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.

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.

Reading Levels

Mark asked last Wednesday what the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level means. That tells us the grade level of the selection we’re reading and the formula is:

0.39 x total words/total sentences + 11.8 x total syllables/total words - 15.59

(And no, I didn’t do the math, which tests your skill in order of operations. There is a web site which does it for you.)

So if you see Grade 7.6, that means a 7th grader should be able to read and comprehend the reading selection.

Then I decided to do some reading level measurements just for fun. The results follow.

PSAT reading sample: Grade 7.6 and a reading ease of very easy.

Basic SAT reading sample: Grade 8.8 and a reading ease of standard.

Advanced SAT reading sample: Grade 4.6 and a reading ease of very easy.

(I think the above SAT results show how diligent you have to be when relying on information as accurate, wherever you get it. It’s pretty obvious that those two SAT reading selections should be switched for a more plausible set of scores.)

TAK (Texas Assessment of Knowledge & Skills) Grade 6 reading samples (2) : 1 - Grade 6.2 and a reading ease of fairly easy and 2 - Grade 4.7 and a reading ease of easy.

The New York Times (from a front page article): Grade level 12.8 and reading ease of fairly difficult.

So I guess we can draw the conclusion from this unofficial study that if you can read and comprehend the New York Times you can skip school except for recess and lunch.

Movie Monday

Body of Lies (review from trailers)

The story from the trailers:
From a “quiet" trailer (no explosions, no CGI’s) we have a man in the hospital (HM) getting a phone call from another man who is in rainy weather (RM). HM says he didn’t kill someone and RM says that he (RM) did. HM wants out of something because it’s not working. RM tells him that HM is not thinking right and he should get some sleep.

We get to piece the story together in a much longer trailer. Apparently, RM and HM work for the CIA. RM says this is a global war and the enemy will not negotiate. It looks like RM is “operating” HM, who is the field man. However, HM thinks that RM is running a side operation. You know the drill from so many other movies: “good” guy is really a double agent.

There are people in Middle Eastern traditional garb so we can assume we have Middle Eastern terrorists - what a novel idea! As we watch explosions, we are told that there have been bombings in Amsterdam, London, etc., so we know this is BIG.

Many, many explosions occur. But if you count all the explosions and times that number by a large double digit number, you get the number of helicopters in the trailer. Was there a Manager’s Special Sale on helicopters?

And then there is the hokey dialogue:
“You know we’re at war.”
“I did what I had to do.”
“I will not be responsible for your safety.”
RM’s answer to what he is doing: “Saving civilization, honey.”
RM sees an explosion on the screen and says one word: “Oops.”
“I have one rule. Never lie to me.”

Who writes this stuff? Perhaps, spread out in the movie it falls into place but the gravitas it acquires in trailers makes it ridiculous.

What I expect from the trailers:
Explosions; forced dialogue; a lot of helicopters; more explosions; bad guys; good guys; bad, good guys; good, bad guys; more helicopters; a headache; a waste of 2+ hours of my life.

Knitting Friday

So much of the enjoyment of knitting, once you get past the basics, is thinking out of the box.

Today, let's look at the simple picot edging as an avenue for doing this.

I guess I just did picot edgings by rote until I came across Kathy Zimmerman’s shawl in Shawls Two On the Go! where the picot stitch is used to make a fringe-as-you-go, side-to-side triangular shawl and a light went on in my brain: this simple concept could be tweaked for some interesting results.

Here is my version of a simple triangular garter shawl knit from bottom to top with the picot fringe:
Cast on (CO) 2 stitches (sts)
Row 1: Knit (K) 1, increase (inc) 1. Turn.
Row 2: CO 3 sts. Immediately bind off (BO) these 3 sts. K across, inc in the last st. Turn.
Repeat Row 2 to the size you want. Before you bind off, count the picots on both side. Add another Row 2 to make them even, if necessary. BO.

This makes a very attractive ruffled fringe border around the shawl so your shawl is absolutely complete once you bind off.

Variations:
1 - You could work this for a lot of simple patterns if you think ahead. Right now, I’m working a K1, P1 rib triangular shawl with 2 stitch picot edging which looks like a popcorn stitch.
2- CO more or fewer stitches for different-sized picots. You'll find different results with various weights of yarn.
3 - Since the top of your shawl will be plain, you can add a crocheted picot edge to the top of your triangular shawl this way:
BO across top, Do not cut yarn. Work one row of single crochet (sc) across top of shawl. Turn. Chain (ch) 5. Make sc in 3rd ch from hook.*Slip stitch (sl st) in next st. Chain 5. Make sc in 3rd ch from hook. - 1 picot made.* Work ** across row. Bind off. (Note: There is a picot cast off which makes the picot as you cast off. However, I like to make the most elastic cast off possible and this isn't it.)
4- Make a rectangular shawl with picot fringe on two sides. The sides depend on the direction you knit the shawl.

Challenges:
1 - Work a summer sweater lengthwise from side seam to side seam. Whenever you get to the bottom of the sweater, work the picot edging and use this as your ribbing. This is a different way to add a picot hem and a different sweater look.
2 - Find more complex bottom to top triangular shawl pattern and work in the picots on both sides. http://simpleknits.blogspot.com/2007/08/296-triangle-shawl-patterns.html is a great site.
3 - Try this on a diagonally knit rectangular shawl. I think it will work but I don't know if the bias pull will be objectionable.

Two Final Notes:
1- When a pattern is complex and your stitches on the row must be accurate, be sure to place the last stitch of your picot bind off from your right needle, back on your left needle and work the row starting with this stitch.
2 -I don't think this can possibly work on a top to bottom shawl.

Experiment and enjoy.

What Happened to Iceland?

It’s bankrupt. I'm shocked. Of course, I don’t know much about Iceland. A lot of little countries, unless you study them in Social Studies in grade school, are just places in
“Can You Find This Country?” computer games.

I did know they had a U.S. military base since I know someone who went there to teach children. (It was removed in 2006.) I assumed that women played an important part in their government. (I was right.) I thought they didn’t have trees but their official site does show pretty large shrubs.

Some things I didn't know: (Facts obtained from CIA’s World Fact Handbook)
The government is a constitutional republic.
It’s about the size of Kentucky.
Their population is less than 300,000.
People in Iceland mainly working in the service industry, public and private.
Their economy is primarily fishing and tourism.
They are not a member of the EU. They don’t want to lose control of their fishing rights.
They use a lot of geothermal power.
They have 0% permanent crops. (That’s a shocker.)
Median age is the mid-30's.
Life expectancy is 80 years.
Over 80% are Lutheran.
Literacy is 99%.
They have one of the world's highest per capita incomes.
The unemployment rate is (was?) 1%.
Currency is the Icelandic krona.
Public debt is 27.6% of GDP - 2007. (U.S. debt is 60.8% of GDP - 2007)

These are interesting facts, and there are more, but what happened to make Iceland bankrupt?

Back in April of 2008, USA Today ran an article saying that investors were taking money out of low-interest rate countries and putting it in Icelandic banks which paid high interest rates. Icelandic banks, flush with money, lent it to entrepreneurs who used it for risky investments all over Europe. In the end, Icelandic banks held foreign liabilities in excess of $100 billion. (Iceland has a GDP of $24 billion.)

This didn't go unnoticed by the global economic community because in February of 2008, Icelandic bank debt was lowered from “stable” to “negative.”

Ironically, the April USA Today article ends with the foreshadowing sentence: Icelandic banks are in no more danger than American banks.

Apparently, greed came before their downfall; but the krona is keeping them in the abyss. It isn’t a very good thing to have a currency which can’t be traded anywhere but Iceland; especially when you go over the economic cliff.

I don’t think any of us can write the ending to the Icelandic economic saga yet. But if I find a kid whose country is Iceland for their Social Studies project, I have some facts for him.

Website Wednesday

When you wake up at midnight out of a sound sleep desiring to know the date of the first Peloponnesian War where do you go for your answer?

Not your brick and mortar information center, the public library; the doors are locked, the alarm is set, the research librarian is abed.

No, you go to the ubiquitous Internet for your answer.

And therein lies the problem.

The Internet is the greatest purveyor of knowledge in the world. It distributes the fantastically accurate knowledge and the fantastically bogus knowledge and leaves the reader to separate the wheat from the chaff. Which once you move from facts like “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” is not always that simple.

But there is excellent online help available at Finding Dulcinea: http://www.findingdulcinea.com/home.html

The mission statement of Finding Dulcinea is “to bring users the best information on the Web for any topic, employing human insight and methodical review.” It considers itself "The Librarian for the Internet Age" and I would say it’s fulfilling that goal.

First, the Finding Dulcinea site is worthwhile just to visit for pleasure reading. Right now, it has a array of topics such as Halloween Baking, Scuba Diving, poet Robert Pinksy, and the U.S. Economy. It’s a great site to bookmark and return to often.

However, Finding Dulcinea also has an invaluable section in its Guide to Web Search: How to Search the Web. From the Home Page, click on Web Guides (either in the top banner or the left column) and you’ll be taken to this site.

Cruising around the links found here both adults and children will get a thorough explanation of what’s on the Internet and how this information should be approached.

This is a must read for anyone reading the Internet for accuracy or anyone using the Internet for school research.

So go find Finding Dulcinea, it’s worth the trip.

The Flesch-Kincaid grade level of the writing found on the site is: 11.6+.

Hillary and Hatred

I saw Hillary Clinton give a barn raising speech for Barack Obama last night. Her sincerity came through in a superb delivery which hit all the right notes.

But then there was Hillary in the primaries.

Also yesterday, I got a headache watching a video and listening to the vitriol spewing from the mouths of white Americans who were moving along a line to get into a Republican rally. Their prejudice was astounding.

I can understand and excuse it as ignorance when someone equates Barack Obama with Ayers or calls him a communist, a socialist, un-American. That comes from following puppet-like a smear-filled, lying, Republican propaganda campaign.

But there is the viciousness of race hatred here. Barack Obama is hated just because he’s black. Primal prejudice in the raw.

I even got to see earlier shots of the man with his Barack Obama monkey. In later videos, he was more circumspect. Sitting in the bleacher, with the camera on him, he finally removed the Obama headband and gave the monkey to a young child. But in this earlier footage, he's positively beaming as he bounces his monkey for the camera.

It’s sickening. It’s frightening. It’s America.

But that’s not my main concern because I can understand prejudice. I even wonder if there may be a “prejudice” gene which developed in the cave man which helped his survival. Back then it was very, very important for this guy to pick out the “bad” immediately. He had to know that the cute, furry bear lumbering towards him was not a potential pet; he had to know the “leaves of three, let them me.” adage. Immediately. There was no room for pondering in those days. “It’s bad!” “Run away!” had to be instant responses.

As we learn that so many of the “free will” decisions are really hard wired in our genes, maybe, through natural selection, a whole bunch of humans are still carrying the prejudice gene. It could explain a lot.

However, my problem is Hillary Clinton. I remember during the primary she said she could get this type of voter to vote for her. They would have a beer with her before they would vote for Obama. Of course, she didn’t refer to them as bigoted no-necks. During the primary, they were the working poor, the good, old boys, the meat and potato factory worker.

But she was talking about the people I watched in these videos. Her claim was that she, not Obama, could bring them to the Democratic column in the voting booth.

She may have been right. And, if she had been, she would have brought a deadly virus into a Democratic administration. A virus which has remained sub rosa until this election cycle when it had to come face to face with its unreasoned hatred of a mixed-race candidate. A virus which perhaps I had naively believed was an anathema to the Democratic party.

Was she planning to reform them?

Was she just playing the panderer’s hand which unfortunately has become so common in American politics?

What was she thinking?

Movie Monday

Max Payne (review from the trailers)

I only saw one long trailer because I don’t think there is enough depth in this movie to bother and watch more trailers hoping to catch nuances.

First, the title. Max Payne = Maximum Pain You think? That may be the extent of the deep thinking you need for this flick.

Second, the music in the trailer. I loved it. Of course, it’s 5 a.m. and my judgment may be clouded. But the music is really catchy. I would watch the movie even if it were a dud if this is the score.

On to the trailer:

You get your typical mixture of reality and surrealism. A scene of the hero looking at an empty (child’s?) bedroom and then a shot of a multi-feathered creature (though I think it would like the word “winged” better) pulling a man through a wall to the outside - and I mean outside being 60 feet above the street.

The trailer starts with Max Payne in a river, a woman in a red dress with a meaningful tattoo, and your typical soothsayer explaining the origin of these winged creatures and saying that the devil is building his army. Good to know.

However, I don’t know why screen writers think it necessary to explain these grossly violent fairy tales. The Brothers Grimm (now there’s a name for you) didn’t. They would begin: “Once, there was an ogre who lived in a castle and ate all who ventured on his land.” No back story necessary.

But here we learn there are really bad things out there with wings who are doing some wicked things. They are compared to Valkyries, whom, as I remember, were not the bad guys (really gals) in Norse mythology. However, their love of violence is pretty obvious with the line “the devil is building his army.” I never knew the devil to build a peace keeping force.

Anyway, Max Payne and some woman with a really big gun are tracking these winged guys and others. Max is a cop though he seems to be working outside of his job. (Bad guy: Are you a cop? Max: Not tonight.) There are really, really bad people and places around here since the woman with the gun even refuses to help Max if he goes “in there.” Where’s there? It must be bad.

And so it goes. Explosions; a moment of calm; explosions; surrealism; explosions. You know the drill.

I’ll assume something bad happened to Max’s family and this is his revenge tale. Whether he winds up dead in the river as shown in the trailer may be the movie’s mystery.

What do I expect from the trailer:

Not much. This is pure escapism. You can leave your brain in the lobby. But the music. I loved the music. When it gets on TV, I’ll watch it for the music.

Knitting Friday

Shawls Two On The Go! book review

Publisher: Sixth & Spring Books, NY, 2008

Pages: 92

Size of Book: 6" x 7.5"

Number of Patterns: 22

Errata Page: http://www.sixthandspringbooks.com/

Extras: 9 pages of instructions ranging from needle and yarn weight charts to illustrations for stitches and procedures.

Types of Patterns: lace, short row, cable, drop-stitch, garter, etc. from shawlettes to shawls, triangles and rectangles

Lace Charts: clear and easy to read

Extra Skills Needed: crocheting and I-Cord but good instructions are given

Bonus: wherever possible, the stitch multiple is given for the pattern

Drawbacks: as with all knitting books, I wish it were spiral bound

Available at, among others: Amazon and Knit Picks

Review: 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. 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, the Garter Stitch Triangle shawl, would be easy for them.

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 did work the following patterns:
Teal’s Good, the Afghan Shawl, the pattern would serve as a winter shawl or a lap robe. It knits into a thick texture and slipping elongated stitches back and forth in groups keeps you interested.
Red Hot, the Tango Shawl, looks plainer in the picture than the pattern works up. It’s an interesting stitch and only a two row pattern.
Amazing Grays, the Scallop-Stitch Wrap, is a four row pattern (two rows are P) with the pattern rows being easy enough for an advanced novice. It’s the I-Cord edging which makes this shawl pop.
Bermuda Triangle, the Seed-Stitch Shawl, sounds simple but the CO 3, BO 3 every other row keeps you alert.

Recommend/Not Recommend: Highly recommended.

The Stranger

I was heading to the dentist last week so I stopped in the library to get a book to read. Not a library book, but a book from their ongoing book sale because I didn’t want one picked over and ragged.

I bought Camus’ The Stranger which was in very good condition. Perhaps it was originally bought by a student who reached the end of the course without having to open it - that does happen.

I hadn't read The Stranger since college and had forgotten how concisely Camus wrote in 1946. (Yes, it was an English translation.)

You could call him Hemingway with purpose; meaning Hemingway parsed everything down to simplicity while Camus did the same but within the framework of existentialism.

Ah, existentialism. Probably the most laughed-at philosophy in capitalist America (with socialism and communism being the most reviled.)

But there is an irony in that sentiment which I realized while watching The Fellowship of the Ring.

Scene: Gandalf and Frodo sitting in the mines of Moria. Gandalf has no clue as to which way is out and Frodo spots Gollum for the first time.

In the ensuing conversation with Gandalf, Frodo expresses his unhappiness with the burden of the Ring and journey he has undertaken. And Gandalf says: So do all people who live in troubling times but your only purpose is to use well your days.

Ok, I didn’t fall off my chair when I heard this but it was a “Wow” moment for me for I was hearing the aphorism I had taken from existentialism and Camus:

The world is absurd but do the best job you can.

So if you haven’t read The Stranger. Give it a try. It’s only 123 pages.

Extra credit: Notice how heat plays a role in the story.

Extra-extra credit: Go back to Romeo and Juliet and notice how heat plays a role there.

Website Wednesday

Each Wednesday, I’ll recommend a website which I found interesting and others might also.

This Wednesday, the website is from the Canadian Museum of Nature:

http://www.nature.ca/notebooks/english/mon2.htm

Click the icons for the different classifications: Mammals, Reptiles, Birds, Fish, etc. and you’ll be taken to an alphabetical list of the different species within that classification.

A click on the species will take you to a dedicated page for that species, (for example: click Birds and then Blue Jay), where you’ll find:
A skillful line drawing of the species,
a map of the world showing where the species resides,
a short written section on the species and a
more color images of the species.

These pages are very well arranged and highly linked so you can navigate around to different areas without going back to the home page each time. Spend time clicking around and you'll find a lot of interesting stuff.

This would be a great site for school projects or for anyone wanting to learn about nature. For children, the reading level is upper grade school. The site was updated on October 14, 2008 so it's probably kept up-to-date and it's available in English and French.

On God

I wanted to talk with someone who believes in God and ask him how he could give God a pass on all the bad things that happen in the world and praise God for every good thing which happens.

It’s like saying to your kid: “Kid, you burned down the house but that’s ok, we will be stronger from this experience and learn to live a better life.”

The level of absurdity in this argument boggles the mind. And, please don’t give me the argument that belief in God is comforting and gets you through the dark night.

I’m told that there are illegal drugs that will do the same thing.

And don’t tell me that illegal drugs cause harm.

What about all the wars, genocides, natural disasters, etc. on God’s watch?

Oh, that’s right. He’s not responsible for the bad stuff.

I guess I won’t talk with someone who believes in God after all.

Movie Monday (reviews from watching the trailers)

Appaloosa

I really don’t like westerns. Having said that, I was impressed with the trailers for Appaloosa.

In one, there was a conversation between one of the protagonist, lawman Virgil Cole, who is getting ready for a gun battle, and a woman which was interesting and informative. As this conversation is going on, the other lawman, Everett Hitch, contributes an interesting sub-plot as he also prepares for the fight, listening, but remaining silent in the background.

The story from the trailers:
Two itinerant lawmen (guns for hire), Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch, have be employed by the leading citizens of a town to get rid of a murderous gang leader and his gang. They engage in gun fights. People get killed. In one trailer, they are crossing the river with the gang leader in custody. The gang meets them and the trailer ends as the lawmen seem to be taking the leader right through the middle of the gang.

There seems to be depth to the lawmen’s relationship – a laconic understanding of each other and what they must do to get their job done efficiently. Also, they are not your “white knight” lawmen. One trailer shows a citizen complaining to Everett that Virgil has hurt a prominent citizen. Everett asks what did he expect: “You hired him to be Virgil Cole.”

While the lawmen are cleaning up the town, Virgil begins a serious relationship with a woman for whom he starts building a house. As in the trailer mentioned above, she is not your typical Western love interest, pretty and docile. When Virgil asks her of what she is afraid, she says: Being alone. Having no money. Winding up with the wrong man. No place to live.

In other trailer, Everett comes to tell her that Virgil said she should pick out the curtains for the new house and she complains to him that Virgil is always busy and doesn’t pay attention to her. This is a lot of talking for your typical Western.

What I would expect in the movie from seeing these trailers:
This is not going to be your typical Roy Rogers western. You’re going to have shoot-outs but the trailers are well-made so you see some sub-plots which might be interesting to watch develop. One trailer has Everett pronouncing ‘jurisdiction” correctly after an outlaw butchers the pronunciation, showing you that this movie might go the extra mile in character development.

Vote Obama

This week I learned a few things.

I learned Republicans were willing to turn a despicable page which leads to hate-filled race relations.

I saw this happen again and again at their rallies.

However, beyond the fat, white man having the monkey doll with a Barack Obama headband at a Republican rally, or Sarah Palin getting approval from her rally when she told them the Obama was not the type of American they were, or the reminder with calls of "Kill him", "Traitor", "Arab", “Terrorist”, etc. at Republican rallies that a descent into violence is very near; there was something more troubling I learned about John McCain this week.

During a rally a white, elderly man was complaining about the Democrats and McCain interrupted him. The man told him firmly "I'm not finished yet." and McCain embarrassingly countered with the shtick "Well, excuse me!"

It was obvious to me that McCain had lost control of the mob he had created. More proof of this: when he feebly attempts to call Barack Obama a good man and gets booed.

Before that moment, I didn't like John McCain for many political and philosophical reasons.

After that moment, differences aside, I knew he lacked the authority, the gravitas, needed in a leader.

He could not control his mob.

He had become a cheerleader of hate and he could not get the genie back into the bottle. That's the appalling thing which happens when people are incited to hate.

McCain could not lead them. He cannot lead this country.

For your sake and for the sake of all you hold dear: vote Obama.

Knitting Friday

(I’m back to normal. Google realized I’m not spam. Not to be dramatic, but Google's big mess of flagging innocent blogs as spam has sucked the zest out of blogging for me on this provider. Someone said: "Well, after all their blogging feature is free." I thought about this for awhile and then figured out if you're a business and you offer a service, free or not, your reputation is out there. Some day, when Google tries to sell paying services there are going to be a lot of people thinking: "Google, what a hassle it was to deal with them. A terrible support system. Just angst all around. Who needs them?")

On to Knitting Friday. Making rectangular shawls on the diagonal:

Almost any two stitch pattern can be converted into a rectangular shawl knit on the diagonal. This is the basic pattern for a two stitch repeat, two row pattern:
(K = Knit; Kfb = Knit front and back of stitch; CO = Cast on; K2tog = Knit 2 stitches together
CO 2 and Kfb in both stitches (4 stitches made)

Row 1: K *work pattern stitch* K
Row 2: Kfb *work pattern stitch* Kkfb Continue these two rows to your width.

Then change Row 2 to: Kfb *work pattern stitch* K2tog Continue these two rows to length.

Then change Row 2 to: K2tog *work pattern stitch* K2tog. Bind off when you have one stitch left.

If your pattern has more than two rows, be sure to make your Kfb or K2tog every other row.

It's so easy. You are knitting on the bias so you may have one side looser than the other but since this is a rectangle you can make this the bottom for a slight flare.

Or, you may find, with some stitch patterns, the ends dip on one side. I've seen that on a lot of "professional" patterns and if you throw one end around you neck to the back, who's going to compare ends?

So look through pattern books and the Internet for two stitch patterns. This will also work with three, four stitch patterns in many cases with some planning. More on this another Knitting Friday. Enjoy.

Oh, What Big Problems Google Causes

Finally, I got on http://groups.google.com/group/blogger-help and wended my way to a discussion of Google’s a huge problem of labeling innocent blogs as spam.

Some of the stories are so frustrating - the blogger who didn’t put one word in his new blog and it's labeled spam or a blank, new blog which is going to be used for a new restaurant's menus is labeled spam.

I went in and read some of these "spam" blogs and if Google is using an algorithm which looks for offending words and phrases that can indicate spam, then the bottom of the math class must have prepared this algorithm.

The second biggest complaint from these bloggers is the lack of a human voice at Google since they only receive automated responses.

But the kicker is: once labeled spam and then "cleared", you can log on your blog the next time and BAM you're back in the spam hole.

And from Google's corporate page it looks like most of its top management is American. What a sad state for American ingenuity.

And The Beat Goes On

Ok, I'm still on Google's black list with the warning page alerting all my millions of readers that I may be in violation of terms of service. I guess Dante has the copyright on “Abandon hope all who enter.” or they would have used that.

Their word verifications which I must decipher before I can post have become more unreadable. However, when I clicked their "Learn more" link re: word verification, the examples there of word verifications are very readable.

But I know all this will be resolved amicably very soon since their e-mail said "After we receive your request, we'll review your blog and unlock it within two business days." And, those two days should be up today by human time.

So, birds will be singing, the sun will be shining, puppy will romp - Google will replace the offending page preceding my blog with a large font Mea Culpa. Yeah, right!

I joke sarcastically about this but except for the macabre irony in life that every thing which can go wrong, might; there is no humor in this.

I did some research on trolls and flagging and discovered that this is a big Internet problem. (Note: Many people might have a different definition of Internet trolls but I’m broadening it to include all types of scum who disrupt Internet discourse for their own twisted reasons.) Trolls are just not very honorable people. Your childhood fairy tales about them were not wrong.

Trolls are a vicious life form because they can do so much damage from total anonymity. At least those who demand book banning have to surface and newspapers demand names on Letters to the Editor.

Flaggers, however, just pull down “Flag Blog” and check the category which most agrees with their sense of offense.

And they can leave absolutely no footprint since blogs can be read in the most ubiquitous places like public libraries. It’s: “J’accuse, and I’m out of here.”

This is a perverted system but it’s such a small annoyance compared to the horrors which have been visited on innocent people through false testimony. Think of all the legal cases where DNA has proven prisoners innocent; prisoners who languished and died in prisons, protesting their innocence, before the advent of this science.

I’d like to say that this experience has taught me to stand up for those who need help, but I’ve always done that.

I only hope that anyone brave enough to enter my blog during these dark times and reads this, takes away that message.

And now, to tackle the unreadable Word Verification and get this posted.

When Does This End?

Should I blog normally when my blog is still under review from Google for being possible spam?

Unlike the protagonist of Kafka's The Trial (which was on TCM yesterday), I do know the charges but that's all I know.

The e-mail Google sent to alert me of the review stated "We find spam by using an automated classifier. Automatic spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and occasionally a blog like yours is flagged incorrectly" ("Fuzzy"? What a weird word to use? Did they mean fuzzy logic?)

People tell me that they can use an algorithm which looks for offending words and phrases that can indicate spam.

In various postings I used the words: buy, economy, yarn, you, help, go, now.

So did the algorithm put it all together and get: “You go buy yarn now. Help economy.” That must sound like spam to any reasonable (but fuzzy) automatic spam detection system.

However, I think I’m going with my theory based on reading too many blogs with comments from trolls.

I wrote something that triggered a Google Alert to some tracker. All he/she had to do was get on my site and flag it.

Here are the choices they would have:
Defamation/Libel/Slander
Copyright/Piracy issues
Spam
Nudity
Hate or violence
Impersonation
I need to contact another user
Someone is posting my private information
I think someone else is using my account

It’s so easy to flag a blog that offends you.

It really was nothing personal.

On Being Silenced

This was not to be the posting today. However, when I got to my blog early this morning I found this page "Possible Blogger Terms of Service Violations" which announced to the web world that my blog was under review.

It turns out that my blog has been tagged as spam. What nonsense!

I had thought that some troll was going to make trouble since I will be publishing political thoughts from time to time. However, I didn't think "And so I blog. Counting the days to discover if this country, the United States of America, can put aside primal prejudice to elect a mixed race candidate.” from my first entry would trigger such a reaction.

I was naive.

A few hours ago, I was told that I couldn't publish until I was reviewed but it seems the situation has changed slightly. I can publish but I must enter a "Word Verification" to prove I am a human.

Google owns this service and they set the rules. I expected the inconvenience of trolls but I didn’t' appreciate the announcement to the web world that I am a possible miscreant.

So I guess we should all beware. Standing up for your opinions can be a dangerous task in the U.S.A. today.

And now, I will try to decipher the word verification and get this posted.

Movie Monday

I thought I would try a Movie Monday based on movie trailers. This is a work in progress. What I did was watch trailers from a Top 5 movie and then decide what they make me expect from the movie. Let’s see how it goes.

Eagle Eyes: (7 trailer reports, spliced together for a sort of chronological order)
1- At the ATM machine, the hero discovers his checking account has $750,000 in it. Money starts spewing out. He returns to his apartment and it’s filled with guns, passports, chemicals for bombs.
2- The hero is being interviewed by an FBI-type and told he can be detained indefinitely. (Is the hero’s brother involved?)
3- Sometime before or after the last scene, FBI-types are investigating a truck robbery of chemicals. The hero’s name is mentioned.
4- A mysterious female voice is on the phone with the hero in the detection room. She gives him commands. (She apparently called before and told him he would be arrested.) She tells him to jump from a building (where he is detained?) and he does.
5- Hero races fast down an escalator into the car of woman (who was briefly flashed across the trailer before where she was told her child could be in danger), the mysterious voice tells them to drive and at what speed, and controls the lights.
6- Finally, the hero, alone, is driving a car very fast. He’s being tracked electronically. A very low-flying plane flies right overhead. A rocket is launched to hit his car but hits a truck which turns over in a fiery crash..

What I Learned - This is a mystery thriller. We, and the hero, have to find out what is happening to his life. Could be a good, mindless adventure. Could be a disappointing, mindless adventure. Unseen, controlling forces always give an air of unreality to movies (as if movies were real) so this could build up rapidly to a disappointing solution. But it does seem like this could be mindlessly entertaining, which isn’t always a bad thing. Kafka, it ain’t.

Knitting Friday:

For my first knitting Friday, I’m posting a crochet pattern. I guess I’m using the term “knitting” very, very loosely. Like when you look up a word in the dictionary and the 50th definition is not at all what you think the word means.

Sky’s Shawl - I came up with the pattern for a 10-year old girl who only knew how to make a crochet chain. She made the shawl in one day. You only have to know how to make a crochet chain, a single crochet stitch, and a slip stitch - all of which are explained on the Internet.

Materials: Any size hook; any type of yarn. For a very, interesting shawl, use a large hook and thin yarn. Definitions: ch = chain; sc = single crochet; sl st = slip stitch

Ch 5. Sl st in last ch from hook to make a ring.

*Ch5 and make one sc in the ring* (one ch5-space made) twice, then ch5 and turn. (two ch5-spaces made in all)

Row 1: Work one sc in first ch5-space, then *ch5 and sc* in each ch5-space across to the last ch5-space. (On Row 1, you will have only two ch-5 spaces, the first and the last.) In the last ch5-space: work *ch5 and sc* twice (the 2nd ch-5 and sc is your increase of one ch5-space.) -three ch 5-spaces made on Row 1.
Ch 5 and turn.

Continue Row 1 increasing one ch5-space at the end of each row to the size shawl you want.

For clarity, mark the bottom of the shawl and mark last ch 5 -space of every row since this is where you will be making your increases . This is a great take-along-everywhere project.

This shawl converts easily from a triangle to a rectangle but that’s for another Knitting Friday.
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Your Teeth

You have to be a dentist or sitting in a dentist’s office to write about teeth. I’m doing the latter, trying very hard to concentrate on dental thoughts because this office, which has always been quiet and nice and quaint, is blaring (ok, that’s a hyperbole) news about the upcoming Vice Presidential debate.

So I am trying to think teeth as my bicameral brain has to listen to a political season which has my stomach tied in knots (a very cliched expression, but if it could happen I bet it would do very, very bad things to your digestive system.)

But back to teeth. They really are very important on your face and I seem to be spending a lot of time and money lately keeping them happy.

Which brings me to Public Service Announcements on health. I don’t see many. In fact, I don’t see any, lately. All I see are prescription drug commercials and I’m not talking about generic, cheap drug commercials, but ads for expensive drugs because, as the ads tell you, they’re worth the price because YOU’RE worth the price.

Just what that price is they never tell you. Perhaps because chemically we’re pretty cheap - it used to be about 99 cents. But you know you’re worth it because don’t all the other commercials tell you that you’re worth that car, that vacation, that....whatever your little heart desires.

So why bother with Public Service Health Announcements like Don’t Smoke or Watch Your Diet; they’re such downers. It doesn’t make much sense to remind people “everything in moderation” when we know we all deserve the excesses.

But back to teeth again. I don’t ever remember seeing a Public Heath Announcement on them - ever. Which is really sad since they’re going to be with us a very long time.

Possibly dentists still go into schools for dental health awareness. But once you get out of school, it’s free taffy for everyone. Why? Because you’re worth it.

On Oedipus:

Oedipus has always interested me more than Antigone. Antigone is a favorite in high schools - teen rebellion against authority; the importance of challenging the status quo. I get that.

I think Oedipus gets short shrift. He’s looked at as the tragic hero - powerful, but flawed, displaying the hubris which the Greeks like to take down. The metaphor of the blinding - I think I get it.

But what of Oedipus as a ruler, a leader? He’s only ten lines into the play when he intones:” I, Oedipus, who bear the famous name.” The whole speech reeks of “Hey, I’m so great being here, listening to your problems when I have so much more important stuff to do.” The elitism of power pours off Oedipus

Yet when his people are troubled, he’s there for them:”Listen to me....And you shall have relief.”

His problem arises when he boxes himself into a corner when he condemns Laius’ killer to banishment, “I decree that he be driven from every house.” and condemns him to evil and wretchedness.

What a stupid thing to do since he is condemning himself. But what a wonderful lesson to modern powerful politicians. Don’t be pontificating fools. Don’t be draconian in your pronouncements. You can find alternatives to war and misery.