Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

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Mutt Monday

OK, it's not meant to disparage mutts (some of my best friends are cross-breeds) but it is alliterative and true. Because on January 3, the next service dog to be raised/trained is arriving and she's a mutt!. That is, she's a black lab and golden mix (apparently this is the only mix they breed to train.) All we know name-wise is that she comes from an "L" litter (all the litter names will begin with L) and, of course, as a she, she's female. So she'll be Miss L here. I can't wait to take and post pictures. And so, to paraphrase Theoden in that movie series I LOVE: On January 3, it begins.

No movie this Monday so we can all enjoy the official Christmas holiday (or should I say shopping day?) in the US. Except to say that I noticed the rating on You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger this early morning and it's R. Which means no one under 17 is admitted without an adult. Now, we all know that movie ratings in this country are so messed up and the only fast rule seems to be: most violence = PG-13 but even the talk of sex = R. Not that an R rating in any way hurts a Woody Allan movie, but what kid would even want to see YWMATDS? Wacky, wacky country.

Enjoy your day. I hope if you have to work you're getting generous holiday pay.

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Knitting Friday

I am bereft of ideas. I finished my sweater late last night, too late for pictures. My Advent scarf is about 1/3 finished. I'm working on the most luscious feeling wool shawl which is a remake from another shawl of which I said before frogging: I will never wear this. It never had this luscious feeling first time round so I'm worried about blocking. I still have a black, metallic sweater I was going to finish Xmas. Ain't goin' happen. And my green lace shawl is yummy but still has ways to go. But outside of those, I'm clueless for a blog today.

You can try this so simple pattern if you wish:
In the round: Row 1: *K1, P1* Row 2: K (this row is P if you're knitting flat)

You get the stretchiest rib which is reversible but different on each side. I worked with two skeins of Paton Classic Wool and I finished a sleeveless pullover with enough yarn left for a winter headband but my husband suggested: Why don't you keep knitting? So I did, and wound up with a below the hip sweater. So stretchy; so cool.

I'll leave you with a pattern I'm eying:

http://lovincomfortknits.blogspot.com/2007/04/suprise-from-sk-and-i-snow-white-friend.html

I know I don't want to make a triangular shawl but I spilled a mother-load of mini-skeins of leftover yarn yesterday and I got to thinking: I really should do something with this. I'm wondering about using her stitch pattern/technique and making Joseph's shawl of many colors.

OK, I must return to knitting. So little time. I wonder; could I pull an all-nighter and finish that black sweater for tomorrow? Hmmmmmm.

Happy knitting.

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Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Knitting Friday

I am bereft of ideas. I finished my sweater late last night, too late for pictures. My Advent scarf is about 1/3 finished. I'm working on the most luscious feeling wool shawl which is a remake from another shawl of which I said before frogging: I will never wear this. It never had this luscious feeling first time round so I'm worried about blocking. I still have a black, metallic sweater I was going to finish Xmas. Ain't goin' happen. And my green lace shawl is yummy but still has ways to go. But outside of those, I'm clueless for a blog today.

You can try this so simple pattern if you wish:
In the round: Row 1: *K1, P1* Row 2: K (this row is P if you're knitting flat)

You get the stretchiest rib which is reversible but different on each side. I worked with two skeins of Paton Classic Wool and I finished a sleeveless pullover with enough yarn left for a winter headband but my husband suggested: Why don't you keep knitting? So I did, and wound up with a below the hip sweater. So stretchy; so cool.

I'll leave you with a pattern I'm eying:

http://lovincomfortknits.blogspot.com/2007/04/suprise-from-sk-and-i-snow-white-friend.html

I know I don't want to make a triangular shawl but I spilled a mother-load of mini-skeins of leftover yarn yesterday and I got to thinking: I really should do something with this. I'm wondering about using her stitch pattern/technique and making Joseph's shawl of many colors.

OK, I must return to knitting. So little time. I wonder; could I pull an all-nighter and finish that black sweater for tomorrow? Hmmmmmm.

Happy knitting.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Website Wednesday

For this holiday season:

http://www.flixxy.com/wonderful-world-david-attenborough.htm

Start with this video and then just click around the icons at the bottom and beyond. You will definitely find something to make you smile.

Enjoy.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

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Movie Monday - You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger and Christopher Hitchens

Chistopher Hitchens, who died last week, was a witty, acerbic Brit turned American who possessed the sharp, facile brain and tongue with which the English can so often stun an argument.

As an atheist, I agreed with much he said, but there was never agreement on his support of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. And, truth be told, I'm not really into witty, facile atheists since I don't think they produce any thing but bon mots, never conversion arguments. Because no matter how strongly I know the supernatural does not exist, I also know the human species (emphasis on species here) cannot extricate itself of the hold of the mumbo-jumbo.

I used to think that man created god after watching a violent storm or after the first death but now I don't think the species was capable of deep thought back at the beginning. So shit must have just happened for millenniums until.....

Read Julian Jayne’s The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind where he postulates that early man had a bicameral mind and one section of it spoke to the other. (Hearing the voice of god, anyone?) But then, 2000 years ago, the brain fused and god disappeared. (My God, My God, why have you forsaken me - takes on a whole new meaning.) And for the rest of time, mankind has embarked on the quest to find his lost god. It's a fascinating theory.

Which brings me to Woody Allen and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. Watch Sleeper or Bananas and I don't think you'd see the Woody Allen of today. Jabs at god and religion existed from the early films but age has fleshed out his thoughts on these concepts and what he is finally saying in quiet, slow tones now is startlingly comforting and disturbingly correct.

The ubiquitous narrator tells us from the start in YWMATDS that we're looking at a dysfunctional family. Helena, who has been dumped by her husband of many years, is visiting a "psychic", Cristal (love the name!), for guidance. Ex-hubby, Alfie, is searching for his lost youth in gym clubs and prostitutes. Daughter Sally supports her ex-MD, one-successful-novel husband, Roy, by working for art dealer, Greg, to whom she is attracted.

Get the picture? Helena is involved in mumbo-jumbo to assuage the pain (she tried suicide when Alfie left) and the rest of her family, while making some bad choices, is much more grounded in reality. Not giving away the plot, I'll say that members of the rest of the family are involved in some very, very bad choices. The curtain falls before disaster but you know that's what awaits them.

Helena is the key to this movie. Wacky Helena, who is persuaded by Cristal (who originally is a boon to her daughter because it gets Helena off her back) to believe she has lived before, guided by Cristal into a budding romance with a fellow thinker and finally advised financially by Cristal to a disastrous decision for her daughter. Wacky Helena, living in this crazy world of past lives and false fortune telling, comes out at the end of the movie as the only truly happy person. All the rational people live to learn sad truths: youth cannot be revisited, love is not always what it seems and crime does not pay. But Helena walks away with her balding, paunchy book seller and you have no doubt they will enjoy a bizarre but happy future.

I won't guess the message Allan is sending, I'll just tell you the message I got: In the end, the peace that comes with the mumbo-jumbo has its merits.

So Hitchens may have fought eloquently against the supernatural and Dawkins, et al, are still here to carry this torch ably. But in the end, we are just a species; no more special than the beaver who must build that dam nor the lemming who must race to that cliff. Like Lear, do we as non-believers, have to decide the wisdom of fighting the wind?

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Knitting Friday

No knitting pictures so I thought I would replay Miss M. Do dogs pray? Sure looks like she's channeling some higher power in this pic on the left. This was taken early in the game and she didn't know what a great time she would have with us.

The one on the right is from the same day. Oh, she was so cute. Still is, I'm sure. Did I tell you that she wrote us a long postcard? She made the cut as a service dog. And, someone has really helped her with her penmanship!

As I mentioned earlier this week, my Advent scarf visited the frog pond since a 91 st cast on (CO) was producing a shawl size again. And I really don't need another museum quality shawl.

Knitters have been reducing their number of CO stitches (43 sts, 55 sts) but not giving much guidance (and they don't have to) except to say something like: I had to adjust the end of the row. So I took this project as a challenge and I sat down with 15 days of patterns, decided on a CO amount ranging from 54 to 57 sts and then worked out my solution.

I won't go into all the figuring and mistakes and re-figuring and final plans; some of which had to be re-figured again as I started knitting the day's pattern. I'm only on Day 2 in my CO 56 sts rendition (which is 1/3 smaller than before) and so far, so good.

Once I get a respectable amount done, I'll post pictures and directions. This project has taught me so much. I always knew I was a timid knitter, competent, but very, very timid. I usually look at complicated patterns and eliminate them immediately or follow the chart exactly. Not this time though. I must have worked a whole day over a week with this. First, making the most outlandish changes (planning to work only half the pattern repeat or all of the pattern repeat but none of the extra stitches in the row.) Finally, I saw the light (and my math light is very, very slow at coming on) and I realized that with most of the patterns you could work them as written with fewer repeats. But more on that later.

I'll leave you with, what I call, the twisted stitch pattern: Over the first two stitches on the left needle, knit the second stitch through the back loop then knit the first stitch through the front loop. Drop both left needle stitches from your needle.

Next week, I'll explain why this simple twist is so important when you're modifying patterns. Happy knitting.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Tax the Rich

Website Wednesday

Helen Thomas said it simply and correctly re: Obama: He lacks courage. But perhaps not ego. For me, it's coming down to ego which explains his run for presidency. He ran on Change We Need. Nice and simple, but it didn't happen. The rich are still rich, the poor are still poor and the rhetoric is still hollow. I'm waiting for his justification for signing the bill to allow for the indefinite detention of US citizens. I will be surprised if he follows through on his veto threat. But I've become so jaded because even a veto means nothing; a hollow gesture if Congress has enough votes to override. And don't get me started on Plan B birth control.

Simple can be good in politics (good for getting elected, not so good for a constituency always) and it can be good with pictures. Working on the premise that none of us have much free time during this season, my website pick is:

http://500px.com/

All pictures, but many are thinking pictures and worth a long look even with the possibility of photo shopping today. Click below the picture for your language choice and then click along for all types of pictures, popular or editor's choice. Only captions to read so it's easy work.

500 px (it's really 5 followed by the infinity sign on the web page) is a site for photographers and it says about itself: 500px is a group of individuals that live and breathe photography. We like to share art with others and have the means to do so. Our small company is based in Toronto and from there we broadcast the awesomeness. We truly enjoy what we do.

You register to show your pictures; viewing is free. Just a look at In dreams I can fly by Manuela Kulpa makes the trip worthwhile. Enjoy.

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Thoughts on Tuesday
(and some Movie Monday, sort of)

Well, a big weight has been lifted because I frogged my Advent Scarf. Life is good. Life is free. What was I thinking to tackle this now? More on Knitting Friday.

On Saturday, we walked to the only Barnes and Noble store with a sales annex in NJ. It's an easy walk in nice weather. Why didn't someone tell me winter is upon us? (OK, "upon us" is straight out of LOTR and yes, I have been watching it much too much lately.) I like to look at the books in the annex, sometimes I buy some and Saturday I had a "no strings attached" coupon from BN to all ex-Borders customers. Nice deal. Almost every book was a sale in the annex so I got a 1500 page literature anthology which was 1/2 of $6 + my 20% off coupon. (Of course, the cashier just scanned the bar code and said: $41.50, but we straightened that out.)

I think I've mentioned that lit anthologies are very good for upper middle school and high school. But I doubt they even exist anymore since the trend is to individual novels and usually teen lit novels. I have some anthologies from my dad and I've bought some at book sales. There are still "great works" anthologies out there; that is, 1000+ pages of classical literature with usually an introductory page for each section. But I'm talking about the anthology which presents a selection (no more than 5 - 1- pages or even a few stanzas of poetry) and after the selection presents questions for detail, discussion and essays. That type of anthology you don't see any more.

So, I was surprised to pick up this one at BN. It was a complimentary copy to the instructor (I wonder if it made the cut.) and was chocked full of works and questions.

And also, it was severely dumbed down. OK, the first selection was Frost but it was the old chestnut, The Road Not Taken. The first short play was by Wendy Wasserstein who is more culturally popular than classically grounded. There were some excellent probing questions after each selection but then there were pages and pages of student responses to the works. By page 100, I realized the author was using a lot of space walking the reader slowly through the stages of writing a good, analytical essay.

By then, I was trying to figure out just what group is being written to here. A lot of this is very basic: figures of speech, grammar, etc. Introductory college course? If so, just what did these kids learn in high school. Introductory community college course? Possibly. I'm not saying high school only because the damn book weighs so much those kids would revolt.

Now, you may have the impression that I'm trashing this book; I'm not. I am skipping a lot of the training she is giving to her intended audience and I'm concentrating on the selections and their questions. In fact, I spent the weekend polishing an analysis of Millay's poem, Pity Me Not. (A lot of the questions are: choose a work you really like and......) I did a close reading of PMN and for the first time, I saw things that previous readings (and there were many) failed to notice. It was a fun exercise. (Said by someone beyond the tediousness of school.)

Seeing this anthology, I realized that they still can be used as teaching tools and the argument of: Oh, we'd lose the kids if we do, is false. Obviously this text was including the students in the process. We may have to dumb down our lit but we don't have to abandon the classics. I'm not arguing to give them War and Peace instead of The Giver. I'm arguing, slip in a mix of the current and the classic. Bring back the anthology. It's a perfect way to present a panoply of literature in one place. But please, use lighter paper.

Which, if we're still talking about the dumbing of America, brings me to The Adjustment Bureau. We have a star (Matt Damon), and actress (Emily Blunt) and the keystone kops. What were they thinking? Watch it for a laugh. Or don't.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
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Knitting Friday

I'm still in the throes of the Advent Calendar Scarf (started last Thursday so no Knitting Friday last Friday or Movie Monday this Monday but there was a Website Wednesday.) Right now, I'm on Day 6 and the pattern is on Day 9 so, again this year, I'm a little behind in my work. But it coming along very well. No nupps as yet but there is a glaring, but not that important, error in the first spacer section - identical small sections between each pattern day. (The errata didn't appear till after I was finished with the next day's pattern so it was Day 1 pattern - Day 1 spacer section with the mistake - Day 2 pattern - Day 2 spacer section w/o a mistake.) No way was I going to tink back. I'll just repeat the extra rows on the last pattern's spacer. Once again, this scarf will be a shawl since my needles are US 6 (I do love Chia Goo Lace. But I also think Knit Picks interchangeable nickel and Harmony wood are almost as pointy for lace.) and my yarn is fingering, not lace. No way will I get to Day 24. Perhaps, for a deep winter project I will take the days I don't get to use and work a scarf in lace.

I have no idea why my masochist streak comes out during this holiday season but this is the second time I'm working on a time-sensitive, intricate knitting project, plus, this year, I made two scarfs for hubby. (He does like them.) And, I still have about 10 projects OTN. And, I'm looking at this hat:

http://knitaway-one.blogspot.com/2011/12/goodie-bag-hat.html

because I think my headbands are not going to cut it this year and this hat looks funky. I'm thinking nightcap funky. Just how will my hair look coming through the top?

A knitting tip and then I must get back to my Advent scarf since the next clue (Day 10) comes out in an hour. The tip: When it calls for markers between pattern sections (very important in this scarf) wend a long piece (48") of yarn from the back to the front and then front to the back throughout the rows. For example: If the pattern starts 5 stitches in, start the yarn thread there. Then work a pattern repeat and at its end, place the yarn thread between the end stitch and the beginning stitch of the next repeat. Work this way along the row. You still have to count the stitches in the repeats as you go along but you'll find that beginning or ending yarn overs are much easier to count this way. Since my pattern repeats are the same RS and WS for each pattern, I usually weave the yarn along on the RS row, keep it in for the WS row, then remove it and lay it again for the next RS row. Try it; it really does make your work move along faster.

Oh, I forgot. I bought Knit Pick Harmony needles and then arrived yesterday. I'll tell you about them next Friday and also the sad, short life of my beautiful KP shawl pin.

Happy knitting.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
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Website Wednesday

OK, I must make this fast and happy today because I am in the middle of my Advent Calendar Scarf which is being made by an atheist and is definitely going to be shawl, not scarf sized and will get much too big so I can't include all the 24 days of Advent patterns; but outside of that it's coming along swimmingly. (Quick background: A very generous German woman posts 24 different knitting pattern samplers [24 rows] for each day of Advent. She charts them and writes out the directions [sometimes the English translation has German phrases so we get a bonus language lesson] and we follow along knitting one pattern a day [Ha! I'm 2 days behind already.] and chatting on Ravelry re: our progress.) My every spare minute is spent knitting. If you check the calendar you'll see that the first day of Advent was Thursday, December 1 and my blog just fell off the edge of the earth after that.

But in the midst of Obama finally finding his voice (and his sincere voice this time, I'm sure) and addressing the 99%ers in America to tell them that they have been royally screwed during the first 3 years of his administration (but not by him of course, or any Democrat running in 2012) and the fact that this is the holiday season (and our species does need holiday cheer), I thought I would present two happy choices.

OK, maybe the first won't make you happy because it's a two foods comparison chart:

http://www.twofoods.com/

You plug in any two foods and the site spews out the nutrition guide for each food based on similar weight. I didn't believe it when they listed a small McDonald's FF and a plain baked potato as close in calories but a Google search proved them right. So keep this site handy as you imbibe and indulge this holiday season. You'll be the life of the party pulling out your i Phone and telling everyone their calorie consumption.

And then there's this:

http://www.peachygreen.com/wildlife/incredible-wildlife-photography

These are amazing wildlife photos from Peachy Green which appears to be a site dedicated to making the earth greener but making people feel good, not guilty, about doing this. So after you take a look at this pics, cruise the site; there's a lot to read and see here.

Now, it's back to my knitting marathon. Enjoy.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Tax the Rich

Website Wednesday

Last night, PBS had a show on about the Navajo and the cruelty shown them by the US government and basically most of the US citizenry they came in contact with. I have trouble watching this type of show because I always get so angry to the point of physical revulsion.

Peter Coyote did a good job as narrator. Without editorializing there was no doubt he was telling you about another horror imposed human on human. Unfortunately, the true metal, or lack of it, on the part of PBS (as they try to appease the US constituency and influence which embraces racism and violence) shone through in the form of one of their talking "experts" who after we heard about the horrendous deeds of Kit Carson from both the narrator and Navajo descendants, said (in paraphrase): Well he (Carson) was only using violence to advance his cause as was customary in the 1800s.

Jesus H. Christ! And we still wonder why the rest of the world hates us? To pull out the old worn chestnut, I wonder if this expert would have been allowed to say re: the Nazis: Well, they were only using violence to advance their causes as was customary in the 1900s. Never, if he were saying it about the Jews. Unfortunately, the Nazi victims of gays, disabled, socialists, etc. would probably still be fair game for, we have, as a country, a bizarrely schizophrenic system of morality.

Which in a small way shows up in my website pick this week, GQ:

http://www.gq.com/

Wikipedia says of the magazine:

GQ (originally Gentlemen's Quarterly) is a monthly men's magazine focusing on fashion, style, and culture for men, through articles on food, movies, fitness, sex, music, travel, sports, technology, and books. It is the male equivalent of Vogue.

No, it's better than Vogue. I'm sure GQ is aiming for the same financially demographic audience as Vogue but it, fortunately, lacks Vogue's elitist tone and articles. For example, I don't think I would find The Carnivore's Guide to Cooking Vegetarian at Vogue nor The 25 Least Influential People Alive (more on this later), nor Oscar Bait and Switch: A GQ Guide to 40 Must-See Movies This Fall.

OK, the G does stand for Gentlemen and you get the dose of sports and woman but while I would hesitate to recommend some of my "women's" pick to men, I do think GQ has a lot of stuff for all sexes and interests. I'm not going to cruise you around this site since the fun is to wander on your own and come across such gems as America's 25 Douchiest Colleges. They're big on lists (something I love) and the lists are interrupted with a few very quick ads: it's worth this annoyance.

Now, to get back to the 25 least influential people article which does tie into the PBS Navajo show tangentially. Obama comes in as #25 and the blurb reports that he wasted the capital he gained from ordering the raid to wipe bin Laden "off the face of the earth." Well, that raid which ended in the point blank assassination of bin Laden was only capital for a tyrant. I guess we forgot trial by jury like they had at Nuremberg. And now with the "Obama doctrine" of killing our enemies (even US citizens) where ever we find them, we're just sinking deeper into our schizophrenic morality. Just like in centuries past with native Americans, blacks, immigrants, the poor, the new hate meme for the US today seems to be just about any damn person(s) we choose.

But as Sam says in LOTR: Even with all the darkness, there is some light in the sky. We all have to believe that.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Tax the Rich

Movie Monday

OK, I admit it! I ordered something online today, Cyber Monday. I'm not proud that I succumbed to the siren call of capitalism. I'm not even sure I really wanted my purchase (hued lace yarn.) But it's done. I will be knitting till I die and beyond (neat trick for an atheist.) But, at least, I'll be using good yarn - and it was on sale!

Spent Saturday working on my newsletter. For some reason it was a 7 hour project which was spent in the kitchen on the laptop and the TV turned to the weekend marathon of The Lord of the Ring. (Could this be why it took so long?) I started watching at 8 pm Friday night and continued into the wee hours of today. Since this its 10th anniversary, they also showed the extended version of the trilogy (I think about 3 times total.)

What do they call LOTR junkies? I'm one for sure. But even after 10 years, the damn thing holds up. Not so much the CGI, which Jackson once said would one day become dated, but the acting out of the story. The little vignettes which suck you into the characters' lives. I'm happy Jackson didn't go for star power (rumor is that Sean Connery was offered the part of Gandalf - not a good match.) Instead, by using good, solid actors, Jackson made what may be the best ensemble epic of all time. Think about it: most epics pivot around one character and his/her interactions with secondary players. Gandhi, Lawrence of Arabia, Ben Hur, Avatar, the list is endless. With LOTR, there is hero's journey but both Frodo and Aragon are making equally important ones. There are "sidekicks" but they are all unique: Sam with Frodo, Pippin and Merry with Theoden and Gandalf and Legolas and Gimli with Aragon. There are the "waiting women" but both have unique personalities: Arwen who watches and protects and Eowyn who chafes that she can't fight as her men do. And there's so much more but this is not the my movie for Monday. That honor, or perhaps dishonor goes to, The American with George Clooney.

If the world were going to end today and you had never seen any movie in your entire life and The American was the only movie available, I would say: Read a book instead.

The American lacks everything except gorgeous scenery. The acting is bad, the plot is wacky, and apparently from IMDb reviews, the mechanics of building an assassin's rifle were all wrong. It seems obvious this film was going for the ennui of the over-the-hill assassin which European films have a knack for nailing. Clooney doesn't.

Clooney is an American actor through and through. It's not a bad thing but the closest he ever came to the weary pessimism found in European films was Michael Clayton. Being talented with a comedic spark, Clooney is able to "phone in" some roles, as he does in The American. Never is the audience engaged in this man's life. We start with a mystery. He and his girlfriend are in Sweden. They walk into a snow covered field. Someone is following them. Clooney shoots the man, send his girlfriend to call the police and as she walks away, calmly shoots her. Wow!

Next scene, he flees to Italy, calls his boss, says he wants out. OK, says the boss just one last job. It's to make the gun for the killer, not to be the killer. There's a lot in this setup but it goes nowhere. It's established that he frequents prostitutes but then, bingo, he falls in love with one. Of course, he still has this gun to make which he does and then the movie engages in the longest, most boring sequence of "taking the gun out for a test run." Remember the tautness of The Day of the Jackal where the gun is made and tested. It all done tautly with a minimum of talking and in the back of the audience's mind is the question: Will the Jackal kill the kindly gun maker has he done with other helpers? Perhaps the director was trying to repeat that scene. He doesn't. And so The American just goes boringly along. Even twists and betrayals fall flat.

At first, I thought the movie was based on the Henry James novel of the same name. It isn't. But I always remember James as being so boring. I know he was supposed to be deep but I could only go so far with a James novel (he was better with the short story) before I felt like I was swimming in the molasses of triviality. Sort of how I felt by the closing credits of The American.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Tax the Rich

Knitting Friday

I was an absolute waste this week re: blogging since family health issues, school half-days and gobble-gobble day took up all my time. So I thought: Let's not make the week a total waste. Let's blog on Black Friday when the whole nation is sitting home, drinking coffee and reading my blog.

But before I get to my very, very short knitting blog, if you have Verizon cable TV, this weekend you get Starz and Encore free (channels 340 to 362 in NJ) and tonight you get to see LOTR, all three movies, without commercial interruption (that means you don't pee for 9+ hours.) I'm sure there will be other noteworthy but all three LOTR!!!! Wow!'

On to knitting. Hubby wants a second scarf and he decided on the color and the pattern (deep brown and a flat stockinette stitch with twisted stitches throughout.) It's coming along very nicely and I'm using the needles recommended on the yarn, US 6. So I'm getting a chance to try out my US 6 in the Harmony from the Knit Picks sampler pack (US 6, 7, 8 in wood, plastic and nickel, 2 different-sized cables for $20.) and I'm loving these wood needles. Really sharp.

But I wasn't that happy with my cast on so I thought: What about an I Cord CO? Which brought me to the following Berroco site which I want to recommend:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl550vquOCY

After practicing with the video and using her cast on of 4 stitches, I wasn't pleased with the thickness of the I Cord. You really don't want an I Cord that's "in your face" at the bottom of a scarf. So, still following her directions I only cast on 2 stitches. And, when I got to the required stitches (the pattern CO stitch number) I only made one extra stitch (the video says make 3 extra stitches.) Then I took that extra stitch and the last required stitch back to the left needle and knitted them together (the video has you taking 4 stitches back to the LN and K2tog two times.) The video's bind off gave the I Cord a bump I didn't like.

Another observation I had: you have to use straight needles or two circs (trust me on this) and you seem to be able to make the I Cord on the same size needle as you need for the pattern. Maybe you could even go down one size but not up. I'm planning on making the I Cord bind off on two stitches to match the CO. I haven't even tried this process yet so if I get to 65" and discover it ain't goin' to work and my scarf ends aren't matching, you will hear my primal scream wherever you are.

Enjoy your shopping, eating leftovers, whatever, today. Happy Knitting.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Tax the Rich

Website Wednesday

Every once and a while, in order to maintain your sanity, you have to look beyond the dross humans create for other humans and see the patches of beauty and the patches of fun which exist all around us.

So, on a rainy, dank day in NJ, I present:

http://alligator-sunglasses.com/

Love the name: Alligator Sunglasses. Does he put them on himself? Get help? They are cool shades.

Currently, you get a picture of a baby polar bear with the heading: Just A Baby Polar Bear. But, being human, we anthropomorphically attribute to this infant mammal who will soon grow into a vicious killer all the smiles and chuckles we would heap on our own progeny. And, then the cute kitty one picture down. Oh, so cute. (And I'm NOT a cat person.) But AS then brings us back to reality with a printed monologue by Dave Chappelle where he talks about girls dressing like whores but not being them.

Alligator Glasses is part of the PBH Network and if you click on the top bar at AG, you'll be sent to other PGH sites.

Click on The World Around Us in the top bar for some stunning pictures. It's really 3-D in 2-D. Also, in this topic is a map of McDonald's around the country. (Tip: If you want to trip over a McDonald's, live on the east coast.) A click on Politics & Culture will bring you to the midnight raid on OWS in NYC. And also, Chapter 1 of The Mormon Diaries by the AS cultural correspondent.

I had to google to find out about PBH; here's what I got:

The original PBH Network began in 2005 with the launch of Prose Before Hos, Well Placed Pottery, and Disgraceful And Sexy. In 2009 and 2010, PBH2, Die Hipster Die, Alligator Sunglasses [Formerly PBH3], All That Is Interesting, Runt of the Web, and Die Guido Die were added to feature new content.

and more:

Prose Before Hos (PBH) is an open forum for news, humor, and writing. PBH features personalities, dailies, reviews, and a vast array of columns and updates from authors.Well Placed Pottery (WPP) is a website in expressionist effort, labeled by the creator as an ‘artistic endeavor’. The website is primarily centered around thought and abstract creations. Disgraceful And Sexy (D&S) is a media centered website. This site, as the title implies, is a humor driven focused on multimedia including pictures, movies, and miscellaneous internet humor.

Nothing about AS; but you get the picture. PBH is beautiful, funny, thoughtful, and...... well you fill in the rest. There's a lot of see and read here so plan to stay for a while. Oh, and much of it is not child friendly. Enjoy.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Tax the Rich

Movie Monday

I was thinking about what is systemically wrong with the US and I guess, if the essay says: Give only one reason, I would have to say it's that we made capitalism, which is only an economic system, into a code word for our representative government ("They are trying to destroy capitalism, the very fiber of our way of life."); and then we spun that wacky belief into the meme that capitalism is sacred like religion and you know we never disparage anyone's religion (Well, anyone we think is OK, that is.) in this county.

Not encouraging thoughts but I like to understand how everything works.

Which brings me to my movie review this Monday, which is not Dogville (as promised two Mondays ago) but it does involve Nicole Kidman (who stars in Dogville) and Lars von Trier (who directed Dogville), so I'm getting there.

I want to end up reviewing Melancholia but let's start with The Hours. For which, Nicole Kidman won Best Actress Oscar for her role as Virginia Wolf(!!!) Oh, the horror! She did wear a false nose and that's the equivalent of "losing yourself in a role" in Hollywood terms. But, what a depressing movie! Apparently, there's a book, The Hours, which won the Pulitizer Prize(!!!) which is the basis of this movie. The plot spans the time from the early 1900s to modern times and, using Woolf as the linchpin, traces the lives of three lesbian/bi-sexual women and their interactions with husbands and a past lover. What a drag! Meryl Streep plays her role with her usual acting smarts; Julianne Moore fights back tears throughout her extremely depressing turn as a pregnant mom of an adorable little boy who is fighting her desire to leave her family and kill herself.

And, then there's Kidman as Woolf. Oh, the angst! The only time she acts believably human is a short scene when she selfishly orders her hard-working cook to leave her preparations for lunch and travel to London to get a food she wants. The rest of the time she's angsting about. OK, I am on a tirade here and that's because I decided to revisit Woolf. I couldn't find her novels at the time but did find a book of essays. What a witty, bright, articulate woman. Nothing of this is in the movie however, and we come away with a gross misconception of a great, innovative female writer from the last century. What a waste.

OK, the above was just a mini-tirade; now to a review of Melancholia which is the story of the destruction of earth without any of the fanfare. It's centered on a dysfunctional family with Kristen Dunst as the clinically depressed sister (and she nails the depression) who fucks up her life royally almost immediately after the film starts and then we watch her, her sister, nephew and brother-in-law as they wait for the end of the world.

The film has a very European in flavor, in that good European films usually play out very slowly and the denouncement is more a whimper than a bang. Same here is some ways for (SPOILER ahead) the world does end but very quietly and beautifully. No CGI, only minor hysterics; it's sad but it's also soooo quiet.

But then, it lacks the length which good European films need since they explore subjects so much more quietly (there's that word again) and philosophically than their American counterparts. I would have liked a longer movie. More exploration of Dunst's relationship with her parents; more exploration of her relationship with the husband she dumps on her wedding night; more exploration of the depression which defined her life. Von Trier likes streamline metaphor (Dogville) so perhaps this is the cut he wanted or perhaps this is the cut which he knew would be the money shot (they loved Melancholia at Cannes.)

Bottom line: Go see Melancholia. It's beautiful to the eye; it has stuff to say; it has stuff we all can think about (example: why are men so peripheral in this movie?) Be warned, it has a slow European pace, not American freneticism. Surprisingly, it's less depressing than The Hours.