Medicare For All

In spite of the defeat of a public option in the Senate Finance Committee, it’s not over yet. Then I have been known to search the pile of manure for the pony.

Website Wednesday

I fired someone from my newsletter staff yesterday. OK, don’t start hollering. It was a volunteer job. I didn’t put anyone on the unemployment rolls. Unfortunately however, I proved true that old adage of professional people that you must pay people for services; volunteerism just doesn’t work.

I disagree with that but in this situation I was dealing with a very capable woman who had become incalcitrant in her position and was unwilling to open any lines of communications with me. So I was between that rock and hard place position. First, she gave every indication of wanting to quit working with us, then she answered my e-mails asking for a clarification of her position with: I need more time to respond and to decide if I’m even going to respond.

WTF?

I guess the lesson to be learned here is: document everything; have a long paper trail. Not that this was completely necessary in this volunteer situation. What? Am I going to bring this case before the International Court of Volunteer Problems at the Hague? But at “real” work keep your all e-mails with that pesky employee or employer. Keep a record and transcript of phone conversations.

You don’t want a scenario of: But, but he/she said this...... And the rejoinder being: Oh, yeah, prove it.

Thus endth the lesson. (Loved how Sean Connery said that in The Untouchables.)

And now, on to our website.

http://www.roman-emperors.org/

First off, this is a site for history nerds so you may wish to move along quickly. But if you stay, you are in for such a history treat. Not a treat in the sense of the popularized history I have discussed here before: George Washington awakened that gray Christmas morning chilled to the bone...... But real wonkers’ history. Essays here about the Roman emperors have to pass a peer review before they are posted.

Dir Imperator Ibus Romanis says about itself: The on-going work of building, expanding, and improving DIR is collaborative; the members of the DIR Collegium Editorum are happy to receive suggestions for additions and changes, as well as submissions of biographical essays and battle descriptions for consideration for publication (after peer-review). Instructions for submissions are available. See a list of pending essays for a list of those essays which are currently in process....

There is so much good stuff on this site. You have dozens of biographies, and not the short Wikipedia version, but the long version. For example, in the biography of Nero it says about Nero’s killing of his mom, Agrippina: Nero was petrified with fear when he learned that the deed had been done, yet his popularity with the plebs of Rome was not impaired. This matricide, however, proved a turning point in his life and principate. It appeared that all shackles were now removed. Not your dry, dull history. But of course, most of those Roman emperors were wild and crazy guys.

Or writing about my favorite, Marcus Aurelius: The abundance of children whom his wife bore him included, alas, a male who was to prove one of Rome's worst rulers. How much better it would have been if Marcus had had no son and had chosen a successor by adoption, so that the line of the five good emperors, Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus, Marcus, could have been extended. It was not to be, and for that Marcus must accept some responsibility.

Beside imperial biographies (spouses and other important players are hyperlinked - most of which work) there are essays on Roman battles with maps, atlases of Rome, Europe and Constantinople both in ancient and medieval times, and a virtual catalog of Roman coins (I did get stuck in a loop at this site.)

This is specialized site. This is a work in progress But do go take a look. There is some fascinating information to be found here.

Medicare For All

Movie Monday

What a morning! No, what a weekend! I did remember that today was Movie Monday early this a.m. and then - the shit hit the fan.

I had been nursing a newsletter colleague's ego this weekend:. We had a professional disagreement and I thought my e-mails to her increasingly nasty e-mails were the models of courtesy but firmness. But then , we all see ourselves through those rose-colored glasses.

But I do believe I was being quite calm and nice, but firm. After all, I am the boss lady in this endeavor.

I had written my last e-mail (so I thought) concerning this matter on Sunday morning. All day Sunday was rainy and nasty but quiet on the e-mail front. Then comes Monday.

No e-mails but the equivalent of her emptying out her desk on my front porch. Sort of the non-verbal equivalent of: I don't want to play with you any more and here's all the stuff you left at my house.

Except in this case, she dumped all the stuff she used to perform her job on the newsletter on my front porch.

Oh, well. Life goes on. But you can see why my day got twisted around and I'm so late with this posting.

But what a posting:

http://foreversnotsolong.com/

This is a short, short film. Watch it and we can discuss it next week. I think it will be well worth the short time it'll take you to watch it.

Gotta go. This is newsletter prep week and I'm one man down.

Medicare For All

In an article titled: President Obama: Get Angry About Health Care Reform, Andrew Weil, MD, writes: Is the Baucus plan, the one that manages the improbable feat of making the developed world's most expensive, least effective health care system even worse, indeed the only one with a prayer of passage? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Knitting Friday

Sometimes the mind sees clarity. Like my realizing this week that I love shawls because shawls are delightful knits compared to the ball-busting agony required of sweater knitting. Well, I may be exaggerating the pain factor. However, I am trying to be so good and change my style (like when Pat Boone went punk and the world went puke) and knit something other than shawls.

I have finished the Red Hear Plush pullover. I think I know why they discontinued that yarn. I used US 9 needles and I think US 8 would have given a more finished, tighter look. However, US 8 needles produced a heavy felted look. So I was between Scylla and that other one (you know, the rock and the hard place); damned either way I went. I think it’s going to be warm but never pretty. I’m post a picture when it and I are in the same place in regard to a camera.

Then there is the Shalom cardigan:
http://involvingthesenses.blogspot.com/

I fell in love with that one some time ago but, not reading the directions, I thought the pattern was complicated. No, it was a mindless twisted rib. (K in back loop one side; P in back loop on the other side) And that almost proved my undoing. For mindless for me equates with careless pretty fast and there I was working the K stitches in the back loops when I should have been working the P stitches that way. Now, this is a simple fix, just work your way down to the “flat” stitch and twist in back up to the needle, but a tedious fix.

Oh boy! As I knit and type, I notice a ladder between two stitches which has just appeared. It’s about 8 rows long so I have been working this one in for quite a long time. It’s rip-it time!

Just some particulars before I move on from Shalom. I started with the same CO as the designer. (I think it was 67 sts.) I used US 9 needles. I did this because I also did this with the Plush top-down pullover and that worked. For the second set of increases, I worked M1, K3 across and I’m going -to do the same for the last set of increases. This is because I know I need about a 25 - 45 - 50 - 45 - 25 stitch count across when I start the body and the pattern only provides 169 stitches at this point. I need that many stitches because I want more the look of a cardigan than a shrug. Plus, I’m knitting the body in straight stockinette - no increases or decreases. If this sweater stops being a bunny hop garment (you know, one hop forward, two hops back), I’ll post a picture next week.

Finally, my blue cotton sweater. A picture will follow as soon as my camera guy arrives. It’s nowhere near done but I’m really liking it. It was just a CO of 120 stitches on US 9 and then knitting 10 stitch-14 row squares of alternating seed stitch and stockinette stitch. This is one of the few times that Mill End cotton which I get on the cheap feels so nice. Mill Ends are hit and miss and I only pick up cottons and funky yarns. You get a few duds but I’ve been happy with a lot of these “grab bag” purchases. This garment is starting life as a vest but it may cry out for sleeves. To be continued.

Happy knitting.

Medicare For All

Mark Hyman, MD, in The Huffington Post writes Why Cholesterol May Not Be the Cause Of Heart Disease.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/why-cholesterol-may-not-b_b_290687.html

My mom’s been saying this for years. She’s been saying a lot of other things also and like every good daughter, I ignore as much as I can. But I do feel bad that her generation may be the last “before the commercialism blitz hit America” generation. You know, the generation which didn’t run to drugs, tests or the MD for every ailment. The generation which still had a voice to say “No.” to the medical profession. Tom Brokaw got it wrong; hers may have been the “great generation.”

Of course, I did learn something else from mom. She still reads magazines, Time (icky), Better Homes and Gardens (sappy); you know the type. As she reads she removes all the ads so the magazine she finally reads is less than half the size of the copy which first arrived in her mailbox. Guess what she says almost all the ads are for? Pharmaceuticals. At least three pages for each drug: first the Papa Bear font of slick advertising, then the Mama Bear font of somber persuasive writing, and finally the teeny Baby Bear font of all the side effects and contraindications. (If you’ve been following this, you will have realized with an odd numbered three-page spread the advertisers make sure you can’t rip out at least one page.)

So before I get to Website Wednesday, I’ll leave you with this to ponder: With all this drug advertising, how do you think the pharmaceutical companies will react to Hyman’s article?

Website Wednesday

I think we need some fun in these dark economic times so occasionally it’s just going to be fun time on Wednesday Website. Today, it’s Drench from Flash By Night:

http://www.flashbynight.com/drench/

AKA, in a former life, Virus 1, 2 or 3. The only difference is Drench has no directions, so here is a simple starter: Look at the color of the top left square (or shape) and the color of the shapes it touches. On the right side you have button of all the colors on the board. Let’s say, your first square is gold and it touches one blue square and 2 green squares. It you push the green button the gold square turns green. Now you have 3 green square made into one larger green shape. Now, you look at the colors this green shape is touching and press the appropriate button.

You keep clicking the color buttons and the screen gets a larger and larger shape of one color. The object is to change the playing area to just one color (it can be any color) and with each game you have fewer and fewer moves you can use. But you can’t get killed, there is a Return arrow and there is something visually appealing as the board changes into a larger and larger colored form. You need logic, but no stress is involved.

After you play Drench, go to the main site:

http://www.flashbynight.com/

It calls itself “coffee break entertainment.” (Note to all: remember I mentioned “dark economic times” at the beginning of this post? You may want to bookmark this site for home use and work diligently through your work coffee break.)

The About Us section says:
I enjoy writing and programming games in Flash. Everything on flashbynight.com was produced by me and everything is original. With a few exceptions, these games can only be found on Flash By Night. I run this site for fun, so everything is free.

I'm fascinated by simple games that are fun to play. For example, Tetris has such a simple premise, but it is so addictive. One day, I would like to make the 'next' Tetris for my site.

My programming skills are far from perfect and I treat flashbynight.com as a project site. Hopefully, I am improving.

His programming skills seem fine to me. Of course, the one and only game I made had a bear walking to a tree. And, I'm still bragging about that one.

I played Escapoids (which is a very interesting variation of Drench), Are You Smart or Stoopid? (I was smart, thank goodness.) Illuminscence, Choke, Word Slamm (I need practice), Bongo Blocks, Are You Psychic? (No, I am not.), Chucklehead (surprising how much fun this game was once I read the rules), Bizzle (I am definitely not coming back as a bee.), and 7Down (where I still can't figure out what I'm doing but I like it.)

There are also “boy” games, that is, shoot-‘em-up games, so there is something here for everyone.

OK, I think I've played enough games. It's time to get to work. But be sure to bookmark this site. It’s a good place to go for a quick, entertaining break. But be warned: It is addictive.

Medicare For All

Movie Monday

This posting revolves around a comment on IMDB about the movie Saving Grace. First, a short review of Saving Grace and then the comment.

Saving Grace is a wacky, little comedy about Grace Trevethyn played by Brenda Blethyn (who was excellent as the bewildered mother in Secrets and Lies -1996.) Grace learns after her husband’s suicide that not only was he a philander (she knew that) but he had mortgaged everything and she was broke. Having no marketable skills except her abilities as an exceptional gardener, Grace turns to the cultivation of that for-sure cash crop - marijuana. We follow Grace through the tribulations of growing, cultivating and selling the crop and only the most jaded (or self-righteous among us) would begrudge Grace her happy ending.

It is definitely a happy ending with a deus ex machina appearing from the most unlikely place. But, hey, it’s a comedy.

This segues into the IMDB comment because there were pages of postings ranging from people who liked the Saving Grace ending (“lighten up, it’s a comedy) to people who hated it (“I loved it until the ending.”)

Truth be told, I read all the comments. Yes, I did have some free time yesterday and obviously I was not spending it doing quality stuff.

As I read, it was clear that commenters were divided between Americans and the rest of the world. In fact, one overseas commenter concluded that 1/4 of all Americans were stupid (I think that number may be larger based on the antics of our “birthers” and “tea-baggers” - and again, yes, I do know the sexually connotation of that second phrase.)

There was definitely the belief that most Americans could not appreciate a “small” comedy like Saving Grace. No one wrote it but I’m assuming they are basing this on American movie comedies’ proclivity to fart and penis jokes. (Oh, they are such hoots!)

And in my modest viewing of European subtitled movies, I have concluded that the “C” in movie making for Americans stands for CGI; for Europeans it stands for conversation.

Then there was Friday night when I saw Indiana Jones 4 or Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. You know, the one where the logic was that this Crystal Skull had magical earth-shaking powers and, oh, yes, it was connected to Roswell, NM. The place where aliens came down to earth in the 1950's and the U.S. government has been hiding this fact ever since. (It’s all in that mysterious place called Area 51 in case you’re planning a field trip.)

But what really appalled me in this movie, IJ #4, as well as all the others, was the excessive and gory violence. Ants graphically devouring bodies; poison darts, bodily assaults; the mind becomes numb. And don’t forget the car chases; one in particular where Shia LaBeouf straddles two vehicles while engaging in sword play.

Cripes, the first Indiana Jones had the poor villain dressed in biblical robes at the end of the movie (just before he melted) chanting to Noah’s Ark. That premise didn’t improve with the next two movies of the series though I did think Sean Connery was a great foil for our hero in Indy 3. (And surprisingly, Shia LaBeouf performed that role quite well in this final movie.)

I say final movie because Harrison Ford is rather embarrassing to watch at his age performing the gymnastic feats to escape the bad guys. Now there’s a new drinking game: a gulp every time it’s a stunt man and not Ford - you’ll be drunk in no time. Money can pay actors for embarrassing performances and enough money (meaning for those fantastic CGIs) can sure bring in box office.

The box office gross for this fourth of the Indy Jones series was close to $800 million dollars. It earned 31% of its gross on its opening weekend. The worldwide gross for Saving Grace was $26 million. http://www.boxofficemojo.com

But if you’re renting a movie this weekend, take a look at Saving Grace. I think you’ll enjoy it.

Medicare For All

Knitting Friday

I seemed to be knitting like a champ this week - and accomplishing little. A successful project was the baby’s blanket. It’s the free Lion Brand V-stitch crocheted blanket:

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/chsb-victoryBlanket.html

(Note: You may remember that I left a teaser in a Knitting Friday about a shawl I was knitting from a free LB pattern. At that time, I was happy will the progress. Unfortunately, ths project was completely ripped out. So until this baby blanket I would have said that I have just not been successful with LB patterns. But the above pattern is a winner.)

I used Lion Brand Pound of Love in antique white which is really pale yellow. I don’t know how this yarn will wash but it was delightful to work with and made a very soft blanket. I kept with the K hook recommendation and got a 32" x 32" blanket. The edging was a row of single crochet followed by a row of picot (which for me is: ch 3, sc in third ch from hook.) The blanket does have holes but my survey of Ravelry moms showed me that they were happy with such blankets. Plus, I did start a garter stitch blanket but it was so dull; not what you want to make for a surprise gift. So, as you can see from the picture, this was a success story.

Not so much with my Red Heart Plush pullover. When you begin chanting: 57 rows to go, 56 rows to go....... you know you have moved into the dreaded brain-dead knitting area. It’s all done except the second sleeve. I never realized my arms were so long because I seem to be knitting for days on the sleeves. But I am happy with the crocheted edging on the body and sleeves (one row sc, one row hdc, one row sc.)

I think I know why they discontinued Plush: it’s not a user-friendly yarn. The garment has “spring” but drop a stitch and it becomes as elastic as cotton, which means you get a gap or ladder when you correct the error by latching up the dropped stitch back to the needle.

I do have a repair tip which may only work on a textured yarn like Plush. When an area in stockinette looks wonky because you’ve done a repair or changed tension, go to the back of the garment and pull a garter bump to close the gap on the right side. Instantly, the right side should look smooth but you’re left with a loop on the wrong side which I usually just tack down (because if you don’t the gap will work its way to the right side again.) With this project, I put the wrong side loop on the needle (you can’t do this if your gap is far down and you just noticed it) knitted it with a regular stitch. Voila! The loop is secured and nothing shows. But, as I said, the textured nature of the yarn helps with hiding this repair.

In spite of my antipathy for Plush, I am happy with knitting a garment from the top and I’m planning to make a cardigan/vest garment next this way.

But the other project I already have on the needles is a blue cotton vest. This is a bottom to top garment in my usually lazy man’s pattern: cast on the stitches for the body. Join. Work round to armhole. Mark armhole. Work straight to shoulders. Bind off. Crochet edging around the neck and armholes. The pattern I’m using for this vest is K 10, Seed stitch 10, in alternate blocks so I don’t know if I will get any rolling. at the hem. If not, I may not make a hem border, or, at best, just do the crab stitch across.

And finally, I’ll leave you with the pattern I’m itching to start, The Cali Cardi:

http://www.flyhoney.com/flyhoney/the-cali-cardi-pattern.html

It’s a top down short cardigan which is really nothing special (garter and stockinette) but it looks like such an easy pattern and I know the directions will work since they are similar to my Plush pullover (similar in number of Cast On stitches that is; some top down Cast On numbers are unbelievably large.) I think I'll substitute seed stitch for garter stitch for some “pop.”

More on this next week. Happy knitting.

Medicare For All

There’s a woman on my KnitList who has beginning Parkinson’s and is wheel chair bound due to other illnesses. She writes that she has to be sure to keep a paper trail of all the tests she needs or her insurance company won’t pay.

And I thought: Jesus H. Christ. As ill as she will become she always will have to keep good accounts. Way to go to keep the ill, angst-ridden.

There’s a Christian hymn with words from Matthew 25:40:

Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers;
That you do unto me.

How do all the minions of God in this country live with such a stain on their consciences? “Godless heathens” have more compassion. I just don’t get it.

Website Wednesday

Let’s start with some fun this Wednesday. Some simple-minded fun but it should bring a smile to the dourest face.

http://www.freegamesnews.com/en/?s=Minoto&searchbutton=Search

Truth be told, I used to plop two cherubs (not at the same time, of course) on my lap and play these games with them. So you can be assured they are extremely child friendly. Even the three little pigs game has a happy ending for Mr. Wolf.

Some of the games are variations of fairy tales; some have cryptic names like: Cat of Bubble or Cow’s New Year. There is a lot of pointing and clicking but no pixel hunting (my nemesis.) There is even a quaint logic to all you have to accomplish and I don’t’ think you can ever get killed or get a bad ending. Of course, the icing on the cake is the fact that most of these games have walkthroughs.

Minoto Games are found on a lot of game sites but this is a nice compilation of close to 50 games. A good vegging-out game site for you and the kids.

And now for a more serious Website Wednesday site, Full Text Archive, at:

http://fulltextarchive.com/

This is friendly Project Gutenberg-type site. Not that PG is not a friendly site but here you click on your title and get sent right to the book. No extra clicking for HTML, plain text, main site or mirror site.

This is the information given about the site in About Us:

The full text archive is a collection of free books that you can read online. All of the novels, plays and poems in this collection have been verified to be free of copyright under United States law. You can now enjoy reading them books of charge and Full Text Archive is ever-expanding so please visit often.

For computer screen reading, this site is very easy on the eyes. Clear fonts and sensible reading line spacing are used. Additionally, the text uses only one half of the page vertically which I think would be a boon to a student who could print out a relevant page and write in notes.

You can type in your title or author or search through their alphabetical listings.

One quibble: Project Gutenberg gives you a short biographical segment for each entry. With Full Archive you only get the selection. You would have to plug the author/title into a search site for any pertinent information. However, with my teacher’s hat on, I’m thinking this is not a bad idea since you will be getting more information and may develop a deeper interest in the subject.

And another tiny quibble which really is just nitpicking: the entry for Great Expectations does not have the original ending Dickens wanted. Yes, I know this is just being cranky - even Project Gutenberg only has the happy ending - but I just thought I’d mention it.

So, if you have to read some classic texts (and perhaps some classic obscure texts) for school or just for pleasure, this is the site for you.

Got to go and read their Book of the day: A Woman's Impression of the Philippines by Mary Helen Fee. I forgot to mention they give you a new book selection each day. This alone gives it bookmark status. Enjoy your reading.

Note: You may find offensive words and characterizations in these selections but remember they represent a cultural and social past which, while we may have moved beyond, is still important to learn from since, for better or worse, this is our human history.

Medicare For All

Movie Monday

I like movies that teach you something. Not in the hammer over the head way but in subtle ways where you learn something new or get something old reinforced. Something concrete like how to build a nuclear device (does it seem to you, as it seems to me, that movie characters always seem to have all sorts of nifty components right in their workshops ready to build these little buggers?) or something intrinsic like how to be a better human being.

I just happened to catch the tail end of the documentary, Someone Told Me About Carla Bruni this morning. (Director: George Scott) I was expecting to see a fluff propaganda piece and in the section I saw, I didn’t see any Bruni character flaws mentioned. So I was ready to dismiss it as good propaganda for the first lady of France. Perhaps to score votes for her hubby?

Then Bruni discussed how lucky her life was and how many other people were not as fortunate. As she explained how this privilege had shaped her life I thought: She understands the human condition. She understands our obligation to one another. She gets it.

OK, I’m not naive. I understand this segment will probably play very well with its intended French audience. This may have been a sincere, fulsome moment I was watching. But that didn’t matter. What she said was important; it was not about her as the messenger.

This is all segueing into my final look at children’s movies. As you know, I think it’s important what children see in movies aimed at them. But, once again, I’m not naive in believing what is put in the movies is what kids pick out. But good kids’ movies can give parents good talking point and discussion jumping boards.

From the last two Mondays, you know that I was disappointed with Her Majesty and Over The Hedge because of the psychotic brother in the first and the random destruction in the second. Then, this weekend, I watched Shrek, again, twice.

And, it kept my interest both times. And, this time I watched it differently.

OK, it’s charming and witty with its jabs at Disney World (or Land) and its tweaking of our favorite fairy tales. It filled its quota of fart jokes and grossness. It had really neat songs. Its adult subtleties were done smoothly. (Not the usual: Hey, parents, I know you’re bored to tears here, this joke's for you.)

I liked Shrek when it came out in 2001 and I like it now almost 10 years later. It hasn’t lost its charm. A lot of work went into this production. All the voices clicked. The Donkey was annoying and likeable. Princess Fiona displayed both her feminist side and her fairy tale side. A lot of minor fairy tale characters had their "15 minutes" of fame.

As I watched it this weekend I thought it would be a good coda for my look at messages in kids’ movies because Shrek says a lot. By the end of the movie, Shrek, the solitary ogre, has moved into the community of men and Fiona has realized that character trumps beauty.

I see this as a great “talking points” movie for kids as they are working their way into the social structure of school; once they move beyond the grades where teachers are monitoring their social interactions and they’re on their own on the playground and lunch room. (Starting in Grade 2?) That’s when the pecking order nonsense starts and that’s when the kids who are “different” start to feel the sting.

Shrek is not the panacea for the poor kid who cries: No one will play with me. But it is one of those movies where parents can connect a message with a problem with ease. We seem to be finding fewer and fewer movies like that these days; those having both fun and learning. What a concept!

So take another look at Shrek. Even if the kids are way beyond talking ogres you'll enjoy it.

Medicare For All

I often think (that is, whenever I think about this at all) that my very early ancestors were rebels. When everyone else was huddled in the cave in darkness, fearing the mastodon’s attack, he or she walked out of the cave and looked at the sunrise (for the sun could be out while you huddle in caves) felt the soft rain, was caressed by the soft breeze and wondered the great eternal WHY.

And then the mastodon came along and had him for dinner proving his mom right for the last time: Stay in the damn cave.

But at least one questioner from my ancient stock survived and so I evolved to write this blog - on 9/11.

I guess reading the above you know you’re going to get something different in remembrance so before I move on to Knitting Friday, let me post two poems. I’m not commemorating anything with them, except a human inability to learn and change. I do hope they make you think.

Their Frailty by Siegfried Sassoon http://bartleby.com/136/19.html

HE’S got a Blighty wound. He’s safe; and then
War’s fine and bold and bright.
She can forget the doomed and prisoned men
Who agonize and fight.
He’s back in France. She loathes the listless strain
And peril of his plight,
Beseeching Heaven to send him home again,
She prays for peace each night.
Husbands and sons and lovers; everywhere
They die; War bleeds us white
Mothers and wives and sweethearts,—they don’t care
So long as He’s all right.

[All armies are the same . . .] Ernest Hemingway
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/91083-Ernest-Hemingway--All-armies-are-the-same-------

All armies are the same
Publicity is fame
Artillery makes the same old noise
Valor is an attribute of boys
Old soldiers all have tired eyes
All soldiers hear the same old lies
Dead bodies always have drawn flies

Knitting Friday

First the bad news:
1. No lousy photos. Yes, I must learn to post better photos but there with be none of them today since, except for the baby blanket, I have no new works.
2. When you travel (and I am not at home as I write this) remember the laws of probability: When you have two sets of DPNS packaged exactly the same, one US 9 and one US 10.5, you have a 50/50 chance of picking up the wrong size. Especially when you don’t read the damn label. That’s why I sit here unable to finish my beige pullover.

And now, the good news:
1. The beige pullover is done except for the sleeves. I did crochet the bottom hem after, as I was binding off the first knitted seed stitch hem, I discovered a section done in stockinette. The crocheted border looks good: one round sc; one round hdc, and a final round in a smaller hook of sc. After I tried on this top-down knitted masterpiece, I once again mused: Why don’t I make all my sweater this way? The fit is so much better.
2. I have finally decided on the pattern for the baby’s blanket and it’s working.

You’ll find the pattern of the blanket here: http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/70118AD.html It's a V-stitch blanket.

I don’t know if Lion Brand is playing mind games but my blanket looks nothing like the one they have pictured. I’m using their Pound of Love yarn and the K hook recommended in the pattern. Their picture is done in LB Baby Soft and it looks no thicker than my choice. So don’t be surprised if your blanket has slightly larger than 1/8 inch holes. (Note: in the Little Victory Baby Blanket:
http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/chsb-victoryBlanket.html
- same hook, same pattern, thicker yarn, the holes are larger.)

This was a "Chain 88 for starters" blanket and you know I like the diagonal knit which starts with Ch 4. But this works since a blanket, especially a baby blanket, gives you enough wiggle room.

Just yesterday, this yarn was working its way into the LB diagonal baby blanket:
http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/chs-diagonalBabyBlanket.html which I think is the most popular one on Ravelry, when I thought: This is so boring and plain looking. It does have the advantage of delightful stretchiness but I think it needs some neat variegated yarn to “pop.”

I think you’ll like the V-Stitch blanket because it’s only one row of V stitches (dc, ch1, dc) all done in the previous row’s ch1-space. So there’s not trying to find those pesky tops of double crochet stitches to crochet into.

I’ll post a picture when I’m done which has to be by December because the baby is not waiting till I finish her blanket to be born.

And finally, I got to see the back of my Alix shawl last weekend:
http://debbiemacomber.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=nnp&pageID=195
It’s lovely! You really don’t get to see the back of a garment you’re wearing unless someone takes your picture from the back. And, that’s what happened.

We were at a party, you know one of these end of summer events and I was wearing a black strapless thingie which is hot this year. The kind that you pull up for a strapless dress or pull down (hopefully wearing a top at the time) for a cumberbund skirt. I’m not that keen on the style in all the myriad of prints it comes in; but in all black it looks classic.

Of course, I was concerned about slippage – I was going to be eating chicken with both hands and no way were my greasy hands going to rush and pull up the damn thing without a good washing. So, I decided to wear my light green Alix shawl since it’s a top-downer and would stay in place.

It did. And, as a double bonus, I got my picture snapped from the back and got to see the really neat design. I must make more…..yeah, right, like I need more shawls.

And really finally: Smiley’s Yarn is having their hotel sales in NY and NJ soon: http://www.pagelinx.com/cgi-shopper/loadpage.cgi/smileysyarns/ezshopper?user_id=id&file=nj_hotelsale.htm

Guess what? I’M NOT GOING! (Yes, I am shouting.) I was all ready to go and then I had to find some fall shoes (it’s time to put away my summer Sketchers) and, lo and behold, I stumbled across acres of yarn (OK, I’m exaggerating) which I had packed away. Brand new, never been “kissed” yarn. Lots of it.

So, I’m not going. But you can. Happy knitting.

Medicare For All

I watch the Daily Kos poll (http://www.dailykos.com/ ) on Obama and he’s dropped almost 15% in favorable ratings since he took office a little over one-half year ago. Wow! Radical conservatives may gloat over this, but it’s been liberal progressives who have contributed the most to this decline. He never did have the radical conservatives’ approval.

And that got me thinking: why is the Democratic Party willing to alienate liberal progressives while the Republican Party constantly panders to its wacky wing?

And it came to me today: because liberal progressives would upend capitalism if it impeded social goals while the wacky right have capitalism bred in the bone.

And in unfettered capitalism, the oligarchy rules. They may throw out tempting bait to lure in us, poor suckers in occasionally; but they always control the reel and rod. And neither major political party, especially with our current campaign finance laws, is ever going to forget that.

Website Wednesday

Since the human condition has always fascinated me, what better website pick than Becoming Human:

http://www.becominghuman.org/

The About Us page is pretty impressive with this statement: The Institute of Human Origins (IHO) conducts, interprets and publicizes scientific research on the human career. IHO's unique approach brings together scientists from diverse disciplines to develop integrated, bio-behavioral investigations of human evolution. Through research, education, and the sponsorship of scholarly interaction, IHO advances scientific understanding of our origins and its contemporary relevance. Combining interdisciplinary expertise and targeted funding, IHO fosters the pursuit of integrated solutions to the most important questions regarding the course, cause and timing of events in human evolution.

Wow! (Note: I did a Flesch-Kincaid grade level for this site and found that the classroom material is Grade 9; the regular features are Grades 8 to 11, but the About Us page is Grade 17 or “best understood by university graduates.”)

The site features a documentary (with 19 page transcripts in English, Spanish and Italian) tracing human development with an emphasis on archaeological findings. It looks similar to National Geographics documentaries (which are far superior to the History Channel’s let's-have-actors-recreate-history-documentaries) and it is narrated by Donald C. Johanson, whose team discovered “Lucy.”

Their Learning Center features, among other topics, interactive chromosome problems and while we obviously can’t follow the directions in the Student Activity Packet of: Remove the mixed set of 12 transperancy film anatomical illustrations in envelope #1., there is still a lot of information here for the web viewer to learn. Additionally, there are worksheets to print for more activities.

In the Games and Activities section, you get to build a chimp and human skeleton. Boy, did I mix that up!

I know it’s chic in some U.S. circles to believe that dinosaurs walked with man (and had him as a menu selection probably), but take a look at this site for some true evolutionary science.

Kudos to them for making even “dry’ science interesting.

Medicare For All

Movie Monday on Tuesday

I didn’t post yesterday because it was Labor Day in the U.S. ( You can google its origin and learn the rocky road workers have had in the U.S. A lot of them paid with their lives to give us decent working conditions.) I don’t like to work on Labor Day. (Now, there’s an oxymoron.) So I didn’t.

But today, pretend it’s Movie Monday and I’ll tell you about Over the Hedge. It’s the second movie in my diatribe against some kids’ movies today.

To back pedal a bit: last week, I and the girl (the boy wisely stayed in the basement playing) watched Sorority House (1939) with Anne Shirley. It was typical Andy Hardy stuff but with girls this time: Anne gets rushed at a girl’s college and she must decide to acknowledge her hardworking dad or side with the snotty rich kids. Typical pablum. We sat through the whole thing. (Oh, the torture!) But in the end, we could discuss the moral decisions with no peripheral distractions (No, I don’t mean the boy.) That is, unlike Her Majesty where I spent that small window of opportunity after a movie, when kids are willing to sit and talk, discussing the psychotic behavior of the brother. Luckily, in Sorority House there were no nascent Michael Myers lurking in the script.

Over The Hedge falls in the same category as Her Majesty but this time it’s about animated furry critters and the queen is not coming for a visit.

The plot as I remember it (and I’m not siting through this one again to check) is: A furry creature is caught by a hibernating bear as he is attempting to steal the bear's junk food while he is in his winter sleep. The bear gives the guy the two weeks left in his hibernation cycle to replace all the food. (Oh, I forgot. The food rolls away and down a cliff.) So at this point it’s your regular mob movie: You got two weeks or I break your knee caps.

Soon our furry creature stumbles upon other furries with a wise, practical leader. He also stumbles on the fact that during the winter their habitat has been reduced by acres and acres of new homes and the hedge in the title is all that separates them.

The movie follows our furry guy taking leadership from the wise, practical leader and convincing the furry pack to follow him into the development to steal junk food. (Talk about product placement in movies.) The moral dilemma becomes: does furry guy continue to only consider his selfish interests or does he decide to work for the good of all.

But.......during the search for the junk food, the creatures destroy homes, fences, and backyards. After all, how many rodents took driver’s ed? Yet scriptwriters love to put them in the driver’s seat.

Now, there are villains in this piece: the overbearing condo leader and the dim-witted exterminator but the destruction is just random and enormous. Now, I know that CGI artists love to create more and more special effects just because they can do it: the ultimate male pissing contest. But this is a cartoon, for crying out loud! Even I know you can do anything in a cartoon. BFD! What are they trying to prove with all the destruction?

So, as with Her Majesty, I spent my time with questions like: What did you think about all the damage those animals caused? Do you think that was right? You get the drift. And before I could even get to the meat of the movie: thinking about yourself or others, the boy turns to me and says: Want to play Mario Carts?

Movies are a great way to talk to kids gently about big issues. However, this was another opportunity lost. Parents really don’t have that many golden discussion opportunities these days with every family member’s busy schedule. It would be nice if kids' movie makers could cut them some slack.

Oh, and we did play Mario Carts and I finished in 12th place - again.

Medicare For All

I was watching a PBS show on Dalton Trumbo, the blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter who was able to find work by having friends front for him. (Watch The Front with Woody Allen if you don’t understand what this means.)

It was a rather well-done show although I’m not a fan of actors recreating scenes. Here, however, they just read Trumbo’s words.

What struck me was a letter Trumbo had written during the witch-hunts of the 1950s (and if you don’t know about these witch hunts - no actual burning of witches here though a lot of actual destruction of people’s ability to find employment- you should find out about them also) where he is discussing that famous rant of right-wing Congressmen during the HUAC hearings: Are you or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?

Trumbo mused in this letter that perhaps one day the question would be: Are you or have you ever been a member of the Democratic Party?

OK, we’re not quite there; but we’re close. Watch the vitriol with which word like “liberal” or “socialistic” spew from mouths of anti-health care reform advocates. Most of them are just in lock-step repeating what conservative media talking heads say and don’t even understand what the terms mean. However, so many of them are just bat-shit crazy bigots or racists. And all of them are bat-shit scary. Unfortunately, we really haven’t moved that far from Joe McCarthy and J. Parnell Thomas. (And be sure to google these “Princes” of Congress also.)

Knitting Friday

Wow! Have I accomplished a lot this week. I tried on all my winter/fall shawls (yes, the weather has turned colder) and frogged my two largest ones. The large beige ball of frogged wool I now have is the remains of a huge rectangular beige shawl which I wore perhaps once. That yarn is still usable for sweaters so I don’t think its next life is going to be as a shawl.

The white frogged wool (picture below) however had experienced wear so I pulled out my trusty Trinity stitch pattern for that and now it’s being reincarnated into a triangular shawl.

Here is the original pattern:

http://web.archive.org/web/20080105015253/http://www.cs.oswego.edu/~ebozak/knit/esb-patterns/shawl.html

Don’t get spooked by all the directions. It’s really very simple with the (K1, P1) in the first stitch and the (P1, K1) in the last stitch which make the increases for the shawl. All the rest, the P3tog and (KPK) in one stitch is just even work (no increases) which gives you the popcorn effect. As long as a P3tog goes over the previous row’s (KPK) and vica versa, you’ll be OK. As you can see, Esther posted this pattern awhile ago but its still a “go-to” pattern for me.

I noticed that I have a hand-written copy of the basics of this pattern and I added “For a rectangular shawl: At width, P2tog at the end of the odd row. (That is, Row 5.) At length, P2tog at the beginning and end of all odd rows.

I know my variation works because I’ve made this shawl as a rectangle but each time I look at those instructions I think: This can’t work. But it does.

Take a look at the Trinity Stitch Shawl I’m working on now. I don’t think you can tell that this a recycled wool. That’s why I love this pattern.

Both the beige and natural wools are Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool before it went to the “dark” side. Although, I don’t think the difference will show up in a photo, holding the old and the new Fisherman’s Wool in my hand, I would say the new wool is 1/16 less wide than the old wool. Of course, the weight is the same but I will be interested to see if I get a thinner garment when I finally knit with a newer skein.

Finally, a non-shawl item: Red Heart Plush Raglan Pullover. As I said last week, this pattern came from an ancient Spinnovations 4 book I picked up at a garage sale. You know, one of those books which is no longer printed and has directions for all types of yarns, all types of sizes. Basically, I just used the CO amount for the neck edge. I think my directions were CO 63 sts. I didn’t work the neck band but started right in on the sweater body after joining. Once I had my markers in place, I just knitted plain to my armhole adding the increases for each section.

Knitting Fool, a fantastic web site, offers a program where you plug in the yarn type, needle size, your bust size, and stitch and row gauge and it spews out a free top down raglan pattern.

It’s at: http://www.knittingfool.com/pages/topdown.guest.cfm

I plugged in the numbers and I was told to CO 64 stitches so my pullover should be right on the mark. As you can see from the picture, I’m finishing up the hem (seed stitch) and ready to start the sleeves on DPNs. Right now, it’s going to spend its life as a sweater over a long-sleeved tee. However, if I surprise myself with the neck band, this may become a wear-alone pullover.

There is one more shawl I worked on this week. It’s a crochet in thread yarn from a typical Lion Brand free pattern. I started it because I could not stand making another ch-3, 3 dc cluster shawl so I didn’t have high hopes for this. But...... I love it. It’s a foulard without the endless garter knitting. This one is very open but I could see a smaller hook with thread yarn for a completing different look.

OK, I’ll leave you with this teaser until next week. I think it will be worth the wait. Happy knitting.

Medicare For All

Website Wednesday

Did you hear about Maria Bartiromo (of MSNBC where she does a financial show) asking 45-year old U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner why if Medicare was so good he wasn’t on it. (Direct quote: "How come you don't use it [Medicare]? You don't have it. How come you don't have it?")
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/01/maria-bartiromo-presses-4_n_274024.html

And after Weiner explains that Medicare (U.S. government-run health insurance program) only kicks in at age 65 she reacts with an Oh, yeah? laughing response. Good God, the stupidity is incredible though I see the spin already: U.S. Congressman says he won’t go on Medicare. And then I envision the real stupidity: 70% of Americans believe a 45-year old can go on Medicare.

So that's why I think my website pick for today is really a good choice:

http://www.imagesjournal.com/index.html

OK, be ready to read about movies and, no, I’m not cheating by having two days of movie related postings this week because Images is all about good writing and good critical thinking. You may not agree with all the reviews here but you will see that below-the-surface research went into them.

With Images you’ll find past and present movie reviews and feature articles such as: Modernity and the Maniac: The Fall of Janet Leigh; Stars: Some Historical Reflections on the Paradoxes of Stardom in the American Film Industry, 1910-1960; Monster at the Soda Shop: Teenagers and Fifties Horror Films; and 30 Great Westerns (Note: I’m not a fan of Westerns but this retrospective/review feature is a must-read.)

Click around the site for a lot of good writing and don’t forget to go into their archives. It was there that I read my first Images article, a review of Van Helsing, and knew this was something special.

Images says of itself:

Images is a non-commercial Web site created for everyone who enjoys movies and popular culture. Images is published quarterly; however, new reviews will appear each week, so check back often.

We created Images because we saw a void in the market place. Most film journals concentrate on recent movies, occasionally including an article about movies of the past, but more likely than not, confined exclusively to the most recent releases.

And then it finishes with something important:
So, if you've ever said, "Oh, why can't we just enjoy movies and not analyze them so much," well, this site might not be your cup of tea. Sorry. But we'd also hope that if you stick with us, you'd see the validity of an approach that tries to better understand movies and popular culture because through better understanding comes increased appreciation.

This last paragraph says it all. If you’re ready to move beyond cutesy movie reviews and want to hear more about films and film making than publicity fluff about stars, this is the place to go.