Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Knitting Friday (edited 3/10 - see #5 in KAL instructions**)

Another item I should have listed under Equipment for the KAL sleeveless top is a very small-sized circular needle.

Why is this so important? When I mentioned two safety pins under materials last week, I didn't think I would have a practical example of their use so soon but there I was finishing up my orange sleeveless top yesterday and there were two places about 4 rows back where I hadn't caught the K2tog and stitches were unraveling in two places.

Now, I'm a great believer in having a good marker for the beginning of a row (the first safety pin.) The second safety pin I use at the error(s), So, I marked the error and then I just pulled out the working needles and tinked back to the mistake. It's a leap of faith.

At this point, unless you are working with slippery yarn, all the stitches should be staring up at you, naked without their needle. That's when you pick up each stitch using the much smaller circular. Don't try this pick-up with your working needle; it will not work. But a smaller needle slips into each stitch very easily. Mistake fixed. On to the KAL:

You should be ready to start the top. You should have all your equipment and know how many stitches you need for the cast on.

Cast on number of stitches you discovered with your gauge swatch. (See last Friday for the math if you forgot.) Now, the simplest neckband is: join your stitches and knit 6+ rows in your smaller sized needles. (You can work the neckband with 16" needles - really short - or DPNs. Or, you can use longer circulars and work in the magic loop or travelling loop if you wish. Google for the "how tos".) This will be a stockinette fold over neckband; which folds over or curls because that's what stockinette does.
The picture on the left shows this simple stockinette neckband but you can see that I added some rows of *K1, P1* ribbing after the neckband and before I increased any stitches. This was done to to stop the rolling in the neckband. (Note: You waste some yardage with this type of neckband because you don't get the inches due to the rollover.)

So, for the simplest neckband: CO x number of stitches and work 6+ rows of knit. Then work *K1, P1*ribbing for at least 4 rows. Neckband done and you're ready for the yoke.

However from the picture on the left, you can see that I didn't use this type of neckband for the KAL. What you see in the left picture is a seed stitch neckband followed by the beginning of the yoke. I'm going to give you directions for this pattern for the KAL but you can use any neckband style and body pattern guide you wish. As long as you know how many stitches you need to get your measurements; the sky's the limit.

KAL instructions:
1. CO x number stitches on the smaller sized circular needles. You stitch count should be an uneven number.
2. Join your stitches and work in the round.
3. Work in the seed stitch: Row 1: *K1, P1* end K1 Row 2: *P1, K1* end P1 for about one and a half inches.
4. Still with your smaller circulars, work one row of K in the front and back of every stitch to get double the number of stitches in the neckband. (Don't forget your swatch. You know the number of stitches you need for your yoke so you can fudge the increases to get that number - ex., K in the front, back and front again of a stitch to add 2 stitches instead of 1.)
5. Change to your larger circulars and begin the yoke pattern:
(**You can use the lace pattern below but this is the lace pattern in the right picture: Row 1 & 2: K and Row 3: *YO, K2tog*. Sorry.)
Row 1 and 2: K
Row 3 and 4: *YO, K2tog* around. This pattern will give you a very elastic top. Shall we say very figure forgiving.
6. Work your yoke pattern for 5 inches.

Next week: We discuss stitch patterns for the body of the top.

Happy knitting.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Website Wednesday

OK, I have decided to only discuss politics on Monday not so much because I don't want your head to explode; I don't want mine too. Now, I can expand on this but I think I would very soon begin typing political thoughts - it's such a slippery slope. So, wait till Monday. Oh, the suspense!

So instead of politics, here's a left-field topic for me:

http://goodmenproject.com/ - The Good Men Project

I hope I know something about good men but men, in their souls, may be as mysterious to women as women are to them. But I do like their About:

“The Good Men Project is a glimpse of what enlightened masculinity might look like in the 21st century,” the press raved when we launched. Finally, “a cerebral, new media alternative” to glossy men’s magazines. In fact, The Good Men Project is not so much a magazine as a social movement. We are fostering a national discussion centered around modern manhood and the question, “What does it mean to be a good man”?

We are a community of 21st Century thought leaders around the issue of men’s roles in modern life. We explore the world of men and manhood in a way that no media company ever has, tackling the issues and questions that are most relevant to men’s lives. We write about fatherhood, family, sex, ethics, war, gender, politics, sports, pornography, and aging. We shy away from nothing. Our content reflects the multidimensionality of men — we are alternatively funny and serious, provocative and thoughtful, earnest and light-hearted. We search far and wide for new stories and new voices from “the front lines of modern manhood.” And we do it without moralizing and without caricaturizing our audience; we let guys be guys, but we do it while challenging confining cultural notions of what a “real man” must be.

They tackle important and interesting topics: The Shifting Definition of Adulthood and wacky ones: Whatever Happened to Pro Wrestling? (though my husband would like the answer to that one.) And some articles: Coca-Cola Killa: Cancer Link? have a very strong POV.

I did like the Flesch-Kincaid grade level of 12.8 because I felt they were trying to talk to adults, and not dumbing down.

So take a look at The Good Men Project because unless you've been living under a rock or in the middle of a fanatically conservative community, the relationship of men to women and men to men and the role of men in the business, social and family world has surely changed. This looks like a good place to find some answers and perhaps start some discussions.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Movie Monday: Breaking Dawn, Part 1

I think that it's heartbreakingly sad and hypocritical that an 18 year old gay student (Tyler Clementi) committed suicide because his 18 year old roommate (Dharun Rai) videoed then streamed the video of the student's homosexual encounter with another student. So sad because two young men have had their lives shattered; so hypocritical because our Gov in NJ just vetoed the bill allowing gays to marry in the state. I won't go into the insanity of his suggestion that gay marriage be put to a referendum so the voters could decide, as, he also suggested, civil rights should have been in the 1960s. (Sure, let the South decide if blacks should be kept as second-class citizens. That's a no-brainer.)

However, once again we have elected officials displaying knee-jerk deep prejudices with their craven "Pontius Pilate"decisions while expecting 18 year old kids to make the correct ethical and moral decisions.

What a crock! The Gov just told the state that he's not going to lift a finger to even the playing field for gays. It's a message he has no problem sending but takes no blame for the tragic drama which played out between Clementi and Ravi because of the poisoned atmosphere decisions and thinking like this create.

And then there's Breaking Dawn Part 1. In a moment of guilt?, madness?, sheer exhaustion?, I bought the DVD for the girl and she insisted we sit down immediately and watch it. (She already had the privilege of a movie house viewing of BD; I didn't.)

I sat expecting the worst. Awful, awful, awful; I was ready. But then, about 15 minutes into the movie when I realized Jacob was not appearing, (except for the obviously campy seconds-long-in-duration opening shot of him tearing off his shirt and morphing), I relaxed and mentally said: Without Jacob's bad acting, it's not bad.

Even knowing that Jacob would appear eventually, I did enjoy the Condon touches. I thought he worked in some sweet and not-so-sweet touches (Bella's vision) into the whole wedding prep and ceremony. Once you realize this is not epic film making (except perhaps in the minds of pre-teens) it was pretty easy to "go with the flow."

But then, of course, Jacob must appear. And...... wait for it........ he wasn't that bad. Acting lessons or better direction may have helped but there was a maturity in him which came through even with some awful dialogue.

Of course, there were howlingly silly parts like the wolves speaking among themselves. If this final shot was the best they could do, this scene had to be a mess to film and edit. However, the honeymoon scene was nicely played. I liked the part in the book where Bella does everything to postpone meeting Edward on the beach and I'm happy they kept in that including her decision to shave her legs.

What has been lacking through all the movies is a community of characters. That is, everyone hits their mark and says their lines but you don't feel they're communicating with much more than the camera. That's why I liked the very brief scene when during the travails of Bella's pregnancy Jacob walks in and discovers her and Edward laughing together. It was a nice "human" touch.

While Condon missed with the wolve's talk, he nailed the imprinting. Imprinting is a yucky subject since it smacks of pedophilia and I never thought he could pull it off. However, as Jacob imprints with the CGI baby (who looked awful in this scene but I know they are very, very strict with how you handle infants in movies so perhaps that was the best they could go with the state of CGI today) the use of a montage of photos showing Nessie at all ages even into adulthood, lessened the impact of this controversial subject.

Of course the movie was flawed but now that I've seen it I am surprised by the almost universal negative howl that greeted it upon its release. This may be faint praise but it is the only Twilight movie since the first which I could see again.

Next week: Perhaps Dogville and Manderly. No, I haven't forgotten them; it's just that I'd like to sit through both together and, time-wise, that's not working.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Knitting Friday: KAL for a sleeveless top

Just when my teeth are finally resting from pain (for a while at least), DH has come down with a wicked cold and since my camera is tricky when it comes to uploading pictures (read: he's the only one who does it well), I have no pictures loaded today.

However, I want to start this KAL today so we'll go without pictures and if you want to join in, here are the supplies you should have.

Supplies:
Needles: US 8 in 16" circular or DPN, US 8 in 24" to 32" (for the bottom hem) and US 10 or US 10.5 in at least 24"
2 skeins of DK wool (DK is one step above sport and one step below "light" bulky) for a total of 460+ yards. (This amount is my size, you may need more, see below.)
stitch markers (I use knotted strands of yarn)
2 safety pins: 1 to mark the first stitch in the row and 2 as a spare to mark a mistake, etc.
row counter: based on the difficulty of your pattern choice

Your Pattern Choice: speak of the devil!
Here is the simple lace pattern I'm using:
Row 1 and 2: K around
Row 3 and 4: *YO, K2tog* around
(You will be working in the round so you'll get a stockinette stitch "base")
However, you can use any pattern you wish by keeping these facts in mind: 1. Your stitch count with double at the end of your neckband and the number of stitches you increase to here will be amount you work for the entire yoke. 2. At the armhole, you will bind off the same amount of stitches for each armhole and then cast on the same amount of stitches for each underarm. 3. This final amount is the number of stitches you will work until you bind off.

Example: For my size top, I cast on 80 stitches with US 8, work the neckband, doubled my 80 stitches to 160, changed to US 10.5 and worked on these 160 stitches for 5". Then I bound off 30 stitches at the arm and, on the next row, I cast on 10 stitches at each underarm so I worked 120 stitches for the body.

So, if you decide to pick another pattern, make sure the stitch multiple for that pattern matches
the number of stitches you're working with on the top. (Of course, you can fudge things a bit; work with 164 stitches on the yoke or cast on 12 stitches each underarm instead of 10.)

Making a swatch: I hate swatching and by now I know the number of stitches I need with the needles and yarn I use but you should swatch. But first you have to take your measurements.

Taking your measurements or customizing your pattern using the lace pattern above: (Numbers in parentheses are used just for examples.)
1. Take your chest measurement and make a swatch using the larger needles and the lace pattern above (on yarn which you are going to use or yarn of an equal weight) to see how many stitches you will need to get the chest measurement. (130 stitches)
1a. The lace pattern above is very stretchy and also clingy like ribbing so I don't block my swatch nor the final garment. It's your call based on your pattern whether you block the swatch or not.
3. Take the number from #1 and add 20% to it. (130 + 20% = 156 sts)
4. Round that number up or down to the nearest 10s number (130 + 20% = 156 sts., rounded to 160.)
5. Take the rounded number and halve it. (160/2 = 80 sts)
6. Cast on the number in #5 as your neckband stitches. (More on the neckband next week.)
7. Although we only need the number in #5 right now, we'll be using the number in #4 later.

How Much Yarn Do I Need:
OK, I'll be honest. Except for when I made my Mario blanket which was a series of knitted squares and when it was easy to know the number of squares I needed so measuring yardage was easy: I DON'T HAVE A CLUE.
My advice is: Buy the yarn where you can return unused skeins (most places allow this.) And, buy a skein more than you think you need. It will make life easier.

OK, that's it for today. It's time to get your supplies together and work out a swatch.

Next week: The neckband - different styles you can use.

P.S. Here's a picture of a top similar to the one we are making but also so very different:

http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/tina/tina.html

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Website Wednesday

Another short post because I am heading back to the DDS soon. I feel bad I missed Movie Monday because I had a review of Breaking Dawn Part 1 which was a surprise, even to me.

But Monday a.m. also saw a trip to the DDS (I have got to rent a room there.) in pain and loopiness since I had not been able to sleep in three nights. As my husband quipped, I walked into the dentist's office writing my will.

Today, I have to tell my DDS ever so diplomatically, so as not to give him a swelled head, that his drilling on Monday was a miracle. I can eat; I can sleep and I have very little pain.

My motto has always been: Stay out of the courts; stay out of the hospitals. However, like Thetis failing to uncover Achille's ankle as she dipped him into the river of immortality (Get it? Achilles' heel = your one weak spot) I forgot to mention: Stay out of the dentist's office.

My pick is rather mundane this Wednesday, compared to last week:

http://tech.lifegoesstrong.com/

Unfortunately, every click on "About" gets me an error page but it looks like an interesting on-line magazine with a lot of techie stuff but also your life, health, style, home, etc. sections. I have a feeling it could be aimed at the over 40?, 50? crowd but I can't do any research on-site and I'm too lazy at the moment for googling. But it's definitely worth a look. It seems like a site I would enjoy with my morning coffee when I was trying not to explode the top of my head off by reading the news.

Enjoy.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Knitting Friday

A short post today because I may be back at the DDS or just nursing my poor teeth until I get there on Monday.

I'm starting a KAL (Knit Along) or rather more a LAL (Look Along) for a while.

At right, is a sleeveless pullover I made for my mom when dinosaurs roamed the earth. I remember nothing about it except it's yellow wool and obviously I followed a pattern because it has an overlay of crisscrosses which are knitted as you go along.

Mom gave the sweater back to me a while ago and what you see in the picture is a right side sleeve opening where the original ribbing (which matched the hem, I'm sure) had been pulled out and replaced with a crocheted crab stitch. (The left armhole is different because I pulled out the crab stitch before I realized I was going to do this KAL and needed to take photos.) The neckband probably originally matched the hem but that also was replaced with the crab stitch.

So looking at this picture, it looks like that at some time after the sweater "walked" back to me I decided to salvage it. Obviously, I didn't replace the ugly hem because that would have taken some major work, perhaps cutting.

Well about a week ago, I decided to frog the whole thing and see if I could recycle it into a top I might wear. (No way was I wearing the beauty pictured above.)

What you see in the left picture is the sweater unraveled and separated into skeins. You can see that it's very crinkly; not good for much except the ever helpful trinity stitch.

I put the skeins in cold water and Tresemme hair conditioner. I use Tresemme for soaking all my shawls before blocking. (I happen to have a lot of it.) This time, I soaked the wool for about an hour; supposedly longer is better.

This final picture shows the wool after it dried and you can see that it unkinked somewhat.

That's it for today. Next week, I hope to start the new sweater and I'll post the pattern as I work it.

Back to teeth sitting. Happy knitting.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Movie Monday

I had nothing, nada, zilch for today until I saw Melvin Van Peebles, Classified X in the very early hours of yesterday morning.

Wow! What a coalescence of racism, unbridled capitalism, and general hypocrisy as it exists in the US and is portrayed through Hollywood. It's a 53 minutes long film made in 1998 and it's just Pebbles and clips from other movies and documentary footage. He laughs at the indictment of The Birth of a Nation (1915) as a low point in America with its portrayal of blatant racism and shows all the other Hollywood films after BoaN depicting blacks as dumb-asses or villains. Among other clips, Van Peebles shows the scene in the toted first talking movie from Hollywood, The Jazz Singer, 1929, where Al Jolson is getting ready to perform in vaudeville by smearing on the black face makeup and facing the camera with the stereotypical big, white lipped smile. But then Hollywood is like that; the whole country is like that; you put up one straw dog to beat up on while you continue your business off camera.

For any person, either too young, too ignorant or too new to the US who thinks: Why are minorities always grousing, that's past history? take a look at Classified X. From the footage of the smiling faces looking up at lynched blacks or the screaming white girl reacting to a black entering a previously segregated school, you'll see the hatred that is, unfortunately, still palpable today. (Anyone remember the yahoo carrying the Obama labeled monkey toy to a McCain rally?)

As a special bonus, you'll always get the lowdown on how Hollywood works. I've written about how Hollywood controlled the message during the 1930s Depression. Peebles talks about how Hollywood still controls the message. Perhaps not as completely now since the rise of the indies (and a mean excellent indies, not cheap bodice rippers or mysteries) but he points out that they still control access since they control distribution. (Trivia quiz: How many excellent indies can you name that died on the vine because no one could see them since they were never in theaters near you?)

So in Black History month watch this movie. You'll also get a lesson is US history. It ain't pretty.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Knitting Friday

I'm really into hats. Right now, I'm finishing a black winter hat, because, we all know, that black goes with everything.

Here are pictures of recent hats, and a peek of my ugly toes. They are all top down, starting with a crocheted circle. All except the green one on the right increase to 64 stitches. That green one is only 48 stitches, which in a K2, P2 rib works fine. The black one I'm finishing now has 72 stitches because it's a twisted K2 so the ribbing is tighter.

All the brims are in seed or moss (K1, P1 or K2, P2) on needles two sizes smaller than what's used on the rib section (US 8 to US 6.) Most of the tops have that spiral "pom-pom"; some worked on 20 chains, some on 10.

My b-day present came yesterday; 14 pairs of DPNs with 5 needles in each size. While the bamboo is not the quality of the Clover bamboo (it's a step up from chop sticks), I've used the size 6 to work the seed stitch on my black hat. It worked very well until I decided to try the hat on (the beautiful of top down knitting) and I had to switch to circs.

OK, let me post the pattern for these hats again. As I said last week, you can use any pattern for the body of the hat so it's a good pattern for thinking out of the box.

A Simple Hat (edited from last week with more explanations)
Materials: US 6 and US 8 needles circular needles, US 8 wood DPNs (5), I crochet hook, DK weight yarn
Crochet Set-Up:
With the I crochet hook, make a loop, chain 1 and work 4 single crochets (sc) into the loop. Join with a slip stitch, ch 1 and then work 2 sc in each of the 4 sc for a total of 8. Join with a slip stitch.
(You can now start working with DPNs or you can repeat the above and work 2 sc in each of the 8 sc for a total of 16 sc.)
So either with 8 or 16 sc, pick up 1 stitch for each sc around with your DPNs and divide evenly on 4 needles. Start Knitting Set-Up:
Row 1: K or P* around (16 sts)
Row 2: K front and back of every stitch (32 sts.)
Row 3: K or P around (32 sts.)
Row 4: K front and back of every stitch (64 sts)
Row 5: K or P around (64 sts)
*Purling these rows create a garter rather than a stockinette look. Your choice.
You can see the pattern - 1 row straight K or P; 1 row increases in every stitch
(I stop at 64 sts but you can keep increasing. You don't have to increase in every stitch [the next such increase in every stitch will give you 128 sts] but you can decide how many stitches you need for the width, divide them by 4 and increase evenly on each DPN.)
Start Pattern: (Note 1: Your last row should have been K or P evenly around, no increases. Note 2: You make want to switch to circular needles now and use the traveling loop - just google the "How To". I am going to give you the pattern I like to use but the sky's the limit with creativity here.)
Row 1: *K into back loop of 2nd stitch on left circular tip, K into the front loop of the 1st stitch on that tip, P2*
Row 2: *K2, P2*
Repeat these two rows till the brim.
Brim: Change to US 6 needles and work the seed stitch or moss stitch for your desired width. BO loosely but not very loosely.
Tassel:
1. With I or larger hook and leaving a long tail, chain 20. (Note: Not enough yarn left? Chain 10.)
2. Starting in the 2nd ch from hook work 3 sc in each chain to the bottom.
3. At the bottom, ch 2o and repeat the process above. (The chains will curl into spirals.)
4. Make about 3 spirals and then slip stitch them together at the base, cut yarn leaving a long tail.
5. Using the tails, work the spirals through the top of the hat and fasten securely.

Next week: I just had another knitting epiphany, the first being seeing a pattern for a top down pullover which was not done in raglan (you just K front and back in every stitch once you finish the neckband to double the stitch count.) My present epiphany was seeing a pullover knitted in lace weight. I was naive enough to think lace was only for accessories, like shawls. That may be my next project. More next Friday.

Happy knitting.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Website Wednesday

The present government of Israel so wants to "take out" Iran. A wish that Americans could shrug off if they wanted to be blind to world events except for the fact that the Israel/AIPAC lobby has such clout in US politics. Nothing new here; this has been going on for years and has gotten worse to the point of the bizarrely surreal in the last 20 years.

But I'm not bringing this information up to discuss the Middle East but rather because, at this moment, wacky Republican presidential candidates are performing more and more cartwheels to persuade the wacky fundamentalist right of their party that he is "their man."

And that's what has gotten me spooked - again. For this wacky fundamentalist, vocal, millions+, right wing group in the US would be perfectly fine with the "war to end all wars" especially if it begins in the Middle East because that's where their "holy book" tells them the battle at the end of the world will be fought.

Think about it. There are influential people in this country who would welcome war/ Armageddon since they believe it will bring them swiftly into the heaven where the god they invented exists. (Of course, in their anthropomorphically inhabited paradise they see themselves among the saved and all their enemies among the damned.)

This is serious stuff, folks. Sort of like we're living the Marat/Sade movie (1967, Peter Brooks directed and worth renting) where the liberals are the insouciant audience of this play, the fundamentalists are the inmates and the outcome is.......... Well, you watch it. It ain't pretty.

I sometimes feel like a farmer in the late Roman empire, working in my fields, looking up and spying hordes of Goths/Visigoths/Vandals/Mongols (take your pick) riding towards me and knowing I'm facing my doom with no way out.

Which brings to me to my controversial website pick:

http://www.thinkatheist.com/

Not that I think I'm saving the world by posting this but it's like being a bystander watching a bully in action; sometimes you just have to take a stand.

Think Atheist has an insightful purple, talking unicorn as its video today. He makes some good points.

I love what they list as their purpose: Think Atheist was created to help people "come out" about being atheist. Our vision is to encourage everyone who is atheist to get involved with changing stereotypes and misconceptions regarding his or her decision to abstain from religion or a belief in deities of any kind. Bigotry against atheism is still very rampant in our communities, our schools, and even amongst family members. Think Atheist aims to give our members the proper tools to fight anti-atheist hate and discrimination.

Especially that last line: Think Atheist aims to give our members the proper tools to fight anti-atheist hate and discrimination.

I do believe it may be easier to come out as a gay than atheist in the US because bigots can "excuse" gays by saying they were born that way; but atheists? Atheists "thought" themselves into non-belief and that is inexcusable.

Take a look at Think Atheist's forums, a lot of interesting questions are poised. Scroll through their Featured Photos (912 of them) They're not all photos so be sure to hit "pause" to read some of them. They may make you smile, they may make you angry but I hope they make you think.

And don't miss the 977 Featured Videos including ones from Christopher Hitchens, Stephen Colbert, the delightful purple unicorn, Richard Dawkins, and Newt Gingrich!

OK, enough of my palaver, go take a look. It's well worth it.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Movie Monday

Woody Allan said that producers today only want to spend $100 million in order to get a $500 million return. Therefore, they have no interest in "little" movies in the US.

There has always been something wacky about the US and when movies became the popular form of entertainment outside of the home, they reflected this wackiness. Take for example the review I did a long time ago of the US movies during the economic depression of the 1930s. They really weren't an indictment of the rich (Oh, they did throw a few very bad rich to the lions; usually in the form of Edward Arnold.) but rather they were the gatekeepers for the rich; that is, their protectors. In My Man Godfrey, we're given the frivolous rich but no one except the mean sister Cordelia even comes close to getting her comeuppances. Why, even the butler turns out to be rich. The same with Holiday, The Philadelphia Story....... it's a long list.

So I guess I can't be surprised that over 80 years later, Hollywood is still taking giant steps away from everyday reality. Hollywood has never been good at nailing the reality which happens after their swelling denouement music.

This was all brought home this weekend when I watched Priest, so bad as a movie that it's almost mesmerizing in its stupidity. I have to assume Priest is based on a comic (forget the graphic novel crap.) A popular comic I hope because I shudder to think that some screenwriter pitched this story as his original idea.

Priest has everything and nothing. The everything is: unrequited love by a priestess for a priest (priests and priestesses are superheros who fight vampires); a niece who is really a daughter; doomed love between a priest and a "mere mortal"; super weapons; funky motorcycles; really, dripping-looking vampires, the frantic search by the priest for his daughter/niece to save her from vampire-hood and, of course, the music.

It was the music which got my attention fast because really nothing happens in Priest without this stirring music. Whether it's blowing up a train or riding a motorcycle, the music informs us that this is important. For crying out loud, the priest prepares for his journey and then goes to get on his means of transport and............ it's a big motorcycle! Cue the music.

What surprised me about this movie was the religious theme. It sure looked like a Roman Catholic or high Anglican church which controlled this futuristic city and its inhabitants. The church in Priest is controlling a 1984 world, complete with slogans for submission.

But the mantra repeated often by our priest and priestess heroes is that you don't need a church to communicate with god. Was this movie aiming at a fundamentalist religious message? Why did they take a simplistic man vs. vamps, good guys vs. bad guys, hunt for the virginal maiden (well, virginal in that she wasn't a vampire - yet) themes and tack on a religious message?

If you strip away the religion, you're left with the typical story of the authorities who don't believe there is a danger of vampires ("Vampires were wiped out ages ago."), the lone warrior priest who knows they're wrong and starts his vampire quest, and finally the presentation of vampire evidence to the authorities. Of course, Priest, probably eying a sequel, has the movie end with the hero priest's story being rejected by the authorities in the church So, with fellow priests, he continues the search for the queen vampire.

I just described a cheesy SFT3000 movie plot. Did they think a religious theme was going to uplift it? Or, was there really a religious message in Priest?

It's a lousy movie but a good knitting one. You can look up occasionally and see all you need to follow along. Paul Bettany and Karl Urban are brave and ruthless from their different moral perches. Maggie Q has a perfect beauty but has only one scene of honest emotion. Cam Gigandet, the ugly vampire, James, in Twilight, cleans up very nicely and looks handsome as the lover of the kidnapped girl.

On the IMDb discussion board, there is a topic on the religious tone of this movie. Priest had a budget of $60M and grossed $78M worldwide with $49M coming from abroad; not the 1:5 ratio Allan was talking about.

Final note: Rent The Searchers with John Wayne after you see Priest. I'll say no more.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Birthday Saturday and Guilt about no Knitting Friday
(See 2/17/12 Knitting Friday for the Simple Hat pattern with more explanations.)

OK, it's my birthday. Are the only two songs about birthdays, Happy Birthday and It's My Birthday And I'll Cry If I Want To? Oh, there's Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday which Marilyn Monroe crooned to JFK and into history.

Whatever, I was all ready for Knitting Friday with pictures but then yet another gum infection leveled me for most of the day. Today, I'm ready to roll but the pictures are on another, occupied at the moment, computer but I'm going to give you a B-day present: a simple hat pattern. (Pictures will follow next week.)

A Simple Hat
Materials: US 6 and US 8 needles circular needles, US 8 wood DPNs (5), I crochet hook, DK weight yarn
Crochet Set-Up:
With the I crochet hook, make a loop, chain 1 and work 4 single crochets (sc) into the loop. Join with a slip stitch, ch 1 and then work 2 sc in each of the 4 sc for a total of 8. Join with a slip stitch.
(You can now start working with DPNs or you can repeat the above and work 2 sc in each of the 8 sc for a total of 16 sc.)
So either with 8 or 16 sc, pick up 1 stitch for each sc around with your DPNs and divide evenly on 4 needles. Start Knitting Set-Up:
Row 1: K around (16 sts)
Row 2: K front and back of every stitch (32 sts.)
Row 3: K around (32 sts.)
Row 4: K front and back of every stitch (64 sts)
Row 5: K around (64 sts)
You can see the pattern - 1 row straight K; 1 row increases in every stitch
(I stop at 64 sts but you can keep increasing. You don't have to increase in every stitch [the next such increase will give you 128 sts] but you can decide how many stitches you need for the width, divide them by 4 and increase evenly on each DPN.)
Start Pattern: (Note: Your last row should have been K evenly around, no increases.)
(You make want to switch to circular needles now and use the traveling loop - just google the "How To". I am going to give you the pattern I use but the sky's the limit with creativity here.)
Row 1: *K into back loop of 2nd stitch on left circular tip, K into the front loop of the 1st stitch on that tip, P2*
Row 2: *K2, P2*
Repeat these two rows till the brim.
Brim: Change to US 6 needles and work the seed stitch or moss stitch for your desired width. BO loosely but not very loosely.
Tassel:
1. With I or larger hook and leaving a long tail, chain 20.
2. Starting in the 2nd ch from hook work 3 sc in each chain to the bottom.
3. At the bottom, ch 2o and repeat the process above. (The chains will curl into spirals.)
4. Make about 3 and then slip stitch them together at the base, cut yarn leaving a long tail.
5. Using the tails, work the spirals through the top of the hat and fasten securely.

That's it. You're done. Enjoy.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Website Wednesday

Apparently, Rick Santorum won the latest three Republican primaries/caucuses/whatever. I can't believe the money masters of the Republican party will allow him to be the candidate however. (But, you say, look at Reagan, he was a conservative. No, Reagan ran on the platform which won. He was never a true believer. Note: Reagan was also a lousy president.) The real Republican party (I love me that capitalism with all the tax breaks I can get.) knows it can't win with Santorum; not on the national level. It would be interesting to see Obama vs. Santorum bout though. Santorum would spout his absolutely insane beliefs on everything: government, women, sex, probably even little puppies and Obama would move more and more to the right as seems to be his doctrine of governance: meet the enemy and arrange a golf game.

But enough grousing, go to http://www.peachygreen.com/ and read about the good people are doing to save the planet: We’re here to tell you that amazing things are happening right where you live and all over the world, which make the earth a kinder, cleaner place. It’s time to put aside the doom and gloom and think positively about the people places and things that are making the world Peachy Green.

I know I don't believe the world is doing enough to save the planet and I haven't dug deeply enough to find the sponsors of this site; but there are good ideas here for going green and that can't be bad. That is, as long as you don't come away from the site believing just buying recycled goods, etc. will turn around climate change. But it is a start.

Then there is: http://www.twofoods.com/ where you compare two foods and get the calories and nutritional value of each. Yes, I plugged in apples and oranges and they are both very good for you. Then I plugged in dinner roll and doughnut. and all the types of rolls they showed were at least 100 calories less than the doughnut and had more than 3xs less fat. A bagel is a much better choice. However, a cinnamon raisin popped up with 273 calories while a multi grain bagel appeared with 2379 calories. I think some data entry person skipped a decimal.

These are fun sites. Be sure to click "Wildlife" in Peachy Green; adorable animals abound.

See you next week.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Movie Monday - Red Riding Hood and more

I've been thinking a lot of thoughts lately and that's probably why I was AWOL all last week. That and the fact that movies in my Verizon movie package have been pretty horrible lately. So I started the week staring at nothing for Movie Monday and the rest of the week just tagged along.

Of course, last week in the US, saw the drama of Susan G. Komen breast cancer charity vs. the very, very evil Planned Parenthood (whose evilness apparently SGK just discovered) play out.

I've never gotten on the SGK bandwagon because experience has taught me to be leery of mega-"charities" with mega commercial tie-ins. In the end, I don't believe the "left" took Komen down (although we surely could use some victories) but rather big business capitalism did them in. Capitalism will give loonies just enough rope to play with and make pretty knots but no way will they hand them the rope so they all can swing in the wind together.

SGK is a billion dollar money machine and it's perfectly all right for their new leaders to twist to the far right as long they do nothing to disrupt this cash flow. That was Handel's (SGK new anti-abortion VP) big mistake. That and the fact that apparently 23 cents of each dollar donated to SGK goes to research; the rest to salaries, overhead and generating more dollars. Sounds like a scenario ripe for demands for one of Congress' time wasting public investigations. I'm sure the charity backers didn't want that.

Unfortunately, the SGK brouhaha brought back into focus the billion dollar generating health care industry which is allowed to exist in this country. This industry is backed firmly by SGK's pink ribbon charity which went ape-shit crazy when the recommendations for starting mammograms was pushed up from 40 to 50 years old a few years ago. Of course, medical science blinked and women were allowed to return to the radiation giving, breast torturing mammograms starting at age 40 again. For, after all, to paraphrase Calvin Coolidge: what's good for business is good for the country.

I did get to see Red Riding Hood last week. This movie was royally trounced by the critics (5.1% out of 10 in IMDb and 11% in Rotten Tomatoes.) It was directed by Catherine Hardwicke who directed the first Twilight and the only Twilight I can ever watch. As I've said before about Twilight-1, I think Hardwicke did a more than serviceable job introducing this modern day Gothic tale and moving it and the audience along to a romantically plausible (I did say "romantically" plausible) conclusion. It's just a pity they didn't end the series then.

Regarding Red Riding Hood: As some people on IMDb have said, I was surprised at the almost universal rejection of this movie. Hardwicke is a good storyteller of implausible plots and I think she and the cast more than just "come through" in this mythical/metaphorical tale of the young girl living in a medieval god-fearing village which is plagued by the unknown, this time in the shape of a werewolf.

I liked the atmosphere and tone of this movie and I didn't feel as though I was in a Hollywood set medieval village. The myth/metaphor of the virginal young girl facing the dangers of her community and the "dark" outside with all its unique dangers is one of those "down through the ages" tales. I think Hardwicke and her cast do admirable work with their take on this myth. Watch it and see if you agree.