Pass National Health Care With Public Option Now

Knitting Friday

This will be a short post since everyone is probably shopping, resting, or surfing to find recipes for leftover turkey. I just made this with very, very dry turkey (fresh from Trader Joes and the worst turkey I've ever eaten, very sad):

1 onion cut-up
1 can baked beans
cut-up leftover turkey
thinly sliced cheddar cheese
lettuce mix cut into small pieces
chips

Fry the onion in oil. Add the turkey and stir. Add the baked beans and cook. Season to taste. Cover with cheese. Cover pan and melt cheese. Serve on a plate of cut-up mixed greens. Serve with chips.

It was so much better than the Thanksgiving meal. Same turkey but much better.

I'm about to begin the Bella mittens from Twilight:

http://www.subliminalrabbit.com/

It's the first pattern under Free Patterns.

Last night, during Michael's 4 hour, 30% off everything sale, I took the girl and she picked out Paton dark gray wool; the same shade as the mitten pattern. It looks like a complicated pattern but all the Ravelers making it say it's a breeze.

But right now the most important thing on my needles is the Mario blanket for the boy. I'm on tier 5 of the squares and I think I've solved some minor problems. A picture is below:


You're looking at the bottom of the blanket. That's green for the grass, brown for the boots, light blue for the sky and denim blue for Mario's overalls. These are mitered squares. The whole blanket will have an edging of denim blue once I block it.

I'm finally getting the rhythm of this baby and I'm now hoping to finish two tiers a day. It's a little tricky because I had to get sport weight and fingering weight yarn from Knit Picks to get all the colors I needed for Mario. So, I'm using US 7 needles for the sport weight but US 5 for two strands of fingering to get the same-sized squares.

Next week, Ill give the pattern for this blanket. It's really just a ubiquitous mitered square pattern which I have tweaked very severely.

Happy knitting.

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Website Wednesday

A dismal, rainy day in NJ as opposed to a rainy day without the fog and dank. It's all half-days this week for school so I have about a little over one half-hour free time.

First, the website I didn't post, due to time constraints, last week:

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/kitchen-tours/michelles-gracious-craftsman-kitchen-kitchen-spotlight-101135?image_id=884730

As I said, this is a throw-away website, not really for Website Wednesday this time but I'm including it because of this picture linked above.

I have a very problematic kitchen layout. You enter the door from the living room foyer area and to your left are the dishwasher, sink, stove, counter and cabinets. To the right and perpendicular to the above is the fridge with a counter and cabinet just beyond it and just beyond that is the door to the dining room.

So when I saw this picture with the cabinet on the right of the door (my dining room door), I thought: I could do this. My counter area is even smaller than the picture. Maybe I could buy a ready-made piece of furniture. After all, this counter/cabinet is a distance from the sink counter/cabinet. Maybe I don't need granite here.

So this is the site I didn't get a chance to list last Wednesday. I love this site and it will be my Website Wednesday pick soon.

But for this week, it's:

http://thebigfoto.com/

The "About" tells us:

This site is inspired by The Big Picture, a photo blog for the Boston Globe/boston.com, where entries are posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday by Alan Taylor.

The Big Picture is intended to highlight high-quality, amazing imagery – with a focus on current events, lesser-known stories and, well, just about anything that comes across the wire that looks really interesting.

The Big Foto is also intended to highlight high-quality imagery that people want to share through Internet:

• Flickr Creative Commons
  
• NASA/ESA
• and all other free contributors

The Big Foto is not about news but about every small beautiful things that surround our lifes, from a drop to the universe.

This site is developed by Joaquín Duaso.

This is both a visually and verbally must-see site.

For example, scroll down to Stonehenge for a short article. Click at the end of the article to listen to Celtic music. Then click "More pictures" at the bottom of the Stonehenge picture for 25 visually stunning photos of this ancient landmark.

There is so much good stuff here. Click through "Categories" for old favorites and new photographic friends.

Sorry, I can't spend more time describing this site for you but you don't need me.

You know the drill. Enjoy.

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Movie Monday

What with this week being three half-days in school and my starting the boots on the Mario blanket, this posting will be short. Just some movie thoughts; which I will flesh out at a later date.

Doubt with Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams.

Be sure to see it if only for Streep's performance. Hers is what transcends acting from a craft into the sphere of magic. OK, that last line was hokey but most of the time, if you're lucky, you get to see good actors play roles to which you can connect. But all the time watching them you know that they are very good actors playing role.

Streep, however, is the nun she plays in Doubt. This is not Meryl Streep' s interpretation of a nun with a Boston flat accent. This is Sister Aloysius Beauvier who lives in Boston and whose slice of life you are watching.

Now, once again, I missed huge portions of this movie due to falling asleep and right now I'm only as far as the two nuns discussing a possible problem with Father Brendan and young boys. So I have a long way to go to see if the drama holds up to Streep's performance.

I'm having a minor (major?) problem already though because of the scene where Amy Adam's Sister James watches Father Brendan place something in a boy's locker. (A deed done without any suspicious undertones.) Then she goes to the locker and removes what he put in.

The year of the movie is 1964. (Brendan's opening sermon mentions JFK died last year.) The nun's are still in full garb. Sister Aloysius talks about the pecking order of the RC. No nun in that time period would have spied on a priest without very, very good cause.

A quibbling point? Perhaps, but a lot is hanging on the nun's suspicions of Father Brendan.

Then a few scenes later, Sister James tells Sister Aloysius that Brendan called a boy out of her class to come to the rectory and that she noticed the boy was bothered when he came back. A good observations - for our times.

Is the author interjecting today's knowledge of pedophiles in the priesthood back to this time? Was this common knowledge in the 1960s?

I should go back and read some cultural/social history of the time period but I think I'm going to settle for IMDb reviews to see if anyone else picked this up.

Well, that's it. I told you it was going to be short. A more complete review of Doubt with follow - as soon as Starz runs it again and I stay awake.

Next Week: Approaching Union Square. A movie or just acting class?

Pass National Health Care With Public Option Now

Knitting Friday

Yes, it is Saturday because yesterday started with some whirlwind Thanksgiving shopping. The stores were rather tame and I was able to get a load of stuff without the long lines - which may start today and continue through December. So I was tired but content when I arrived home with the goods and found the mailman at my mailbox considering whether a huge package he was carrying was going to fix into my puny, but federally-approved and association-approved mailbox.

I solved his dilemma by being there and within minutes I was inside cuddling with the yarn I had ordered for the Mario blanket.

And that kiddies is why there was no Knitting Friday because, until I found myself nodding off, I worked on the Mario blanket all day yesterday. OK, to be truthful, I was up 7 squares before I ripped out. But awakening at 3 a.m. has me now at 6 squares so you could say I’m just humming along. (Edit: Since I wrote this I'm up to 15 squares, just about ready to start the second tier of squares.)

What put me in the frog pond with the first 7 squares is the fact that these mitered squares are my invention; or rather my drastic tweaking of a designer’s mitered square. I’ve been using this variation for ages but I never wrote down the directions and after the first 7 squares were completed I noticed (and yes, I was in denial until the 7th square) the mitered point flared out. Now, this is a problem with bias but I solved it in my second attempt by ending the squares with one less row.

Early this a.m., I finally wrote down the pattern, which is always a good idea but even “gooder” with this pattern because on some squares I do ssk and K2tog and on others, it’s ssp and P2tog.

I’ll share the pattern and pictures once I get two tiers of squares finished. With two tiers, I’ll have all the variations down since the tiers are: A, B, A, B, etc.

Right now, I want to stop typing and get back to Mario because after the second tier it gets interesting because the boot squares start on the third tier.

I’ll leave you with a picture of my dusty rose wool cardi/shrug (left). I made it as long as a cardigan with sleeves ending just before the wrist watch area of the arm - much easier when you wash dishes. So it’s really a cardigan with a touch of shrug in that it doesn’t meet in the front. I decided I like that look and my fourth one is on the needles.

Also, the purple shawl got gifted last week so I have to renege on the promised photo. However, the shawl to the right is the beginning of the same pattern as the purple. shawl. It’s done with Knit Picks lace and an N crochet hook. I’m finding that if I have at least two skeins of lace, this is also a favorite pattern. (One skein will work but you’ll get a shawlette since crocheting does use more yarn; that’s not a myth. ) And, with three skeins, it becomes a luscious wide and long rectangular shawl which can be wore for three seasons.

OK, got to go. Mario calls.

Happy knitting.

Pass National Health Care With Public Option Now

Website Wednesday

How to get a little behind in your work? Find out the night before that School Visitation Day is this morning. That is, today. The morning the DDS' office gave you for an appointment when you called on Monday. Talk about running fast. I spent an hour in the school before going to the dentist.

I only got to see one class: Technology aka Computer Class. I have a tip for the new NJ gov: If you want to save money don't let kids print out page-sized black backgrounds for their work. They must go through ink cartridges like water.

I had two websites picked for today. One was just a throw-away but it was going to take a bit of a set-up and I'm really tired after this morning so I'll save that site for next week.

But take a look at:

http://www.thrillingdetective.com/

Don't be put off by the "doll/moll" on this page. (Clicking on the titles of books on this page gets you excerpts of various up-and-coming detective writers.)

Inside the site, expect to read about tough private eyes because the site explains:

This site is for private eyes, and other tough guys and gals who make trouble their business. It's not about cops, plucky librarians, nosey old spinsters or talking cats...

If you go to the annotated list of Private Eyes & Other Tough Guys:

http://www.thrillingdetective.com/eyes.html

you'll learn all about these characters and the books in which they appear.

Click on "Buy the Book" after the short descriptive blurbs for a trip to Amazon.com where you can read hundreds of customer and editorial reviews for the books.

The private eyes/tough guys list is quirky. You have Sherlock Holmes but not Hercule Poirot. You'll learn about Doc Long from the radio show, I Love A Mystery. You'll get to revisit a 1960's TV series, Hawaiian Eye which looks ghastly. You'll learn all you ever wanted to know about V.I. Warshawski, who appears in some good books and one dreadful movie.

Kevin Burton Smith heads the staff at The Thrilling Detective as the editor-in-chief. He and his staff all seem to enjoy a love for a good detective yarn.

So, if you, as I, love a good mystery with an edge. Take a look at The Thrilling Detective. I think you'll be browsing for quite a while.

Pass National Health Care Now With Public Option

Movie Monday

I so feel like Cato The Elder when I type my banner. I also feel like a fool, though a hopeful fool.

I like Chris Hedges when he wrote Obama should admit he believes in socialism as his enemies insist; socialism for corporations that is:

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090914_stop_begging_obama_to_be_obama_and_get_mad/

But this is Movie Monday so let’s talk about movies.

This is going to be a posting of this and that which means I didn’t sit through any movies this week long enough for a review. But I do have some movie thoughts.

1. Apparently, there was a Golden Age of movie reviews exemplified by reviewers like Pauline Kael and James Agee. Now, we’re in the age of Thumbs Up and Thumb Down reviews but read Agee and Kael for a very interesting look at what movie reviews can be - when people wrote.

2. Which brings me to observation two: Can an average person (like me) review a movie from one movie visit? I don’t think so. Case in point: Michael Clayton. I get more out of that movie with each viewing. My recent thought: Is the part of Michael Clayton gender specific? Could a woman play that role?

I’m the fixer. I’m the janitor. Clayton says. Could a woman say that (or a variation) believably?

3. How did I miss the wall color in Three Days of the Condor? WTF? You ask.

I think I have seen 3 Days.... at least one time all the way through and then have picked up sections along the way. But some things never registered until a viewing about a month ago. Perhaps for the first time I took in that the CIA research office where Redford worked was in NYC (I guess all the obvious references to NYC just didn't register) and that Faye Dunaway had a walkout basement apartment in the city.

But this time, I noticed that her bar/counter divider was painted in a bright burnt-orange and I thought: Whoa, Nellie. Those are CA colors. What were they thinking? Very seldom are such musings answered but mine were. A few scenes later Dunaway “mistakenly” opens CIA Director Cliff Robertson’s NYC office door. And there is Robertson at his desk with the entire window wall behind him painted in the same burnt-orange. I guess the set designer got a good price on that color paint.

This, of course, is a trivial point but does give me an excuse for watching the same movie again and again - I’m just trying to be sure I miss nothing.

4. Pirates 3 and terrorism. Having the boy alone last evening and it being Sunday, he got to watch a movie. Yep, it was Pirates 3. He didn’t last long. Even he got bored, but it started me thinking. Looking at the movie from the POV of the establishment, the pirates can easily be classified as terrorists and yet we are asked to make them our heroes and hiss when Cutler Beckett and his henchman appear. Then I started to think about other good guys vs. bad guys movies. Often, movies extol the heroism of the “pirate” as he battles an evil establishment.

Another example is Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Walter Raleigh is decried by the Spanish. However, Raleigh is one of the heroes of this movie. It does go back to the old saw: One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.

Remember Mel Brooks’ famous cave man skit where Cave 1 is fighting Cave 2 and is chanting: Let's hear it for Cave #1. There’s something primal in jingoism. Our caveman altruist who said: What, Cave 2 has no food? Have them eat with us, probably left the human gene pool without a trace eons ago.

Well, that’s it for movies this week. Just random thoughts which hopefully now that they are down on paper are no longer cluttering my brain so I can write a real review for next Monday.

Happy movie watching.

Pass National Health Care With Public Option Now

Knitting Friday

This is my 201st post. Wow! I'm impressed.

The wool has arrived from Knit Picks for the Mario blanket. However, the blanket has changed to this one:

http://www.spritestitch.com/?p=1226

For months, I was searching for a Mario blanket I could knit. As you know, I discovered I had no skill with intarsia but once I stumbled on Mario quilts I discovered so many possibilities; all of which I could knit, thanks to the mitered square.

Unfortunately, I measured and ordered wool for this Mario blanket which I posted last Friday and which is no longer my choice:

http://www.wiinintendo.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/3773324169_2145459190.jpg

I'm happy that my final choice has a Mario with two feet on the ground but notice the absence of black in my final choice. I ordered 5 skeins of black wool based on my first Mario choice. Well, I've been meaning to make a black shawl for ages and I think the sport weight will be a good choice. However, I've been told that my Mario should have black hair and moustache not brown so some black wool will be used.

However, the good news is that it looks like my original Knit Picks order has right amount of skeins for my second choice blanket. I only have to order the face color since my original Mario had the same color for hands and face and my final Mario has white gloves. Plus, I've decided to make this into a rectangular blanket. (Remember I was going make a free-form Mario? What was I thinking?) So I have to order the traditional Mario background: blue for the sky and green for the grass.

Right now, I trying to finish up all my unfinished projects so I can concentrate on Mario. I finished a lace purple shawl which is a Christmas gift (pictures next week) and I'm on the last sleeve of my cardi/shrug. Also, I have to work a swatch in the Knit Picks wool since I wasn't able to do this before. So the swatch I used in deciding what to order from Knit Picks was in a cotton sport weight

My dread is that my Knit Picks swatch will show me that I need more yarn. That won't be a problem with the red shirt and hat or the brown boots and hair/moustache since they are in separate areas on Mario. But if I need more blue, I could be in big trouble. I guess I could just order a load more (8+ skeins) and use the 8 skeins I have for this Blue Jeans lace shawl:

http://ramblingdesigns.blogspot.com/2008/04/have-look.html

which is an easy knit.

OK, it's time for me to get back to my knitting since I'm in a time crunch right now. Not only is there a time crunch due to the upcoming holidays but there a time crunch in that I have to get this finished before the boy loses interest in Mario.

But I'll leave you with something I learned: Knit Picks colors on the Internet are not accurate but the written description which pops up when you click the color is very accurate.

For example, scroll down to Cardinal on this page:

http://www.knitpicks.com/yarns/Telemark_Yarn__D5420152.html

Does that look like "true red" to you? It doesn't to me but the written description says it is; and it is.

Happy knitting.

Pass National Health Care With Public Option Now

Website Wednesday

Just to finish my review of Frost/Nixon from Monday. I did get to see the rest of the movie and it did hold up. It got a little dramatic when Nixon's aide stopped the interview and I don't know if that really happened. I do know Frost wrote a lot about the background to the interviews and that Nixon did make late night phone calls (another dramatic scene) so perhaps the drama shown did occur.

And on to Website Wednesday:

http://www.thehydetube.com/tube.php

This is probably my most unusual choice yet. It's French (nothing unusual there) and it's all videos. That's the unusual part since the site says of itself:

The Hyde Tube is an international data bank that allows to see on one single website short films directed by hundreds of directors likely to direct commercials, music videos and virals.

The films or clips that you submit to The Hyde Tube must be original works directed by yourself. The films or clips should not last more than 3 minutes without title nor credits. To submit a film, you imperatively must choose a pseudonym different from your last name and from your company name.

The jury will screen films once a week in order to make selections.

Clients will contact The Hyde Tube in order to pass on a project to a specific director, who is then free to decide whether or not to accept it.

So, it's really not a site set up for the general public but it's out there for all of us and it's well worth clicking about the videos. They're short, many are wacky, all of them are clever.

Taking just two, Mrs. Saylor and Mr. Zolrack, with the first you get some interesting photo-shopping, with the latter you get a cartoon dilemma of two sidewalk building posters.

These videos are all by aspiring directors hoping to achieve a standing in their profession. You may get to see future "hot" talent here. For sure you'll get to see the work of some very creatively talented people.

Enjoy.

Pass National Health Care Now

Movie Monday

I was pretty depressed about writing any movie review since this weekend I got to see that waste-of-space movie, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. What a disappointment! You know how with teens sometimes they seem to replace "and" with "fuck" in their speech and you get to hear that explicative (Edit: Sorry about that. The word is expletive. I don't even know what explicative means but for some reason the spell checker here gives you wild suggestions and obviously I clicked the change without looking.) so often that it loses all impact? Well, this movie was so horrible, so devoid of the raunchy charm of the 2004 Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle , that you need to use the word "gross" so often, that it, like "fuck", loses its moral authority.

So I approached Movie Monday with a What the hell attitude. We're all doomed. Screw the arts.

Then I stopped to see Frost/Nixon during lunch today. I didn't have much hope for this movie either since I consider Ron Howard the Opie of directors: competent but always playing on the safe side.

Full disclosure, I still have 45 minutes to go with this movie and perhaps it's going to bomb. But even if it does bomb in the last 45 minutes, till than you will be treated to a fast-paced, thorough look at a very problematic president. Forget that he was a crook and a war criminal; this is a fascinating look at a very bright man pitted against a very superficial performer, David Frost. Watch how these famous post-presidency interviews were negotiated between a failed president and an Australian entertainer. Then watch how Nixon, as played so well and so astutely by Frank Langella works verbal jujitsu on a researched-prepared but not mentally-prepared Frost. Nixon washes the deck with him in the first interview. It looks like things are changing at the second interview but that's where I'm going to have to pick this movie up at another time.

It's masterfully written, directed and acted. Watch it for a lesson in the craft of movie making. Watch it for a slice of history this country should never forget.

Medicare For All - Public Option Now

Knitting Friday

Last night, I spent over an hour plotting a Mario blanket. Why is this special you ask? Because in all the time I've been knitting this the most time (and the only time) I have bothered to plot out (let alone think out) a project.

Some background: You may remember I showed the boy the spectacular Mario blanket a woman crocheted for her husband.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31676807@N08/3393263514/

I, naively thinking: What a great project! He would love to see that.

He thinking shrewdly: What a great project! I want that!

And so began my quest for a Mario blanket pattern. And what a futile search it was. There are some Mario dish clothes out there and some Mario and pals graphs. However, I soon learned the dishcloth Mario patterns didn't "pop" and also that intarsia was not my forte.

Now you know how it is with kids. They forget. Not this boy. How's the blanket coming? or Are you finished with my blanket yet? appeared in his conversation at least once a week.

I didn't want to shatter his confidence in me and my knitting skills but I had hit the proverbial brick wall. I knew I could not make a Mario blanket based on available patterns.

And then.....sometimes serendipity does occur. I can't remember how I found it but I discovered this picture:

http://www.wiinintendo.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/3773324169_2145459190.jpg

And I thought: I can do this. It's a bunch of squares which I can miter and join as I knit for a continuous knit. Oh, Happy Days!

Yesterday, I showed the boy the picture. You know how it is with men. Wives/girl friends/significant others say: Oh, they don't pay attention. They don't listen.

Not the boy. He has always had a steel trap for a mind and when he is told something; he remembers. Like when I hurt my back. Two week later, he asked: How's your back?

So, I should have known. He looked at the picture. He liked the picture, but...... What about his shoes? he says.

Sure enough, this seems to be a Mario in the flying mode, shoes to the side. The boy did not like that.

So last night I graphed a modified Mario with feet on the ground and facing to the right.

But that wasn't all. Then I took a J crochet hook and chained 24 stitches to make this mitered square.

http://www.hookedonneedles.com/2008/07/mitered-squares-baby-blanket-crocheted.html

which I've mentioned before. This is a big to small mitered square which I like better than the CO 2 and then increase type.

I made the crocheted mitered square, knotted the end of the wool when I finished the square, pulled out the square and then measured how much yarn I used. It was 11+ yards in crochet and 5+ yards in stockinette stitch on US 8. After some more swatches. I've decided to us garter stitch with US 6 and a cast on of 24 stitches. which will take a little more than 6 yards per square. The pattern is:

CO 24 stitches (Always slip the 1st stitch as purl. Mark the right side of your work.)
Row 1 & all odd WS rows: K across and place marker between stitch 12 and 13.
Row 2 and all RS even: K to 2 sts before marker; ssk, slip marker, K2tog, K to the end.
Continue these two rows to 4 stitches.
Next row RS row: SSK, K2tog
Next row: K2tog. Do not break yarn.

From the RS, pick up 12 stitches along the edge of the 1st square (which will be easy if you slipped the 1st stitch purl), put marker, CO 12 more sts.
Start at Row 1 and complete another square.

See how it's going? You connect the squares as you go and if you're doing this right the slant of the mitered centers should be going in the same direction.

Looking that the Mario blanket, I'll do both shoes separately then join for the blue of his overalls. Since I'm using Knit Picks Telemark wool sports weight I'll be able to splice the ends and voila! no pesky ends to weave in.

OK, got to go and try and finish up as many projects as I can before the wool order arrives.

Happy knitting.

Medicare For All - Public Option Now

I went into a bad depression after George W.'s gang stole the presidential election of 2000 until Peter Jackson's LOTR movies snapped me out of it. (More on this perhaps someday.)

Yesterday, Corzine lost in NJ; Christie won. But no depression this time though I do think this victory does not bode well for NJ. However, pulling the lever for Corzine needed some real intellectual musings and most people don't vote that way. When it comes to Jersey, voters were looking at some of the highest taxes in the nation and most of them without children in our over-priced, wasteful educational system were not seeing any bangs for the buck.

Unfortunately, the Democrats have forgotten that you have to give your base a few crumbs, just like the Republicans do. For Republicans while they are so toxic for so much of their hard-core base by sending their sons to war, reducing their welfare benefits, and sinking them deeper into poverty, brilliantly give this base some crumbs: their anti-abortion stand; their anti-gay stand; their anti-immigrant stand. This base may be like the frog thrown into the cold water to boil but at least their party is taking stands with which they approve and with which they can wrap some good old-fashioned bigotry around.

While the Democrats........ Oh, yeah, they're going to go to the mat and give us national health care. Well, wait a minute. Maybe they're not.

Website Wednesday

Two websites today.

http://www.hostessblog.com/ and

http://onlycreative.com.au/glenn-jones-glennz/

The second listing, Only Creative says of itself: OnlyCreative handpicks awesome designers from all over the world and showcase their design portfolios. Currently we have showcased loads of talented designers on our site and we will continue hunting for more.

Sort of what I do on Website Wednesday except I'm not creative enough to even recognize the awesome. Be sure to enjoy Only Creative's archives but be sure to concentrate on the above hyperlink which features designer, Glenn Jones. View his work and then think about it.

Of the first listing, the Hostess (With the Mostess) Blog, you may say is too "girly." Mea culpa. But this is a great blog for entertaining. Just take a look at the "Tabletop" link in Modern Moroccan section of bridal shower themes. Not only do you get to see how the decorations will look but you get a "What You Need" section with practical items like:
• Large colored glass or ceramic vase
• Costume jewelry (or strands of craft beads)
• Tropical Leaves (real or faux)
• Gold curly willow or other branches

This is a site which gives you practical ideas for entertaining. You'll come away with knowing: I can do this.

There is so much to visit on this site but don't forget to click The Recipe Box. Take a look at Mustard Pecan BBQ Slaw or Goat Cheese Truffles. These look like few ingredients, fast recipes.

Want dessert? Try All Grown Up S'Mores. This recipe is a great user of the egg yolks which are left over when you make Forgotten Cookies. OK, these desserts will not qualify for dieting but you can improvise. Like with Chocolate Truffle Pie, eliminate the crust and pour the filling into a PAM coated pan. It'll be eating a pound of dark chocolate. Now, how fattening can that be?

Enjoy!

Jon Corzine for New Jersey Governor

The New Jersey election for governor is tomorrow and I think it’s important that we don’t elect Republican Chris Christie.

I don’t know if New Jersey is fixable but I do know that Chris Christie is not going to fix it. He may pull a sleight of hand like Christie Whitman and do funny stuff by borrowing from the state workers’ pension fund so that the deluge of debt occurs after his tenure.

But there’s something else that bothers me about Christie. He has the arrogance of a prosecutor, a judge, a sheriff. The shrug of the shoulder he gives reporters which accompanies his answer of: So what? when he’s questioned about unsavory deeds is not the reaction of a man who understands the workings of a representative democracy and its accountability.

Remember, we, as a country, are just about clawing our way back from the abyss of eight years of totalitarian governmental thinking.

So think beyond your pocketbook in this election. So think beyond the latest corruption convictions and remember power and money corrupts all parties.

Ask yourself this question: Do I really want to reward the Republicans with this plum prize of New Jersey?

Because that’s what you’re doing. Once your anger at rising taxes and venal politicians has abated, you’re going to wake up in bed with Chris Christie and all sorts of Republican political thugs.

You and New Jersey are not going to be the better for it.

Medicare For All - Public Option Now

Knitting Friday

This is a late entry although I started writing early this morning. Let’s just say I’m nursing a refrigerator; sitting in the kitchen, typing, and waiting until the cycle kicks off and I’ll know things are back to normal. You see, the water pipe in the back of the fridge gets clogged and you have to remove it from the back, clean it out and screw it back on. Simple repairs, you say. We shall see. But this loused up my posting so here’s just the pattern I typed up this morning.

Based on Wisp but not Wisp: (Thanks to Wisp:
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer07/PATTwisp.html
for showing me the lovely pattern. My lace pattern is however your ubiquitous *YO, K2tog*.)

Some Background: I have made two modified Wisp shawls as triangles but I have never been able to use garter and lace patterns in a diagonally knit rectangle, until now. (I’m not going to bother with needles, etc. You can check with Knitty for that. Or, I do what I do; use larger needles than called for. I'm not listing abbreviations either - cause I'm really tired - but you can check last week's Knitting Friday.)

Set Up Section: CO 2 sts
Row 1: *Kfb* (4 sts)
Row 2: K
Row 3: *Kfb* (8 sts) (Mark as RS)
Row 4: K1, *YO, K2tog) K1 (This is the lace pattern.)
Row 5 & 7: Kfb *K* Kfb
Row 8 (WS): K
(Very Important re: garter/lace pattern: 1. In Section I and II, you decide how wide and long you want your shawl. In Section III, you are decreasing to one stitch and you must work the number of rows needed to get there. Therefore if you work large garter and lace patterns (ex: 10/20 rows) in the first 2 sections, you may run out of rows to complete this pattern in the last section. 2. You need 50% more lace rows than garter for the pattern to “pop.” ( 6/4; 12/8, etc.)

I. Increasing Section: work to desired width
Garter Pattern: Work for an even number of rows
Row 1 (RS): Kfb *K* Kfb
Row 2: K
Lace Pattern: Work for an even number of rows
Row 1 (RS): Kfb *YO, K2tog* Kfb
Row 2: K1, *YO, K2tog* K1
Notes: 1. Starting on the RS, you will begin the lace pattern, then the garter and lace/garter/lace/garter, etc.. 2. Repeat these sections till you reach the width you desire. 3. End with the lace or garter pattern

II. Even Section: work to length
Garter Pattern:
Row 1 (RS) Kfb *K* K2tog
Row 2: K
Lace Pattern: (On even number of stitches.)
Row 1 (RS): Kfb *YO, K2tog* K1
Row 2: K2tog, *YO, K2tog* K1
Notes: 1. Begin both pattens on the RS. 2. Mark the right edge of the RS row. 3. This edge will always be Kfb edge in this section. 4. In this section you will be increasing (Kfb) on the marked edge and decreasing (K2tog) on the opposite edge. 5. Be sure to read the directions for the lace pattern since your increases and decreases are done on different rows. 6. End this section ready to work on RS.

III Decreasing Section: work to 1 stitch
Garter Pattern:
Row 1 RS: K2tog *K* end K2tog
Row 2: K
Lace Pattern:
Row 1 RS: K2tog *YO, K2tog* end K2tog
Row 2: K1, *YO, K2tog* K1.
Notes: 1. Begin both pattens on the RS. 2. Do not knit tightly in this section. Working K2tog each side tends to do this. 3. See "Very Important" in Section I. 3. Be sure to keep in pattern. 4. You may want to end as you began in Set-up with 1 or 2 rows of lace followed by 3 K rows. 5. Work to 1 stitch

Finishing: Lightly wet block to rectangular shape. I made my model in cheap acrylic and I was able to hand shape it into a rectangle. If you don’t work tightly on Section III, it should be your call re: blocking.

End Notes: Experiment. Make the garter section a seed stitch section. Work the lace with a K row for Row 1 and a P row for Row 2. As long as you work with a two stitch pattern like YO, K2tog or YO, P2tog or K1, P1 and follow the pattern for the increases and decreases at the edges, the sky's the limit.

And finally: Please don't copyright this pattern as your own but do enjoy making it.

Happy knitting.

Oh, the fridge sees to be working. Happy Days!

Medicare For All - Public Option Now

Website Wednesday

Before the website, a book recommendation:

The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era by James M. McPherson.

You can get it at Amazon and Barnes and Noble but I'll give a plug to Borders where it's the cheapest ($9.99) and where I bought it.

First a little background: I already have the non-illustrated, paperback version of this book. I have already used this book for an online course from Barnes and Noble (remember those?) about the U.S. Civil War. But there I was, killing time at Borders in the Bargain Books section and about half-way down the shelves I see this large version of the McPherson book. As I reach to pull it up for reading, a nice employee (well, they are really all nice) walks by and says "Hello" to me. That distraction coupled with my responding greeting and losing my grip on the book, caused the book to propel to the floor missing my feet by inches. And that was a very good thing since this book is very heavy.

But, like finally discovering Waldo amidst all the pseudo-Waldos, this incident brought the book to my attention and finally to my dining table where it sits now. The reason it sits there is because the damn thing is so heavy it would crush a reader's lap.

However, never judge a book by its outside (or weight); this book is one of the best, if not the best, study of antebellum U.S. and Civil War U.S. I will not link to NRO but their reviewer was spot on; this is one fantastic book, made so much better with a treasure trove of contemporary illustrations and their informative captions.

Don't like war stories? Then read it for answers to why the U.S. is as it is today.Too often people deride today's dirty politics. Read this American history and you'll find out a lot about our present history. This is one of those coffee table books which is a must-read. Don't miss it.

And now, my website: http://www.thedailycontributor.com/

I first discovered this website by looking at their examples of adult Halloween costumes

http://www.thedailycontributor.com/halloween-costumes-part-1-80s-costumes and
http://www.thedailycontributor.com/halloween-costumes-part-2-90s-costumes,

and many of these are quite easy to make.

Then I went on to read: Thanks for visiting TheDailyContributor.com! There are many popular blogs on the Internet today and our goal is to become one of the most popular blogs of all-time. Our pop culture blog has many inspirations and our writers are motived (sic) to write about pop culture. Come back and visit us anytime and we will most always have new and fresh pop culture content. Our goal to become one the most popular blogs on the internet starts and ends with you, our readers. We can't become one of these popular blogs without you guys coming to check us out. To help make our pop culture blog on of the most popular blogs on the internet please send us an email letting us know how we can make this site one of the most popular blogs. Tell us why we at TheDailyContributor.com, a pop culture blog, are on our way to becoming one of the more popular blogs or tell us why we will never, ever, ever become one of the most popular blogs on the Internet.

And, I decided to look around.

Current Halloween postings include Halloween drinks (which sound like they would knock your socks off) and how to defeat ghosts and vampires.

Other popular topics include: 10 best cartoon dads, must-read Marvel comics of the '90s, Zelda (I love Zelda!), and strange language in corporate America. It's light, fast reading; you don't like one topic, here's another one you might.

There is a frequent posting of different Google search results for random topics. "I think my sister...." and "Why is my...." are the two current searches. I get what he's doing but I probably won't get the why of this unless I search the archives. Or less, this is really, really cool and in; but I'm not. Take a look at these searches and see what you think.

If you think this is all fun and games, hit the links on the right. Under Fashion, there's a posting about using summer and spring fashion pieces in your fall wardrobe and the advice is not bad. Or under Dating Advice, you get 5 ideas for fun October activities including a horror movie marathon.

Or click on Essays. There's a short one comparing Sir Gawain and Beowulf and The Quest for Identity, with a link to a very short review of the movie, Beowulf, one of my favorite all-time awful movies.

So go take a look at The Daily Contributor and help make it one of the web's most popular. This blogger has put a lot of work into making this a very enjoyable and informative website.

Medicare For All - Public Option Now

Movie Monday

I discovered what a good actor David Thewlis is this week. I had liked him as Professor Lupin in HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban. But it wasn't until I checked with IMDb that I realized he played the pianist, Kinsky, in Besieged.

The great acting? In HP, I thought he was over 6 feet tall (which he is) but in Besieged, I was sure he was around 5' 6". Now, that's great acting!

OK, I'm joking but I do like Thewlis. I really have to watch Besieged again because I viewed it as a pleasant, unrealistic little romance. Then I read the plot. Apparently, I missed some crucial minutes in the beginning of the movie. And I mean very crucial. I have been trying to catch the movie again but my movie package seems heavy on the vampire motif so close to Halloween.

I did see Bolt and found it delightful. It's a "seen it, been there" animated plot but Bolt is soooo cute. (Yes, I am a sucker for dogs.)

The only thing I didn't like was the fire scene. That smoke inhalation would have killed a moose. OK, I know it was fantasy but it was teaching some good lessons and movie going kids are never too young to learn fire safety.

And finally Appaloosa. This has been my piecemeal movie since I think I still haven't seen the whole thing in one sitting. But every time I'm getting longer and longer pieces and I'm going to go out on a limb (I know, the paid movie reviewing community is shaking) and say this movie will become an iconic Western as time goes on. (Hopefully, more iconic than High Noon where the young Grace Kelly marrying her figurative grandfather, Gary Cooper, still bothers me.)

Appaloosa is based on a Robert B. Parker novel. Now my only previous contact with Parker was an audio book which I listened to on a long trip to Boston. Parker is a laconic writer but I don't remember him as a nuanced one.

So kudos to Ed Harris as director and co-writer and Harris and Viggo Mortensen as the main actors for fleshing out a probably bare bones plot with thematic depth. Renee Zellweger played a "real" woman's role in the Wild West well though I would have liked to see a different actress in this role since Zellweger for me is always mugging in Chicago. Jeremy Irons plays your stock villain with powerful friends with aplomb. Poor Irons I always wanted to pull that wad of cotton out his mouth. You know, the one they put it so he could lose his English accent.

But watch this movie. From start to finish. It's better than High Noon because it tells the tale after the cameras stopped rolling, movie stars went home and the West came out to live.

Finally, the answer to last week's math enigma:

A candy merchant receives 3 opaque boxes. One box contains mint candies, another contains anise candies, and the last box contains a mixture of mint and anise. The boxes are labeled Mint, Anise, and Mixed. All of the boxes are labeled incorrectly. What is the minimum number of candies the merchant will have to sample to correctly label each box?

Answer: You need to take out only one candy but it must be from the Mixed box. Why? The key information in the problem is "all of the boxes are labeled incorrectly." So:
the Mint box is either Mixed or Anise
he Anise box is either Mixed or Mint
the Mixed box is either Mint or Anise.

Take out one candy from the Mixed box. If it's Anise, you know the Mixed box is Anise. So the Mint box can't also be Anise, it has to be Mixed. That leaves the Anise box to be really Mint.

I told you it was a forehead slapping answer.

See you on Wednesday.

Medicare For All - Public Option Now

Knitting Friday

As you know, I really admire the patience of lace knitting. I really don't have that patience and since I like carry-along projects, I make a lot of that so simple lace pattern:

Row 1 & 2: K1, *YO, K2tog* K1
Row 3 & 4: Kfb *K* Kfb

O larger needles and heavier yarn, it makes the shawl pictured on the right. (More on this later.) On smaller needles and lace weight yarn, it produces this pink beauty, pictured on the left. (Note: the shawl on the right is really dark blue, dark green, black and beige. The colors you see must be imposters.)

Now, the finished shawl worked up very quickly but my pink wonder is taking forever even though the only difference in needles is US 10 for the lace weight and US 10.5 for the heavier weight (Paton Classic Wool.) I know I should be using sharp metal needles for the lace weight but I'm using my old, reliable wooden needles. Sort of a bear in the YO department but fantastic if the phone rings and you throw down your knitting to answer it; the aitches stay on the needle. And, since I'm working as Daredevil Knitter Who Is Not Using a Lifeline on this project, this is very important to me.

I will probably be working on this pink project into the winter. But at the end of the day, I will discover just how large a triangular shawl with a border I get with one skein of Knit Picks lace (44o yards.) Answer to follow at a later date.

Now on to the finished shawl is Paton Retro. As I mentioned last week, this was sooooo retro looking in its original life as a cardigan that I frogged the whole thing and made the shawl. The shawl was done in a variation of the above pattern:

Row 1: K1 *YO, Y2tog* K1
Row 2: P1 *YO, P2tog* P1
Row 3: Kfb *K* Kfb
Row 4: Pfb *P* Pfb
For the rectangular shawl, at width: K2tog or P2tog at the ends of Rows 3 & 4. At length: K2tog or P2tog at both ends of Rows 3 & 4.

I think it looks much more sophisticated this way, is as warm as a thermal blanket and may or may not have its ends edged - I'm still mulling that part over. The pattern is modified stockinette stitch but there is no obvious dreaded st st curl, though there is a definite right and wrong side. I figure I used less than 500 yards (2 and 1/2 skeins for a 18.5" x 56" shawl - it's very stretchy.) I'm leaning towards using the leftover wool on an edging since I already have too, too many leftover partial skeins hanging around.

This week, I hope to start a cardi/shrug in Paton's Woodrose Heather. Pictured at right is my red Wool Ease cardi with those crazy half sleeves. I like it. It's not that warm but it's not an objectionable first (well really second) "try this out in the cheaper yarn" project.

Here's a project you may want to look at:

http://cache.lionbrand.com/printablePatterns/20137ad.pdf

It's Lion Brand so you must do a free registration and it's one of their free downloadable patterns in Cotton-Ease. I like the Farrow Rib and the side slits but I think the total of over 200 stitches for the body is way too big for the X-Small. However, the final look is pretty enough to work out some alterations.

See you next week. Happy knitting.

Public Option Now

Website Wednesday

My mind is obviously visiting another planet today since I can't seem to wrap it around Website Wednesday. So, I'm going to use my free pass today. You know the kind you get in school for being really, really good and it says that you don't have to do your homework for one day.

So, I'm going to use a variation of that schoolhouse pass since I did do my homework and here is my website pick for today:

http://theplaceswelive.com/

It's about worldwide poverty and slums and miserable living conditions. You get to hear and see households in poverty from four places around the world: Kenya, India, Indonesia and Venezuela. Then you enter households in those countries, see the living conditions and hear from the people living there.

I think poverty stinks and it makes me want to vomit when I hear rich people talk about how the poor abuse the "system."

Take a look for yourself.

Medicare For All

Movie Monday

I watched the same movie twice this weekend. OK, I know that I’ve seen Pirates 3 more times than is healthy but this movie really necessitated at least two viewings. Come to think of it, most movies do. The first to watch without a clue as to what is going to happen but hopefully with a clue as to what it going on. The second with experience and knowledge so you can cross the T’s and dot the I’s. This movie is in Spanish with English subtitles which added another reason for two viewing.

First, before I tell you about this twice-watched movie, let me tell you about Goldbach’s conjecture. Goldbach was a 18th century Prussian mathematician who had a couple of conjectures. A conjecture is an educated guess, a speculation, a good hunch. Here is Goldbach's most famous:

Any even number greater than 2 can be written as the sum of two prime numbers.

Like 12, which is the sum of 7 + 5. Or 838 which is 827 + 11. And on and on. Now, since numbers are infinite this conjecture can’t be proven in a traditional way, though computers are taking us closer to infinite and beyond....... So it will probably have to be proven true in an nontraditional way. But on the movie which gives truth to the saying: Math is your friend.

Fermat’s Room (2007)

Oh-oh! I may have to digress again because are you wondering who is this Fermat. Fermat is listed as a 17th century amateur mathematician who was on par with Pascal and Descartes. Now Fermat had a lot of theorems but it was his last which is the most famous and eluded proof until just a few years ago when Andrew Wiles of Princeton University solved it.

Now that’s all I’m going to tell you about Fermat because I don’t understand his work at all. On the movie, for real this time.

As the opening credits roll, a black gloved hand is arranging doll house sized furniture in an doll house room. Then the movie starts with a young mathematician ("Galois") entertaining some pretty girls with examples of Goldbach's conjecture. We learn fast that he’s a celebrity to them since he has solved the conjecture; this fact has been publicized in the press; and he soon will be presenting a paper on the subject.

The first inkling of trouble is when he is summoned back to his dorm room to see that it has been vandalized and his computer and all his notes destroyed. The paper presentation will have to wait.

Next scene: a depressed mathematician playing chess with his physician. He says he had been contemplating suicide but then remembered he had this date to play chess. The plot advances as he shows the MD an invitation to solve a mathematical problem. Those who solve it will be invited to a dinner and night of mathematical enigmas. The invitation is signed “Fermat.”

Only four people solve the problem: the two mentioned above, a young woman and an inventor. All are given famous mathematical names for anonymity: Pascal, Hilbert, Olivia, Galois and all finally arrive together at a grain warehouse which contains deep inside it, that’s right, a full-sized room identical to the one we saw being furnished in doll-house size at the beginning.

And so we enter into the spooky world of locked room/creepy old house mysteries but with a twist: This room is set up with four hydraulic presses pressing in. Every few minutes, our “heros” get math enigmas to solve long distance on a PDA in the room. They have one minute to solve them. A wrong answer or a late answer causes the presses to shrink the room a little each time. Oh, did I mention the door is locked?

The rest of the movie has the our heroes frantically working out math problems while attempting to stop the room from shrinking and trying to figure out why this is all happening to them.

This is a very intriguing movie. You’ve probably seen a variation of the plot before but the math is real and an important twist. It’s no McGuffin (a device which moves the plot along and then is of no importance) since if they don’t answer those problems in a timely fashion, they die.

Is there a way out of the room? Is there a connection between these people? How are their math names important? Will the director take pity and give us the explanations? Will we have a happy ending? You’ll get no answers from me but watch the movie. You won’t be disappointed.

And finally, one enigma from the movie. It’s a classic. See if you can solve it.

A candy merchant receives 3 opaque boxes. One box contains mint candies, another contains anise candies, and the last box contains a mixture of mint and anise. The boxes are labeled Mint, Anise, and Mixed. All of the boxes are labeled incorrectly. What is the minimum number of candies the merchant will have to sample to correctly label each box?

(This is one of those problems where you slap your forehead and say: How could I have missed this? if you don't get it.)

Medicare For All

Knitting Friday

My photographer is getting ready to go to work so I will be without pictures today though I may be able to edit them in tomorrow.

This has been a productive knitting (and frogging) week.

First, I finished the cardi/shrug I wrote about last Friday; this time in red . I used less than 2 and ½ skeins of Wool-Ease Red Sprinkles which comes in 162 yard skeins. I made the sleeves about 4 inches longer than the brown one and I blocked this baby. I’m very pleased with the finished garment since this may become my generic “shrug” pattern. If you remember, I have never been successful in making a shrug. Even the few which fit passably were too bulky to wear under a fall/winter jacket. While I did have trouble pulling down the half sleeves of my red creation under a winter jacket this week, my next try will have longer sleeves and that should eliminate the problem.

And speaking about my next try: well, I did try another cardi/shrug this week and frogged the whole thing. Here’s the story: I had bought 3 skeins of Patons Classic Wool in Retro some time ago thinking I would make another shawl. However, since getting on this cardi/shrug bug, I decided to use the Retro as my next cardi project. I was sailing along almost through the yoke (this is a top-down raglan pattern) when I took a good look at how the colors (tan, dark blue, brown, green and black) were displaying and decided that I didn’t like their placement. Looking at the skeins, I would never have said it would knit up in stockinette and look retro 1970s, but it did and I didn’t like it. But the good news is I have a shawl pattern for you today.

Retro Shawl (not really a retro look, but I’m pretty unoriginal with names)
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool; 3 skeins - which may be too much
Needles: US 10.5
Extras: long strand of yarn
Interesting: This shawl doesn't curl. There is a WS but it doesn't look bad.
Abbreviations: CO = cast on; Kfb or Pfb = knit or purl in the front and back of the same stitch = 1 st increase; st(s) = stitches; K2tog = knit two stitches together; RS & WS = right side and wrong side; xs = # of times you repeat a direction.

CO 2 sts. Set-up row: Kfb, 2xs (4 sts) Start pattern:
Row 1 RS: K1 *YO, K2tog* K1
Row 2 WS: P1 *YO, P2tog* P1 (Note: YO on the P row take an extra wrap)
Row 3: Kfb, *K* Kfb
Row 4: Pfb, *P* Pfb

That’s it for a triangle shawl. Just keep working these four rows and bind off after Row 2 in straight knitting. I haven't decided if I'm going to edge it.

What is the long strand of yarn for? Tie the yarn to mark the right side of the shawl (Row 1 and Row 3.) That’s the only marker you need. Here how it works:
1. When you are ready to work on the marked side: if every other stitch on your needle is slanted (due to being a YO) you know you have finished Row 2 (WS) and you are ready to work Row 3.
2. When you are ready to work on the marked side: if every stitch on your needle is straight (due to being all K) you know that you have finished Row 4 (WS) and you are ready to work Row 1.
3. When you are ready to work on the unmarked side: if every stitch on your needle is straight you know that you have just finished Row 3 (RS) and you are ready to work Row 4.
4. When you are ready to work on the unmarked side: if every other stitch on your needle is slanted, you know that you have just finished Row 1 (RS) and you are ready to work Row 2.
Trust me. This is long-winded explanation but you’ll pick it up fast and it works better than any row counter.

I’ll leave you with a pattern I’m going to attempt next. That is, after I cast on in a solid wool for another much-needed top-down cardi/shrug.

It’s: http://heldasland.blogspot.com/2009/03/free-simple-shawl-pattern.html

It’s a triangular shawl using the treble stitch. I'm very excited to work in the treble stitch and I’m hoping I can convert it into rectangular shawl.

Next week: Directions for my Retro Shawl as a rectangle which is knit on the diagonal.

Oh, and really one last thought: go take a look at the Lion Brand patterns: http://www.lionbrand.com/. I think so many of them look huge on the models. What do you think?

Happy knitting.