Knitting Friday
This has been such a successful knitting week. I finished two shawls. One in the simple lace pattern of *Yo, K2tog* and *K2tog, YO*. This one is done in blue double knit weight of 25% wool. I don’t really like the 25% wool yarns except for Woolease. For some reason, Lion Brand got the acrylic/wool combination right and their yarn has a very nice feel and drape. Though they have progressively been lowering their percentage of wool so this may change. But this shawl is done; it’s large and it’s warm.
The second is a re-cycled trinity stitch shawl in 100% wool. It’s green: both in terms of color and the environment. As I’ve said, I find that when you have recycled, crinkly yarn, which no amount of washing is going to straighten, use the trinity stitch; it hides a lot of “sins.” I probably would have used smaller needles on this project (I used US 15) but I started it before I weighed it so I didn’t want to run out of yarn. As it was, I didn’t have enough yarn left to make a border except for the 2 narrow ends.
With these two projects completed, I only have 5 more projects on the needles. Four of them are shawls, one of which will probably be frogged since I have no idea why I even started it. I’m trying to will myself not to start anything new until I finish at least one more project.
Unfortunately, this Rectangela pullover is on Knit Pattern Central list of pattern for Wednesday:
http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/rectangela/rectangela.html
It’s a unstructured pullover with cuff-less sleeves. I usually don’t knit Berroco patterns since a lot of them are just stockinette stitch; though Star is one of the attractive exceptions.
This one is stockinette and moss. Already, I’ve modified this pattern to start at the back bottom yoke with a provisional cast on. I’m going to knit the yoke with the sleeves up to the neck and then down the front yoke. That way I’ll have live stitches ready to knit the body in the round.
In the same Knit Pattern Central list, there is a moss stitch shrug which is going to be my project for the Super Bowl Party. Yes, I’m going to a Super Bowl Party. Or rather, a party where I will knit and there will be a lot of background noise and food. Both of which my knitting will help me to ignore.
The shrug pattern is:
http://www.sheeptoshawl.com/charity/archives/2007/04/entry_246.html
I’ve seen this pattern before but now I have a light brown yarn (25% wool again) which just isn’t saying “shawl” to me. In fact, it just stopped talking. I do think the shrug might work with it though.
I have been pretty unsuccessful with shrugs except for one black cotton summer one which works. I just saw a very attractive shrug with a wide ribbed front border and collar. But then I saw the ribbon around the waist. It really wasn’t there to be attractive but to make sure the ribbing didn’t flop all over the place. I really don’t want to have to wear a ribbon or a belt.
If I can figure this out (and half the fun of knitting is modifying things), I would like to knit the shrug without the cuffs. Then I could sew up the inch of sleeve and turn it on. If it’s a disaster, it’s only a few inches (57") from shawl length. If it looks good as a shrug; I’ll just cast on for the cuffs. We, knitter, do so hate to frog.
(Update: I broke my rule and started the brown shrug. I’ve changed things already by casting on 28 sts on US 8 and knitting the ribbing in the round. Then I changed to US 10 ½ and knitted up the 1 inch of the sleeve also in the round. This way, I shouldn’t have any sewing in the end. Right now, I knitting up the sleeves in rows. I’m not using bulky but I seem to be getting the width (which I read as neck to waist.) I can always fudge some type of border if I have to.)
But right now it’s back to my pink mohair shawl. What ever possessed me, beside the price, to buy this yarn? When it’s done I think it might be appropriate to donate it to the Miss Marple Museum. I can definitely see her knitting with this yarn.
Happy knitting.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Website Wednesday
You probably know that I'm a sucker for small spaces.
When I visit the so-called trophy homes, either friends or open houses, I'm really not impressed by large, open rooms. But when I visit the IKEA models of 350, 500, 700 square feet of living space where they include a kitchen, a living room, at least one bedroom and a bathroom; I say "Wow!."
Maybe it's because I live in a large loft-sized area which I've divided into a kitchen, living room, dining room, sun room, office, bedroom, den and a big play area for the kids. (Before you wonder; there is a bathroom, but that, of course, is a separate room.) It's amazing what you can do with screens and large artificial flower arrangements in way of creating privacy It's also gratifying for the restless souls, of which I am one, how portable screens and flowers can be when you get bored with the layout and need a change.
That's why this website sang my name:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/
Their mission is "Helping people make their homes more beautiful, organized and healthy by connecting them to a wealth of resources, ideas and community online."
And: "Creating this home doesn’t require large amounts of money or space. It requires inspiration, connection to resources and motivation to do something about it."
Good thoughts, and how great to have this website for inspiration.
Currently, you'll get to see pictures of a 600 square foot apartment in Brooklyn, NY; international bedrooms (click on the U.S. bedrooms also; I think there is an obvious difference); and an East Village, NY apartment with a bathtub in the kitchen,
Click on archives for more, including storage solutions with pictures from the UK. Or, read the article, The lives — and remnants — of others, which tells about a warehouse in North Portland, OR that collects unneeded furnishings, etc. and distributes them to the needy. This article also has two found letters, from 1944 and 1950, which make interesting reading. (This is a good reminder to pull out the drawers before you donate furniture.) The archives even have a link to 101 Cookbooks for recipes. Coco Choco Clusters look good even at 5 a.m.
So bookmark this site. It's definitely worthy of a lot of return visits.
You probably know that I'm a sucker for small spaces.
When I visit the so-called trophy homes, either friends or open houses, I'm really not impressed by large, open rooms. But when I visit the IKEA models of 350, 500, 700 square feet of living space where they include a kitchen, a living room, at least one bedroom and a bathroom; I say "Wow!."
Maybe it's because I live in a large loft-sized area which I've divided into a kitchen, living room, dining room, sun room, office, bedroom, den and a big play area for the kids. (Before you wonder; there is a bathroom, but that, of course, is a separate room.) It's amazing what you can do with screens and large artificial flower arrangements in way of creating privacy It's also gratifying for the restless souls, of which I am one, how portable screens and flowers can be when you get bored with the layout and need a change.
That's why this website sang my name:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/
Their mission is "Helping people make their homes more beautiful, organized and healthy by connecting them to a wealth of resources, ideas and community online."
And: "Creating this home doesn’t require large amounts of money or space. It requires inspiration, connection to resources and motivation to do something about it."
Good thoughts, and how great to have this website for inspiration.
Currently, you'll get to see pictures of a 600 square foot apartment in Brooklyn, NY; international bedrooms (click on the U.S. bedrooms also; I think there is an obvious difference); and an East Village, NY apartment with a bathtub in the kitchen,
Click on archives for more, including storage solutions with pictures from the UK. Or, read the article, The lives — and remnants — of others, which tells about a warehouse in North Portland, OR that collects unneeded furnishings, etc. and distributes them to the needy. This article also has two found letters, from 1944 and 1950, which make interesting reading. (This is a good reminder to pull out the drawers before you donate furniture.) The archives even have a link to 101 Cookbooks for recipes. Coco Choco Clusters look good even at 5 a.m.
So bookmark this site. It's definitely worthy of a lot of return visits.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Thoughts on Tuesday
(First of all, Movie Monday moved to Tuesday in that my review is: just go and see Slumdog Millionaire. It seems to be winning all sorts of awards. Its music is very uplifting and it bills itself as: a soaring, crowd-pleasing fantasy; a buoyant hymn to life. Our world is probably moving into a new paradigm, world-wide depression and this could become a scary place in the near future. Just go see Slumdog Millionaire. Enjoy the moment and dream.)
And now to the thoughts:
The subject of religion in the United States always wraps around my head. We seem to have more believers than any western industrialized country and we also seem to have the worst social safety net of any western industrialized country. Now, I’ve made the leap to connect the two.
Hear me out because I don’t think the connection is shaky. First of all, to make the connection more plausible, let’s only talk about “good” people. I do this because an argument against a social net (national health care; pension guarantees; free higher education, etc.) is: Oh, those people always take advantage. So, I’ll eliminate “those people” and only talk about the good.
That is, those good people who walk the conventional road in faith; attending their houses of worship and not breaking any laws that cause violence to others. These are the people who tell you that the poor are best helped when the rich get tax breaks.
These are the ones with which I stood on line once waiting to get blood drawn. It was a convivial group and their conversation turned to how other people (the “bad”, I guess) took advantage of the health care system. It was early in the morning and I hadn’t eaten and just wanted to get out of there, so cowardly I only thought: You’re standing in line for services from a multi-billion dollar bureaucracy which has convinced you that the poor and not the rich are screwing you. In a small way, in that one moment, by my silence, I had become an enabler of evil. It was not my proudest moment.
However, let’s look at the meme expressed there: the poor exploit society and we, good citizens, must help the ruling bureaucracy to keep them in line. It’s a powerful meme, skillfully propagandized throughout this country and finds a willing ally in most traditional religions.
All religions seem to teach people to worship their God and do good works for the least fortunate. But when the pedal hits the metal: almost all bail.
They teach “Thou shall not kill.” yet bless the troops leaving for war. They march on D.C. to protest abortion rights but fail to send their millions to rallies protesting: poverty, our statistic of 1 in 100 Americans in jail, our obscene health care/insurance system, the disparity in wages between workers and CEOs; the list is probably endless.
Religious leaders might write protest letters but they have an unholy alliance with government because this relationship is extremely symbiotic. You could say the benefit to both is worth trillions.
My theory is that we lag behind other countries in a social network because religion is so out-of-whack with its influence in this country. The rest of the world has a mixture of believers and non-believers. Here, it’s in the 90% range for religious affiliation. Even without the statistics, just chart the role religion played in the recent inaugural ceremonies. Jon Stewart parodied the number of times “God” was mentioned and Obama’s first stop on his first day in office was to a religious service.
This does not bode well for rational people. We complain rightly about the influence of lobbyists: NRA, AIPAC, insurance companies, etc. But what about the religion lobby? That lobby, our leaders embrace. Religions worship sky gods with magical powers with stories which, if not protected by the umbrella of religious belief, would put the believer in a psychiatric ward.
A Democratic congressman would walk away from a citizen wearing a “Stop Abortion Now” button but would at least give a handshake to the citizen spouting: Praise the Lord. God will provide. It seems that God trumps every hand.
So as government and religion waltz the danse macabre, citizens, as a whole, sleep nights untroubled by the vast numbers of adults and children who are struggling and suffering in what is jingoistically described as the greatest country in the world.
Religion is better than soma.
(First of all, Movie Monday moved to Tuesday in that my review is: just go and see Slumdog Millionaire. It seems to be winning all sorts of awards. Its music is very uplifting and it bills itself as: a soaring, crowd-pleasing fantasy; a buoyant hymn to life. Our world is probably moving into a new paradigm, world-wide depression and this could become a scary place in the near future. Just go see Slumdog Millionaire. Enjoy the moment and dream.)
And now to the thoughts:
The subject of religion in the United States always wraps around my head. We seem to have more believers than any western industrialized country and we also seem to have the worst social safety net of any western industrialized country. Now, I’ve made the leap to connect the two.
Hear me out because I don’t think the connection is shaky. First of all, to make the connection more plausible, let’s only talk about “good” people. I do this because an argument against a social net (national health care; pension guarantees; free higher education, etc.) is: Oh, those people always take advantage. So, I’ll eliminate “those people” and only talk about the good.
That is, those good people who walk the conventional road in faith; attending their houses of worship and not breaking any laws that cause violence to others. These are the people who tell you that the poor are best helped when the rich get tax breaks.
These are the ones with which I stood on line once waiting to get blood drawn. It was a convivial group and their conversation turned to how other people (the “bad”, I guess) took advantage of the health care system. It was early in the morning and I hadn’t eaten and just wanted to get out of there, so cowardly I only thought: You’re standing in line for services from a multi-billion dollar bureaucracy which has convinced you that the poor and not the rich are screwing you. In a small way, in that one moment, by my silence, I had become an enabler of evil. It was not my proudest moment.
However, let’s look at the meme expressed there: the poor exploit society and we, good citizens, must help the ruling bureaucracy to keep them in line. It’s a powerful meme, skillfully propagandized throughout this country and finds a willing ally in most traditional religions.
All religions seem to teach people to worship their God and do good works for the least fortunate. But when the pedal hits the metal: almost all bail.
They teach “Thou shall not kill.” yet bless the troops leaving for war. They march on D.C. to protest abortion rights but fail to send their millions to rallies protesting: poverty, our statistic of 1 in 100 Americans in jail, our obscene health care/insurance system, the disparity in wages between workers and CEOs; the list is probably endless.
Religious leaders might write protest letters but they have an unholy alliance with government because this relationship is extremely symbiotic. You could say the benefit to both is worth trillions.
My theory is that we lag behind other countries in a social network because religion is so out-of-whack with its influence in this country. The rest of the world has a mixture of believers and non-believers. Here, it’s in the 90% range for religious affiliation. Even without the statistics, just chart the role religion played in the recent inaugural ceremonies. Jon Stewart parodied the number of times “God” was mentioned and Obama’s first stop on his first day in office was to a religious service.
This does not bode well for rational people. We complain rightly about the influence of lobbyists: NRA, AIPAC, insurance companies, etc. But what about the religion lobby? That lobby, our leaders embrace. Religions worship sky gods with magical powers with stories which, if not protected by the umbrella of religious belief, would put the believer in a psychiatric ward.
A Democratic congressman would walk away from a citizen wearing a “Stop Abortion Now” button but would at least give a handshake to the citizen spouting: Praise the Lord. God will provide. It seems that God trumps every hand.
So as government and religion waltz the danse macabre, citizens, as a whole, sleep nights untroubled by the vast numbers of adults and children who are struggling and suffering in what is jingoistically described as the greatest country in the world.
Religion is better than soma.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Knitting Friday
I am so impressed with knitting blogs. These are people with lives and jobs and problems and yet they are able to regularly write blogs showing pictures of their beautiful knitted works.
Also, many of them write out and/or chart these patterns so their readers can duplicate them - for free.
This is impressive. Have you ever written a knitting pattern? I have. Your first try is usually written just for you. That is, with all the shortcuts you alone understand. Then you have to work backwards and examine each row to be sure the instructions are correct and the repeats are in the right place. Finally, unless you state the pattern is for Intermediate Knitters and beyond, you have to explain the simple things, like Kfb, which I know means knit in the front and back of one stitch but a new knitter may not. The list of this type of proofing goes on and on. Any one who has read patterns online knows it doesn’t stop there because the colored (usually red or yellow) part of the online instructions means that the pattern was corrected after it was published. Usually this error was caught by the sharp eye of a reader.
Unfortunately, this has been a hectic week and I, as a blogger, fall far short of those I praised above.
However, I do have a pattern for you with an original edging. And, yes, it’s another shawl.
Simple Shawl with Open Top Edging
CO 5 sts and knit one row.
Row 1: K1, YO, K 1 st (front & back) put marker, K1, put marker, K1 st (front & back), YO, K1. - 9 sts
Row 2: K across, slipping markers
These are your two pattern rows: one row with 4 increases (2 YO, 2 Kfb) and one row straight K. The YO makes an attractive side borders. Mark the increase row with yarn and the pattern's a breeze.
Continue until the shawl is wide enough. (I did about 250 sts in alpaca on US 15.)
Bind off loosely along the top of shawl. Do not break yarn. With a large size crochet hook, work a row of triple crochets (US term) along the top edge. Turn. Then work one double crochet cluster (3 dcs in one st) followed by one single crochet across the previous triple crochet row. Break yarn and weave in ends. The triple crochet edging makes an attractive collar when folded over.
Optional: Do not break yarn. Ch 5 and attach with a slip stitch to the shawl to make a ring at the end of the row. Then ch-7 and attach with a 1 sc into the ring. Continue to work enough ch-7 loops into the ring to make it look like a flower. Bind off and weave in ends. (I do this to mark the spot where I would look for the end of the yarn if I have to pull out the shawl for any reason. This may seem overly cautious but you’ll be happy to have this marker if you need it. The flower looks attractive and can be as large or small as you wish.)
Enjoy your knitting.
I am so impressed with knitting blogs. These are people with lives and jobs and problems and yet they are able to regularly write blogs showing pictures of their beautiful knitted works.
Also, many of them write out and/or chart these patterns so their readers can duplicate them - for free.
This is impressive. Have you ever written a knitting pattern? I have. Your first try is usually written just for you. That is, with all the shortcuts you alone understand. Then you have to work backwards and examine each row to be sure the instructions are correct and the repeats are in the right place. Finally, unless you state the pattern is for Intermediate Knitters and beyond, you have to explain the simple things, like Kfb, which I know means knit in the front and back of one stitch but a new knitter may not. The list of this type of proofing goes on and on. Any one who has read patterns online knows it doesn’t stop there because the colored (usually red or yellow) part of the online instructions means that the pattern was corrected after it was published. Usually this error was caught by the sharp eye of a reader.
Unfortunately, this has been a hectic week and I, as a blogger, fall far short of those I praised above.
However, I do have a pattern for you with an original edging. And, yes, it’s another shawl.
Simple Shawl with Open Top Edging
CO 5 sts and knit one row.
Row 1: K1, YO, K 1 st (front & back) put marker, K1, put marker, K1 st (front & back), YO, K1. - 9 sts
Row 2: K across, slipping markers
These are your two pattern rows: one row with 4 increases (2 YO, 2 Kfb) and one row straight K. The YO makes an attractive side borders. Mark the increase row with yarn and the pattern's a breeze.
Continue until the shawl is wide enough. (I did about 250 sts in alpaca on US 15.)
Bind off loosely along the top of shawl. Do not break yarn. With a large size crochet hook, work a row of triple crochets (US term) along the top edge. Turn. Then work one double crochet cluster (3 dcs in one st) followed by one single crochet across the previous triple crochet row. Break yarn and weave in ends. The triple crochet edging makes an attractive collar when folded over.
Optional: Do not break yarn. Ch 5 and attach with a slip stitch to the shawl to make a ring at the end of the row. Then ch-7 and attach with a 1 sc into the ring. Continue to work enough ch-7 loops into the ring to make it look like a flower. Bind off and weave in ends. (I do this to mark the spot where I would look for the end of the yarn if I have to pull out the shawl for any reason. This may seem overly cautious but you’ll be happy to have this marker if you need it. The flower looks attractive and can be as large or small as you wish.)
Enjoy your knitting.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Website Wednesday
It really was an historic day yesterday in the U.S. I can’t recall in recent history, or far past history, a mixed race (and I hate that term) man becoming the leader of a western industrialized country. If Hillary Clinton had been elected, that wouldn’t have been so great since women have played leadership roles in Europe for a long, long time.
I’d like to think that we were trying to shed our racist past, but I doubt it. Everything was in place for a Democratic victory in ‘08. In fact, I think the Republicans also wanted this. They had plundered the country economically; destroyed civil liberties; and taken money from needed social services. They had dug such a hole for all of us why should they stay around to help with the clean-up. And, in four years, with the electorate’s memory being so short, they will repackage themselves and sell their candidate by decrying what evils the Democrats have done to the country.
But it is the dawn of a new administration and let’s have hope for better days, if only for a little while.
http://teafinelybrewed.com/
is the website for today. It’s a very specialized website: all about tea.
I thought something soothing after all the angst of the last eight years would be appropriate. And what is more soothing than a cup of tea?
Take a look at the website and learn about the history of Lipton Tea and the caffeine amount in green tea; or look at weird and wacky teapots.
Click the blogs listed at the right and learn about tea mascots, find tea reviews, or read about Taiwan and tea competitions. Dig more deeply and you’ll discover a tea forum which is up-to-date. Teas have been with us through the ages and a lot has been written about it and history.
So take a look. I bet in no time at all, you’ll be putting the kettle on for a cuppa.
It really was an historic day yesterday in the U.S. I can’t recall in recent history, or far past history, a mixed race (and I hate that term) man becoming the leader of a western industrialized country. If Hillary Clinton had been elected, that wouldn’t have been so great since women have played leadership roles in Europe for a long, long time.
I’d like to think that we were trying to shed our racist past, but I doubt it. Everything was in place for a Democratic victory in ‘08. In fact, I think the Republicans also wanted this. They had plundered the country economically; destroyed civil liberties; and taken money from needed social services. They had dug such a hole for all of us why should they stay around to help with the clean-up. And, in four years, with the electorate’s memory being so short, they will repackage themselves and sell their candidate by decrying what evils the Democrats have done to the country.
But it is the dawn of a new administration and let’s have hope for better days, if only for a little while.
http://teafinelybrewed.com/
is the website for today. It’s a very specialized website: all about tea.
I thought something soothing after all the angst of the last eight years would be appropriate. And what is more soothing than a cup of tea?
Take a look at the website and learn about the history of Lipton Tea and the caffeine amount in green tea; or look at weird and wacky teapots.
Click the blogs listed at the right and learn about tea mascots, find tea reviews, or read about Taiwan and tea competitions. Dig more deeply and you’ll discover a tea forum which is up-to-date. Teas have been with us through the ages and a lot has been written about it and history.
So take a look. I bet in no time at all, you’ll be putting the kettle on for a cuppa.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Movie Monday
I really think I should be writing something more monumental today. It is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the day before the inauguration ceremony for Barack Obama.
However, I’m sure that these two celebrations will be reported famously, and infamously, so I am going to give you the movie trailer review of: Paul Blart: Mall Cop
You really can’t find a more polar opposite when it comes to movies; though it is Number One at the box office. I can only hope this rating comes from foreign sales, where foreigners, who can’t get enough of the zany American doofus, will watch anything.
Some background: I saw two movie this weekend: The Other Boleyn Girl and Girl with a Pearl Earring (was this a Scarlett Johansson festival?) and I was struck again by the movies’ fast and loose playing with facts. I had forgotten that Elizabeth Blount is credited with giving birth to Henry VIII's son, not Mary Boleyn. Movies have always been a source of historical inaccuracy and while I can find sources on the Blount/Boleyn story; Vermeer’s wife, based on the movie, will live on as a neurotic shrew. Better to review a farce.
Movie Trailer Review of Paul Blart: Mall Cop
We learn immediately that Paul Blart is in training to become a New Jersey state cop. He fails the physical test and we next see him eating with his obese teen daughter and saying he will try again next year. A shot of big glasses of soda on the table followed by a shot of Paul’s obese wife handing him a piece of pie. He realizes the implications to his health as he lathers it with peanut butter before eating.
(Soda, pie, three obese people. We have a good public health message in the making here but I doubt anything will come of this.)
Fade into shot of Paul as a mall cop at a West Orange, NJ mall, riding a sequeway, giving a ticket to an old man in a motorized cart. As the man attempts an escape, we see Paul grabbing the steering bar and being dragged along the mall floor.
Of course, within seconds of Paul saying he hopes nothing goes down; something goes down. It looks like a mall bank robbery gone bad. The mall is held hostage, real cops arrive, Paul is ordered to exit the building immediately, but hero that he is (Hey, the title is Paul Bart: Mall Cop), he tells them that he took an oath to protect the mall and its patrons.
Shot of one bad guy riding a motor bike over the second floor mall railing down to the first floor, another riding the escalator railing down, and Paul confronting two bad guys and wiping his eyes. A real cop outside says: Is he crying?
Things gets worse as Paul realizes he’s been trained to do nothing. However, through dumb luck, he knocks out one bad guy; then gets a tiny scratch which he covers with a kid’s bandage; and sneaks into the mall bank wending his way in a crouched position through the waiting lines ropes. (Remember Petet Falk and "serpentine"?)
Then Paul is picking up a balloon helium canister; fiddling with the mall Fog Machine, appearing out of that million colored ball activity for kids that a lot of mall have; and throwing himself unsuccessfully through the glass door. Finally, a fiery explosion rocks the mall. This is supposed to be funny?
We’re told that Paul Blart was the last thing that the crooks expected. We hear one say: Who is this guy.
Final shot (and completely out of sequence): Paul on the sequeway, probably on his way to work the first day, being chased by a small, white dog and saying: Dear God!
What I Expect From the Movie:
Absolutely nothing. It is a retread of a retread. This theme is so old, so lame, so stupid. Unless the actor playing Paul Bart has a huge following, I can’t believe anyone going to see this movie.
And, folks, it’s Number 1 at the box office.
But I think I have the explanation. I read this review to my husband and he was laughing so hard he was crying. It was definitely not my writing but his imagining the scenes I was describing.
He said: This is a role John Candy could play. The trouble is, Candy, and so many other comedic actors, did.
I really think I should be writing something more monumental today. It is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the day before the inauguration ceremony for Barack Obama.
However, I’m sure that these two celebrations will be reported famously, and infamously, so I am going to give you the movie trailer review of: Paul Blart: Mall Cop
You really can’t find a more polar opposite when it comes to movies; though it is Number One at the box office. I can only hope this rating comes from foreign sales, where foreigners, who can’t get enough of the zany American doofus, will watch anything.
Some background: I saw two movie this weekend: The Other Boleyn Girl and Girl with a Pearl Earring (was this a Scarlett Johansson festival?) and I was struck again by the movies’ fast and loose playing with facts. I had forgotten that Elizabeth Blount is credited with giving birth to Henry VIII's son, not Mary Boleyn. Movies have always been a source of historical inaccuracy and while I can find sources on the Blount/Boleyn story; Vermeer’s wife, based on the movie, will live on as a neurotic shrew. Better to review a farce.
Movie Trailer Review of Paul Blart: Mall Cop
We learn immediately that Paul Blart is in training to become a New Jersey state cop. He fails the physical test and we next see him eating with his obese teen daughter and saying he will try again next year. A shot of big glasses of soda on the table followed by a shot of Paul’s obese wife handing him a piece of pie. He realizes the implications to his health as he lathers it with peanut butter before eating.
(Soda, pie, three obese people. We have a good public health message in the making here but I doubt anything will come of this.)
Fade into shot of Paul as a mall cop at a West Orange, NJ mall, riding a sequeway, giving a ticket to an old man in a motorized cart. As the man attempts an escape, we see Paul grabbing the steering bar and being dragged along the mall floor.
Of course, within seconds of Paul saying he hopes nothing goes down; something goes down. It looks like a mall bank robbery gone bad. The mall is held hostage, real cops arrive, Paul is ordered to exit the building immediately, but hero that he is (Hey, the title is Paul Bart: Mall Cop), he tells them that he took an oath to protect the mall and its patrons.
Shot of one bad guy riding a motor bike over the second floor mall railing down to the first floor, another riding the escalator railing down, and Paul confronting two bad guys and wiping his eyes. A real cop outside says: Is he crying?
Things gets worse as Paul realizes he’s been trained to do nothing. However, through dumb luck, he knocks out one bad guy; then gets a tiny scratch which he covers with a kid’s bandage; and sneaks into the mall bank wending his way in a crouched position through the waiting lines ropes. (Remember Petet Falk and "serpentine"?)
Then Paul is picking up a balloon helium canister; fiddling with the mall Fog Machine, appearing out of that million colored ball activity for kids that a lot of mall have; and throwing himself unsuccessfully through the glass door. Finally, a fiery explosion rocks the mall. This is supposed to be funny?
We’re told that Paul Blart was the last thing that the crooks expected. We hear one say: Who is this guy.
Final shot (and completely out of sequence): Paul on the sequeway, probably on his way to work the first day, being chased by a small, white dog and saying: Dear God!
What I Expect From the Movie:
Absolutely nothing. It is a retread of a retread. This theme is so old, so lame, so stupid. Unless the actor playing Paul Bart has a huge following, I can’t believe anyone going to see this movie.
And, folks, it’s Number 1 at the box office.
But I think I have the explanation. I read this review to my husband and he was laughing so hard he was crying. It was definitely not my writing but his imagining the scenes I was describing.
He said: This is a role John Candy could play. The trouble is, Candy, and so many other comedic actors, did.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Random Thoughts before some Knitting on Friday
Who would have thought that one day after my blog on the nature of the hero, Chesley B “Sully” Sullenberger III would be plucked from national obscurity into the limelight of the hero.
For he is most definitely a hero, albeit in modern terms. His quest has been through education, B. S., Psychology and Basic Sciences, M. S., Psychology (Human Factors), experience, 6+ years as a Fighter Pilot/Captain in the USAF, and interests, CEO of a company which “provid(es) technical expertise and strategic vision and direction to improve safety and reliability in a variety of high risk industries.”
This guy was ready. Like the Girl Scout motto of “Be Prepared”; he was.
As to the hero’s goal: For him and his crew, it was to land that plane safely with no loss of life. And he did.
It may not be as glamorous as Aeneas founding Rome or Ulysses arriving back at Ithaca or Frodo destroying the Ring; but Sullenberger is a hero, none the less.
Then, there is Chris Matthews. I plod along with my little blog sending thoughts in the spheres, never knowing if any one (even my family) reads them. He, however, has a national stage every night and he spews forth bigotry to millions.
I caught him commenting on Bush’s farewell address and, talking about the Muslims in the Middle East. He said, to paraphrase: We think that elections will change things but they want to fight; they hate Israel.
In his typical, overwhelming stupidity, he brays the average American’s bigotry when it comes to any group of people they find offensive.
Finally, am I the only one who gets a chill down their spine when they read the Guardian UK headline in the Google news of: Israel: Gaza offensive may be near 'final act'?
“Final act”? Doesn’t anyone remember the phrase “final solution”?
On to knitting:
Ravelry was buzzing this week with a thread I started. (Ok, so it’s self-aggrandizement.) I had watched Tess of the D’Urbervilles on PBS and admired the shawl Tess wore; mostly for the fact that it stayed on her shoulders.
I posed a question about the shawl and waited almost a week with no reply posts. Then, about two days ago, the thread got hot. Over 100 people responded and the posts went from discussing how the shawl was constructed to the glumness and despair in Hardy novels.
That’s why I love the Internet: the free flow of ideas is democracy; is education; is ordinary people reaching out to others around the globe.
But I also fear that draconian governments, as we were becoming, as dictatorships are, will curtail this free-flow of ideas. I sometimes think of Edward G. Robinson dying in Solvent Green and getting his last wish: viewing a panoramic slide show of the beauty of the earth as it once was. Charlton Heston comes in, sees the pictures and says: I never knew. I don’t want future generations to ever say that.
I don’t have a knitting pattern to share this Friday but I should be finished with my “I’ll stay on your shoulders - promise” shawl by next week. That’s always the trouble with shawls; they need constant management or shawl pins to stay put. I’m hoping this design will work.
So, it’s back to knitting in a 61 degree house with a 12 degree outdoor temperature. But it will be back up to freezing by next week. Balmy!
Who would have thought that one day after my blog on the nature of the hero, Chesley B “Sully” Sullenberger III would be plucked from national obscurity into the limelight of the hero.
For he is most definitely a hero, albeit in modern terms. His quest has been through education, B. S., Psychology and Basic Sciences, M. S., Psychology (Human Factors), experience, 6+ years as a Fighter Pilot/Captain in the USAF, and interests, CEO of a company which “provid(es) technical expertise and strategic vision and direction to improve safety and reliability in a variety of high risk industries.”
This guy was ready. Like the Girl Scout motto of “Be Prepared”; he was.
As to the hero’s goal: For him and his crew, it was to land that plane safely with no loss of life. And he did.
It may not be as glamorous as Aeneas founding Rome or Ulysses arriving back at Ithaca or Frodo destroying the Ring; but Sullenberger is a hero, none the less.
Then, there is Chris Matthews. I plod along with my little blog sending thoughts in the spheres, never knowing if any one (even my family) reads them. He, however, has a national stage every night and he spews forth bigotry to millions.
I caught him commenting on Bush’s farewell address and, talking about the Muslims in the Middle East. He said, to paraphrase: We think that elections will change things but they want to fight; they hate Israel.
In his typical, overwhelming stupidity, he brays the average American’s bigotry when it comes to any group of people they find offensive.
Finally, am I the only one who gets a chill down their spine when they read the Guardian UK headline in the Google news of: Israel: Gaza offensive may be near 'final act'?
“Final act”? Doesn’t anyone remember the phrase “final solution”?
On to knitting:
Ravelry was buzzing this week with a thread I started. (Ok, so it’s self-aggrandizement.) I had watched Tess of the D’Urbervilles on PBS and admired the shawl Tess wore; mostly for the fact that it stayed on her shoulders.
I posed a question about the shawl and waited almost a week with no reply posts. Then, about two days ago, the thread got hot. Over 100 people responded and the posts went from discussing how the shawl was constructed to the glumness and despair in Hardy novels.
That’s why I love the Internet: the free flow of ideas is democracy; is education; is ordinary people reaching out to others around the globe.
But I also fear that draconian governments, as we were becoming, as dictatorships are, will curtail this free-flow of ideas. I sometimes think of Edward G. Robinson dying in Solvent Green and getting his last wish: viewing a panoramic slide show of the beauty of the earth as it once was. Charlton Heston comes in, sees the pictures and says: I never knew. I don’t want future generations to ever say that.
I don’t have a knitting pattern to share this Friday but I should be finished with my “I’ll stay on your shoulders - promise” shawl by next week. That’s always the trouble with shawls; they need constant management or shawl pins to stay put. I’m hoping this design will work.
So, it’s back to knitting in a 61 degree house with a 12 degree outdoor temperature. But it will be back up to freezing by next week. Balmy!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Wonderings on Wednesday with a Website thrown in
In less than a week, Barack Obama will be sworn in as President of the United States. He is a very popular figure, at present. More popular in the rest of the world which can’t believe the margin of victory was only 6%. But that’s food for another blog.
I’m thinking about him today in relation to the concept of hero because to many people that’s the role they see for him. After eight years of chaos in this country which was greeted with unconcern by so many as their profits rolled in, angst-filled hand wringing by some who were appalled by the state of the country but impotent to find a solution, and also brave condemnation by a few prominent personalities who live their lives in an heroic mode; the country is ready for its hero.
There is always room for the great man concept in regard to history. And, by great man, I mean both the good and the ugly; greatness refers to size and scope; not goodness.
Heroes, however, should be different. For me, the hero has the goal and the quest. It’s his development as he makes this quest which makes for epics.
Taking a simple example: the movie version of The Lord of the Rings. (Not the book version because Tolkien approached his heroes more as the author of The Song of Roland - oh, what a pompous ass that guy was.)
We have both Frodo and Aragon making the quest to achieve the goals: destruction of the ring and achievement of the crown.
There were a lot of complaints that Jackson changed the nature of Tolkien’s characters, but he was true to the epic hero’s journey. Both Frodo and Aragon undertake their missions, are changed in the journey, and only achieve their goal after personal and psychic damage. In the end, Frodo must take another journey to be healed and that long sigh from Aragon before he first turns to greet him people as king tells us his concerns about his road ahead.
And so with Barack Obama. He ran a masterful campaign against two of the most incompetent campaigners who lost the media and thus sealed their fate.
He will be the President and so many people see this as the end to: government spying, state-approved torture, curtailment of women’s reproductive rights, a physician/pharmaceutical enriching health care system; tax breaks for the rich - the list is long.
So much hope is stored in the hero. The populace placing their dreams within him/her. Heroes don’t exist for themselves; they exist for us. Perhaps this is why, like God, we forgive them much since we don’t wish to see the mote in our own eye.
With Obama, the hero mantle is so much more difficult since he is a politician. His first failing may come very soon; especially concerning worldwide admiration.
The quagmire of the Middle East has never been looked at in terms of “this must end” in the eyes of the United States. Today, as the world protests the genocide of the Palestinians, we parse everything: Oh, isn’t the killing terrible that Israel is forced to do seems to be the strongest we can come to as a hand slap to the Israeli Goliath.
Unless Obama can forge a new Middle East path which embraces the rights of the Palestinians and their 1948 UN mandated separate state, the world will very soon be shaking its head and muttering: Same old. Same old.
I do feel slightly sorry for Obama; our insanely expensive political campaigns gives corrupting influence to the deepest pockets. It is hard to break out of those shackles. Perhaps, he can add campaign finance reform to his agenda.
And so, we wait and see. I think the ship of state will move slightly but the ocean is filled with icebergs and we’re heading right towards them. Like Rita Hayworth lamenting her ill luck with men: They go to bed with Gilda (her sexiest role) and wake up with Rita. Disappointments are ahead for all.
The hero can be a life-affirming myth. God is a powerful myth. Unfortunately, it’s the metaphor behind the myth that’s tough to wrap your mind around.
And now, the website:
This is probably a time-sensitive site and may not be up forever:
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/dec/22/50-things-we-know-now-we-didnt-know-time-last-year/life/
As the url says, you get 50 things you didn't know before 2008.
Each item has a hyperlink to a secondary source (USA Today; Science Now, etc.) about the finding. Enjoy.
In less than a week, Barack Obama will be sworn in as President of the United States. He is a very popular figure, at present. More popular in the rest of the world which can’t believe the margin of victory was only 6%. But that’s food for another blog.
I’m thinking about him today in relation to the concept of hero because to many people that’s the role they see for him. After eight years of chaos in this country which was greeted with unconcern by so many as their profits rolled in, angst-filled hand wringing by some who were appalled by the state of the country but impotent to find a solution, and also brave condemnation by a few prominent personalities who live their lives in an heroic mode; the country is ready for its hero.
There is always room for the great man concept in regard to history. And, by great man, I mean both the good and the ugly; greatness refers to size and scope; not goodness.
Heroes, however, should be different. For me, the hero has the goal and the quest. It’s his development as he makes this quest which makes for epics.
Taking a simple example: the movie version of The Lord of the Rings. (Not the book version because Tolkien approached his heroes more as the author of The Song of Roland - oh, what a pompous ass that guy was.)
We have both Frodo and Aragon making the quest to achieve the goals: destruction of the ring and achievement of the crown.
There were a lot of complaints that Jackson changed the nature of Tolkien’s characters, but he was true to the epic hero’s journey. Both Frodo and Aragon undertake their missions, are changed in the journey, and only achieve their goal after personal and psychic damage. In the end, Frodo must take another journey to be healed and that long sigh from Aragon before he first turns to greet him people as king tells us his concerns about his road ahead.
And so with Barack Obama. He ran a masterful campaign against two of the most incompetent campaigners who lost the media and thus sealed their fate.
He will be the President and so many people see this as the end to: government spying, state-approved torture, curtailment of women’s reproductive rights, a physician/pharmaceutical enriching health care system; tax breaks for the rich - the list is long.
So much hope is stored in the hero. The populace placing their dreams within him/her. Heroes don’t exist for themselves; they exist for us. Perhaps this is why, like God, we forgive them much since we don’t wish to see the mote in our own eye.
With Obama, the hero mantle is so much more difficult since he is a politician. His first failing may come very soon; especially concerning worldwide admiration.
The quagmire of the Middle East has never been looked at in terms of “this must end” in the eyes of the United States. Today, as the world protests the genocide of the Palestinians, we parse everything: Oh, isn’t the killing terrible that Israel is forced to do seems to be the strongest we can come to as a hand slap to the Israeli Goliath.
Unless Obama can forge a new Middle East path which embraces the rights of the Palestinians and their 1948 UN mandated separate state, the world will very soon be shaking its head and muttering: Same old. Same old.
I do feel slightly sorry for Obama; our insanely expensive political campaigns gives corrupting influence to the deepest pockets. It is hard to break out of those shackles. Perhaps, he can add campaign finance reform to his agenda.
And so, we wait and see. I think the ship of state will move slightly but the ocean is filled with icebergs and we’re heading right towards them. Like Rita Hayworth lamenting her ill luck with men: They go to bed with Gilda (her sexiest role) and wake up with Rita. Disappointments are ahead for all.
The hero can be a life-affirming myth. God is a powerful myth. Unfortunately, it’s the metaphor behind the myth that’s tough to wrap your mind around.
And now, the website:
This is probably a time-sensitive site and may not be up forever:
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/dec/22/50-things-we-know-now-we-didnt-know-time-last-year/life/
As the url says, you get 50 things you didn't know before 2008.
Each item has a hyperlink to a secondary source (USA Today; Science Now, etc.) about the finding. Enjoy.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Movie Monday
What a difference two eight-hour days of working will do to bring order to shambles. Furniture is back, everything is clean. The painter is finished with the living area; all that remains is the long stairway.
I have a rocking chair. I may be the only person to find a wooden rocking chair comfortable but I do. It’s set up near the fireplace, near the TV; heaven. The only problem is the TV will work as a television with channels or as the screen for the attached CD/VCR player; not as both. So I must choose: TV or videos. Since this is the only CD/VCR player in the house and the cable box attached to the TV is the freebie from the cable company, therefore, practically without any features, I’ll probably choose the videos.
Such a decision segueways me right into the movie trailer review this Monday: Gran Torino.
I’ve never really liked or disliked Clint Eastwood as an actor. What a frivolous line that was: Go ahead, make my day. from Sudden Impact was. It was a stupid remark in that movie and a stupider remark from the frivolous, Ronald Reagan.
Workmanlike and mundane sums up Eastwood for me as a director and actor, perhaps because, even with big issue movies, I don't think he stretches. But I’m in the minority since his peers reward him. And the public, since Gran Torino is #1 in the box office.
Movie Review from Trailer: Gran Torino
I guess I need an admission here: until I saw “Gran Torino” on the car in the movie, I didn’t know that was a car brand.
I saw two videos for this movie: the music video and the trailer. Then I read the Movie Spoiler site so I sort of know the chronology of what is happening. The time sequence of events is a bit choppy in the trailer. However, the music video was quite sweet and slow. Sweet? For an Eastwood movie? But I'm a sucker for someone who plays a Yamaha that well.
In this movie, we have Eastwood as an old man and it is refreshing to see him play one with no romantic entanglements. He lives in a small house with a small front yard on a street with very close neighboring houses. On his birthday, his son and daughter-in-law visit and try to interest him in a retirement community. They’re kicked out of the house.
The movie trailer is not sequential because you first see Eastwood talking to an Asian boy and being concerned that he was beaten up. After this, you see him driving up in his truck to protect an Asian woman when black youths harass her.
Then finally we have the scene where his new Asian neighbor sits on her front porch and Eastwood mutters something like: “What the hell right do the Chinese have to move into this neighborhood for?” Time is out of sync here.
While we see Eastwood defend the Asian woman from black youths, we also see him beating up an Asian youth who is part of the gang which beat up the Asian boy. So the message may be: gangs are bad regardless of racial composure.
The church (probably R.C.) plays a part here, as it did in Million Dollar Baby. We see Eastwood at a funeral service; going for confession; confronting the priest.
We learn three things about Eastwood's character: he was a war hero; he will not allow his Asian friends to be threatened and he definitely will not call the police.
A final shot is Eastwood sitting alone is a dark living room.
What I expect from the movie after seeing the trailer:
I see a lot of potential here. There is the issue of aging, white America living among new minorities. The trailer shows Eastwood becoming friends with his Chinese neighbors; being a loyal champion of them. There is also an issue of the young poor. Youth gangs beat up people and engage in drive-by shootings.
It would be interesting to explore the real dilemma of clashing cultures in the U.S. With whites becoming the minority even sooner than expected (2042) this is a issue to be dealt with outside of the “art house movies” and Eastwood has the clout to do this.
But I just don’t see him tackling these issues in depth; he reminds me more of a once-over-lightly actor and director - not that there’s anything wrong with that - most people live their lives once-over-lightly.
Two final facts: The Gran Torino doesn’t play a large part in the trailer or music video; I think we have a metaphor here. And, Clint Eastwood is 78. I’m impressed by his stamina.
What a difference two eight-hour days of working will do to bring order to shambles. Furniture is back, everything is clean. The painter is finished with the living area; all that remains is the long stairway.
I have a rocking chair. I may be the only person to find a wooden rocking chair comfortable but I do. It’s set up near the fireplace, near the TV; heaven. The only problem is the TV will work as a television with channels or as the screen for the attached CD/VCR player; not as both. So I must choose: TV or videos. Since this is the only CD/VCR player in the house and the cable box attached to the TV is the freebie from the cable company, therefore, practically without any features, I’ll probably choose the videos.
Such a decision segueways me right into the movie trailer review this Monday: Gran Torino.
I’ve never really liked or disliked Clint Eastwood as an actor. What a frivolous line that was: Go ahead, make my day. from Sudden Impact was. It was a stupid remark in that movie and a stupider remark from the frivolous, Ronald Reagan.
Workmanlike and mundane sums up Eastwood for me as a director and actor, perhaps because, even with big issue movies, I don't think he stretches. But I’m in the minority since his peers reward him. And the public, since Gran Torino is #1 in the box office.
Movie Review from Trailer: Gran Torino
I guess I need an admission here: until I saw “Gran Torino” on the car in the movie, I didn’t know that was a car brand.
I saw two videos for this movie: the music video and the trailer. Then I read the Movie Spoiler site so I sort of know the chronology of what is happening. The time sequence of events is a bit choppy in the trailer. However, the music video was quite sweet and slow. Sweet? For an Eastwood movie? But I'm a sucker for someone who plays a Yamaha that well.
In this movie, we have Eastwood as an old man and it is refreshing to see him play one with no romantic entanglements. He lives in a small house with a small front yard on a street with very close neighboring houses. On his birthday, his son and daughter-in-law visit and try to interest him in a retirement community. They’re kicked out of the house.
The movie trailer is not sequential because you first see Eastwood talking to an Asian boy and being concerned that he was beaten up. After this, you see him driving up in his truck to protect an Asian woman when black youths harass her.
Then finally we have the scene where his new Asian neighbor sits on her front porch and Eastwood mutters something like: “What the hell right do the Chinese have to move into this neighborhood for?” Time is out of sync here.
While we see Eastwood defend the Asian woman from black youths, we also see him beating up an Asian youth who is part of the gang which beat up the Asian boy. So the message may be: gangs are bad regardless of racial composure.
The church (probably R.C.) plays a part here, as it did in Million Dollar Baby. We see Eastwood at a funeral service; going for confession; confronting the priest.
We learn three things about Eastwood's character: he was a war hero; he will not allow his Asian friends to be threatened and he definitely will not call the police.
A final shot is Eastwood sitting alone is a dark living room.
What I expect from the movie after seeing the trailer:
I see a lot of potential here. There is the issue of aging, white America living among new minorities. The trailer shows Eastwood becoming friends with his Chinese neighbors; being a loyal champion of them. There is also an issue of the young poor. Youth gangs beat up people and engage in drive-by shootings.
It would be interesting to explore the real dilemma of clashing cultures in the U.S. With whites becoming the minority even sooner than expected (2042) this is a issue to be dealt with outside of the “art house movies” and Eastwood has the clout to do this.
But I just don’t see him tackling these issues in depth; he reminds me more of a once-over-lightly actor and director - not that there’s anything wrong with that - most people live their lives once-over-lightly.
Two final facts: The Gran Torino doesn’t play a large part in the trailer or music video; I think we have a metaphor here. And, Clint Eastwood is 78. I’m impressed by his stamina.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Knitting Friday
My painter is working diligently. My living area is in shambles. I have been sleeping in a canopy bed with a tremendous paper tarp covering it all week. Every spare moment, I move furniture. Have I mentioned my number of books is pathological?
I have great new decorating ideas but I can’t vacuum or create dust until the paint dries and that’s about 10 p.m. at night; just the time I seem to be without energy for heavy moving.
But, I will have the weekend. Great furniture moving is planned.
My knitting this week has been of the pulling out nature. The brown sweater is no more. It was just seconds before it became a vest when I realized that a K2, P2 bodice is a horrible idea, especially at bind off. The thing was so loosey-goosey. The neck and shoulder area just stretched. What a mess.
It did frog beautifully though and now awaits it’s first reincarnation.
My green shawl with picot edging is also no more. This is becoming a habit, but just rows before completion, I realized it didn't look ‘finished.” It looked homemade rather than handmade. So rip-it, rip-it.
I was playing with fate with that green shawl. I know, from experience that the only pattern for used, wrinkly wool which refuses to un-kink after washing is the Trinity stitch.
I was playing with fate and lost.
So a tip for Knitting Friday: the Trinity stitch is the only friend kinky wool has and it goes this way:
CO 1stitch
Row 1: K1(front, back, front - f, b, f) - 3 stitches
Row 2 - 6 even: Purl
Row 3: 1st stitch - K & P, K1(f, b, f), last stitch - P & K - 7 stitches
Row 5: 1st stitch -K & P, K1 (f, b, f) *P3tog, K1 (f, b, f)* last stitch - P & K
Repeat Rows 5 and 6 for a warm, triangular shawl.
Note: There are a lot of variations of this stitch. I like this one because it can morph into a rectangular shawl easily. More on that another day.
So, if you’re looking at some crunchy, wrinkly wool which lived a useful life in another form and has now returned to the yarn ball stage but still has fond memories for you ; try the Trinity stitch. It can bring an old friend back for another useful life.
My painter is working diligently. My living area is in shambles. I have been sleeping in a canopy bed with a tremendous paper tarp covering it all week. Every spare moment, I move furniture. Have I mentioned my number of books is pathological?
I have great new decorating ideas but I can’t vacuum or create dust until the paint dries and that’s about 10 p.m. at night; just the time I seem to be without energy for heavy moving.
But, I will have the weekend. Great furniture moving is planned.
My knitting this week has been of the pulling out nature. The brown sweater is no more. It was just seconds before it became a vest when I realized that a K2, P2 bodice is a horrible idea, especially at bind off. The thing was so loosey-goosey. The neck and shoulder area just stretched. What a mess.
It did frog beautifully though and now awaits it’s first reincarnation.
My green shawl with picot edging is also no more. This is becoming a habit, but just rows before completion, I realized it didn't look ‘finished.” It looked homemade rather than handmade. So rip-it, rip-it.
I was playing with fate with that green shawl. I know, from experience that the only pattern for used, wrinkly wool which refuses to un-kink after washing is the Trinity stitch.
I was playing with fate and lost.
So a tip for Knitting Friday: the Trinity stitch is the only friend kinky wool has and it goes this way:
CO 1stitch
Row 1: K1(front, back, front - f, b, f) - 3 stitches
Row 2 - 6 even: Purl
Row 3: 1st stitch - K & P, K1(f, b, f), last stitch - P & K - 7 stitches
Row 5: 1st stitch -K & P, K1 (f, b, f) *P3tog, K1 (f, b, f)* last stitch - P & K
Repeat Rows 5 and 6 for a warm, triangular shawl.
Note: There are a lot of variations of this stitch. I like this one because it can morph into a rectangular shawl easily. More on that another day.
So, if you’re looking at some crunchy, wrinkly wool which lived a useful life in another form and has now returned to the yarn ball stage but still has fond memories for you ; try the Trinity stitch. It can bring an old friend back for another useful life.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Woes on Wednesday
I’m reading less and less about Israel’s bombing and invasion of Gaza on the web. The Huffington Post ran pictures before the invasion but today it’s under “More Politics” after the “Who Stayed in the Blair House” article. Buried in the middle of the page on the Christian Science Monitor is: Deepening Israeli assault on Hamas divides Arab world. It leads in “Other News” with: Israel offers short respite from strikes in CNN.com.
The liberal blogs I read have been unusually quiet on this issue. I read nothing about wide-scale protests from religious groups; though I’m sure they are doing a lot of symbolic praying on their days of worship.
Only Al-Jazeera is running pictures today with the lead: School hit piles pressure on Israel.
Anyone reading this blog knows I’m a pacificist but beyond that; why isn’t there outrage when a school is bombed?
Have we so desensitized ourselves and reverted back to caveman (and I may be insulting cavemen, here) mentality that only if it’s our school, our dead, our problem do we even raise a flicker of interest.
When did man decide to call himself civilized and still approve death and destruction?
Civilization is defined as: An advanced state of intellectual, cultural, and material development in human society.
Perhaps, we should add: and a blood-thirsty lust for death and destruction as long as his societal needs and desires are being fulfilled or not affected, by this carnage.
Come on, people. Do something to move forward the human race. Be the moralist you think you are.
Stop the carnage. They are all our children
I’m reading less and less about Israel’s bombing and invasion of Gaza on the web. The Huffington Post ran pictures before the invasion but today it’s under “More Politics” after the “Who Stayed in the Blair House” article. Buried in the middle of the page on the Christian Science Monitor is: Deepening Israeli assault on Hamas divides Arab world. It leads in “Other News” with: Israel offers short respite from strikes in CNN.com.
The liberal blogs I read have been unusually quiet on this issue. I read nothing about wide-scale protests from religious groups; though I’m sure they are doing a lot of symbolic praying on their days of worship.
Only Al-Jazeera is running pictures today with the lead: School hit piles pressure on Israel.
Anyone reading this blog knows I’m a pacificist but beyond that; why isn’t there outrage when a school is bombed?
Have we so desensitized ourselves and reverted back to caveman (and I may be insulting cavemen, here) mentality that only if it’s our school, our dead, our problem do we even raise a flicker of interest.
When did man decide to call himself civilized and still approve death and destruction?
Civilization is defined as: An advanced state of intellectual, cultural, and material development in human society.
Perhaps, we should add: and a blood-thirsty lust for death and destruction as long as his societal needs and desires are being fulfilled or not affected, by this carnage.
Come on, people. Do something to move forward the human race. Be the moralist you think you are.
Stop the carnage. They are all our children
Monday, January 5, 2009
Movie Monday
The painter will be here in four hours. Every piece of furniture is 2 feet from the wall. The whole place has been vacuumed and dusted. I have no idea if I’m going to like the color since I wear black and beige - the true sign of a person with no color sense.
I have a lot of ideas for redecorating this place once the painting is done. Which is pretty confident for someone with no color sense.
I think I’ll go for the open look now. I might incorporate my hobbies into the “living space” not regulate it to loneliness and angst in far away bins.
Ah, the joy we humans get in rearranging the deck chairs.......
But right now, the reality is sinking in: 5 days of painting in here. Where am I going to hide?
On to my movie review.
Movie Trailer Review: Marley & Me
Let’s cut to the chase.
Just go see Marley and Me. I don’t care if it’s a lousy movie; the dog makes it. Whatever happens, that dog is going to carry this movie.
No CGI; just Marley. The trailers don’t demand REM. You just flow with the dog and its owners and the world. Cuteness overflows. The second trailer is just the beach running scene from Chariots of Fire. First, with Marley running blissfully along the shore and finally his owners running to catch him, calling “Marley.” Perhaps the scene is not that blissful.
But it’s the New Year. The world is going to hell. Watch a movie about a cute dog; it can’t hurt.
A disclaimer: I don’t have a dog at present. I don’t want a dog at present or in the future. But it’s the weirdest thing: dogs really (and I mean really) like me. Puppies run up to me. Grown dogs stop to look at me. Beats me why, but we must have some sort of bond. Never a believer in reincarnation but it’s sort of like we all share a common past. Like I’m the only human not descended from the apes but from the dogs. Spooky!
The painter will be here in four hours. Every piece of furniture is 2 feet from the wall. The whole place has been vacuumed and dusted. I have no idea if I’m going to like the color since I wear black and beige - the true sign of a person with no color sense.
I have a lot of ideas for redecorating this place once the painting is done. Which is pretty confident for someone with no color sense.
I think I’ll go for the open look now. I might incorporate my hobbies into the “living space” not regulate it to loneliness and angst in far away bins.
Ah, the joy we humans get in rearranging the deck chairs.......
But right now, the reality is sinking in: 5 days of painting in here. Where am I going to hide?
On to my movie review.
Movie Trailer Review: Marley & Me
Let’s cut to the chase.
Just go see Marley and Me. I don’t care if it’s a lousy movie; the dog makes it. Whatever happens, that dog is going to carry this movie.
No CGI; just Marley. The trailers don’t demand REM. You just flow with the dog and its owners and the world. Cuteness overflows. The second trailer is just the beach running scene from Chariots of Fire. First, with Marley running blissfully along the shore and finally his owners running to catch him, calling “Marley.” Perhaps the scene is not that blissful.
But it’s the New Year. The world is going to hell. Watch a movie about a cute dog; it can’t hurt.
A disclaimer: I don’t have a dog at present. I don’t want a dog at present or in the future. But it’s the weirdest thing: dogs really (and I mean really) like me. Puppies run up to me. Grown dogs stop to look at me. Beats me why, but we must have some sort of bond. Never a believer in reincarnation but it’s sort of like we all share a common past. Like I’m the only human not descended from the apes but from the dogs. Spooky!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Knitting Friday
How humiliating! I posted Website Wednesday on Thursday. The humiliating part is that I thought it was Wednesday. That’s what illness and major holidays in the middle of the week do to you.
Yesterday, traveling about half the length of NJ, it was eerily empty of traffic. New Year’s Day is a shopping day here, even in our Blue Law counties, when it doesn't fall on Sunday. But the traffic (noon time) and the parking lots at the malls looked new-economy empty.
And so it begins. What are Americans going to do when they don’t have the financial resources to shop? Will they examine their existence and try to find more meaning? Will they hunker down behind the “God will provide” mentality? Will they shudder, as I do, at the continual carnage in warfare and stop making asinine, hypocritical excuses for it? Will they finally take steps to achieve a Utopia envisioned by philosophers?
Nah! I’m afraid we’re just a bunch of beasts. And pretty nasty ones at that.
Maybe that’s why I’m bored with knitting; which is very unusual for me. Though apparently, not for the rest of the world because the 1/4 million member Ravelry web site has a thread on this topic: Knitters seem to be bored.
It could just be the nature of the knitters. We wind up trying, like Ulysses, to strive, to seek....to find.
But was he ever happy? Probably not. After all, that line “How dull it is to pause” was said by a man whose exploits were made into one of the greatest known ancient epics. This guy had a difficult 20 year trip from Troy to Ithaca and yet he was bored. He definitely didn’t have a knitter’s temperament.
Though I guess, while Ulysses is salivating to build a new ship; knitters drool over the next project.
Right now, I have three working projects: a pink mohair lace shawl knit on US7 which is taking forever (what was I thinking?); a green wool garter stitch shawl with picot edging knit on the diagonal; and a blue 25% wool shawl in a YO, K2tog pattern. The only positive change is that I found a crocheted edging for the pink which should give it a “pop.”
But I am bored and my brown sweater languishes. It’s definitely going to be a vest and would take only a few hours to complete but a week load of discipline.
My latest “to-do” project is:
http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall08/PATTkinetic.html
It has some disadvantages: it’s not reversible and it’s not diagonal. But I think it’s a good compromise. It’s not lace and it don’t want the absolute concentration those projects need but it does have a very distinct pattern which will take more concentration than the mindless projects on the needles now.
So, as Ulysses, I am yearning in desire to follow knowledge like a sinking star, and I will now get back to my knitting.
How humiliating! I posted Website Wednesday on Thursday. The humiliating part is that I thought it was Wednesday. That’s what illness and major holidays in the middle of the week do to you.
Yesterday, traveling about half the length of NJ, it was eerily empty of traffic. New Year’s Day is a shopping day here, even in our Blue Law counties, when it doesn't fall on Sunday. But the traffic (noon time) and the parking lots at the malls looked new-economy empty.
And so it begins. What are Americans going to do when they don’t have the financial resources to shop? Will they examine their existence and try to find more meaning? Will they hunker down behind the “God will provide” mentality? Will they shudder, as I do, at the continual carnage in warfare and stop making asinine, hypocritical excuses for it? Will they finally take steps to achieve a Utopia envisioned by philosophers?
Nah! I’m afraid we’re just a bunch of beasts. And pretty nasty ones at that.
Maybe that’s why I’m bored with knitting; which is very unusual for me. Though apparently, not for the rest of the world because the 1/4 million member Ravelry web site has a thread on this topic: Knitters seem to be bored.
It could just be the nature of the knitters. We wind up trying, like Ulysses, to strive, to seek....to find.
But was he ever happy? Probably not. After all, that line “How dull it is to pause” was said by a man whose exploits were made into one of the greatest known ancient epics. This guy had a difficult 20 year trip from Troy to Ithaca and yet he was bored. He definitely didn’t have a knitter’s temperament.
Though I guess, while Ulysses is salivating to build a new ship; knitters drool over the next project.
Right now, I have three working projects: a pink mohair lace shawl knit on US7 which is taking forever (what was I thinking?); a green wool garter stitch shawl with picot edging knit on the diagonal; and a blue 25% wool shawl in a YO, K2tog pattern. The only positive change is that I found a crocheted edging for the pink which should give it a “pop.”
But I am bored and my brown sweater languishes. It’s definitely going to be a vest and would take only a few hours to complete but a week load of discipline.
My latest “to-do” project is:
http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall08/PATTkinetic.html
It has some disadvantages: it’s not reversible and it’s not diagonal. But I think it’s a good compromise. It’s not lace and it don’t want the absolute concentration those projects need but it does have a very distinct pattern which will take more concentration than the mindless projects on the needles now.
So, as Ulysses, I am yearning in desire to follow knowledge like a sinking star, and I will now get back to my knitting.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Website Wednesday
Here I am in the winter months, careful to stay out of crowds and washing my hands whenever necessary. Yet, I, a top-notch poster for the Girl Scout motto of "Be Prepared", was felled by the norovirus.
You know that nasty virus which affects all those cruise ship people so they are really, really miserable after paying a good sum to live in a closet and eat very well.
Well, that's what we had. Seven people. One after another. This was probably the domino theory Johnson was talking about when he got us into the Vietnam War. One person would get better and the next person would get sick.
I fully understand now why, during the Black Death, houses were marked so the inhabitants could be quarantined.
However, we were not unique. In this age of e-mail, I soon discovered the entire community was affected with nasty bugs. We were dropping like flies.
So much for my "stay out of crowds" theory.
I'm not going to go medical for Website Wednesday, but start the New Year in the pursuit of knowledge and recommend these sites:
http://education-portal.com/articles/Universities_with_the_Best_Free_Online_Courses.html
from Education Portal
and
http://oyc.yale.edu/
from Yale University.
Both feature free online college courses and more, and some are quite good.
The first, from Educational Portal, has a mission statement of: “Your guide to undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees, career education and online degree programs. Your portal to degrees, schools, and careers” so it is not just a free course site. However, it bundles enough worldwide free courses and programs together to make it a worthwhile visit.
I first became interested in online college courses when MIT announced their plan to put courses online for free. I always had the impression that their professors were not totally on board with this concept since I was not impressed with those in my fields. To me, they had the feeling of the elite doling out riches to us, masses. That may have changed.
However, Yale has some excellent video courses. (I included them separately since I could not find them bundled with other universities.)
There’s a lot of look at here and a lot to learn. High school kids may be interested in the AP courses from UC Irvine. Carnegie Mellon offers science courses which need a sign-up. However, the “Look Inside” feature gives you access to much content of the courses without sign-up.
For book lovers, a link at Educational Portal takes you to 20 Places Where Bookworms Go to Read and Socialize Online ranging from Oprah’s Book Club to Reading Group Choices to Project Gutenberg. Some sites include forums.
So, it’s the New Year; Google weather says it “feels like 7 degrees” where I am. What better time to get cozy with your computer and explore world-wide higher learning.
Happy New Year.
Here I am in the winter months, careful to stay out of crowds and washing my hands whenever necessary. Yet, I, a top-notch poster for the Girl Scout motto of "Be Prepared", was felled by the norovirus.
You know that nasty virus which affects all those cruise ship people so they are really, really miserable after paying a good sum to live in a closet and eat very well.
Well, that's what we had. Seven people. One after another. This was probably the domino theory Johnson was talking about when he got us into the Vietnam War. One person would get better and the next person would get sick.
I fully understand now why, during the Black Death, houses were marked so the inhabitants could be quarantined.
However, we were not unique. In this age of e-mail, I soon discovered the entire community was affected with nasty bugs. We were dropping like flies.
So much for my "stay out of crowds" theory.
I'm not going to go medical for Website Wednesday, but start the New Year in the pursuit of knowledge and recommend these sites:
http://education-portal.com/articles/Universities_with_the_Best_Free_Online_Courses.html
from Education Portal
and
http://oyc.yale.edu/
from Yale University.
Both feature free online college courses and more, and some are quite good.
The first, from Educational Portal, has a mission statement of: “Your guide to undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees, career education and online degree programs. Your portal to degrees, schools, and careers” so it is not just a free course site. However, it bundles enough worldwide free courses and programs together to make it a worthwhile visit.
I first became interested in online college courses when MIT announced their plan to put courses online for free. I always had the impression that their professors were not totally on board with this concept since I was not impressed with those in my fields. To me, they had the feeling of the elite doling out riches to us, masses. That may have changed.
However, Yale has some excellent video courses. (I included them separately since I could not find them bundled with other universities.)
There’s a lot of look at here and a lot to learn. High school kids may be interested in the AP courses from UC Irvine. Carnegie Mellon offers science courses which need a sign-up. However, the “Look Inside” feature gives you access to much content of the courses without sign-up.
For book lovers, a link at Educational Portal takes you to 20 Places Where Bookworms Go to Read and Socialize Online ranging from Oprah’s Book Club to Reading Group Choices to Project Gutenberg. Some sites include forums.
So, it’s the New Year; Google weather says it “feels like 7 degrees” where I am. What better time to get cozy with your computer and explore world-wide higher learning.
Happy New Year.
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