Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Movie Monday

A rather dry Movie Monday. I did finally hear the end of the two (yes, only two) chapter Thing in the Attic by Blish. (It's on LibriVox.) It's a sci-fi short story which I've been listening to for over three weeks. No, I'm not a slow listener; I keep falling asleep.

Now, LibriVox is great because you only get to hear a chapter at a time so, if you fall asleep, you don't miss much. However, you can miss it often and I've lost count as to how many times I've awakened to the black screen on the computer and no sound in the earpiece. I finally beat the system yesterday though; after once again sleeping through the ending the night before, I listened to it when I awakened in the morning. It worked; I heard the ending, but just barely, I noticed my eyes closing.....

Thing in the Attic is an interesting sci-fi. Not your full-bodiced damsel in distress sci-fi and not your dreary polemic about human future; but a thinking man's take on the ageless question: What lies beyond?

Unfortunately, the only movie I sat through this week (outside of my knitting companions: HP and the......, 2012, and Angels and Demons, was Flawless (2008) with Demi Moore and Michael Caine.

What a dry, flat movie, a caper movie with no panache, a "figure out why" movie where you finally shout: I DON'T CARE containing one piece of revisionist history that annoyed the hell out of me.

The movie takes place in the 1960s and Moore plays the only female lower executive in the London Diamond Corporation. She realizes she has reached the glass ceiling early on and Caine, as the old, but brilliant, janitor asks her if she wants to help him steal the diamonds. (Now, this diamond company is the place from which all the world's diamonds originate. We're talking diamonds lying around like dandruff.)

We get your typical plot points: Will she help him? Why is he doing this? Will they get caught? Unfortunately, too soon, this question forms in our mind: Who the hell cares?

Michael Caine can add panache to any role. As one commenter said: Even when he's phoning in a role, he's interesting. Moore, however, disappears behind her costume of 1960s' perfect grooming and behavior. People forget the start of the 1960s was Andy Hardyville; it was only as the decade advanced did the hipness happen.

Moore plays it pre-Woodstock and she plays it historically accurate but oh so dull. It's as if the coiffed hair, the traditional suit, the black high heels just swallowed up any spontaneity in her acting.

However, I said in the beginning that it was the revisionist history which really turned me off this movie. OK, it was sort of dropped after a big splash at the beginning but it had a souring effect.

The movie begins with protests in London against blood diamonds. Now, the movie starts in our present time so at first I thought this protest was current and accurate. But this protest was supposed to be happening in the 1960s! No way. Just google "blood diamonds" and read the time line. They are just plain wrong. And this grated on me.

Combine this with the angst Moore feels for her lack of professional opportunities (Did women really have this feminist awareness in the early 1960s?) and I felt like I was watching a one-of-a-kind PC robbery caper. And, that's not meant as a compliment. Caper movies have to be fast-paced, witty, light on their feet, not vetted by the UN Human Rights Commission and NOW.

Then, tack on the the completely out-of-left-field social conscience ending: You must do good for the world, and I was left with one loud: Huh?

So I guess you can say for this movie we have blood diamonds as the beginning bookend, a boring caper movie in the middle, and a challenge to all successful women to do good as the end bookend. Dullsville!

OK, my job for next week is to find a movie I like. Avatar has arrived from Netflix. Hated Cameron's Titanic (not the ship, the plot) but I'm going to be optimistic.

See you next week.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Website Wednesday (which is technically less than 4 hours past Wednesday)

Why am I up at this early, early morning hour? Because Verizon changed my TV package and random 2 a.m. channel surfing (yes, 2 a.m. is my first "bright-eyed and bushy tailed" wake-up time which is probably not bad for a borderline insomniac) brought up a channel in black which announced that I couldn't watch it because I was not subscribed to that channel.

Well sweetie, I definitely was subscribed as I watched it at 8 p.m. last night. Long story short: I knew Verizon was changing the line-up today so I got up, went to their web site and read the line-up changes. And, that's why I'm up. (Turns out, my channel is not among the deleted ones - they are so mixed up.)

I had planned a fantastic photo site for this Website Wednesday with a decade of pictures, some of the WTC on 9/11 which I had never seen. But it was a real emotional-downer site and after the controversy in the USA re: the Islamic center in NYC, I decided to wait and perhaps talk about that brouhaha before I posted the website.

So, here's a worthy alternate which should keep you occupied well into the future:

http://www.dmoz.org/

I learned this about them from their up-to-date blog:

Since 1998, the Open Directory Project has been the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web. It is constructed and maintained by a passionate, global community of volunteer editors.

I learned this from their "About."

Join the Open Directory Project
1. Find a category that you would like to maintain.
2. Follow the Become an Editor link at the top of the category page.
Note that some categories do not have a Become an Editor link; you should find a more specific category which interests you, and apply there. Once you have joined, and gained some experience, you can apply for more general categories.

Wow! Universal learning where you can take an active part in the contents provided! No, this is not Wikipedia's older brother since it's website-based.

Clicking through these websites is like walking in fields of wheat. It's never-ending. You go from one website to another; one topic to another; one language to another......

I'm not going to comment on the accuracy of all the information but from what I clicked, Open Directory contains some very substantial websites. This is well-worth the bookmark for many future visits.

Final note: I remember this site from its inception over 10 years ago. Way before the proliferation of game sites on the web, this site offered a listing of online games. It was one of the first sites I bookmarked for that purpose.

Enjoy.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Movie Monday - Zombieland, Hollywoodland and women who follow the movies

First, I thought I would pass on a bit of true information in this escalating war of words against the Muslim cultural center to be built near the now defunct World Trade Center. It's going to be built on the site of one of the city's most holy sites - a former Burlington Coat Factory store. The horror!

Try to chill, people. This is another issue akin to the grandfather in the Invisible Man saying: The white man always has us chasing our tails.

We have really serious issues to resolve in this country dealing with the poor and unemployed vs. the rich and privileged. I shudder to think that this smoke screen of good old American's bigotry could decide some 2010 elections.

But on a happier note: WTF is big-money Hollywood saying about the role of young women in society today when they put them in movies?

Now, some indies nail young women right on. I liked Adventureland. Kristen Stewart's character makes some bad choices and while she ends the movie on an upbeat note, you see the arc of her development so the quasi-happy ending works.

But Zombieland? I finally revisited that movie and I'm still rooting for the zombies to finish off those sisters. What stupid people! In the land of zombies, they trick the two male humans who could help them - not once, but twice.

What's with that lame mission they're on: to reach a really neat amusement park so the younger sister will have some fun in this world filled with zombies! And then, on arrival, they turn on every light and musical device which is a siren song to battalions of zombies who descend on them.

OK, I get it; this is really a horror movie. But are these two twits what Hollywood envisions as the take-charge modern female? They're just a variation of the previous Hollywood female twit who stood there screaming and watching her hero get plummeted by the bad guy.

Which brings me back to the Twilight saga because I think I've found the answer to Hollywood's unrealistic treatment of women while reading the postings on Twilight Lexicon: http://forum.twilightlexicon.com/

First, this is a really good site for anyone who is addicted to the Twilight saga. It's well moderated and even if you think the Twilight books are poorly written, questions are posted here which have these Twilight fans discussing some deep philosophical thoughts - and, of course, some pretty simple thoughts also.

But what really strikes me is the romantic devotion so many of the posters have to the over-the-top relationship between Bella and Edward. (Or, for Team Jacob members, the relationship of Bella and Jacob.) Cripes, one guy's a vampire; the other is a shape-shifter! However, they both do adore Bella. I'd take a dollar for every time I read someone post they would love to trade places with Bella. Wow! I really understand this feeling from adolescent girls; there may ever be a primal trigger which activates this heart-racing, idealized love at a certain age. It's the stuff young girls' dreams are made of.

I'm getting very clear signals, however, that many of these posters are "older", beyond adolescence (way beyond adolescence) women, married women, women who have never had a caring boyfriend, women in abusive relationships, women out of an abusive relationship and many women who stopped their emotional development just at the point when they should have realized men are foible-filled humans; not gods.

So getting back to wacky memes which clutch American society so very often (who can forget that little incident in Salem MA in the early 1600s when young girls accused and the authorities condemned various townspeople as witches and warlocks?), I guess I have to cut Hollywood some slack for their depiction of women. For the major studios, the bottom line has always been money. I'm sure they poll much more extensively than I (well, truth be told, I don't poll, I just read.) This may be just what so, so many women want to see on the silver screen.

Next week, I'm going to expand my quest of the realistic portrayal of young women in movies.

See you then.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Knitting Friday

Since I last posted the Knitting Friday, here's what I've been doing this summer:


These sweaters were all inspired by the top-down Mohair Minimalist top which made me realize that a top-down sweater didn't have to have raglan increases. (That's the second time just looking at a pattern solved a major stumbling block for me. The first being the Mario blanket when I realized, after looking at a quilt of Mario, that I could make a knitted blanket in mitered squares.)

In fact, here's a very recent picture of that blanket on the boy's bed. You can really see the texture of the squares in this picture. I'm still happy that the vote to not block won. If we can keep the moths away, Mario may become an heirloom.

But getting back to my summer sweaters. I think I must have done madwoman or ADHD knitting on them since I finished more than 10 this summer. I like best the lace tanks (two on the right.) I wore them the most, over camisoles and they were just right for our long spell of heat and humidity. (Yesterday, was the first day all summer when the kids, Miss M, and I were able to take a long walk in the morning. OK, it was in the rain but at least the temp was not 90+ by 8 a.m.)

The top on the left above was started last summer. That is probably one of my longest projects. The top on the right is its "sister" top - same yarn -and that's a good example of the lace tops.

The generic pattern for these lace tops is:
Decide needle size based on your yarn. Have two sizes, the smaller for the top and bottom band, the larger for the body.
CO x stitches (80 for me.) Join and work seed stitch for the width of a top band. Last row: K front and back in each stitch. (x stitches increase to 2x - 160 for me)
Change to larger needles. (I go from US 8 to US 10.5.) Work the following pattern for distance from base of neck to shoulder. (For me, it's about 4.5")
Row 1 & 2: K
Row 3 & 4: *YO, K2tog*
At shoulder, bind off loosely for each armhole like this: BO armhole sts, work pattern across for front, BO armhole sts, work pattern across for back.
On the next row, CO x sts at each underarm (10 each arm for me) and work the front and back stitches in pattern. Next row, continue on all the stitches in pattern to length.
(This part is so simple. Here's how I do the bind offs on 160 sts: BO 30 sts loosely, work pattern across 50 sts, BO 30 sts loosely, work pattern across 50 sts. Next row: CO 10 sts for underarm, work pattern across 50 sts, CO 10 sts for 2nd armhole, work pattern across 50 sts. On the next row, when I begin the pattern to length, I'm working on 120 sts. This works for me but as I said: this is a generic pattern so you have to adjust it for your size.)
Finishing: I like to work Row 4 (which is the lace pattern) and then BO on a straight K row. Then I work 1 row of extended single crochet across the bottom, 2 rows of half double crochet and I finish off with the crab stitch. But you can just switch back to smaller needles and work a few rows in seed stitch and just BO.
Final Note: This pattern is stretchy. In fact, on a yellow lace top (not pictured) I had only 90 stitches for the body and it's not small.)

All the tops shown are a variation of this generic pattern. The top I just finished last night (also not pictured) changes the pattern slightly with 5 rows of K and one row of *YO, K2tog* for a small popcorn look.

At the left, is a sweater set from the first picture. It's made in a variegated white/beige cotton.

I wasn't planning on making a 1950s matching sweater set but I had the extra yarn. I wear them separately - and a lot.

So this is a "How I Spent My Summer" posting. I still can't believe I knitted so much. Right now, I'm ready to tackle a black cotton cardi. Pictures to follow.

Happy knitting.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Website Wednesday

My website pick for next Wednesday is such a downer that I thought, in keeping with the hot, humid weather which has returned to NJ, I would post a challenging, but fun, game:

http://www.cafecafegames.com/games/753/black-knight.html

Black Knight is a modified chess game; and I mean a deeply modified chess game. You only play with the black knight and his purpose, making only the chess move allowed to him - two squares straight, one square over, is to overcome obstacles to reach the starred exit square which takes him to the next level.

It starts simply enough where you only move to the exit square. Then it introduces red button squares which must be reached first because they activate "bridge" squares which connect you to places you need to go.

And finally, the other chess pieces begin to appear. First, the king, then one pawn. By level 12, I'm dealing with 4 pawns and one king. As I remember the earlier levels, you only have to eliminate the king in order for the starred exit square to appear; you can exit with pawns still remaining. (I forgot to mention, as you go along, you can't see the exit square until other pieces are eliminated.) However, by level 12 there is no way to reach the king without eliminating the pawns.

The game follows chess moves and as a new piece is introduced, his moves are described. Right now, I'm dealing with something called "forcing the pawn's position", meaning if I get within striking distance of a pawn, he can make a legal move to avoid me. This is extremely annoying.

You do "die" when another piece eliminates you. The good news is that you can retry immediately; the bad news is that you retry from the beginning of the level. At this point, with level 12, I beginning to feel that I'm in a Waiting for Godot nightmare.

Cafe games at http://www.cafecafegames.com has a lot of other neat games. Pooch Escape is an escape game even kids enjoy. But this seems to be a good news/bad news game site. The good news: Jay is Game and escapegames24 have walkthroughs for you. The bad news: if you play Sagrario's Room, for example, in CafeGames, the game appears with no inventory bar. So you get an existential nightmare of where you can collect and use your items but never see them. However, if you hit "Refresh", the game reappears with the inventory bar. But hey, it's possible this is a very random problem and you may never have it. Just remember, "Refresh" is your friend.

So whether you're broiling in summer heat or freezing in unseasonal cold (apparently CA is having a cold summer), enjoy Cafe Games, both for fun and recharging those brain cells.

See you next week.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Movie Monday & a pesky computer virus

Not that I was ready with Knitting Friday, last Friday, but I was ready to post the 10+ sweaters I knitted this summer (Yes, 10+, I can't believe the amount. I know I knit in my sleep but this is ridiculous!) on Saturday morning.

So, I wake up at 1:30 am Saturday with a dull but still bearable headache. My pictures were uploaded and I was ready to go but this is an unholy hour to write a blog so I start to cruise VERY RESPECTABLE (yes, I am touchy about this, considering what happened) sites.

By 4 am, I'm starting to get these pesky pop-up warnings saying that my computer is not secure/I may be unprotected. You know the type. I've gotten them before and they're ads to buy an anti-virus program. So I check my anti-virus program and seeing the "Secured" notice, I just toddle merrily along even though a professional-looking pop-up ad for Anti Vir Solution Pro appears and I can't get rid of it.

At 4:30 am, I opened a .pdf and it kept closing on me while the pesky pop-up boxes were impossible to close. I decided to re-start and the computer booted up again in the dreaded black screen - you know what you get in safe mode (but I wasn't in safe mode.)

At which point, my computer expert was awakened with: You better come look at this. But I didn't do it.

Long story made shorter: Anti Vir Solution Pro was not an annoying pop-up ad. It was the virus and was it nasty! Thankfully, we have a laptop (or else we would have been SOOL) and connected to the internet there. While we ran two full anti-virus scans taking 9 hours and producing zero infected sites, we were able to research this bugger and find a fix which was legitimate and free. (I love the internet!) One of the biggest problems with fixes is that they can be as bogus and deadly as the virus you're trying to eliminate.

Cut to the chase: Anti Vir Solution Pro does not get picked up by normal anti-virus programs. The program which finally wiped it out found 11 infected files and did the job in record time. I'm back in business.

And now, the movie review: A Boy and His Dog

OK, truth in blogging: I didn't see the whole movie; that I'll accomplish when it's back on in a week, probably in the dead of the night again. And I know from reading some comments that I missed some important stuff.

This is an oldie, 1975, with a very young Don Johnson (way before Miami Vice), and Jason Robards and Charles McGraw (among others) in clown make-up. Additionally, it's a cult classic and deservedly so.

I'm not wild about 1970s movies. They have a sleazy/cheesy, artificial, quirky look and even good actors seem to be playing shtick in them. But A Boy and His Dog is based on sci-fi type novella by Harlan Ellison and sleazy/cheesy, artificial, and quirky work.

I picked up the plot when Vic, our hero, played by Johnson and his talking dog, Blood, (yes, a talking dog and he really makes the movie) are trying to survive in a post-apocalypse world. Blood is a tremendous help to Vic as he fights marauding gangs. Unfortunately, when a nubile female appears and the hormones kick in, Blood is unable to convince Vic he may be going to his doom.

Which takes Vic without Blood into a fundamentalist Christian world called Topeka which exists underground in a missile silo and looks just like "mom and apple pie" small town America. But, of course, it isn't.

Just last week, I saw the original Planet of the Apes (1968) and thought: Wow, this is applicable today. I had the same thoughts with this movie. Of course, one explanation is that the authors of the source works, Boulle and Ellison, provided excellent futuristic-themed material. These movies were not pieced together by a committee of Hollywood screenwriters. (Though Rod Serling was a screenwriter on POTA - not too shabby.)

When we get into the underground world a lot is going on and this section needs at least two viewing to absorb it all. Here, the viewer is trying to figure out who these people are (not to mention why they wear clown make-up), what's really happening in this world, and what plans do they have for Vic and the girl who lured him underground. Outside of normal dialogue in these scenes, you have a loud speaker voice-over giving recipes, event schedules, etc. - just like a bizarre summer camp or cruise trip.

Once Vic learns of (and participates in) these underground dwellers' wacky reproductive plans for him, he's out of there. His escape looks like a cheap shoot-out worthy of porn movie acting.

The escape takes us to the final controversial scene in the movie. While Ellison's original work was changed throughout the movie (as always happens), this scene even drew ire from Ellison. (Apparently, it was left in because the audience loved it.)

In this scene, Vic and the girl escape to above ground and find a sick, starving Blood. It's a short scene and I won't spoil the ending. But, hey, remember the movie is called A Boy and His Dog.

Enjoy.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Website Wednesday

I'm still on a summer schedule which probably means I'm a lazy s.o.b.

Did I mention that the 7th grade math packet did not appear on the school's website until July 19th? I wonder how many kids were already on vacation by then and won't even know about it until the end of the summer? We got the packet done in a week (which was a good thing with camp and vacation now upon us.) It was the same packet from last summer, probably a "rip and print" affair since it's still full of confusions. (Like, directions to solve the equation when you could only simplify.)

We both did a packet separately and once the dust settles from camp, we'll compare our answers and any discrepancies will get bumped up to a higher authority.

So I have been busy but I'm also thinking about my website. I was thinking about it last Sunday, sitting in the rain in the Wegman's parking lot and watching all the SUVs pull up and their perky occupants emerge with their eco-friendly canvas bags. That soooooo cracks me up!

And in keeping with that, here's a green website for this Wednesday:

http://greenopolis.com/

I'm totally in love with their About:

Greenopolis makes a very simple – yet powerful – promise to you, our user:

We are about doing good.

Specifically, our goal is to provide you with information and tools to:

• Help you to recycle easily
• Help to save our natural resources for our children’s children
• Track conservation through recycling and re-use
• Educate and reward conservation

They're about doing good! I'm about doing good! Talk about soul mates!

Their current issue discusses the best bags for groceries and the world's oldest leather shoe (5,000+ years.)

The eco-clothing article has pictures and prices of nature friendly summer wear. Or, should I say, expensive, nature friendly wear?

OK, their niche audience is probably affluent (and white?) The current issue is full of pictures of 30-something, 40-something white women.

But don't get your panties in a bunch; there are very good ideas here. I especially liked using old books as planters. OK, I hear the book lovers throwing objects at me, but I've worked at way too many book fairs not to know that when the DPW truck arrives right after the sale to cart the leftovers away they are going to the dump - not good, book-loving homes.

Maybe, you don't want to rip up a book but this gets you thinking: Before I throw this out, can I find a practical use for it?

Of course, it should really get you thinking before you even make the purchase: Do I need this crap?

Take a look at Greenopolis. It's a vitally important subject, a fast read, and full of interesting and helpful ideas.

I'm off to read the article on cleaning your grill with coffee grinds. The first line starts with: Now that Melissa has me washing my face with coffee grounds.....

This should be interesting.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Website Wednesday

OK, it's Thursday but Wednesday was a traveling day, my coffee maker broke, and the dog ate my homework.

Here's my pick:

http://www.randomblog.org/

This is just pictures with captions. You know the type. Many are witty; some are even wittier; a few are just "flat" or indecipherable. Watch out for the many "not for kids" ones, but those can be the best.

I can't find out much about this site in the "About" but the pictures do the talking here. You can submit pictures to them and, this caught my eye: See yourself in a random pic, and don’t want to be? Send us the link, we will remove it.

So they will photo shop you out of your reality. Cool!

Enjoy.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Movie Monday

Well, it's been some time since I last posted (What a stupid, obvious statement, but, I, and so many other bloggers must love it since it's used so often.)

This is unbelievably the first day in a month when the temp did not hit the 90s by 8 am. This is also the first day in a month that the kids are in camp.

Happy day for me and for them in that the temp is bearable.

Some day I want to watch The Road, that bleak post apocalyptic drama where civilization has ended and mankind is following. Apparently, it makes slight mention of how the world got in such a bad way. Global warning? Did it start with very hot summers and very cold winters? I wonder.......

I saw most of 2012. What a crock! Woody Harrelson really has the crazed, but factually correct guy down pat. You know, the guy who knows the world is headed for destruction, knows the government(s) is engaged in a huge cover-up, and, wait for it - has "the map" to help the hero get to safety. Of course you know that he, as the crazy but factually accurate loon, is not going to make it to the credit roll.

John Cusack was the hero of this movie. He's the modern divorced dad which directors love to use as heroes these days. I was a little disappointed that he wound up back with his wife in the end. I really thought her present main squeeze was likable (hell, her kids really liked him) but probably the director was afraid to introduce the polygamy angle since the survivors are looking forward to starting up a new Eden - and you know how that turned out.

We also saw the original Planet of the Apes with the kids. They were mesmerized. I had forgotten what an iconic film it was. I had forgotten the religion vs. science angle also. Who would have thought that almost 50 years later, after all the advances in science, this movie could have elements right out of today's headlines?

I'm also watching another Harrelson movie, Zombieland but I have a visceral dislike of the two sisters who are main characters and it's ruining the movie for me. I just don't like them and I can't get past them to review the movie. I had the misfortune of flipping it on twice when they played a prominent role: when they capture the zombie hunters and when they pretend the little sister has been zombie bitten.

It's like when I watched Jackson's The Frighteners. I cringed every time the FBI agent appeared. I hated how this character was played. It ruined those scenes for me.

I guess the visceral attraction or aversion to movies is pretty important. Once you get beyond all the film school criticism, that's really what keeps you in your seat or sends you running from the theater. I think I'll try Zombieland one more time.

I can recommend Adventureland with Kristen Stewart. She really is a good indie actress. Everyone was good in this movie. Everyone seemed real. I bought into the highs and lows of everyone's angst. It was surprising that both hero and heroine as college graduates were working in the bittersweet dump of Adventureland but it's all explained realistically. This is worth the watch.

Finally, a Miss M. update, which concerns movies. But first, apologies for no pictures. I'm at the wrong computer for pictures today.

Miss M. went to see Toy Story 3 (not a dry eye among the moms at the end.) It's part of her service dog training. She was pretty nervous due to all the kids and the noise. She promptly fell asleep. Should I take this as a review?

Enjoy your week. Hope your weather is bearable.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Movie Monday

Every time I post, I read my banner and think: I really do understand Voltaire's last line in Candide (was it really the last line? I'm too lazy to check): Cultivate your own garden.

It doesn't make me happy. To paraphrase the journalist in War, Inc.: It's no fun always being on the losing side.

But I have been cultivating my knitting garden since I last posted Knitting Friday and the crop has been fantastic.

First, my cotton summer top which was started last summer. Did that linger on the needles!

The picture looks like it flares on the bottom but that isn't the case. It's done in a pattern of a 10 stitch x 13 rows square of stockinette followed by the same sized square in seed stitch. Since it was started last summer, it's pre-top-down knitting so perhaps that's why it languished on the needles - I hate the finishing work you have to do on bottom up knitting - even when they are knitted in the round.

Since I finished this top, I've made three others. One which was a bear - splitty yarn and so much finishing at the end. But I wasn't sure I would have enough yarn tor a top-down (I would have) and I've found that top-down knitting (at least the way I do it (CO 80, work a top band, increase to 140 - 160 sts, work straight to about 7", etc. )takes much more yarn than a traditional bottom up garment.

For any doubters, here's the proof:
With a bottom-up top: I CO 120 sts and work my pattern for about 12". Then I bind off 12 sts front and back or the armholes so I'm now working on 96 stitches (split evenly) for about 4" - 7" (depending on style) when I start my 6 stitch bind off at the front and back neck.
With a top-down top: I start with only 80 stitches for the neck band but I quickly almost double that number (140 -160 sts) to work the top to the armhole. So, while the body may be the same in 120 stitches for both styles, the yoke area of my top-down design eats more yarn.

This tank has much more front "droppage" and much thinner shoulder straps than what's pictured above. But it's my coolest and most form fitting tank top (*K4, seed stitch on 3 sts* across.) At 100+ degrees, I looked comfortable; though at 100+ degrees, I doubt any clothes are comfortable.

After I finished this tank, I worked up two more top-down cotton tops. I'll post pictures of all next week. Whoo-hoo!

But I'll leave you will a trick I learned out of desperation:
For one of my top down tops, I used a *K5 then seed stitch on 5 sts* pattern. Now, you know that the reasons I like the Mohair Minimalist type of top-down (CO x sts, work band, double the X sts and work to armhole) over the raglan type top-down is because with the raglan you are very, very limited in your stitch pattern choices unless you want to perform knitting cartwheels.

So, I was quite happy with my pattern though I knew had to watch when I bound off for the armhole since my last armhole in a similar top-down had a bind off 35 sts for the top of the armhole and cast on of 20 for the underarm and it was a disaster - leaving a gaping armhole which needed major work.

I figured this time I would bind off 30 and cast on 15 for a 45 stitch armhole which was 10 stitches fewer. Perhaps a snug armhole, but doable.

It didn't happen; with my pattern I had to bind off and cast on in 5s (25 - 15) or 10s (30 -20), not one in 5s and one in 10s.

OK, so my conundrum was that I couldn't get a 45 stitch armhole, I couldn't use any armhole bigger than that without a gap, and that my only choice of a 40 stitch armhole (BO 30, CO 10) was going to be too tight.

So I googled "stretchy bind off" and the heavens opened up to give me this:

Knit two stitches. *Pass the first stitch over the second - as you would in a typical bind off.
Then, take this remaining stitch on the RN and return it to the LN. Knit it again and the next stitch.*
Repeat across from *.

So while the cast on 10 stitches was still a paltry amount (I used the thumb-cast on for maximum looseness.), the 30 bound-off stitches formed a wavy, attractive, and very loose finish. The armhole worked!

OK, that's enough typing and more than enough reading for you.

Here's Coquille, a shawl pattern from the latest Knitty which I'm pondering:

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff10/PATTcoquille.php

It has a lot of short rows so it doesn't look like a boring knit.

Happy knitting.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Movie Monday

Being on a summer schedule, I'm not posting regularly but I do have a review of Eclipse. The girl saw the advanced screening last Wednesday night. (It was booked as a 9 pm show but people were lining up by 4 pm so the theater got permission to run the movie at 7 pm. By the time she left a little after 9 pm, the parking lot was packed with the line for the midnight showing.)

Reading the answers to the questions I asked her, you'll soon realize she loved the movie. Plus, although she is Team Jacob, she won a life-sized cutout of Edward (yes, it's 6'1" tall) which resides in her room so it's the first thing she sees when she awakens. Of course, there may be something in the animosity between wolves and vampires because Miss M growls at Edward all the time - the only one in the house who does.

A 12 year old's Eclipse review:

1. What were your favorite scenes?
The sex scenes. Bella and Edward on the bed kissing and trying to undress each other. Esme holding a newborn and Carlisle karate chopping the head off. (Note: I’m assuming that’s not a sex scene.)
2. What were your least favorite scenes?
Liked them all.
3. Was this movie better than the other two? Why?
Totally better because of the director, the CGIs, and the graphically violent scenes. Plus, the story line.
4. Did the character of Edward, Bella and Jacob change from the first movies? How?
Yes, Bella is between the “person who she is and who she should be.” Jacob is more protective. Edward seems more loving.
5. Were there any plots from the book which were ignored in the movie? Which ones? Did you miss them?
Some dialogue was missing when Jacob kisses Bella. Charlie doesn’t support Jacob (after the unwanted kiss) as he does in the book. I missed this. “It was funny.”
6. Were any plots added to the movie which weren’t in the book? Which ones? Did they help the plot?
The motorcycle scene where Bella goes off with Jacob and leaves Edward. It didn’t help the plot.
7. If you hadn’t read the book(s) would you understand what was happening in the movie?
Probably not. I wouldn’t have understood the Volturi and about ½ of the plot.
8. This is called a horror movie. Was it? Why?
Yes. Vampire killing innocent people. Heads ripped off.
9. What about the special effects? Which ones were great? Which ones weren’t?
Wolves were the best. Not too good were the clumps of ice which appeared when the vampires’ heads come off.
10. Were the main actors better/worse in this movie?
Bella was the same. Edward and Jacob were much better.
11. In the book, Bella is very upset that she hurts Jacob (the crying all night scene), did she feel the same way in the movie?
Not really. (Note: a lot of online discussion of this change and Bella’s ending monologue as to why she wants to become a vampire.)
12. What was missing from the movie which you would have liked to have seen?
When Charlie says in the book after Jacob’s forced kiss: Good for you, kid.
13. What was added to the movie which you felt was “fluff” to fill time?
Alice’s party and the talk afterward.
14. What about the tent scene? Was it different from the book? Did you like it? Why?
Close to the book. It was very good.
15. How about Bree? Was she what you expected? Why? Why not?
She was. I had seen her like that. She acts like that.
16. Some critics say that Victoria was not mean enough. Do you agree?
She was like a snake; watching then running away slowly.
17. To me, the middle of New Moon was loooong. How about Eclipse? Did it “leave you wanting more?”
Yes. It was amazing.
17a: What more?
Breaking Dawn
18. Were the fight scenes realistic?
Yes.
19. Who were your favorite minor characters? Why?
Bree. Alice. The Cullens. Leah was too stuck up, snotty.
20. Did the movie make you feel that Bella had really thought out her decision to become a vampire?
I kinda felt she was rushing into it because she was afraid of changing her mind.
21. Other comments?
Charlie was very funny. When is Breaking Dawn coming out?