Sermon on Sunday
As Israel bombs Gaza, it’s informative to see how the media online is reporting this.
The Huffington Post has had pictures of the carnage. The New York Times has a left lead article “Israel says strikes against Hamas will continue ” The Christian Science Monitor is really outdated with a sentence saying Israel is planning attacks against Hamas. BBC shows a bleeding Palestinian child with an excellent article on the whys behind the bombings. CNN has a long shot of the smoke from an explosion with the headline of “U.N. urges halt......” (The U.S. has told the "Hamas thugs" to stop being bad. Remember, the U.S. hates Hamas and we don’t have a history of tolerating elected governments we don’t like.) The New York Daily News takes the neutral, but right-on headline of “Cycle of Violence” with a picture of the carnage.Al Jazeera has three pictures with articles on the current crisis and the “60 Years of Division.”
And so it goes. Children, the innocent, will die. My country will not be the honest broker here because of the government’s relationship with Israel. And the next government will be no better. Both Obama and Clinton gave their first speeches after the Democratic convention to AIPAC. A first speech to Habitat for Humanity would have been much more promising.
The world does have the United Nations. But we don’t like the United Nations unless it's our United Nations.
I was once asked that, as a pacifist, didn’t I think that World War II had to be fought. And I said that, as a pacifist, I condemn warfare and don’t pick and choose my wars.
It’s the same way with violence. You have to work very hard to keep the world peaceful but it’s worth the good struggle.
I fully understand Arnold’s:
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
But I would rather live by Millay’s:
I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
Knitting Friday
I’m ready to start my next knitting project, which is spooky since I have so many to finish still. Plus, there’s that sweater which sits almost completed as a vest at this point, but just sits because I have no desire to pick it up and complete the few rows needed. At which point, all that will be left are the sleeves. A bit of a problem since I don’t have US13 double pointed. (In fact, I can’t find large doubled-pointed anywhere. My largest being an ancient plastic set in US10.5.) So I will have to jerryrig (is that spelling right?) something to work.
Later today, I will probably pull out some new wool and work on a variation of a pattern I just finished. I think it’s this sense of new adventure and new learning which spurs a lot of people in crafts. That’s why it’s so satisfying. Perhaps, we, the two-legged animal, are wired for this adventure and change. Have you ever heard a lion say (outside of a Larson cartoon): How about vegetable sushi tonight, dear?
Some of us fulfill this need through travel; some with too, too many knitting projects.
But this has been a very productive week. The variegated yarn shawl is finished. It’s not a favorite shawl. I think I was right about the runs of color in variegated: they must be long to be attractive. This big-box store variegated while 100% wool has the “off-the-rack” look - not that there is anything wrong with that.
The pattern is:
http://mustaavillaa.blogspot.com/2005/12/helleborus.html
My version looks nothing like the original, which is a very pretty shawl, since I used 300 + yards DK weight and US15 to get a 23"x 54" shawl. The designer used US9 for a 12" wide scarf.
But I got what I wanted and also I wet blocked for the first time. This is total immersion of the finished project in water (and soap, if desired) and then blocking the wet, but not dripping, shawl to dimensions. It worked.
The designer said the project got boring. I didn’t find that. It was an easy lace which was obviously not easy enough for me. Even with markers and diligence, I noticed, at blocking, I had become a free spirit in the center of the shawl (of all places) where my pattern veered, for a few rows, in an opposite direction.
My second completed project was from a ball of yarn with a shady past. Shady in the sense I that I have vague recollections that it was unraveled from a 100% wool project. Yardage was a mystery so I knew that I had to make a triangle shawl and a bottom up one since I have not figured out how to top-down this pattern yet. Although, my trusty postal scale would have helped me along if I wanted to make a diagonal rectangle shawl, this was going to be a travel project and I was not going to travel with a postal scale in order to keep track of yardage left.
On US13, I worked the following pattern:
Row 1: K1 *P* K1
Row 2: K1 *K2tog* K1
Row 3: K1 *K1, M1* K1
with a Kfb in the first and last stitch, every other row.
I make this pattern a lot using only Row 2 & 3. However, the Row 1 purl row gave it a nice texture and I want to try one with a Row 1 as knit, not purl. Also, I know that the M1 (make 1 stitch) should be a horizontal bar pick-up between stitches but I used a yarn-over instead for a lacy effect and because I needed every bit of yarn I had for the length.
This is the pattern I want to begin again as the new project mentioned above. This time working the M1 as it should be.
So, I guess the advice I should be giving myself and all fellow knitters: Let’s get knitting.
I’m ready to start my next knitting project, which is spooky since I have so many to finish still. Plus, there’s that sweater which sits almost completed as a vest at this point, but just sits because I have no desire to pick it up and complete the few rows needed. At which point, all that will be left are the sleeves. A bit of a problem since I don’t have US13 double pointed. (In fact, I can’t find large doubled-pointed anywhere. My largest being an ancient plastic set in US10.5.) So I will have to jerryrig (is that spelling right?) something to work.
Later today, I will probably pull out some new wool and work on a variation of a pattern I just finished. I think it’s this sense of new adventure and new learning which spurs a lot of people in crafts. That’s why it’s so satisfying. Perhaps, we, the two-legged animal, are wired for this adventure and change. Have you ever heard a lion say (outside of a Larson cartoon): How about vegetable sushi tonight, dear?
Some of us fulfill this need through travel; some with too, too many knitting projects.
But this has been a very productive week. The variegated yarn shawl is finished. It’s not a favorite shawl. I think I was right about the runs of color in variegated: they must be long to be attractive. This big-box store variegated while 100% wool has the “off-the-rack” look - not that there is anything wrong with that.
The pattern is:
http://mustaavillaa.blogspot.com/2005/12/helleborus.html
My version looks nothing like the original, which is a very pretty shawl, since I used 300 + yards DK weight and US15 to get a 23"x 54" shawl. The designer used US9 for a 12" wide scarf.
But I got what I wanted and also I wet blocked for the first time. This is total immersion of the finished project in water (and soap, if desired) and then blocking the wet, but not dripping, shawl to dimensions. It worked.
The designer said the project got boring. I didn’t find that. It was an easy lace which was obviously not easy enough for me. Even with markers and diligence, I noticed, at blocking, I had become a free spirit in the center of the shawl (of all places) where my pattern veered, for a few rows, in an opposite direction.
My second completed project was from a ball of yarn with a shady past. Shady in the sense I that I have vague recollections that it was unraveled from a 100% wool project. Yardage was a mystery so I knew that I had to make a triangle shawl and a bottom up one since I have not figured out how to top-down this pattern yet. Although, my trusty postal scale would have helped me along if I wanted to make a diagonal rectangle shawl, this was going to be a travel project and I was not going to travel with a postal scale in order to keep track of yardage left.
On US13, I worked the following pattern:
Row 1: K1 *P* K1
Row 2: K1 *K2tog* K1
Row 3: K1 *K1, M1* K1
with a Kfb in the first and last stitch, every other row.
I make this pattern a lot using only Row 2 & 3. However, the Row 1 purl row gave it a nice texture and I want to try one with a Row 1 as knit, not purl. Also, I know that the M1 (make 1 stitch) should be a horizontal bar pick-up between stitches but I used a yarn-over instead for a lacy effect and because I needed every bit of yarn I had for the length.
This is the pattern I want to begin again as the new project mentioned above. This time working the M1 as it should be.
So, I guess the advice I should be giving myself and all fellow knitters: Let’s get knitting.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Website Wednesday
We live in troubling times. Well, I guess the world has always lived in troubling times only some times the times are less troubled and some times not everyone is troubled. (I'm beginning to sound like Bilbo's birthday speech.)
When times get troubled, rumors abound. They abound all the time really, just like troubles, but these times they get believed, and that can be dangerous.
People start to lose jobs and the rumor flies: Oh, that's because (fill in the blank) are buying up all the companies or: That's because they give all the good jobs to (fill in the blank.) Neighbor tells neighbor and ignorance flies through the air. And we all know that the rumor will beat the truth every time.
That why:
http://www.snopes.com/
is so important. Snopes tackles the rumors and the urban myths and gets to the bottom of them.
I knew Snopes when it was just a puppy. It's grown up to be a very nice looking and helpful dog.
Snopes lists categories and subcategories of rumors. Click on a category and you get a listing of rumors. Click on a hyperlink within a rumor and you get a separate page listing the claim (rumor), its status, an example, the origin of the rumor and the date of the page's last update. Now, that’s thorough.
Snopes tackles rumors from the important (“Barack Obama admitted to being a Muslim” - something that might have determined the U.S. election in other times) to the mundane (Archduke Ferdinand’s limo is jinxed).
Check the links across the top of their home page. Included are a free e-mail newsletter (to which I just subscribed) and a message board which, on a cursory glance, looks free of trolls.
Read Snopes for pleasure (I didn’t know that Subway used a fat Statue of Liberty - and she was fat - on their tray liner in Germany in 2004) and read it for truth, something we can never get enough of.
And to all, whether they are celebrating holidays this month or not: Much Joy.
We live in troubling times. Well, I guess the world has always lived in troubling times only some times the times are less troubled and some times not everyone is troubled. (I'm beginning to sound like Bilbo's birthday speech.)
When times get troubled, rumors abound. They abound all the time really, just like troubles, but these times they get believed, and that can be dangerous.
People start to lose jobs and the rumor flies: Oh, that's because (fill in the blank) are buying up all the companies or: That's because they give all the good jobs to (fill in the blank.) Neighbor tells neighbor and ignorance flies through the air. And we all know that the rumor will beat the truth every time.
That why:
http://www.snopes.com/
is so important. Snopes tackles the rumors and the urban myths and gets to the bottom of them.
I knew Snopes when it was just a puppy. It's grown up to be a very nice looking and helpful dog.
Snopes lists categories and subcategories of rumors. Click on a category and you get a listing of rumors. Click on a hyperlink within a rumor and you get a separate page listing the claim (rumor), its status, an example, the origin of the rumor and the date of the page's last update. Now, that’s thorough.
Snopes tackles rumors from the important (“Barack Obama admitted to being a Muslim” - something that might have determined the U.S. election in other times) to the mundane (Archduke Ferdinand’s limo is jinxed).
Check the links across the top of their home page. Included are a free e-mail newsletter (to which I just subscribed) and a message board which, on a cursory glance, looks free of trolls.
Read Snopes for pleasure (I didn’t know that Subway used a fat Statue of Liberty - and she was fat - on their tray liner in Germany in 2004) and read it for truth, something we can never get enough of.
And to all, whether they are celebrating holidays this month or not: Much Joy.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Movie Monday
I’m having the whole place painted. I call it the “whole place” because it’s a loft design of about 1400 square feet so the whole place is open and therefore a “whole place.”
Everything has to come off the walls and all the furniture has to be moved at least 2 feet from the walls. That can be back breaking but we’ve made a good start.
As things get moved and stored, I’m looking at the place with different eyes. When you have a loft design, you can leave it wide open or use “barriers” to create separate areas. I chose the later. A lot of screens and very big flower arrangements. Ok, I know, flowers are the anathema of designers. But they do provide a more natural visual barrier from a window to a bed than a screen.
But with the area looking so bare and open, I’m beginning to wonder if my decorating style, which has worked extremely well in this area for so long, should be changed.
I’m being to have doubts.
Movie Review from Trailer: Doubt
Ok, I know, that was a cheap lead-in. But, in a “What I Expect Before I View The Trailer” thought, I’m thinking that my doubts about room design after many years may be mirrored, in a morally epic sense, by this movie. Let’s see.
The first image is Meryl Streep in old-fashioned nun’s (RC) garb. Her first words to a group of nun’s eating: I want you all to be alert.
I have a feeling she is also warning the audience. We, too, are to be alert.
Next shot: a child being banged on the head. Corporeal punishment existed (does exist?) in Catholic schools but unfortunately, Serevus Snape’s dramatic slap of Ron Weasley’s head has probably doomed that gesture to comedy forever.
We observe fast that Streep’s nun is not to be triffled with, even by other nuns. The priest played by Philip Seymour Hoffman observes: The dragon is hungry. Soon we learn he believes the church has to change. I expect a major clash of wills between him and Streep.
And immediately, things get serious. A young nun is telling Streep that Father Flynn called a student, Donald Muller, to the rectory. From Streep: So, it’s happened.
(Aside: This movie probably set in the late 1950's. Today, of course, we know about the sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic church. Was it recognized back then? Would this be thought of immediately back then if a priest called a male student into the rectory? Or is this only a plot device? Hitchcock’s McGuffin? Used to move things along while the real drama is the clash of wills? Don’t know yet.)
Shot of a lone bell ringer, then Flynn enjoying a meal with others and Streep’s voice over: We are going to have to stop him ourselves. Wow! This nun is pissed. Title appears on the screen: There Is No Evidence.
Next scene: Streep is questioning Hoffman as to what happened in the rectory. When Hoffman says nothing happened, Streep keeps pressing. (Another aside: I know nuns smoked in private [the horror!] butwere they that confrontational with priests back then?)
Title on screen: There Are No Witnesses. And the next shoot is Father Flynn screaming: You haven’t the slightest proof. Things have really taken a turn for the worst, or for the overly dramatic.
The mother of the boy is seen talking to Streep. The young nun is telling Hoffman: You are letting then convict you of something terrible.
We see more evidence of Streep’s extreme dislike of Hoffman. Only the young nun seems able to speak to her reasonably. (Aside: From the first shot, where Streep is running the nun’s dining table with an iron fist in an iron glove, it seems unusual she would listen to a young nun’s concerns. But, does she need the young girl for her plan? That we don’t know.)
By the end of the trailer you know this is going to be a battle to the death.
Streep to boy’s mother: I’ll throw your son out of this school.
Young nun: I don’t think Father Flynn did anything wrong.
Streep: I will do what needs to be done.
What I Expect From The Movie Based On The Trailer:
Knowing modern movies and the U.S. which is adverse to intellectual controversy, I am not expecting the following, but would like to see it: a look at power, change, purity of motives, ego and clashes of wills. I would like real doubt. I don’t want this movie tied up in a box with a neat ribbon at the end. I want to leave the movie thinking. I want the doubt to lead to a good discussion.
As I’m typing this, Absence of Malice is on the TV. I remember that movie brought about a discussion of journalistic ethics when it first came out. I would like this movie to engender similar discussions. I want to leave this movie with doubt.
And, I would pay to see this movie
I’m having the whole place painted. I call it the “whole place” because it’s a loft design of about 1400 square feet so the whole place is open and therefore a “whole place.”
Everything has to come off the walls and all the furniture has to be moved at least 2 feet from the walls. That can be back breaking but we’ve made a good start.
As things get moved and stored, I’m looking at the place with different eyes. When you have a loft design, you can leave it wide open or use “barriers” to create separate areas. I chose the later. A lot of screens and very big flower arrangements. Ok, I know, flowers are the anathema of designers. But they do provide a more natural visual barrier from a window to a bed than a screen.
But with the area looking so bare and open, I’m beginning to wonder if my decorating style, which has worked extremely well in this area for so long, should be changed.
I’m being to have doubts.
Movie Review from Trailer: Doubt
Ok, I know, that was a cheap lead-in. But, in a “What I Expect Before I View The Trailer” thought, I’m thinking that my doubts about room design after many years may be mirrored, in a morally epic sense, by this movie. Let’s see.
The first image is Meryl Streep in old-fashioned nun’s (RC) garb. Her first words to a group of nun’s eating: I want you all to be alert.
I have a feeling she is also warning the audience. We, too, are to be alert.
Next shot: a child being banged on the head. Corporeal punishment existed (does exist?) in Catholic schools but unfortunately, Serevus Snape’s dramatic slap of Ron Weasley’s head has probably doomed that gesture to comedy forever.
We observe fast that Streep’s nun is not to be triffled with, even by other nuns. The priest played by Philip Seymour Hoffman observes: The dragon is hungry. Soon we learn he believes the church has to change. I expect a major clash of wills between him and Streep.
And immediately, things get serious. A young nun is telling Streep that Father Flynn called a student, Donald Muller, to the rectory. From Streep: So, it’s happened.
(Aside: This movie probably set in the late 1950's. Today, of course, we know about the sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic church. Was it recognized back then? Would this be thought of immediately back then if a priest called a male student into the rectory? Or is this only a plot device? Hitchcock’s McGuffin? Used to move things along while the real drama is the clash of wills? Don’t know yet.)
Shot of a lone bell ringer, then Flynn enjoying a meal with others and Streep’s voice over: We are going to have to stop him ourselves. Wow! This nun is pissed. Title appears on the screen: There Is No Evidence.
Next scene: Streep is questioning Hoffman as to what happened in the rectory. When Hoffman says nothing happened, Streep keeps pressing. (Another aside: I know nuns smoked in private [the horror!] butwere they that confrontational with priests back then?)
Title on screen: There Are No Witnesses. And the next shoot is Father Flynn screaming: You haven’t the slightest proof. Things have really taken a turn for the worst, or for the overly dramatic.
The mother of the boy is seen talking to Streep. The young nun is telling Hoffman: You are letting then convict you of something terrible.
We see more evidence of Streep’s extreme dislike of Hoffman. Only the young nun seems able to speak to her reasonably. (Aside: From the first shot, where Streep is running the nun’s dining table with an iron fist in an iron glove, it seems unusual she would listen to a young nun’s concerns. But, does she need the young girl for her plan? That we don’t know.)
By the end of the trailer you know this is going to be a battle to the death.
Streep to boy’s mother: I’ll throw your son out of this school.
Young nun: I don’t think Father Flynn did anything wrong.
Streep: I will do what needs to be done.
What I Expect From The Movie Based On The Trailer:
Knowing modern movies and the U.S. which is adverse to intellectual controversy, I am not expecting the following, but would like to see it: a look at power, change, purity of motives, ego and clashes of wills. I would like real doubt. I don’t want this movie tied up in a box with a neat ribbon at the end. I want to leave the movie thinking. I want the doubt to lead to a good discussion.
As I’m typing this, Absence of Malice is on the TV. I remember that movie brought about a discussion of journalistic ethics when it first came out. I would like this movie to engender similar discussions. I want to leave this movie with doubt.
And, I would pay to see this movie
Friday, December 19, 2008
Knitting Friday
I wait for predicted snow activity which will hit NJ at various levels soon. The web weather says it’s coming tomorrow now. Of course, I could walk 4 feet to the window and do some real checking but it’s Knitting Friday and I’m pretty bummed out about my lack of knitting this week. Not my lack of trying to knit this week. In fact, I did knit, and knit and knit. Then just hours ago, I ripped out two shawls and there went my knitting for the week.
I think I hit some sort of record when I pulled out the variegated yarn shawl for the 10th time; this time after the thing was bound off. Every other time it was a few rows, then a-quarter up, then a-half up.
Humans are such optimists. Each time, I told myself: This is the pattern. What a fool!
But I did learn some things. First, variegated yarn on very large needles does not solve anything. That was my most recent frogging. The finished project looked like an open weave mesh-like shawl on my lap but once it hung from my shoulders it looked like a jumble of short pieces of yarn just hanging with no obvious pattern. Like the kid who spreads his food around on his plate to pretend he’s eaten; some things you just can’t get away with.
Second, I learned that variegated yarns should have long runs of color to make the pattern attractive. You can get away with short runs on dark variegates but on lighter variegates the yarns just looks choppy. Maybe that’s why I’m so attracted to variegates when they are scrunched in a skein but so disappointed in the final project. (My only really successful variegated project - and I’m talking about using big box store variegated, not hand-spun - was a very darkly patterned one.) Note to me: Spend the money on variegated or stick with solids.
However, like Ulysses seeking new worlds: To strive, to seek, to find....., I’m itching to return to my quest for my perfect variegated pattern. It has to be a shawl. It has to be reversible. Preferably, from few stitches to many. Very little garter......It was easier buying a car.
So, for Knitting Friday, I’ll leave you with a shawl search site for you to enjoy:
http://www.stickamera.se/gratismonster.php?gratismonster=gm_sjalar
The language on the top of the page is foreign for me but scroll down for the mother lode of shawl patterns in English. Then click on any of the words on top and you’ll be taken to a new category. For example: Filtar = blankets and Vantar/handskar = gloves.
You can get lost for days here.
Next week: I will have a pattern for my variegated yarn. I know I will. But, if you find one first, please let me know.
I wait for predicted snow activity which will hit NJ at various levels soon. The web weather says it’s coming tomorrow now. Of course, I could walk 4 feet to the window and do some real checking but it’s Knitting Friday and I’m pretty bummed out about my lack of knitting this week. Not my lack of trying to knit this week. In fact, I did knit, and knit and knit. Then just hours ago, I ripped out two shawls and there went my knitting for the week.
I think I hit some sort of record when I pulled out the variegated yarn shawl for the 10th time; this time after the thing was bound off. Every other time it was a few rows, then a-quarter up, then a-half up.
Humans are such optimists. Each time, I told myself: This is the pattern. What a fool!
But I did learn some things. First, variegated yarn on very large needles does not solve anything. That was my most recent frogging. The finished project looked like an open weave mesh-like shawl on my lap but once it hung from my shoulders it looked like a jumble of short pieces of yarn just hanging with no obvious pattern. Like the kid who spreads his food around on his plate to pretend he’s eaten; some things you just can’t get away with.
Second, I learned that variegated yarns should have long runs of color to make the pattern attractive. You can get away with short runs on dark variegates but on lighter variegates the yarns just looks choppy. Maybe that’s why I’m so attracted to variegates when they are scrunched in a skein but so disappointed in the final project. (My only really successful variegated project - and I’m talking about using big box store variegated, not hand-spun - was a very darkly patterned one.) Note to me: Spend the money on variegated or stick with solids.
However, like Ulysses seeking new worlds: To strive, to seek, to find....., I’m itching to return to my quest for my perfect variegated pattern. It has to be a shawl. It has to be reversible. Preferably, from few stitches to many. Very little garter......It was easier buying a car.
So, for Knitting Friday, I’ll leave you with a shawl search site for you to enjoy:
http://www.stickamera.se/gratismonster.php?gratismonster=gm_sjalar
The language on the top of the page is foreign for me but scroll down for the mother lode of shawl patterns in English. Then click on any of the words on top and you’ll be taken to a new category. For example: Filtar = blankets and Vantar/handskar = gloves.
You can get lost for days here.
Next week: I will have a pattern for my variegated yarn. I know I will. But, if you find one first, please let me know.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Website Wednesday
The seasons have a lot of holidays even without holy days. Ancients celebrated the first buds of spring and the harvest which follows.
Probably, some ancestor scratched his head while living in cold climes and, during winter, thought: Another dreary day. We need a festivus.
Whatever the reasoning and spurred on by the rise of capitalism, holidays were born, presents were bought and nerves got frazzled.
So, in this season of frenetic buying in the U.S. (possibly the last before our frenetic depression), I offer a quiet relief in fun and games:
http://www.freeworldgroup.com/
For serious gamers, there are much better sites out there with thousands of gamers who comment and help with the more difficult puzzle, adventure and escape games. However, sometimes I find many of these games exercises in frustration where I, and many others, flounder until someone throws us a lifeline in the form of cheats.
Free World Group offers all types of games. Types of games include: puzzles, strategy, sport, multiplayer, card, adventure, arcade, brain teaser, board.
Each game lists its objectives and controls so you can skip that time-consuming "Instructions" link within the game. Well, you can skip it at your peril, of course.
Under Brain Teaser, I played Entangled where you have to rotate tiles so the random lines on them form closed shapes. No time limit and brain worthy - heaven!
Games are mouse or key controlled, or both. Adventures seems to be key controlled, (who can forget the wickedly difficult Pharaoh's Tomb?) and Word and Puzzle, among others, mouse controlled.
Some of the games only have a certain number of levels before you have to buy to continue. Some of the games look lame pretty fast. But there are enough games for some fast clicking around. You'll find something you like.
An interesting bonus is Travel Stories. These are short stories written about different parts of the world. For example, Ebonyi Tales is written by a man who left banking to teach in Nigeria. That's something you don't find on game sites.
As with almost all Internet site, children should be monitored here.
So give it a try. It will give you some relaxation in this hectic season.
And now, excuse me, it's my turn in Puzzle Freaks II. I can't be sure but I think that my computer opponent is getting all the easy puzzles to solve.
The seasons have a lot of holidays even without holy days. Ancients celebrated the first buds of spring and the harvest which follows.
Probably, some ancestor scratched his head while living in cold climes and, during winter, thought: Another dreary day. We need a festivus.
Whatever the reasoning and spurred on by the rise of capitalism, holidays were born, presents were bought and nerves got frazzled.
So, in this season of frenetic buying in the U.S. (possibly the last before our frenetic depression), I offer a quiet relief in fun and games:
http://www.freeworldgroup.com/
For serious gamers, there are much better sites out there with thousands of gamers who comment and help with the more difficult puzzle, adventure and escape games. However, sometimes I find many of these games exercises in frustration where I, and many others, flounder until someone throws us a lifeline in the form of cheats.
Free World Group offers all types of games. Types of games include: puzzles, strategy, sport, multiplayer, card, adventure, arcade, brain teaser, board.
Each game lists its objectives and controls so you can skip that time-consuming "Instructions" link within the game. Well, you can skip it at your peril, of course.
Under Brain Teaser, I played Entangled where you have to rotate tiles so the random lines on them form closed shapes. No time limit and brain worthy - heaven!
Games are mouse or key controlled, or both. Adventures seems to be key controlled, (who can forget the wickedly difficult Pharaoh's Tomb?) and Word and Puzzle, among others, mouse controlled.
Some of the games only have a certain number of levels before you have to buy to continue. Some of the games look lame pretty fast. But there are enough games for some fast clicking around. You'll find something you like.
An interesting bonus is Travel Stories. These are short stories written about different parts of the world. For example, Ebonyi Tales is written by a man who left banking to teach in Nigeria. That's something you don't find on game sites.
As with almost all Internet site, children should be monitored here.
So give it a try. It will give you some relaxation in this hectic season.
And now, excuse me, it's my turn in Puzzle Freaks II. I can't be sure but I think that my computer opponent is getting all the easy puzzles to solve.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Movie Monday
I saw the original 1951 The Day The Earth Stood Still this weekend. The black and white one where Patricia Neal discovers that Hugh Marlowe really is a schmuck and not marriage material.
Ok, I know there was more to it than that, but you almost always learn that the boyfriend is no-good in a certain type of science fiction movie.
This one is considered a classic. But if you tell your dog he’s beautiful often enough, even he’ll believe it.
Patricia Neal was pretty hammy in the scene where she goes to deliver Klaatu’s message to Gort. Running from Gort, falling over those folding chairs, breathlessly looking up at him in terror was more reminiscent of an impending rape scene than a “message to Garcia” one.
And talking about that message. She repeats it once in the taxi and then remembers it perfectly. That’s a gift, unless your first language is “outer space.” Note to me: when you join the army to fight the space invaders, don’t apply to the messenger corp.
But since I saw the original, I had to review the re-make which has joined that pantheon of movie wonders by getting roasted by the critics yet taking the weekend box-office.
Movie Trailer Movie Review: The Day The Earth Stood Still
This stuff, whatever it is, is going to be world-wide. We are told that there are spheres all over the world. That's never good.
You get an early shot of the Egyptian pyramids in the trailer and that’s always used to tell you this stuff is big. After all, those pyramids are one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Now, I don’t know their place in an Entertainment Weekly’s Survey so if they don’t come in as #1 maybe we have some wiggle room.
Apparently not. Keanu Reeves is saying (and he’s not human though he looks like one): If the human race dies, the earth survives. That is not good news for my species. Well, a matter of fact, not for any species. But we’re the only ones who can write this crap so we really matter.
And eureka comes for Kathy Bates when she asks him in the most monotone line delivery for an Oscar winning actress: Why have you come to our planet? Answer: Your planet?
Oh cripes, we’ve been renting all this time.
Then Armageddon begins. We get those typical macho, throw-away lines from the military: Hey, guys, let wipe this thing up, as they’re getting their collective asses kicked.
Planes fly. Explosion abound. CGIs reign.
The end doesn’t look good. Woman: You can stop it. Reeves: I don’t know.
There are times when you need more than an existential hero. But then the screen flashes: Nothing can prepare you. So, perhaps existential is the operative word here.
In the midst of the carnage, Reeves, in human form, reaches to the skies as Gort, in robot form reaches down to him. Well, at least, some life form may be saved.
And then it looks like a football stadium blows up and I know this is my movie. I bet the subliminal message is: Stop with the sports. Maybe that’s what aliens have been trying to tell us all along.
Everything turns whirlwind gray and the title appears.
What I Expect From The Trailer:
Well, I sort of know what to expect from the original movie. This one probably follows that plot with a lot more explosions.
There was the creepiness in the original which only good black and white can give you. Not that the original didn’t have its slow and hokey moments. This one has them also but without the slow.
I am beginning to realize that I can rate movies on the musical crescendos in the trailers. This one is filled with them. They used to say you could always tell a bad western if the beginning titles were accompanied by a song. (Not music but a singer.)
Crescendo music races the “savage breast.” It’s the heralder announcing what you are seeing/about to see rises beyond the mundane into the sphere of worthwhile.
I guess I should expect a lot of worthwhile stuff in this movie.
I saw the original 1951 The Day The Earth Stood Still this weekend. The black and white one where Patricia Neal discovers that Hugh Marlowe really is a schmuck and not marriage material.
Ok, I know there was more to it than that, but you almost always learn that the boyfriend is no-good in a certain type of science fiction movie.
This one is considered a classic. But if you tell your dog he’s beautiful often enough, even he’ll believe it.
Patricia Neal was pretty hammy in the scene where she goes to deliver Klaatu’s message to Gort. Running from Gort, falling over those folding chairs, breathlessly looking up at him in terror was more reminiscent of an impending rape scene than a “message to Garcia” one.
And talking about that message. She repeats it once in the taxi and then remembers it perfectly. That’s a gift, unless your first language is “outer space.” Note to me: when you join the army to fight the space invaders, don’t apply to the messenger corp.
But since I saw the original, I had to review the re-make which has joined that pantheon of movie wonders by getting roasted by the critics yet taking the weekend box-office.
Movie Trailer Movie Review: The Day The Earth Stood Still
This stuff, whatever it is, is going to be world-wide. We are told that there are spheres all over the world. That's never good.
You get an early shot of the Egyptian pyramids in the trailer and that’s always used to tell you this stuff is big. After all, those pyramids are one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Now, I don’t know their place in an Entertainment Weekly’s Survey so if they don’t come in as #1 maybe we have some wiggle room.
Apparently not. Keanu Reeves is saying (and he’s not human though he looks like one): If the human race dies, the earth survives. That is not good news for my species. Well, a matter of fact, not for any species. But we’re the only ones who can write this crap so we really matter.
And eureka comes for Kathy Bates when she asks him in the most monotone line delivery for an Oscar winning actress: Why have you come to our planet? Answer: Your planet?
Oh cripes, we’ve been renting all this time.
Then Armageddon begins. We get those typical macho, throw-away lines from the military: Hey, guys, let wipe this thing up, as they’re getting their collective asses kicked.
Planes fly. Explosion abound. CGIs reign.
The end doesn’t look good. Woman: You can stop it. Reeves: I don’t know.
There are times when you need more than an existential hero. But then the screen flashes: Nothing can prepare you. So, perhaps existential is the operative word here.
In the midst of the carnage, Reeves, in human form, reaches to the skies as Gort, in robot form reaches down to him. Well, at least, some life form may be saved.
And then it looks like a football stadium blows up and I know this is my movie. I bet the subliminal message is: Stop with the sports. Maybe that’s what aliens have been trying to tell us all along.
Everything turns whirlwind gray and the title appears.
What I Expect From The Trailer:
Well, I sort of know what to expect from the original movie. This one probably follows that plot with a lot more explosions.
There was the creepiness in the original which only good black and white can give you. Not that the original didn’t have its slow and hokey moments. This one has them also but without the slow.
I am beginning to realize that I can rate movies on the musical crescendos in the trailers. This one is filled with them. They used to say you could always tell a bad western if the beginning titles were accompanied by a song. (Not music but a singer.)
Crescendo music races the “savage breast.” It’s the heralder announcing what you are seeing/about to see rises beyond the mundane into the sphere of worthwhile.
I guess I should expect a lot of worthwhile stuff in this movie.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Knitting Friday
What a depressing knitting week. But I did learn some things about myself.
First, I spent the week pulling out lace shawls.
Elann has a new one:
http://www.elann.com/ShowFreePattern.asp?Id=308024
It’s lace but it’s easy lace. That is, if you’re not knitting, reading a blog and watching a movie on the computer at the same time. (The movie was The Southerner with Zachary Scott and directed by Jean Renoir. I blame the move for my problems because it was one you had to watch, unlike my usual fare like the spooky Fog Island.)
In spite of these extra activities, which are no-nos for lace knitting, I was moving right along until Row 29 when I slipped a stitch. (The irony being that just after Row 29 the pattern begins repeating and finally becomes a simple four row lace pattern.)
Now, anyone who knits lace knows that if you don’t use lifelines you deserve all your troubles. Guess who didn’t use a lifeline? I was able to pick up the stitch immediately, but lace is yarn overs and I must have missed at least one, so by the end of the row, I was off count. I did try to find the problem but it was useless and the frog pond got another visitor.
Next, I started a shawl from Shawls On the Go!, Volume 2. It’s the one where you yarn over twice for each stitch and then do four K and P 2 together on every four stitches for an easy and attractive crossover stitch shawl.
I started so successfully. It was boring with wrapping the yarn twice around for each stitch but the “look” of the shawl came fast. Then, I put it down, went to work, and returned and started again with the wrong stitch. Somehow, I got to the end of the row and I had two extra stitches. I knew the pull-out was not going to be easy on this one. So, rip-it, rip-it.
Finally, I made up my own variation on the *yo, k2tog* shawl. I only had 300 yards of double knitting weight (I consider this weight one up from sports, if that helps) so I started at a point and increased each side every other row until the first ball of yarn was used. Then I decreased each side every other row for the second ball.
That’s when I looked at the project. I was connecting two Vs. What a great shape to wear. A point at your waist and a point at your neck. Move over, Marc Jacobs. Plus, 300 yards knitted this way, even on US 13 needles, was giving me a big, weirdly-shaped scarf and not enough width for shawl warmth. Another trip to the frog pond.
So, you ask, what did you learn this week in knitting? I think I learned that except for special projects or gifts, I like fast knitting. I’ve made the beautiful lace shawl, the complicated Aran style sweaters and afghans, the entrelac sweaters, etc. Give me the simple knitting. Life really is too short.
And now for a simple pattern which I learned this week is a good answer to: "What can I make when I have no idea how much yarn this is?" (I’ll discuss postal scales another time - I love mine.)
The "I Don’t Know My Yardage" Shawl
Find a triangular shawl pattern which gives you the stitch number (for example: pattern is 4 sts + 2 for selvage.) Preferably a yarn over pattern and not a twisted stitch one - unless your unknown yardage looks like a lot.
Start the pattern as instructed but when you get to your desired width (I like 20"), start working straight. Right now, you will have one end done as a V and the shawl will knitting up as a rectangle. Continue on to your desired length.
For the ending, if you have enough yarn left at your length, reverse your pattern to decrease to another V. Or, just bind off straight. Your ends will be different, but so what? If you have a bit of yarn left over, work crochet loops on the straight end or put a tassel (or a big button) on the V end.
I’m making one now in the simple *yo, K2tog* pattern on large needles. I don’t know yet whether the second end will be straight or a V.
I’ll let you know.
What a depressing knitting week. But I did learn some things about myself.
First, I spent the week pulling out lace shawls.
Elann has a new one:
http://www.elann.com/ShowFreePattern.asp?Id=308024
It’s lace but it’s easy lace. That is, if you’re not knitting, reading a blog and watching a movie on the computer at the same time. (The movie was The Southerner with Zachary Scott and directed by Jean Renoir. I blame the move for my problems because it was one you had to watch, unlike my usual fare like the spooky Fog Island.)
In spite of these extra activities, which are no-nos for lace knitting, I was moving right along until Row 29 when I slipped a stitch. (The irony being that just after Row 29 the pattern begins repeating and finally becomes a simple four row lace pattern.)
Now, anyone who knits lace knows that if you don’t use lifelines you deserve all your troubles. Guess who didn’t use a lifeline? I was able to pick up the stitch immediately, but lace is yarn overs and I must have missed at least one, so by the end of the row, I was off count. I did try to find the problem but it was useless and the frog pond got another visitor.
Next, I started a shawl from Shawls On the Go!, Volume 2. It’s the one where you yarn over twice for each stitch and then do four K and P 2 together on every four stitches for an easy and attractive crossover stitch shawl.
I started so successfully. It was boring with wrapping the yarn twice around for each stitch but the “look” of the shawl came fast. Then, I put it down, went to work, and returned and started again with the wrong stitch. Somehow, I got to the end of the row and I had two extra stitches. I knew the pull-out was not going to be easy on this one. So, rip-it, rip-it.
Finally, I made up my own variation on the *yo, k2tog* shawl. I only had 300 yards of double knitting weight (I consider this weight one up from sports, if that helps) so I started at a point and increased each side every other row until the first ball of yarn was used. Then I decreased each side every other row for the second ball.
That’s when I looked at the project. I was connecting two Vs. What a great shape to wear. A point at your waist and a point at your neck. Move over, Marc Jacobs. Plus, 300 yards knitted this way, even on US 13 needles, was giving me a big, weirdly-shaped scarf and not enough width for shawl warmth. Another trip to the frog pond.
So, you ask, what did you learn this week in knitting? I think I learned that except for special projects or gifts, I like fast knitting. I’ve made the beautiful lace shawl, the complicated Aran style sweaters and afghans, the entrelac sweaters, etc. Give me the simple knitting. Life really is too short.
And now for a simple pattern which I learned this week is a good answer to: "What can I make when I have no idea how much yarn this is?" (I’ll discuss postal scales another time - I love mine.)
The "I Don’t Know My Yardage" Shawl
Find a triangular shawl pattern which gives you the stitch number (for example: pattern is 4 sts + 2 for selvage.) Preferably a yarn over pattern and not a twisted stitch one - unless your unknown yardage looks like a lot.
Start the pattern as instructed but when you get to your desired width (I like 20"), start working straight. Right now, you will have one end done as a V and the shawl will knitting up as a rectangle. Continue on to your desired length.
For the ending, if you have enough yarn left at your length, reverse your pattern to decrease to another V. Or, just bind off straight. Your ends will be different, but so what? If you have a bit of yarn left over, work crochet loops on the straight end or put a tassel (or a big button) on the V end.
I’m making one now in the simple *yo, K2tog* pattern on large needles. I don’t know yet whether the second end will be straight or a V.
I’ll let you know.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Website Wednesday
For last Wednesday, I was going to list a website which promised to keep you writing.
It was only a fairly large writing pane. You were to write in it and not stop for any length of time - or else.
Well, I don’t send out websites without trying them, so I typed in a sentence and sat back. Within minutes, the screen surrounding the writing pane went from white, to yellow, to pink, to bright red.
And I waited. Finally, remembering Theoden’s famous line at the beginning of the Helms Deep battle: Is this all you have to offer, Saruman?, I went on to other things.
Every day, I check Internet Archives for any new public domain movies and I saw that they had Ivan the Terrible. So I put on the speakers and that’s when I went searching for the howling cats.
Now, I’m probably slow on the uptake and you’ve probably figured this out already, but I clicked off site after site and still the cats were chasing me. It was seconds after I shut down Firefox that it hit me: that sound was the “or else” promised on the writing site.
But today, my website is just sweetness and light; no howling cats.
http://oldpoetry.com
This site has thousands of poems and I’m a sucker for poems - especially now that I have become such an expert in metaphor.
The poems are old and new and surprising.
I didn’t know that Hemingway wrote poetry and he wrote it just like his novels. Terse. And, I didn’t know that Edgar Wallace, famous for his novels of mystery and suspense, wrote poetry dealing with the Boer War, one of which, War, is here.
You can search by poet, by poem, by geographical area. Each poet has a short biography and many have notes and comments. Comments range from simple remarks to esoteric analysis.
There are essays and forums. There are poems of the day.
Membership is needed to comment but as a guest you can navigate all the sections.
Even if poetry is not your favorite literary form, take a look at this site. If just for The Age Demanded by Hemingway, which begins:
The age demanded that we sing
And cut away our tongue.
and ends three brief stanzas later with:
And in the end the age was handed
The sort of shit that it demanded.
For last Wednesday, I was going to list a website which promised to keep you writing.
It was only a fairly large writing pane. You were to write in it and not stop for any length of time - or else.
Well, I don’t send out websites without trying them, so I typed in a sentence and sat back. Within minutes, the screen surrounding the writing pane went from white, to yellow, to pink, to bright red.
And I waited. Finally, remembering Theoden’s famous line at the beginning of the Helms Deep battle: Is this all you have to offer, Saruman?, I went on to other things.
Every day, I check Internet Archives for any new public domain movies and I saw that they had Ivan the Terrible. So I put on the speakers and that’s when I went searching for the howling cats.
Now, I’m probably slow on the uptake and you’ve probably figured this out already, but I clicked off site after site and still the cats were chasing me. It was seconds after I shut down Firefox that it hit me: that sound was the “or else” promised on the writing site.
But today, my website is just sweetness and light; no howling cats.
http://oldpoetry.com
This site has thousands of poems and I’m a sucker for poems - especially now that I have become such an expert in metaphor.
The poems are old and new and surprising.
I didn’t know that Hemingway wrote poetry and he wrote it just like his novels. Terse. And, I didn’t know that Edgar Wallace, famous for his novels of mystery and suspense, wrote poetry dealing with the Boer War, one of which, War, is here.
You can search by poet, by poem, by geographical area. Each poet has a short biography and many have notes and comments. Comments range from simple remarks to esoteric analysis.
There are essays and forums. There are poems of the day.
Membership is needed to comment but as a guest you can navigate all the sections.
Even if poetry is not your favorite literary form, take a look at this site. If just for The Age Demanded by Hemingway, which begins:
The age demanded that we sing
And cut away our tongue.
and ends three brief stanzas later with:
And in the end the age was handed
The sort of shit that it demanded.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Movie Monday
I was watching an Italian movie - just the beginning. The protagonist was an efficiency expert at a factory. You knew that quickly because he was kindly explaining to a worker that’s he was going too fast (not good for the machines.) Then he’s getting ready to leave, reaches his car, hears his name called, goes back to the boss’ office, talks to the boss about his upcoming leave (that’s why he was leaving so fast) and where he’s going and is given a valuable present from the boss to deliver to someone in his hometown.
That’s all I saw. It probably took me longer to write it than watch it. But why did I watch it? I know I would have been half paying attention if the dialogue was in English.
And, that may be the allure of the foreign film. Film is a visual medium. It had to be one completely before sound. But with sound, you no longer have to watch the screen. Your eyes and your brain can be distracted from the picture. You can multi-task.
Except in foreign language films. There you must concentrate on the screen. And, if the subtitles fly by quickly as so many of them do, you must concentrate firmly.
I got hooked on CSI while doing a complicated lace project just because I didn’t want to watch the screen all the time and CSI is probably some of the best “I must look away” TV out there.
So maybe foreign films are not as great as I think. It’s just that I have to invest a lot more brain energy in them. My concentration makes them great.
Which brings me to my foreign film review today: Australia.
I know, it’s in English and I know all the words to Waltzing Mathilda, but it is foreign.
I’m looking at this film because I saw a short clip from it on a cable channel devoted to promoting new films. I don’t think there is one film they feature which they don’t like so this is usually a channel I pass. However, cruising by, I saw a shot of Nicole Kidman inside a tent, clutching the flaps around her so only her head was out, looking at a waist-up naked Hugh Jackman pouring a bucket of water over him (an Australian bath?)
It was not the scene which stopped me, but the look on Kidman’s face. It was an exact duplicate of the hammy pout she used in Moulin Rouge. Now that musical, which I liked, was over the top. Romantic farce with some tear-jerking songs. Hamminess (though there was too much of it on her part) fit into Moulin Rouge. What was she doing repeating it in Australia? I know this movie has been called a modern Gone With The Wind, and I know that Vivien Leigh did have a few pouts.
Was Kidman a one-note actress or was she trying to duplicate Leigh? I had to find out.
Movie Trailer Review of Australia
Wow! I just saw it and I want to enlist! In what, I have no idea but I’m so hopped up. Kidman just told me: We can’t let them win. (Well, actually she told Hugh Jackman) And he said: We won’t. and Kidman told the cute aboriginal girl: Whatever I takes, I’ll find you. So I feel really good and ready to enlist and get my head blown off.
Oh well, back to earth. But that’s what propaganda does to you as so beautifully portrayed in All’s Quiet on the Western Front when the professor fuels up all his students to enlist in glory only to have them return in caskets.
The trailer starts with a shot worthy of Vogue: an extremely well dressed Nicole Kidman. What a hat! It belongs in a museum. Then we see a rugged Hugh Jackman on a ship. Get it? Civilization meets barbarian. Mark my words, sex is coming.
An early shot has him fighting; she protesting (probably the fighting), still precisely coiffured, with palm outstretched and mouthing “No.”
He greets her sweating, breathless, gritty: Welcome to Australia. What, we thought this was Versailles?
Then both are riding a truck in the desert with a dog. She in face netting (she, Nicole, not the dog) and Jackman saying: You’d be more comfortable if you changed into something less constricting.
Shades of Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr in King Solomon’s Mine.
Then the tent scene. Not the hammy part this time, just she emerging from the tent, he naked from the waist up. Flash to screen: From the director of Romeo and Juliet....... Oh, thank you so much, I had been expecting a submarine movie.
Fast forward and we’re in the time warp of Grease where Olivia Newton John becomes a greaser at the end.
Kidman can ride. Jackman is impressed. Kidman looks gritty on the horse. And, she can belt down a few also.
Whoa! Now, they’re skinny dipping. That was fast.
Faster still is our introduction to waltzing in Australian high society; a cute aboriginal girl; and (I assume) good, old Australian prejudice. Kidman: Just because it is, doesn’t mean it should be. Are we going deep here?
We're told: Their love defied destiny. Good to know; I’ll stop looking for submarines.
And not a minute too soon because here come the planes. Kidman hears them sitting in a great looking bedroom. Bombs drop. We see reactions from Jackman and the cute, aboriginal girl.
We’re at war. Talk about a plot twist to keep this from being one long roll in the hay movie.
For the sake of truth in trailers, I should admit there looked like some sort of local Australian shooting trouble before this war starts involving Kidman, Jackman and others.
But war is like the eight card in Crazy Eights. It changes everything.
What Do I Expect From the Trailer:
I’m going to see this movie, though I’m not going to pay for it, except through my cable provider. It looks well-done, hokey, formulaic but there’s a place for that in life.
It can’t all be Aristotle’s Poetics. I bet there were times when Mrs. Aristotle would call out: Ari, enough with the thinking, get the chariot, we’re going to Bingo Night.
I was watching an Italian movie - just the beginning. The protagonist was an efficiency expert at a factory. You knew that quickly because he was kindly explaining to a worker that’s he was going too fast (not good for the machines.) Then he’s getting ready to leave, reaches his car, hears his name called, goes back to the boss’ office, talks to the boss about his upcoming leave (that’s why he was leaving so fast) and where he’s going and is given a valuable present from the boss to deliver to someone in his hometown.
That’s all I saw. It probably took me longer to write it than watch it. But why did I watch it? I know I would have been half paying attention if the dialogue was in English.
And, that may be the allure of the foreign film. Film is a visual medium. It had to be one completely before sound. But with sound, you no longer have to watch the screen. Your eyes and your brain can be distracted from the picture. You can multi-task.
Except in foreign language films. There you must concentrate on the screen. And, if the subtitles fly by quickly as so many of them do, you must concentrate firmly.
I got hooked on CSI while doing a complicated lace project just because I didn’t want to watch the screen all the time and CSI is probably some of the best “I must look away” TV out there.
So maybe foreign films are not as great as I think. It’s just that I have to invest a lot more brain energy in them. My concentration makes them great.
Which brings me to my foreign film review today: Australia.
I know, it’s in English and I know all the words to Waltzing Mathilda, but it is foreign.
I’m looking at this film because I saw a short clip from it on a cable channel devoted to promoting new films. I don’t think there is one film they feature which they don’t like so this is usually a channel I pass. However, cruising by, I saw a shot of Nicole Kidman inside a tent, clutching the flaps around her so only her head was out, looking at a waist-up naked Hugh Jackman pouring a bucket of water over him (an Australian bath?)
It was not the scene which stopped me, but the look on Kidman’s face. It was an exact duplicate of the hammy pout she used in Moulin Rouge. Now that musical, which I liked, was over the top. Romantic farce with some tear-jerking songs. Hamminess (though there was too much of it on her part) fit into Moulin Rouge. What was she doing repeating it in Australia? I know this movie has been called a modern Gone With The Wind, and I know that Vivien Leigh did have a few pouts.
Was Kidman a one-note actress or was she trying to duplicate Leigh? I had to find out.
Movie Trailer Review of Australia
Wow! I just saw it and I want to enlist! In what, I have no idea but I’m so hopped up. Kidman just told me: We can’t let them win. (Well, actually she told Hugh Jackman) And he said: We won’t. and Kidman told the cute aboriginal girl: Whatever I takes, I’ll find you. So I feel really good and ready to enlist and get my head blown off.
Oh well, back to earth. But that’s what propaganda does to you as so beautifully portrayed in All’s Quiet on the Western Front when the professor fuels up all his students to enlist in glory only to have them return in caskets.
The trailer starts with a shot worthy of Vogue: an extremely well dressed Nicole Kidman. What a hat! It belongs in a museum. Then we see a rugged Hugh Jackman on a ship. Get it? Civilization meets barbarian. Mark my words, sex is coming.
An early shot has him fighting; she protesting (probably the fighting), still precisely coiffured, with palm outstretched and mouthing “No.”
He greets her sweating, breathless, gritty: Welcome to Australia. What, we thought this was Versailles?
Then both are riding a truck in the desert with a dog. She in face netting (she, Nicole, not the dog) and Jackman saying: You’d be more comfortable if you changed into something less constricting.
Shades of Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr in King Solomon’s Mine.
Then the tent scene. Not the hammy part this time, just she emerging from the tent, he naked from the waist up. Flash to screen: From the director of Romeo and Juliet....... Oh, thank you so much, I had been expecting a submarine movie.
Fast forward and we’re in the time warp of Grease where Olivia Newton John becomes a greaser at the end.
Kidman can ride. Jackman is impressed. Kidman looks gritty on the horse. And, she can belt down a few also.
Whoa! Now, they’re skinny dipping. That was fast.
Faster still is our introduction to waltzing in Australian high society; a cute aboriginal girl; and (I assume) good, old Australian prejudice. Kidman: Just because it is, doesn’t mean it should be. Are we going deep here?
We're told: Their love defied destiny. Good to know; I’ll stop looking for submarines.
And not a minute too soon because here come the planes. Kidman hears them sitting in a great looking bedroom. Bombs drop. We see reactions from Jackman and the cute, aboriginal girl.
We’re at war. Talk about a plot twist to keep this from being one long roll in the hay movie.
For the sake of truth in trailers, I should admit there looked like some sort of local Australian shooting trouble before this war starts involving Kidman, Jackman and others.
But war is like the eight card in Crazy Eights. It changes everything.
What Do I Expect From the Trailer:
I’m going to see this movie, though I’m not going to pay for it, except through my cable provider. It looks well-done, hokey, formulaic but there’s a place for that in life.
It can’t all be Aristotle’s Poetics. I bet there were times when Mrs. Aristotle would call out: Ari, enough with the thinking, get the chariot, we’re going to Bingo Night.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Knitting Friday
Somehow I wound up asleep last night under my crocheted leftover yarn blanket which I had mentioned in my 10/31 blog as being so warm. Well, that’s the truth. 2 a.m. when I awoke, I was toasty warm.
The question as I see it: do I make more of the same. I have about four, two large and two small. They are such "go to" blankets but they are no works of arts. I guess I could make them such by using expensive yarn and coordinating colors. But this is supposed to be a leftover project. Like, after Thanksgiving, you throw all the leftovers together and make a meal that no one likes or eats but that’s leftovers.
I have never heard anyone say: Oh, look at all the lovely yarn I bought for my leftover project. There is some lovely yarn in these blankets and I do try to color coordinate but these blankets are pieces of my knitting history and that very seldom matched.
So, I really can't consider them in any way in league with all the beautiful quilts out there; many of which began their lives as leftovers from other projects. But there is a gift of artistry in them. Just their names alone: Double Wedding Ring, Windmills, Flower Basket, Jacob's Ladder, or Eight Hands Round make you want to learn their history.
My blankets, scraps of yarn, even color coordinated just don't cut it. But on a cold winter night……...
WEB - Warmest Ever Blanket (Pattern from memory so it may need some tweaking)
It’s such a simple pattern: First arrange your yarns and join your scraps especially if weaving in ends doesn't appeal to you. Even with joining, there are going to be two yarn tails for every square only one of which you can work in as you go.
Use a hook to match the thickness of the yarn. You don’t want a large hook on thin yarn. You’re going to crocheting in the round but make squares. You’ll be using single crochets, not double crochets, which makes for the warmth.
Set-Up: Chain (ch) 4, join. Ch 1. Make 12 single crochets (sc) in loop.(You can hide your beginning yarn tail as you go in the 12 sc.)
Slip stitch (sl st) the 12th sc to the first. Mark this join with yarn and move the yarn up to the next round each time you come back to what is your first three-sc corner.
Round 1: Chain 1 then work the following 4xs: * three sc in the same sc for corner, one sc in each of the next 2 sc.* You are now back at your first three-sc corner and the marker yarn. Join with sl st in the first sc (where the marker yarn is) of the first three-sc corner.
Round 2: Chain 1 (replace marker yarn in this st) then work the following 4xs: * three sc in the middle sc of three-3 corner, one sc in each of the next 4 sc.* You are now back at your first three-sc corner and the marker yarn. Join with sl st in the first sc of the first three-sc corner.
Continue working as Round 2 but this time making 6 sc in the single crochets between the three-sc corners. Each time you reach a three-sc corner, work 3 sc in the middle sc.
Your number of sc between the three-sc corners will go from 2 to 4 to 6 to 8. See the pattern; it’s an increase of 2 sc between the three-sc corners each round.
(I found the only tricky part is the last group of sc between the third three-sc corner and the first. My count would go off here. I think because I got to using the slip stitch joining the round as a stitch to be crocheted into.
So I would have 8 sc on three sides and 9 sc on the last side. But crocheting is forgiving. You can fudge a fix easily in crochet. Just be sure every side has the same number of sc before the three-sc corners.)
Continue increasing the square and cut the yarn when it’s big enough.
The cumbersome part of this project is joining the squares. Make large squares and there will be less joining, but there will be joining.
I usually assemble the squares on a bed and arrange the colors as I want them. Then from the wrong side and using the slip stitch I join them in a long stripe. Once the vertical stripes are done, I start the long horizontal joins. Note: if you join with a single crochet, you can “bury” the yarn tails as you go.
Tedious it is, but you get the warmest blanket you could wish for.
Somehow I wound up asleep last night under my crocheted leftover yarn blanket which I had mentioned in my 10/31 blog as being so warm. Well, that’s the truth. 2 a.m. when I awoke, I was toasty warm.
The question as I see it: do I make more of the same. I have about four, two large and two small. They are such "go to" blankets but they are no works of arts. I guess I could make them such by using expensive yarn and coordinating colors. But this is supposed to be a leftover project. Like, after Thanksgiving, you throw all the leftovers together and make a meal that no one likes or eats but that’s leftovers.
I have never heard anyone say: Oh, look at all the lovely yarn I bought for my leftover project. There is some lovely yarn in these blankets and I do try to color coordinate but these blankets are pieces of my knitting history and that very seldom matched.
So, I really can't consider them in any way in league with all the beautiful quilts out there; many of which began their lives as leftovers from other projects. But there is a gift of artistry in them. Just their names alone: Double Wedding Ring, Windmills, Flower Basket, Jacob's Ladder, or Eight Hands Round make you want to learn their history.
My blankets, scraps of yarn, even color coordinated just don't cut it. But on a cold winter night……...
WEB - Warmest Ever Blanket (Pattern from memory so it may need some tweaking)
It’s such a simple pattern: First arrange your yarns and join your scraps especially if weaving in ends doesn't appeal to you. Even with joining, there are going to be two yarn tails for every square only one of which you can work in as you go.
Use a hook to match the thickness of the yarn. You don’t want a large hook on thin yarn. You’re going to crocheting in the round but make squares. You’ll be using single crochets, not double crochets, which makes for the warmth.
Set-Up: Chain (ch) 4, join. Ch 1. Make 12 single crochets (sc) in loop.(You can hide your beginning yarn tail as you go in the 12 sc.)
Slip stitch (sl st) the 12th sc to the first. Mark this join with yarn and move the yarn up to the next round each time you come back to what is your first three-sc corner.
Round 1: Chain 1 then work the following 4xs: * three sc in the same sc for corner, one sc in each of the next 2 sc.* You are now back at your first three-sc corner and the marker yarn. Join with sl st in the first sc (where the marker yarn is) of the first three-sc corner.
Round 2: Chain 1 (replace marker yarn in this st) then work the following 4xs: * three sc in the middle sc of three-3 corner, one sc in each of the next 4 sc.* You are now back at your first three-sc corner and the marker yarn. Join with sl st in the first sc of the first three-sc corner.
Continue working as Round 2 but this time making 6 sc in the single crochets between the three-sc corners. Each time you reach a three-sc corner, work 3 sc in the middle sc.
Your number of sc between the three-sc corners will go from 2 to 4 to 6 to 8. See the pattern; it’s an increase of 2 sc between the three-sc corners each round.
(I found the only tricky part is the last group of sc between the third three-sc corner and the first. My count would go off here. I think because I got to using the slip stitch joining the round as a stitch to be crocheted into.
So I would have 8 sc on three sides and 9 sc on the last side. But crocheting is forgiving. You can fudge a fix easily in crochet. Just be sure every side has the same number of sc before the three-sc corners.)
Continue increasing the square and cut the yarn when it’s big enough.
The cumbersome part of this project is joining the squares. Make large squares and there will be less joining, but there will be joining.
I usually assemble the squares on a bed and arrange the colors as I want them. Then from the wrong side and using the slip stitch I join them in a long stripe. Once the vertical stripes are done, I start the long horizontal joins. Note: if you join with a single crochet, you can “bury” the yarn tails as you go.
Tedious it is, but you get the warmest blanket you could wish for.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Website Wednesday
I read today that college may become financially out of reach for most Americans.(NYT) That's pretty shocking. But then we could look at colleges and universities as any retail institution trying to sell its products at the highest prices. It's just that they, unlike the auto industry, are supposedly "selling" knowledge.
I'm a great believer of Internet higher learning. It opens up a college degree to so many dedicated and harried people who would never have had the time for the traditional four-year trek to a bricks and mortar knowledge factory.
Thinking back to my college years with the 20-20 vision of hindsight, what I most remember is a professor I loathed: He couldn't teach; I didn't get it; I was so picked upon. Waaah!
And yet today, every day I spend time on writing (and that's about every day) I use the rules he taught me. Every major word I write, every major word I change, I think of his wise counsel. (Boy, have I matured.)
There is not one English class I teach where I do not use his word-for-word substitution of a famous document. (Try it some time: take the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance and do a word-for-word substitution without changing the meaning of the original words. It's not easy.)
Also, the best advice I ever got for handling children was from the college professor who taught in the college's on-site middle/high school, which it was mandatory for us to observe throughout our four years.
The advice given to us, students, after he had a tough time with one student and the class was dismissed: Never back a kid into a corner. Meaning: No matter what the situation always leave them with their dignity.
And remember, this advice was before the recent findings that children/teen brains operate differently from adults in the moral/ethical area.
So I did learn a lot in college. But I missed a lot too - like metaphor.
I just never could understand metaphors. They drove me nuts. My brain could not wrap around the concept that they were not just similes missing the "as" or "like." Not a good lack of understanding for an English major to have.
And then, sometime after college, I got it. It was divine revelation. The seas parted. I love metaphors now. And, I get them.
So much tells me that learning (and I mean strict learning like science, math or a language) is a lifetime process. There is a luxury of getting a head start with college when you're young but the love of knowledge should fill your entire life and be available to you for all that time.
Saying that, I have two websites related to learning today:
http://www.munseys.com/site/home
Munseys looks like a slicker Project Gutenberg. Scroll down to “Browse by Category” to click a favorite. You can’t see it on the home page but other pages list the number of books in each category.
Three things I like: in HTML, the font looks like Times Roman and not Gutenberg’s Courier. Second, some of the books have colored pictures of their original covers which is historically interesting. Also, some of the books have short reviews which are always fun to read.
The second site is one for teachers but applicable for anyone with children:
http://www.ilovethatteachingidea.com
The categories list the learning disciplines and tell the teacher how to use an idea in a classroom setting. However, you can adapt most of them for home use.
Just two I found interesting:
1- Give children a bag of alphabet cereal and have them make as many words as they can. Then, they eat their words.
2- Give children pipe cleaners and file cards with the names of different geometric forms. Have them make the forms out of the pipe cleaners.
Enjoy these sites. Learning should be lifelong and fun.
I read today that college may become financially out of reach for most Americans.(NYT) That's pretty shocking. But then we could look at colleges and universities as any retail institution trying to sell its products at the highest prices. It's just that they, unlike the auto industry, are supposedly "selling" knowledge.
I'm a great believer of Internet higher learning. It opens up a college degree to so many dedicated and harried people who would never have had the time for the traditional four-year trek to a bricks and mortar knowledge factory.
Thinking back to my college years with the 20-20 vision of hindsight, what I most remember is a professor I loathed: He couldn't teach; I didn't get it; I was so picked upon. Waaah!
And yet today, every day I spend time on writing (and that's about every day) I use the rules he taught me. Every major word I write, every major word I change, I think of his wise counsel. (Boy, have I matured.)
There is not one English class I teach where I do not use his word-for-word substitution of a famous document. (Try it some time: take the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance and do a word-for-word substitution without changing the meaning of the original words. It's not easy.)
Also, the best advice I ever got for handling children was from the college professor who taught in the college's on-site middle/high school, which it was mandatory for us to observe throughout our four years.
The advice given to us, students, after he had a tough time with one student and the class was dismissed: Never back a kid into a corner. Meaning: No matter what the situation always leave them with their dignity.
And remember, this advice was before the recent findings that children/teen brains operate differently from adults in the moral/ethical area.
So I did learn a lot in college. But I missed a lot too - like metaphor.
I just never could understand metaphors. They drove me nuts. My brain could not wrap around the concept that they were not just similes missing the "as" or "like." Not a good lack of understanding for an English major to have.
And then, sometime after college, I got it. It was divine revelation. The seas parted. I love metaphors now. And, I get them.
So much tells me that learning (and I mean strict learning like science, math or a language) is a lifetime process. There is a luxury of getting a head start with college when you're young but the love of knowledge should fill your entire life and be available to you for all that time.
Saying that, I have two websites related to learning today:
http://www.munseys.com/site/home
Munseys looks like a slicker Project Gutenberg. Scroll down to “Browse by Category” to click a favorite. You can’t see it on the home page but other pages list the number of books in each category.
Three things I like: in HTML, the font looks like Times Roman and not Gutenberg’s Courier. Second, some of the books have colored pictures of their original covers which is historically interesting. Also, some of the books have short reviews which are always fun to read.
The second site is one for teachers but applicable for anyone with children:
http://www.ilovethatteachingidea.com
The categories list the learning disciplines and tell the teacher how to use an idea in a classroom setting. However, you can adapt most of them for home use.
Just two I found interesting:
1- Give children a bag of alphabet cereal and have them make as many words as they can. Then, they eat their words.
2- Give children pipe cleaners and file cards with the names of different geometric forms. Have them make the forms out of the pipe cleaners.
Enjoy these sites. Learning should be lifelong and fun.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Movie Monday
This is going to be a little different today because on Thanksgiving I saw FBI’s Most Wanted, Part 1. Ok, don’t go looking in IMDb. It’s an amateur production. Though this year we did have a script and a director.
Every summer, two young children and I produce a movie which is shown to the family later. We do have adults as cameraman and editor (this year, our editor reformatted his computer and lost his editing program so movie release was almost delayed) but this is basically a kids’ production as you can tell from our past titles: The Broken Bone and The Lost Trains.
Until Thanksgiving, I didn’t know what was in the movie since my role as the spy (FBI’s Most Wanted) was to sit on the couch while the FBI (the kids) searched behind me for secret plans.
I was very impressed to see the kids’ acting. They were so natural and poised, nothing stagey about them. I, on the other hand, stunk! Really bad! I can’t act. I can’t even talk. It all comes out so high and shrill. Even my second role as the unseen, but heard, FBI Director was so phony as my lowered voice sounded like my lips were trying to meet my chin.
I remember reading an analysis of Norma Shearer’s acting and it said, at her worst, she would use hand gestures or vocal mannerisms to clue you into what she was feeling. (Back of hand to forehead: anguish.) She had the excuse that she came from the silents. I have no excuse: I’m just a bad actor.
But since it was family, watching it was a hoot and we’re planning next summer’s production already.
This brings me to the business of movies. Or rather, the business of acting in movies.
I once read in a very funny, but sadly defunct blog, You Can’t Make This Up, that after the blogger was an extra in a movie she could never look at movies the same way.
And then, just the other night, Elvis Mitchell interviewed Richard Gere about acting. Gere said you spend so much time preparing for the scene but the take is about 2 minutes long and you (the actor) have to be completely “on” during that short time.
The good actors are. But it’s all so phony. Like the poignant scene at the end of The Return of the King (which was on last night) where Frodo is saying farewell to the other hobbits. Peter Jackson has said that this final scene was shot very early in production before the hobbit actors had a chance to bond. Additionally, the scene had to be shot three times due to film and continuity problems. Yet, watching that sad farewell as it is finally captured makes the audience feel their sorrow.
But it's only actors working their craft, and working it well. And except for emotionally draining scenes when the actor may need time to re-compose, actors can and must turn these emotions on and off in an instant.
We’re taught to be real and not to be phony. Yet we shed tears, race our pulses, cringe in horror as we watch images on the screen, concentrated on that small area the camera sees, while a wide pan would reveal the everyday working movie world which closely surrounds a powerful screen shot. (As the picture in a LOTR book of Aragon fighting Sauron with two men in modern clothes within a yard of Aragon watching and drinking coffee.)
I know all this. Yet tonight, I will be watching some movie, suspending belief, caught in the moment of the drama. Is it like the protagonist figured out in Sullivan’s Travels: even in the worst conditions movies can truly transport you from your troubles, if only for a while.
This is going to be a little different today because on Thanksgiving I saw FBI’s Most Wanted, Part 1. Ok, don’t go looking in IMDb. It’s an amateur production. Though this year we did have a script and a director.
Every summer, two young children and I produce a movie which is shown to the family later. We do have adults as cameraman and editor (this year, our editor reformatted his computer and lost his editing program so movie release was almost delayed) but this is basically a kids’ production as you can tell from our past titles: The Broken Bone and The Lost Trains.
Until Thanksgiving, I didn’t know what was in the movie since my role as the spy (FBI’s Most Wanted) was to sit on the couch while the FBI (the kids) searched behind me for secret plans.
I was very impressed to see the kids’ acting. They were so natural and poised, nothing stagey about them. I, on the other hand, stunk! Really bad! I can’t act. I can’t even talk. It all comes out so high and shrill. Even my second role as the unseen, but heard, FBI Director was so phony as my lowered voice sounded like my lips were trying to meet my chin.
I remember reading an analysis of Norma Shearer’s acting and it said, at her worst, she would use hand gestures or vocal mannerisms to clue you into what she was feeling. (Back of hand to forehead: anguish.) She had the excuse that she came from the silents. I have no excuse: I’m just a bad actor.
But since it was family, watching it was a hoot and we’re planning next summer’s production already.
This brings me to the business of movies. Or rather, the business of acting in movies.
I once read in a very funny, but sadly defunct blog, You Can’t Make This Up, that after the blogger was an extra in a movie she could never look at movies the same way.
And then, just the other night, Elvis Mitchell interviewed Richard Gere about acting. Gere said you spend so much time preparing for the scene but the take is about 2 minutes long and you (the actor) have to be completely “on” during that short time.
The good actors are. But it’s all so phony. Like the poignant scene at the end of The Return of the King (which was on last night) where Frodo is saying farewell to the other hobbits. Peter Jackson has said that this final scene was shot very early in production before the hobbit actors had a chance to bond. Additionally, the scene had to be shot three times due to film and continuity problems. Yet, watching that sad farewell as it is finally captured makes the audience feel their sorrow.
But it's only actors working their craft, and working it well. And except for emotionally draining scenes when the actor may need time to re-compose, actors can and must turn these emotions on and off in an instant.
We’re taught to be real and not to be phony. Yet we shed tears, race our pulses, cringe in horror as we watch images on the screen, concentrated on that small area the camera sees, while a wide pan would reveal the everyday working movie world which closely surrounds a powerful screen shot. (As the picture in a LOTR book of Aragon fighting Sauron with two men in modern clothes within a yard of Aragon watching and drinking coffee.)
I know all this. Yet tonight, I will be watching some movie, suspending belief, caught in the moment of the drama. Is it like the protagonist figured out in Sullivan’s Travels: even in the worst conditions movies can truly transport you from your troubles, if only for a while.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Knitting Friday
Coming right after Thanksgiving in the U.S., I don’t have much for Knitting Friday.
Not that I haven’t been knitting. Right now, I'm finishing an unscoured, undyed, natural oil-filled garter stitch shawl with a make-as-you-go picot edging (beg. of each row: CO 2, BO 2.)
There’s a story behind this shawl. It started life as a tightly knitted flat pattern stitch shawl until I looked at it and said: “Wait a minute, there are darker spots in the shawl.” That’s when I read the yarn label.
I should have known better. You either dye undyed yarn or you cut out the offending blotches (which I have done; no fun is that.)
That’s when I decided a garter stitch would be more forgiving, and it is. I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this shawl since I only have 2 full skeins but the feel of the yarn is so soft that I don’t want to ban it to the frog pond.
I guess the above is all about knitting even coming after Thanksgiving. Why, you may ask does Thanksgiving have anything to do with Knitting Friday? Only because while it’s a good idea for a holiday (appreciating what you have) it exemplifies the sanitized history we have created for it (breaking bread with the Native Americans.)
We committed genocide on the Native Americans. That is the holocaust which should be taught in American schools. But Thanksgiving is our ultimate happy Hollywood ending.
On other knitting note: the leftover yarn shawl pattern from a few Fridays ago (which is still a work in progress) should be done on smaller-sized needles (US 8 to US 10.5.) This minimizes the stretch on the bias end. You can almost eliminate that stretch with a crab stitch border. Also, make sure you read the K1, M1 row this way at width: Kfb, *K1, M1* K2tog,making sure you M1 before the K2tog.
And, on a final knitting note: I was asked by the 10-year old whom I taught to crochet a blanket for her dinosaur yesterday to be sure and mention this in my blog. We were all very proud of her and, at last, the dinosaur will be warm.
The debate is now: to shop or not to shop. There is a camadarie in being with so many people but also an absolute stupidity in buying more stuff. My husband, disciplined man that he is, suggests looking at the stores as museums: you look, you admire, you go home. What willpower!
If you are not at work, enjoy your day. No, wherever you are, enjoy.
Coming right after Thanksgiving in the U.S., I don’t have much for Knitting Friday.
Not that I haven’t been knitting. Right now, I'm finishing an unscoured, undyed, natural oil-filled garter stitch shawl with a make-as-you-go picot edging (beg. of each row: CO 2, BO 2.)
There’s a story behind this shawl. It started life as a tightly knitted flat pattern stitch shawl until I looked at it and said: “Wait a minute, there are darker spots in the shawl.” That’s when I read the yarn label.
I should have known better. You either dye undyed yarn or you cut out the offending blotches (which I have done; no fun is that.)
That’s when I decided a garter stitch would be more forgiving, and it is. I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this shawl since I only have 2 full skeins but the feel of the yarn is so soft that I don’t want to ban it to the frog pond.
I guess the above is all about knitting even coming after Thanksgiving. Why, you may ask does Thanksgiving have anything to do with Knitting Friday? Only because while it’s a good idea for a holiday (appreciating what you have) it exemplifies the sanitized history we have created for it (breaking bread with the Native Americans.)
We committed genocide on the Native Americans. That is the holocaust which should be taught in American schools. But Thanksgiving is our ultimate happy Hollywood ending.
On other knitting note: the leftover yarn shawl pattern from a few Fridays ago (which is still a work in progress) should be done on smaller-sized needles (US 8 to US 10.5.) This minimizes the stretch on the bias end. You can almost eliminate that stretch with a crab stitch border. Also, make sure you read the K1, M1 row this way at width: Kfb, *K1, M1* K2tog,making sure you M1 before the K2tog.
And, on a final knitting note: I was asked by the 10-year old whom I taught to crochet a blanket for her dinosaur yesterday to be sure and mention this in my blog. We were all very proud of her and, at last, the dinosaur will be warm.
The debate is now: to shop or not to shop. There is a camadarie in being with so many people but also an absolute stupidity in buying more stuff. My husband, disciplined man that he is, suggests looking at the stores as museums: you look, you admire, you go home. What willpower!
If you are not at work, enjoy your day. No, wherever you are, enjoy.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Website Wednesday
http://www.gomestic.com/
Their mission statement: to provide the “highest quality domestic oriented content.”
There are a blend of articles on topics you might find in Good Housekeeping, Popular Mechanics, Apartment Living, Martha Stewart, the Red Cross Manual - you can see the pattern.
Some the articles are: In Homemaking, Space Creating Tips for Small Spaces; in Moving, Which Moving Company; in Cooking, Weird Food Art; in Do-It-Yourself, How to Sheet Rock.
I don't like their article on raising well-behaved children where they use the word "scorn" as a tool. They talk about punishment for a 5-year old who uses a "bad" word. I don't like that. Especially in light of the latest study which showed that until the age of 12, positive re-enforcement and not punishment is the best discipline. Apparently, until 12 the child's brain does not connect punishment as a deterrent for bad behavior. Younger, they want to please (positive re-enforcement) but punishment is associated with "I hate my parent." not "I should do better."
However, their apartment hunting checklist looks first-rate. Their five tips for living in small spaces is right on. They give important tips for winter driving. Having said that: I would not use their short article on how to build a foundation as my manual (and I don’t think they want you to) nor, as a parent, would I find some of the reasons listed for living on campus reassuring.
Most of the articles are very short and most are written in paragraph style. The ones which list the hints numerically are easier to read and, probably, to remember.
The contributor is hyperlinked with his/her article. Click there and you get to see all of the contributor's articles.
Two items of note: this site is filled with ad videos and most of their articles seem to be targeting a young adult audience.
http://www.gomestic.com/
Their mission statement: to provide the “highest quality domestic oriented content.”
There are a blend of articles on topics you might find in Good Housekeeping, Popular Mechanics, Apartment Living, Martha Stewart, the Red Cross Manual - you can see the pattern.
Some the articles are: In Homemaking, Space Creating Tips for Small Spaces; in Moving, Which Moving Company; in Cooking, Weird Food Art; in Do-It-Yourself, How to Sheet Rock.
I don't like their article on raising well-behaved children where they use the word "scorn" as a tool. They talk about punishment for a 5-year old who uses a "bad" word. I don't like that. Especially in light of the latest study which showed that until the age of 12, positive re-enforcement and not punishment is the best discipline. Apparently, until 12 the child's brain does not connect punishment as a deterrent for bad behavior. Younger, they want to please (positive re-enforcement) but punishment is associated with "I hate my parent." not "I should do better."
However, their apartment hunting checklist looks first-rate. Their five tips for living in small spaces is right on. They give important tips for winter driving. Having said that: I would not use their short article on how to build a foundation as my manual (and I don’t think they want you to) nor, as a parent, would I find some of the reasons listed for living on campus reassuring.
Most of the articles are very short and most are written in paragraph style. The ones which list the hints numerically are easier to read and, probably, to remember.
The contributor is hyperlinked with his/her article. Click there and you get to see all of the contributor's articles.
Two items of note: this site is filled with ad videos and most of their articles seem to be targeting a young adult audience.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Movie Monday: Twilight
Why vampires? And so many of them. My zillions of movies, cable movie package seems to be filled with vampires who live in your home town, or you find along the road or you meet when you decide to go spelunking with or without supplies.
Movies seem to be fixated with vampires and not the Nosferatu-type which you would run from in a heartbeat but the cool dude, the Lothario-type, the sexually desirable hunk. Wait a minute. Could sex be involved in this vampire fixation?
Saying all this, let’s get to my trailer review of the number one box office hit: Twilight. Who said vampires were bad for business.
Twilight: movie review from trailer
Ok, here’s the premise. vampires have lived peacefully among us for centuries. That I didn’t know.
A young boy vampire is in love with a human girl. We know they are in love because she, clad in bikini undies, is kissing him. And, she knows he’s a vampire because the opening dialogue in the trailer is:
She: Your skin’s pale white and ice cold.
He: Say it.
She: Vampire.
He: Are you afraid?
She: No.
She likes him. I guess, for her at least, if you’re good looking and have a pulse, you’re date material.
But all is not happy in this teen vampire paradise. There are bad vampires out there. Voiceover: Some still hunger for blood. (What? Only the bad vampires hunger for blood? Do the good ones all live next to the abattoir?)
We see a bad boy vampire meeting the good boy vampire and his date and the bad boy says: You brought a snack.
(Now, to step aside from my role as movie critic and to speak of screen writing today: Does anybody vet this stuff before the final print? You brought a snack! He’s eying a full grown girl. She’s carrying enough blood calories for a few days. But for the sake of pithiness some screenwriter decided the line had more punch as written.)
Moving along in the trailer, the bad boy vampire has the good boy vampire pinned to a broken mirror. We can see the reflection of both of them in it. Wait another minute! I distinctly remember that Bela Lugosi did not appear in a mirror nor did the vampire in Fright Night. Has vampire lore been turned on its head? What are we to believe?
What I expect from the movie based on the trailer:
Well, the voiceover tells us. The good vampire must battle the bad vampire for “what he desires most”, which is most probably the human girl.
So, I’m expecting a teen love story of human and vampire beings with probably a good amount of action and spooks since this didn't get to be number one as only a love story.
I don’t know if there will be a happy ending. Do vampires have happy endings? I think that the ones who do survive just go on and on and on. Bummer.
Although the topic really isn’t that appealing to me, (I don’t think I had a crush on a vampire as a teen - you never can tell though) if it appeared in the lineup for my big screen TV, I would probably watch it.
Oh, and it’s based on a book.
Why vampires? And so many of them. My zillions of movies, cable movie package seems to be filled with vampires who live in your home town, or you find along the road or you meet when you decide to go spelunking with or without supplies.
Movies seem to be fixated with vampires and not the Nosferatu-type which you would run from in a heartbeat but the cool dude, the Lothario-type, the sexually desirable hunk. Wait a minute. Could sex be involved in this vampire fixation?
Saying all this, let’s get to my trailer review of the number one box office hit: Twilight. Who said vampires were bad for business.
Twilight: movie review from trailer
Ok, here’s the premise. vampires have lived peacefully among us for centuries. That I didn’t know.
A young boy vampire is in love with a human girl. We know they are in love because she, clad in bikini undies, is kissing him. And, she knows he’s a vampire because the opening dialogue in the trailer is:
She: Your skin’s pale white and ice cold.
He: Say it.
She: Vampire.
He: Are you afraid?
She: No.
She likes him. I guess, for her at least, if you’re good looking and have a pulse, you’re date material.
But all is not happy in this teen vampire paradise. There are bad vampires out there. Voiceover: Some still hunger for blood. (What? Only the bad vampires hunger for blood? Do the good ones all live next to the abattoir?)
We see a bad boy vampire meeting the good boy vampire and his date and the bad boy says: You brought a snack.
(Now, to step aside from my role as movie critic and to speak of screen writing today: Does anybody vet this stuff before the final print? You brought a snack! He’s eying a full grown girl. She’s carrying enough blood calories for a few days. But for the sake of pithiness some screenwriter decided the line had more punch as written.)
Moving along in the trailer, the bad boy vampire has the good boy vampire pinned to a broken mirror. We can see the reflection of both of them in it. Wait another minute! I distinctly remember that Bela Lugosi did not appear in a mirror nor did the vampire in Fright Night. Has vampire lore been turned on its head? What are we to believe?
What I expect from the movie based on the trailer:
Well, the voiceover tells us. The good vampire must battle the bad vampire for “what he desires most”, which is most probably the human girl.
So, I’m expecting a teen love story of human and vampire beings with probably a good amount of action and spooks since this didn't get to be number one as only a love story.
I don’t know if there will be a happy ending. Do vampires have happy endings? I think that the ones who do survive just go on and on and on. Bummer.
Although the topic really isn’t that appealing to me, (I don’t think I had a crush on a vampire as a teen - you never can tell though) if it appeared in the lineup for my big screen TV, I would probably watch it.
Oh, and it’s based on a book.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Knitting Friday
I thought I would reprint the reviews of two knitting books I wrote for Amazon. I try to write pretty detailed reviews for Amazon because I know its reputation of having gushy ("You must buy this book." or "I have never written such a clear, concise book on ----") positive reviews written by FOAs (Friends/Fans of the Author.)
In fact, I got involved in a controversy over one such review once as a free speech issue. It seems that among all the positive reviews (and the author did admit to me that these were written by friends/fans) listed for a book, there was one scathing review. At least the author's friends thought it was and started a campaign of protesting to Amazon. They got the bad review removed.
To Amazon's credit, they responded immediately to my e-mail complaining about the censorship asking me for all the particulars. I never did find out if they would have re-examined the negative review and re-posted it because I didn't follow through.
By then, I was in e-mail communication with the author (a very nice person) of the book and once she and I had discussed the free speech issue of the situation, I didn't think it merited carrying it to the "official" level with Amazon.
That said, here are my two reviews:
Big Book of Knitting Stitch Patterns - no author or editor listed
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Sterling (August 1, 2005)
First, a word of warning: the patterns have no selvage (border) stitches. You jump right into the pattern.
I gave this book five stars because:
1) It has a Contents and Index page.
2) It has written instructions for each pattern with include any out-of -the-ordinary instructions (ex. 4-st left cross.)
3) It has chart instructions for each pattern. This is an excellent way for someone new to charts to get started.
4) All the patterns list the stitch multiples needed for different sizes. This is so much better than "CO 52 sts."
5)Every pattern is accompanied by a clear colored picture.
6) There is a large variety of patterns.
This is an excellent buy for the beginner knitter or the experienced one who may be looking for a special stitch for a garment.
Shawls Two On the go! - no author or editor listed
(Note: Vogue is mentioned prominently in the title on Amazon. An editor is also listed. However, the copy they sent me has neither Vogue nor an editor listed.)
Hardcover: 96 pages
Publisher: Sixth&Spring Books (September 2, 2008)
I really enjoy this little book. Its size makes it portable and it contains a diversity of patterns to interest the new to experienced knitter. You have lace, short rows, cable, drop-stitch, garter patterns, etc. from shawlettes to shawls in triangular and rectangular shapes. It is definitely not a book of the same pattern only in different colors and yarns.
I'm an experienced knitter so I was happy to count over 15 shawls listed in the Intermediate to Experienced Skills range. This is probably a book for new knitters to grow into though Midas Touch, Multi-Yarn Wrap, and Textured Shawl would be easy for them. Additionally, there are 9 pages of instructions ranging from needle and yarn weight charts to illustrations for stitches and procedures to help the new knitter.
Lace charts have always spooked me since some seem to go on forever. However, these charts are short, clear and easy to read with the stitch key explained in the pattern text. I didn't work any of the charts but, to the eye, they look error-free.
I've tried a lot of the pattern stitches for the shawls and they're interesting and error-free. However, when I started the Drop-Stitch Shawl,I did discover some confusion on Rows 13 & 15 which may bother a new knitter. The publisher does have an active Corrections page so I sent them an e-mail.
A worth-while buy.
I thought I would reprint the reviews of two knitting books I wrote for Amazon. I try to write pretty detailed reviews for Amazon because I know its reputation of having gushy ("You must buy this book." or "I have never written such a clear, concise book on ----") positive reviews written by FOAs (Friends/Fans of the Author.)
In fact, I got involved in a controversy over one such review once as a free speech issue. It seems that among all the positive reviews (and the author did admit to me that these were written by friends/fans) listed for a book, there was one scathing review. At least the author's friends thought it was and started a campaign of protesting to Amazon. They got the bad review removed.
To Amazon's credit, they responded immediately to my e-mail complaining about the censorship asking me for all the particulars. I never did find out if they would have re-examined the negative review and re-posted it because I didn't follow through.
By then, I was in e-mail communication with the author (a very nice person) of the book and once she and I had discussed the free speech issue of the situation, I didn't think it merited carrying it to the "official" level with Amazon.
That said, here are my two reviews:
Big Book of Knitting Stitch Patterns - no author or editor listed
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Sterling (August 1, 2005)
First, a word of warning: the patterns have no selvage (border) stitches. You jump right into the pattern.
I gave this book five stars because:
1) It has a Contents and Index page.
2) It has written instructions for each pattern with include any out-of -the-ordinary instructions (ex. 4-st left cross.)
3) It has chart instructions for each pattern. This is an excellent way for someone new to charts to get started.
4) All the patterns list the stitch multiples needed for different sizes. This is so much better than "CO 52 sts."
5)Every pattern is accompanied by a clear colored picture.
6) There is a large variety of patterns.
This is an excellent buy for the beginner knitter or the experienced one who may be looking for a special stitch for a garment.
Shawls Two On the go! - no author or editor listed
(Note: Vogue is mentioned prominently in the title on Amazon. An editor is also listed. However, the copy they sent me has neither Vogue nor an editor listed.)
Hardcover: 96 pages
Publisher: Sixth&Spring Books (September 2, 2008)
I really enjoy this little book. Its size makes it portable and it contains a diversity of patterns to interest the new to experienced knitter. You have lace, short rows, cable, drop-stitch, garter patterns, etc. from shawlettes to shawls in triangular and rectangular shapes. It is definitely not a book of the same pattern only in different colors and yarns.
I'm an experienced knitter so I was happy to count over 15 shawls listed in the Intermediate to Experienced Skills range. This is probably a book for new knitters to grow into though Midas Touch, Multi-Yarn Wrap, and Textured Shawl would be easy for them. Additionally, there are 9 pages of instructions ranging from needle and yarn weight charts to illustrations for stitches and procedures to help the new knitter.
Lace charts have always spooked me since some seem to go on forever. However, these charts are short, clear and easy to read with the stitch key explained in the pattern text. I didn't work any of the charts but, to the eye, they look error-free.
I've tried a lot of the pattern stitches for the shawls and they're interesting and error-free. However, when I started the Drop-Stitch Shawl,I did discover some confusion on Rows 13 & 15 which may bother a new knitter. The publisher does have an active Corrections page so I sent them an e-mail.
A worth-while buy.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Website Wednesday
I enjoy watching public domain movies on the Internet from the 1930's. Not for their artistic merit but for their freeze-frame of life back then. They cannot be a revisionist’s portrait of the past.
That’s what makes this website so important:
http://www.old-picture.com/
which is, as it says, a collection of old pictures.
(Note: This web site is picture intensive so I don’t think it will work well on a dial-up connection.)
Click around and you'll find pictures such as: An ambulance cart from 1862 with wounded and possibly dead men lying on the ground, “speaking” to you from two centuries ago; a 1856 portrait of Alfred Francis Russell who moved to Liberia and became its President in 1883; Bedouin shepherds of Syria in a picture taken before 1900; a native American child standing before a tepee from 1910; and a scenic color picture of Sarajevo with the caption “This color photochrome print was taken between 1890 and 1900 in Bosnia, Austro-Hungary.”
Take a look at Dogs Motoring from 1910. The dog looks modern, but check out the driver’s attire.
Each picture has a caption and most pictures are dated.
Dig further, and you'll find: http://old-photos.blogspot.com/ which is the blog of the man who owns the above website. On his blog, he posts the picture of the day with interesting comments. The blog has an archive of daily pictures going back through 2007.
So go and take a trip into history. You won’t be disappointed.
I enjoy watching public domain movies on the Internet from the 1930's. Not for their artistic merit but for their freeze-frame of life back then. They cannot be a revisionist’s portrait of the past.
That’s what makes this website so important:
http://www.old-picture.com/
which is, as it says, a collection of old pictures.
(Note: This web site is picture intensive so I don’t think it will work well on a dial-up connection.)
Click around and you'll find pictures such as: An ambulance cart from 1862 with wounded and possibly dead men lying on the ground, “speaking” to you from two centuries ago; a 1856 portrait of Alfred Francis Russell who moved to Liberia and became its President in 1883; Bedouin shepherds of Syria in a picture taken before 1900; a native American child standing before a tepee from 1910; and a scenic color picture of Sarajevo with the caption “This color photochrome print was taken between 1890 and 1900 in Bosnia, Austro-Hungary.”
Take a look at Dogs Motoring from 1910. The dog looks modern, but check out the driver’s attire.
Each picture has a caption and most pictures are dated.
Dig further, and you'll find: http://old-photos.blogspot.com/ which is the blog of the man who owns the above website. On his blog, he posts the picture of the day with interesting comments. The blog has an archive of daily pictures going back through 2007.
So go and take a trip into history. You won’t be disappointed.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Movie Monday
I don’t like James Bond movies. Nothing unusual there. I don’t like the uber-hero, the sexy broads, the fancy-dancy weaponry; the bon-mots coming from Bond. Although, I’m sure, to keep an audience today, the makers of these movies have added some PC touches: sexy broads with brains; angst on the part of James; a female M (was that his boss’ alphabet name?); a theme with strum und drang.
Whatever. We all have just so many heartbeats, just so many sunsets; should I waste mine on a James Bond movie.
Saying that: let me review Quantum of Solace based on its trailer.
A car is driving in the desert. Voice over: He’s a pretty cold bastard if he didn’t want revenge for someone he loves. This time, it may be personal with Bond. (Note: Could this be referring to Bond's wife who got killed in a much, much earlier George Lazenby movie?)
We learn that Bond and M are up against a big, secret organization which is trying to control the world’s most precious resource (you decide which one) and I think Bond’s unfinished business with a man (at whom he is pointing a gun) might have something to do with this organization and Bond’s desire for revenge.
And then we learn about a Dominic Greene who is of interest to Bond and M and has already began destabilizing the government. But apparently though Greene may be evil “You know who Greene is....” the good guys still need him “....and you want to put us in bed with him?” Oh, the lack of defined good and evil in our existential world.
Finally, the beautiful woman appears. “Careful with this one, Mr. Bond. She won’t go to bed with you unless you give her something she really wants.” I told you the “broads” had brains.
We learn that both she and Bond are damaged goods. She asks him if he has caught up with the person who took something from him. (See above.) Bond: Not yet. She: Tell me when you do, I’d like to know how it feels.” (Note: I think this dialogue should have ended before the woman’s line. This final zinger closes the arc and it should be left hanging.)
So we know there is some heavy psychological stuff brewing in this Bond. There are also car chases, lots of explosions, boats that fly into the air; men falling through glass ceilings. You know the drill.
What I expect from the trailer:
I expect the new Bond, darker and deeper, but never forgetting the faithful male, young audience out there which needs its feats of strength and daring.
While I dislike all the slickness (as with so many movies) and cringe at the brooding one-liners; it would pass the time. I see it in my future on cable TV.
I don’t like James Bond movies. Nothing unusual there. I don’t like the uber-hero, the sexy broads, the fancy-dancy weaponry; the bon-mots coming from Bond. Although, I’m sure, to keep an audience today, the makers of these movies have added some PC touches: sexy broads with brains; angst on the part of James; a female M (was that his boss’ alphabet name?); a theme with strum und drang.
Whatever. We all have just so many heartbeats, just so many sunsets; should I waste mine on a James Bond movie.
Saying that: let me review Quantum of Solace based on its trailer.
A car is driving in the desert. Voice over: He’s a pretty cold bastard if he didn’t want revenge for someone he loves. This time, it may be personal with Bond. (Note: Could this be referring to Bond's wife who got killed in a much, much earlier George Lazenby movie?)
We learn that Bond and M are up against a big, secret organization which is trying to control the world’s most precious resource (you decide which one) and I think Bond’s unfinished business with a man (at whom he is pointing a gun) might have something to do with this organization and Bond’s desire for revenge.
And then we learn about a Dominic Greene who is of interest to Bond and M and has already began destabilizing the government. But apparently though Greene may be evil “You know who Greene is....” the good guys still need him “....and you want to put us in bed with him?” Oh, the lack of defined good and evil in our existential world.
Finally, the beautiful woman appears. “Careful with this one, Mr. Bond. She won’t go to bed with you unless you give her something she really wants.” I told you the “broads” had brains.
We learn that both she and Bond are damaged goods. She asks him if he has caught up with the person who took something from him. (See above.) Bond: Not yet. She: Tell me when you do, I’d like to know how it feels.” (Note: I think this dialogue should have ended before the woman’s line. This final zinger closes the arc and it should be left hanging.)
So we know there is some heavy psychological stuff brewing in this Bond. There are also car chases, lots of explosions, boats that fly into the air; men falling through glass ceilings. You know the drill.
What I expect from the trailer:
I expect the new Bond, darker and deeper, but never forgetting the faithful male, young audience out there which needs its feats of strength and daring.
While I dislike all the slickness (as with so many movies) and cringe at the brooding one-liners; it would pass the time. I see it in my future on cable TV.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Knitting Friday
The Nobel Prize Winning Knitting Tip
Well, this one is such to me though it might be as simple as “socks first, then shoes” to you.
I have always avoided this most simple lace pattern:
Row 1: K
Row 2: K, *yo, K2tog*, K
Row 3: K
Row 4: K, *ssk, yo*, K
Why, you ask? Because I can never tell if I'm on the Row 2 or Row 4 YO row. I mix them up all the time.
Those two rows are important because with only a Row 2, the Knit 1, YO lace effect would only occur on one side of the row. The other side would have a Knit 2 edge and would be thicker. Also, if you are knitting on the diagonal - as I often do - your bias would be so pronounced, that the garment might be unwearable, without these two rows.
Most of the time with this type of row (what I call the pattern row) you can tie a colored yarn to that side to differentiate it and use a counter. But in this pattern, all the colored yarn tells you is that the row is a YO row and you need more information than that. Also, while a counter would work, it's cumbersome for just four rows.
The epiphany came yesterday:
1: Cut a long, thin piece of yarn for a marker. Made a loop in the middle and make sure you have long tails.
2. At the beginning of Row 1 - two or three stitches in - put the marker with only the loop facing you. The long tails will be facing the Row 2 side.
3: Knit across for Row 1 and turn.
4. Looking at Row 2 (your *YO, K2tog* row), you’ll see the long tails at the end of the row. This tells you this is Row 2.
5. Work to the end of the row but when you come to the marker turn it so only the loop is facing you; the tails will now show on the Row 3 side. Move the marker to the right needle this way. Finish the row and turn.
6. Knit across for Row 3, moving the marker, as is, to the right needle. Turn.
7. Now, Row 4 is facing you. You'll see the marker at the end of the row and since you only see the loop on this side you know that this is Row 4, your *SSK, YO* row.
8. Work across Row 4 and when you come to the marker turn it so the tails now face you. Then move it this way to the right needle. Finish the row and turn.
8: Continue in pattern, moving the marker along as you go, turning it so the tails show on Row 2 and only the loop shows on Row 4.
9. Also, tie a colored yarn to the body of your work to show on the Row 2/Row 4 side and you’ll know every time you’re on a YO row.
It’s that simple. Just remember to keep moving the long tails or the loop to the correct side each time.
The Nobel Prize Winning Knitting Tip
Well, this one is such to me though it might be as simple as “socks first, then shoes” to you.
I have always avoided this most simple lace pattern:
Row 1: K
Row 2: K, *yo, K2tog*, K
Row 3: K
Row 4: K, *ssk, yo*, K
Why, you ask? Because I can never tell if I'm on the Row 2 or Row 4 YO row. I mix them up all the time.
Those two rows are important because with only a Row 2, the Knit 1, YO lace effect would only occur on one side of the row. The other side would have a Knit 2 edge and would be thicker. Also, if you are knitting on the diagonal - as I often do - your bias would be so pronounced, that the garment might be unwearable, without these two rows.
Most of the time with this type of row (what I call the pattern row) you can tie a colored yarn to that side to differentiate it and use a counter. But in this pattern, all the colored yarn tells you is that the row is a YO row and you need more information than that. Also, while a counter would work, it's cumbersome for just four rows.
The epiphany came yesterday:
1: Cut a long, thin piece of yarn for a marker. Made a loop in the middle and make sure you have long tails.
2. At the beginning of Row 1 - two or three stitches in - put the marker with only the loop facing you. The long tails will be facing the Row 2 side.
3: Knit across for Row 1 and turn.
4. Looking at Row 2 (your *YO, K2tog* row), you’ll see the long tails at the end of the row. This tells you this is Row 2.
5. Work to the end of the row but when you come to the marker turn it so only the loop is facing you; the tails will now show on the Row 3 side. Move the marker to the right needle this way. Finish the row and turn.
6. Knit across for Row 3, moving the marker, as is, to the right needle. Turn.
7. Now, Row 4 is facing you. You'll see the marker at the end of the row and since you only see the loop on this side you know that this is Row 4, your *SSK, YO* row.
8. Work across Row 4 and when you come to the marker turn it so the tails now face you. Then move it this way to the right needle. Finish the row and turn.
8: Continue in pattern, moving the marker along as you go, turning it so the tails show on Row 2 and only the loop shows on Row 4.
9. Also, tie a colored yarn to the body of your work to show on the Row 2/Row 4 side and you’ll know every time you’re on a YO row.
It’s that simple. Just remember to keep moving the long tails or the loop to the correct side each time.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Why Won’t She Go Away?
That seems to be a common complaint about Sarah Palin. She lost and still she is getting so much media coverage.
We’re hearing the old saw: Well, if the public didn’t have an interest in her she wouldn’t be getting so much media coverage.
Good try, but the public does not control the media. To use one example, in spite of the plethora of channels on the TV, news shows are on channels controlled by large corporations. They are not mom and pop public access deals from someone’s basement.
Someone told me once that popular songs become hits because they are played so often. Pretty soon, they are the tunes you can’t get out your head; then the tunes you have to buy.
It’s the same in politics. Free publicity gets you attention. Attention gets you interest. And it goes from there. There are very few taboo crimes which damn politicians.
I don’t know where the Sarah Palin saga will end. I do disagree that she is a recruiting poster for Democratic votes. In a parliamentary system where she would have much less power, perhaps. But except for the very occasional third party candidate who garners an influential amount of votes, the 50-50 chance of her ilk capturing the presidency is a nightmare thought.
That seems to be a common complaint about Sarah Palin. She lost and still she is getting so much media coverage.
We’re hearing the old saw: Well, if the public didn’t have an interest in her she wouldn’t be getting so much media coverage.
Good try, but the public does not control the media. To use one example, in spite of the plethora of channels on the TV, news shows are on channels controlled by large corporations. They are not mom and pop public access deals from someone’s basement.
Someone told me once that popular songs become hits because they are played so often. Pretty soon, they are the tunes you can’t get out your head; then the tunes you have to buy.
It’s the same in politics. Free publicity gets you attention. Attention gets you interest. And it goes from there. There are very few taboo crimes which damn politicians.
I don’t know where the Sarah Palin saga will end. I do disagree that she is a recruiting poster for Democratic votes. In a parliamentary system where she would have much less power, perhaps. But except for the very occasional third party candidate who garners an influential amount of votes, the 50-50 chance of her ilk capturing the presidency is a nightmare thought.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Website Wednesday
Being back at a computer which has a working sound system, it seems fitting that my website for this Wednesday is:
http://www.ted.com/
which is so sound intensive.
TED which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design started in 1984 as conferences to bring together people from those three disciplines for talks and discussions.
It still exists as real world conferences but by clicking on Themes A-Z on their web page you get a list of 38 categories of talks for you to listen to at your computer. Click on any category and you get an extensive list of top thinkers talking about their interests.
For example, click “How the Mind Works” for talks from Doris Kearns Goodwin, Stephen Hawkings, Dan Dennett and Al Gore to name only a few.
Talks seem to run 5 to 30 minutes and each speaker’s page has a short biography and links of interest.
This is a treasure trove of knowledge: important knowledge but not presented pedantically.
Enjoy.
Being back at a computer which has a working sound system, it seems fitting that my website for this Wednesday is:
http://www.ted.com/
which is so sound intensive.
TED which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design started in 1984 as conferences to bring together people from those three disciplines for talks and discussions.
It still exists as real world conferences but by clicking on Themes A-Z on their web page you get a list of 38 categories of talks for you to listen to at your computer. Click on any category and you get an extensive list of top thinkers talking about their interests.
For example, click “How the Mind Works” for talks from Doris Kearns Goodwin, Stephen Hawkings, Dan Dennett and Al Gore to name only a few.
Talks seem to run 5 to 30 minutes and each speaker’s page has a short biography and links of interest.
This is a treasure trove of knowledge: important knowledge but not presented pedantically.
Enjoy.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Movie Monday
I had planned to do a trailer review of Changeling today but I'm sitting at a different computer and I have no idea how to turn on the speakers. Or rather, the speakers are turned on, the volume is up to the blasting setting, but the green "I"m On" light is off so all I'm seeing are pictures, no words.
So, I thought I would change the pace a little and discuss European vs. American films - on a very cursory level, of course, because I have only seen two foreign (French) films over the weekend.
One is the 1991 film, Tous Les Matins du Monde, about a master musician who doesn't share his works and his pupil who becomes famous but is without a musical soul. The other is the 2006 film, Avenue Montaigne, about a young country girl's adventures as a waitress in Paris and how she affects other people. (Thematically similar to Browning's Pippa Passes.) Both of which were big hits in Europe.
Watching them both, one in late afternoon, the other in the middle of the night, I kept thinking: No way could these movies be made by an American director and/or be popular outside of the American art-movie crowd. For these reasons alone: they were talky; they were slow.
People talked and looked or sat silent and looked. You, the audience, looked at things. People walked at normal speeds.
An ending was sweetly optimistic in one and accepting of a melancholy world in the other.
In both you used your brain and not REM. Pathetically, not the American way.
Which got me thinking about the news story that if the rest of the world could have voted in the 11/4 U.S. presidential election, it would have been 94% for Barack Obama and 6% for John McCain. Here, Obama won 52% to 48%.
We seem to be different than the rest of the world. Should we be examining if this is always a positive attribute?
I had planned to do a trailer review of Changeling today but I'm sitting at a different computer and I have no idea how to turn on the speakers. Or rather, the speakers are turned on, the volume is up to the blasting setting, but the green "I"m On" light is off so all I'm seeing are pictures, no words.
So, I thought I would change the pace a little and discuss European vs. American films - on a very cursory level, of course, because I have only seen two foreign (French) films over the weekend.
One is the 1991 film, Tous Les Matins du Monde, about a master musician who doesn't share his works and his pupil who becomes famous but is without a musical soul. The other is the 2006 film, Avenue Montaigne, about a young country girl's adventures as a waitress in Paris and how she affects other people. (Thematically similar to Browning's Pippa Passes.) Both of which were big hits in Europe.
Watching them both, one in late afternoon, the other in the middle of the night, I kept thinking: No way could these movies be made by an American director and/or be popular outside of the American art-movie crowd. For these reasons alone: they were talky; they were slow.
People talked and looked or sat silent and looked. You, the audience, looked at things. People walked at normal speeds.
An ending was sweetly optimistic in one and accepting of a melancholy world in the other.
In both you used your brain and not REM. Pathetically, not the American way.
Which got me thinking about the news story that if the rest of the world could have voted in the 11/4 U.S. presidential election, it would have been 94% for Barack Obama and 6% for John McCain. Here, Obama won 52% to 48%.
We seem to be different than the rest of the world. Should we be examining if this is always a positive attribute?
Friday, November 7, 2008
Knitting Friday
I promised directions for a shawl made of left-over yarn last week. I'm going to give you the basic pattern which has not been tested completely (it's still on the needles) so I would appreciate any feedback if you try the pattern.
Leftover Yarn Shawl Pattern
First, prepare your yarn by making a good-sized ball either by Russian joins or splicing.
Materials: yarn, any size needles. I'm using US 17.
Abbreviations:
K - Knit
Kfb/ Pfb - Knit (or purl) in front and back of the stitch
M1 - make one stitch in the horizontal thread between the stitches
P2tog - Purl two stitches together
RS - Right side
Sts - Stitches
* * - repeat directions between asterisks to last stitch
Set Up: Co 2 Pfb (4 sts)
Row 1 RS: Kfb *M1, K1* Kfb (2 st increase made)
Row 2: K *P2tog* K
Repeat Rows 1 & 2.
At your desired width, Row 1 becomes:
Row 1: Kfb *M1, K1* K2tog
At your desired length, Row 1 becomes:
Row 1: K2tog *M1, K1* K2tog
Tricky Part: The K st on the Row 1 side (not the M1 st) will look like a diagonal braid st. To the right of this st is the M1 area. You will notice two horizontal threads here.
________
________(this is the front thread)
With your right needle pick up the front horizontal thread and place it on your left needle. Knit in the front of this stitch. This becomes your M1 stitch.
On the first and second stitch of Row 1, it's difficult to see both horizontal threads in the M1 area. Just pick up the one you see. For the other M1s, if you stretch your work horizontally you will easily see the two threads.
Second Tricky Part: If you have to frog, remember that Row 1 has a lot of M1 stitches. To get that row back to its original count after frogging, you have to drop the M1s (they will just go back to being horizontal threads) and then start the row again, re-making the M1s.
Helpful Note: When you get to your width, count your stitches. That number must stay the same until you get to your length.
That's it. On US 17 needles, I'm getting a stretchy shawl (as you do knitting on the bias.) I'd like to try this on smaller needles to see the effect.
What's really nice is the fact that the colors seamlessly blend in and the front is attractively textured. (A picture will follow soon.)
At this point, I haven't decided what to do to the edges. More on that later.
Enjoy your knitting.
I promised directions for a shawl made of left-over yarn last week. I'm going to give you the basic pattern which has not been tested completely (it's still on the needles) so I would appreciate any feedback if you try the pattern.
Leftover Yarn Shawl Pattern
First, prepare your yarn by making a good-sized ball either by Russian joins or splicing.
Materials: yarn, any size needles. I'm using US 17.
Abbreviations:
K - Knit
Kfb/ Pfb - Knit (or purl) in front and back of the stitch
M1 - make one stitch in the horizontal thread between the stitches
P2tog - Purl two stitches together
RS - Right side
Sts - Stitches
* * - repeat directions between asterisks to last stitch
Set Up: Co 2 Pfb (4 sts)
Row 1 RS: Kfb *M1, K1* Kfb (2 st increase made)
Row 2: K *P2tog* K
Repeat Rows 1 & 2.
At your desired width, Row 1 becomes:
Row 1: Kfb *M1, K1* K2tog
At your desired length, Row 1 becomes:
Row 1: K2tog *M1, K1* K2tog
Tricky Part: The K st on the Row 1 side (not the M1 st) will look like a diagonal braid st. To the right of this st is the M1 area. You will notice two horizontal threads here.
________
________(this is the front thread)
With your right needle pick up the front horizontal thread and place it on your left needle. Knit in the front of this stitch. This becomes your M1 stitch.
On the first and second stitch of Row 1, it's difficult to see both horizontal threads in the M1 area. Just pick up the one you see. For the other M1s, if you stretch your work horizontally you will easily see the two threads.
Second Tricky Part: If you have to frog, remember that Row 1 has a lot of M1 stitches. To get that row back to its original count after frogging, you have to drop the M1s (they will just go back to being horizontal threads) and then start the row again, re-making the M1s.
Helpful Note: When you get to your width, count your stitches. That number must stay the same until you get to your length.
That's it. On US 17 needles, I'm getting a stretchy shawl (as you do knitting on the bias.) I'd like to try this on smaller needles to see the effect.
What's really nice is the fact that the colors seamlessly blend in and the front is attractively textured. (A picture will follow soon.)
At this point, I haven't decided what to do to the edges. More on that later.
Enjoy your knitting.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Website Wednesday
It's been a politically emotional roller coaster the last few months. So let's relax and just look at some of the extraordinary creativeness of the human mind today.
Where does reality end and art begin?
http://pictures.streakr.com/sidewalk.htm
Why an extensive library is so important.
http://www.offbeatearth.com/dont-like-reading-other-uses-for-books/
It's been a politically emotional roller coaster the last few months. So let's relax and just look at some of the extraordinary creativeness of the human mind today.
Where does reality end and art begin?
http://pictures.streakr.com/sidewalk.htm
Why an extensive library is so important.
http://www.offbeatearth.com/dont-like-reading-other-uses-for-books/
President-Elect
Barack Hussein Obama
"And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world - our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down - we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security - we support you. And to all those who have wondered if Americas beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
'For that is the true genius of America - that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
'This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing - Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
'She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
'And tonight, I think about all that She’s seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we cant, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
'At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
'When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
'When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
'She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that 'We Shall Overcome.' Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
'America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
'This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we cant, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:
'Yes we Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.' "
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Vote Obama
The United States will be facing so many challenges in the next few years and we need Barack Obama as our Chief Executive. He is the only candidate possessing the stature to lead this country.
Put aside any prejudice, any conservative economic ideology, any media-driven negative slant.
Vote for the future of your country and the world today.
For yourself and for all of us: Vote Obama.
The United States will be facing so many challenges in the next few years and we need Barack Obama as our Chief Executive. He is the only candidate possessing the stature to lead this country.
Put aside any prejudice, any conservative economic ideology, any media-driven negative slant.
Vote for the future of your country and the world today.
For yourself and for all of us: Vote Obama.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Movie Monday
I don't like movie musicals. They are always so phony, whether it’s the solo performer alone in his room who breaks out into song only to be accompanied by a full orchestra or the man and woman walking down the street and suddenly bursting into song.
Phony. And phooey. I’ll accept the premise that Orcs exist before I accept that so many humans have perfect pitch.
Saying that, I must admit I loved the musical, Cabaret. The musical numbers appeared where they would appear in reality. All the other times, people talked - just like real life.
Which brings me to Movie Monday and High School Musical 3. I shudder to think I’m once more going to be subjected to perky, singing and dancing high school kids in a gee-whiz-like "real" high school setting. But it was this or Saw V, so here goes.
High School Musical 3 (review from trailers)
Let’s start, and I hope end, with Trailer #1. First scene, a row of lockers (what a polished hall floor!) It’s senior year and apparently everyone at this school is dancing through it.
We see two guys dancing in front of an old truck and then everyone starts dancing in some form or other. All the actors from the first two incarnations of this romp seem to be back, even the blond guy with his crazy hats. Were these screen writers all home schooled?
Wait a minute. We’re in the gym and it’s a basketball game. But this one is different. The heroine is in the bleachers, silhouetted, standing up and singing to the hero on the court. And, the hero is silhouetted on the court and singing back to her. It’s like the high school version of freezing time. (“I believe.” “That’s all I really need.”)
Oh, wait another minute. It’s like the high school version of freezing time and having the heroine give the hero the confidence he needs to go on.
Then we get everyone dancing - everywhere. Well, it is a musical. Everyone is so happy and perky. Though we do learn that our heroine and hero will be parting and she seems to be accepting it better than he is.
The screen flashes with: The Musical Experience of this Generation.
And you know, it probably is. Because with all my dislike of musicals and my mocking of this one, just like Andy Hardy, James Dean, John Travolta or Johnny Depp, this group of actors has caught the imagination of pre-teens and early teens. In many ways, these kids could do worse.
What I expect from the trailer: Singing, dancing, happy, happy, happy, some angst and watching this at least a few time with kids on DVD.
I don't like movie musicals. They are always so phony, whether it’s the solo performer alone in his room who breaks out into song only to be accompanied by a full orchestra or the man and woman walking down the street and suddenly bursting into song.
Phony. And phooey. I’ll accept the premise that Orcs exist before I accept that so many humans have perfect pitch.
Saying that, I must admit I loved the musical, Cabaret. The musical numbers appeared where they would appear in reality. All the other times, people talked - just like real life.
Which brings me to Movie Monday and High School Musical 3. I shudder to think I’m once more going to be subjected to perky, singing and dancing high school kids in a gee-whiz-like "real" high school setting. But it was this or Saw V, so here goes.
High School Musical 3 (review from trailers)
Let’s start, and I hope end, with Trailer #1. First scene, a row of lockers (what a polished hall floor!) It’s senior year and apparently everyone at this school is dancing through it.
We see two guys dancing in front of an old truck and then everyone starts dancing in some form or other. All the actors from the first two incarnations of this romp seem to be back, even the blond guy with his crazy hats. Were these screen writers all home schooled?
Wait a minute. We’re in the gym and it’s a basketball game. But this one is different. The heroine is in the bleachers, silhouetted, standing up and singing to the hero on the court. And, the hero is silhouetted on the court and singing back to her. It’s like the high school version of freezing time. (“I believe.” “That’s all I really need.”)
Oh, wait another minute. It’s like the high school version of freezing time and having the heroine give the hero the confidence he needs to go on.
Then we get everyone dancing - everywhere. Well, it is a musical. Everyone is so happy and perky. Though we do learn that our heroine and hero will be parting and she seems to be accepting it better than he is.
The screen flashes with: The Musical Experience of this Generation.
And you know, it probably is. Because with all my dislike of musicals and my mocking of this one, just like Andy Hardy, James Dean, John Travolta or Johnny Depp, this group of actors has caught the imagination of pre-teens and early teens. In many ways, these kids could do worse.
What I expect from the trailer: Singing, dancing, happy, happy, happy, some angst and watching this at least a few time with kids on DVD.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
The Safety Of Your Car
It was an interesting day yesterday. It was the third time since I put an Obama '08 sticker on the rear bumper of my car that a driver behind me made his displeasure known.
All three times it's been male drivers. The first time, the day after Obama's convention speech someone pulled out from behind me, hit the horn and gave me "Thumbs Down."
The second time I was stopped at a light, windows up, when I noticed the guy pull up beside me and start screaming in my direction. It wasn't until he gave me the finger that I even realized him anger was directed at me.
Yesterday, again stopped at the light, a man behind me in a rather expensive-looking car, become apoplectic, shouting, pointing to my bumper, shouting, - you know the drill.
And, yes, I am a good driver and they were not commenting on my driving.
And so, you can have a Clinton sticker and a Kerry sticker without incident, but with an Obama bumper sticker you get three unpleasant reactions. Why is that I wonder?
However, being bullies, no one approaches me when I wear my Obama '08. I bet it bugs a lot of people and that's just fine with me.
I wear it formidably. I look like "don't hassle with me" when I walk. And I mean it. And they don't.
Bullies like the easy safety of their cars.
It was an interesting day yesterday. It was the third time since I put an Obama '08 sticker on the rear bumper of my car that a driver behind me made his displeasure known.
All three times it's been male drivers. The first time, the day after Obama's convention speech someone pulled out from behind me, hit the horn and gave me "Thumbs Down."
The second time I was stopped at a light, windows up, when I noticed the guy pull up beside me and start screaming in my direction. It wasn't until he gave me the finger that I even realized him anger was directed at me.
Yesterday, again stopped at the light, a man behind me in a rather expensive-looking car, become apoplectic, shouting, pointing to my bumper, shouting, - you know the drill.
And, yes, I am a good driver and they were not commenting on my driving.
And so, you can have a Clinton sticker and a Kerry sticker without incident, but with an Obama bumper sticker you get three unpleasant reactions. Why is that I wonder?
However, being bullies, no one approaches me when I wear my Obama '08. I bet it bugs a lot of people and that's just fine with me.
I wear it formidably. I look like "don't hassle with me" when I walk. And I mean it. And they don't.
Bullies like the easy safety of their cars.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Knitting Friday
Until the U.S. election is over next Tuesday, November 4th, if I drank I would be drinking constantly; if I ate, I would be eating non-stop. I'm that concerned about the outcome. I'm enough a student of history to know that bad things can happen next Tuesday and Barack Obama may not be our next President. But I'm also enough of a selfish human to want some peace in a rational, caring government after so many years in greedy, capitalistic hell.
So, I knit and watch public domain movies as I cruse the web. Or I knit and watch lousy movies which come with a Verizon package which was not very expensive and which I now understand why that is.
But, on to Knitting Friday.
I learned this week that you can make Wisp from Knitty:
http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer07/PATTwisp.html
in a very substantial looking wool so you have an non-wispy look but still a nice lace motif.
I learned that the above Wisp can be knit as an triangular shawl easily but modifying it into a bias knit rectangular shawl is going to take some fudging, for which I don't have time at the present.
However, for Knitting Friday, I thought I would share a knitter’s dilemma: the small amounts of yarn left over from previous projects. Books are written with suggested solutions, a website is dedicated to knitting with leftover yarn starting as little as 1 yard.
Out of leftover yarn, I have crocheted the warmest blankets imaginable using a spiral square motif. I’ve knitted countless mitered shawls out of odd-ball yarn and a circular shawl/throw from the most hideous shades of leftover gold wool. What was I thinking with that purchase?
The most important part of this odd ball knitting is to join the pieces of yarn before you start. Don’t leave ends to be woven in later. Instead, Russian join your acrylic yarns or splice your wool - at least 40% wool content - yarn. (A word an splicing; it’s called spit splicing for obvious reasons but I like to use a small water sprayer.) In the end, you should have a big ball of variegated yarn. I had one the size of a basketball, which was cumbersome.
You may want to group your colors together as you join them. I’m working in all greens at present and staying in one color family has its advantages. Or, you could join the reds, then the browns, then the blues (you decide on the sequence) for a big ball.
Since you probably won’t be wearing this to the Prince’s Ball, use your larger needles, even with fine wool, for fast knitting. (See below for possible exceptions.)
At this point, you can head to the Internet and find any shawl pattern and start knitting. It’s that easy. But don’t limit yourself to shawls. I’ve made sweaters with this yarn. You could make socks, decorations, toys......it’s imagination time.
For Knitting Friday next week, gather all your supplies together and I’ll give you a pattern I developed for leftover yarn.
Happy Knitting.
Until the U.S. election is over next Tuesday, November 4th, if I drank I would be drinking constantly; if I ate, I would be eating non-stop. I'm that concerned about the outcome. I'm enough a student of history to know that bad things can happen next Tuesday and Barack Obama may not be our next President. But I'm also enough of a selfish human to want some peace in a rational, caring government after so many years in greedy, capitalistic hell.
So, I knit and watch public domain movies as I cruse the web. Or I knit and watch lousy movies which come with a Verizon package which was not very expensive and which I now understand why that is.
But, on to Knitting Friday.
I learned this week that you can make Wisp from Knitty:
http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer07/PATTwisp.html
in a very substantial looking wool so you have an non-wispy look but still a nice lace motif.
I learned that the above Wisp can be knit as an triangular shawl easily but modifying it into a bias knit rectangular shawl is going to take some fudging, for which I don't have time at the present.
However, for Knitting Friday, I thought I would share a knitter’s dilemma: the small amounts of yarn left over from previous projects. Books are written with suggested solutions, a website is dedicated to knitting with leftover yarn starting as little as 1 yard.
Out of leftover yarn, I have crocheted the warmest blankets imaginable using a spiral square motif. I’ve knitted countless mitered shawls out of odd-ball yarn and a circular shawl/throw from the most hideous shades of leftover gold wool. What was I thinking with that purchase?
The most important part of this odd ball knitting is to join the pieces of yarn before you start. Don’t leave ends to be woven in later. Instead, Russian join your acrylic yarns or splice your wool - at least 40% wool content - yarn. (A word an splicing; it’s called spit splicing for obvious reasons but I like to use a small water sprayer.) In the end, you should have a big ball of variegated yarn. I had one the size of a basketball, which was cumbersome.
You may want to group your colors together as you join them. I’m working in all greens at present and staying in one color family has its advantages. Or, you could join the reds, then the browns, then the blues (you decide on the sequence) for a big ball.
Since you probably won’t be wearing this to the Prince’s Ball, use your larger needles, even with fine wool, for fast knitting. (See below for possible exceptions.)
At this point, you can head to the Internet and find any shawl pattern and start knitting. It’s that easy. But don’t limit yourself to shawls. I’ve made sweaters with this yarn. You could make socks, decorations, toys......it’s imagination time.
For Knitting Friday next week, gather all your supplies together and I’ll give you a pattern I developed for leftover yarn.
Happy Knitting.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Website Wednesday
WOWIO at http://www.wowio.com/index.asp
You take strange journeys on the Internet. I heard of WOWIO from a KnitList to which I belong. I was interested in the knitting books listed there, but I stayed with the site because it’s such an interesting and changing place.
WOWIO says its passion is "FREE BOOKS + FREE MINDS" and describes itself as:
WOWIO is today the only source where readers can legally access high-quality copyrighted ebooks from leading publishers for free. Readers have access to a wide range of offerings, including works of classic literature, college textbooks, comic books, and popular fiction and non-fiction titles.
How to navigate the site:
- The home page has latest releases, staff favorites and other categories of books.
- Right now, there are four books listed under “Latest Releases” but click on “Latest Releases” and you’ll go to “Recently Added” books for a wide range of books. The same thing happens when you click on “Staff Favorites,” etc. I think you’ll be surprised by the breadth of the selections.
- Finished with the home page? Pull down the top right “Select A Category” menu and choose a topic which interests you. There’s History, Cooking, Health, Hobbies, Law, and many more.
Once you’ve chosen your book, here's how to read it online.
How to navigate a book:
- Click on the book title or cover to get to the book’s dedicated page.
- Click on “Read online free” and you’ll go to the front cover page.
- Try out the icons on the top status bar but be careful of the leftmost icon, it froze the site for me.
- The left and right arrows will take you slowly from page to page
- For a faster trip: there’s a scroll line in the middle on top (practically hidden at the beginning of the book.) Click anywhere along it and you’ll move to that page in the book.
- Finally, the text can't be copied but you can copy the page image.
I like to return to this site during those times I’m cruising the web for relaxation, though there’s plenty here to tax your brain. Their latest releases makes this a “must return to” site since it’s never stale. However, I think books are removed from the site also. I was reading a book on historical rulers a few weeks ago and now, no amount of searching can find it.
So block out some time and visit WOWIO. It may become addictive.
NOTE: This is not a child-safe site. There are books and biographical comics which are perfectly suitable for children. However, I would suggest that children navigate this site only with adult supervision.
WOWIO at http://www.wowio.com/index.asp
You take strange journeys on the Internet. I heard of WOWIO from a KnitList to which I belong. I was interested in the knitting books listed there, but I stayed with the site because it’s such an interesting and changing place.
WOWIO says its passion is "FREE BOOKS + FREE MINDS" and describes itself as:
WOWIO is today the only source where readers can legally access high-quality copyrighted ebooks from leading publishers for free. Readers have access to a wide range of offerings, including works of classic literature, college textbooks, comic books, and popular fiction and non-fiction titles.
How to navigate the site:
- The home page has latest releases, staff favorites and other categories of books.
- Right now, there are four books listed under “Latest Releases” but click on “Latest Releases” and you’ll go to “Recently Added” books for a wide range of books. The same thing happens when you click on “Staff Favorites,” etc. I think you’ll be surprised by the breadth of the selections.
- Finished with the home page? Pull down the top right “Select A Category” menu and choose a topic which interests you. There’s History, Cooking, Health, Hobbies, Law, and many more.
Once you’ve chosen your book, here's how to read it online.
How to navigate a book:
- Click on the book title or cover to get to the book’s dedicated page.
- Click on “Read online free” and you’ll go to the front cover page.
- Try out the icons on the top status bar but be careful of the leftmost icon, it froze the site for me.
- The left and right arrows will take you slowly from page to page
- For a faster trip: there’s a scroll line in the middle on top (practically hidden at the beginning of the book.) Click anywhere along it and you’ll move to that page in the book.
- Finally, the text can't be copied but you can copy the page image.
I like to return to this site during those times I’m cruising the web for relaxation, though there’s plenty here to tax your brain. Their latest releases makes this a “must return to” site since it’s never stale. However, I think books are removed from the site also. I was reading a book on historical rulers a few weeks ago and now, no amount of searching can find it.
So block out some time and visit WOWIO. It may become addictive.
NOTE: This is not a child-safe site. There are books and biographical comics which are perfectly suitable for children. However, I would suggest that children navigate this site only with adult supervision.
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