’t; I still don’t like Austen. With Austen, it’s like: Wait, wait, wait....it’s coming....ah, here it is, one line of mild satire. The good, the bad and the ugly in Austen all seem to walk the same straight line. Oh sure, there are slight bumps in the road but all is righted at the end. Mrs. John Dashwood may have to acknowledge Elinor as a sister-in-law in the end of Sense and Sensibility but she is still Mrs. John Dashwood with all her wealth and disdain.

Dickens is so different with his characterizations. Take Mrs. Elton from Emma and Uriah Heep from David Copperfield. Both horrible people but Mrs. E. just moves along oblivious to the contempt around her while Heep, unctuous and cloying, is given a past (who can forget his mom?) You’re not going to like Heep anymore in the end but he is fleshed out beyond caricature.

Having said this however, the PBS production of Emma is good, albeit too long. Why have an hour and a half first episode followed by a 50 minute second episode? The Emma of PBS questions a lot of her motivations. Is this a sop to modern audiences? I would have to read the novel to find it. Not going to happen.

Other prize coming from all this is:

http://www.fancast.com/movies (click "N" then Nicholas Nickleby)

a free online version of Nicholas Nickleby with limited commercials. I haven't seen it so I don’t know how faithful it is to the novel.

And finally: Twilight, again. This movie has come onto Showcase and that's part of my movie package so I have watched Twilight about four times in the last week and a half. I've discovered it's a great white noise movie to accompany my knitting. I've also discovered that this is not a bad movie for the pre-teen, early teen girl who needs some variation of "bosom ripping" entertainment before entering the adult world. I'm liking the way Bella and Edward are played by older actors but still I see the angst of senior high school here. I know it is metaphorically (does it cheapen the concept of metaphor to mention it with Twilight?) laughable and that we're looking at a typical abused woman mentality here but I guess I'm lightening up.

It's like the kid who asks: Mom, where did I come from? And, after mom gives the big sex lecture, she discovers he only wanted to know if he was born in Chicago.

So, moms, don't write off Twilight. It's there for girls to dream and it's there as a good talking points for moms and daughters.

Before I say: See you on Friday, I know I promised a review of Towelhead. Am I procrastinating? Probably. I've seen the whole movie by now but I'm thinking about skimming Lolita again before I post a review. Short review before a longer one: See it. It's flawed (Aren't we all?) but it'll make you think.

See you Friday.