A Good Yarn

Socks and Movies

2009-03-29T13:14:00.002-05:00

Two of my favorite things!

I started the 2nd quarter STR Ravelry group KAL a little early:

I couldn't capture the beauty of this yarn - it's much more muted changes and is absolutely gorgeous. I think it's my favorite STR colorway. The pattern is the Shur'tagal pattern.

I'm almost done with my Elsabeth Lavold sweater, too. I think I'll probably have a post about that next time. Here are a few more movies I've seen:

This is a Swedish film about a family at the beginning of the 20th century. The narrator is the oldest daughter, and she's primarily telling the story of her mother, Maria. Maria is married to an alcoholic and they have a large family. Maria won a camera and at a point of financial crisis, she tries to sell it to a professional photographer, but he convinces her to "keep it for him" and she falls in love with making photographs. It also seems like she's fallen in love with the photographer, too, but the story is really about Maria and how she finds meaning in her life, not some Hollywood love story. It's probably not a surprise that a film about photography would be gorgeous. The film really feels authentic - you can just imagine that this is a story that's been passed on down through the family. I wouldn't say it's anything groundbreaking, but it's really an interesting story, told well.

This is another interesting story, told well. The director was once the travelling manager for The Amazing Kreskin and this film is based on his experiences at that time. John Malkovich plays the Great Buck Howard, a mentalist best known for his numerous appearances on the Tonight Show when Johnny Carson was the host. Colin Hanks plays the part of the travelling manager, a law school drop out who isn't quite sure what to do with his life, much to the disappointment of his father, played by Colin's real-life father, Tom Hanks. The film feels very authentic and I'm sure a lot of the events are based on real events. Malkovich gives a fantastic performance as a past his prime entertainer, who alternates between charming and self-absorbed. There are other great small parts such as Steve Zahn and Debra Monk as Ohio siblings who host Howard during his performances in their town. Colin Hanks is sweet and sympathetic, but doesn't have the same magnetism as his dad. If you like magic and old Hollywood stories, you'll enjoy this film. If you see this in the theater, make sure you get there on time, because the opening credits are really unique and worth seeing.

Finally, this is a Belgian film that was an award winner at Cannes this year. It's about a 41 year old woman who is separated from her husband, while he explores his feelings for a 24 year old student (he's an art teacher). She's convinced he'll be coming back, so she's just marking time until she can get the life she used to know back. She has two children - a 17 year old daughter and a younger son, about 12 or so. One day she backs up in the grocery store parking lot and collides with a semi-truck. The truck driver is a 29 year old guy who blames her for not looking before backing up and she blames him for having such a big truck in a grocery store parking lot. They argue loudly and with sharp words, but something clicks. Eventually they start to date and the woman begins to wonder whether she really does want to return to her old life. The truck driver is not necessary Prince Charming either, as we begin to suspect when the police arrive at the accident scene and the police officers know him by name. I really enjoyed the film. The acting is so well done. The lead actress just blooms from a depressed, lonely woman at the beginning to a fully alive woman at the end. The oldest daughter, who behaves exactly the way the smart, funny teenage girls you know behave, is a great character. I would definitely recommend this film.

More Movies

2009-03-22T13:35:00.003-05:00

I finished up the Harry Potter/Hedwig socks for my nephew, Michael, but I didn't have time to take a photo of the second one. But you know what, it looks pretty much like the first one. I didn't do anything to try to make them match exactly, but they're pretty close to the same. I guess if I had wound off a few yards, I would have been able to match them up, but I am never that concerned about having them be the same. I didn't take a picture because I wanted to get them to Michael when I saw him on St. Patrick's Day, while there's still a need for wool socks. Spring is definitely moving into the Twin Cities.

I am also making progress on my Borghild sweater. I've finished the first sleeve:

and I'm almost ready to start the decreases on the second sleeve. This is a very long project for me. As usual, by the time I get it finished, it'll be too warm to wear. I seem to do that every winter/spring.

And, trying to catch up on my movie reviews, again, I watched three more nominees before the Academy Award ceremony:

I liked this one, but as you saw earlier, it didn't make my Top Ten. As you probably know, Mickey Rourke stars as a past-his-prime professional wrestler. He was gigantic in the 80s, but that was 20 years ago and now he's getting old and his best days are behind him. It's a pretty searing performance by Rourke, and just like Robert Downey Jr. brought so much of himself to his role in Iron Man, I think Rourke's own history makes this a role of a lifetime for him. The regret, loneliness and longing on Rourke's face is quite real, I'm sure. I think the reason the movie didn't totally resonate with me is that I'd already heard so much about it and seen clips before I saw it. There's a very emotional scene where Rourke's character has a conversation with his daughter, who he's estranged from after pretty much abandoning her in childhood to pursue his own dreams. I'd seen the climax of that scene in clips dozens of times before I actually saw the movie, so I think it lost some of its power for me. It's coming out on DVD in a few weeks and I'd definitely add it to your list.

Although I thought Mickey Rourke's performance was fantastic, I did think the Academy got it right in giving the Best Actor Oscar to Sean Penn. He plays the first openly gay man elected to a major office in the U.S. The movie starts at Harvey Milk's 40th birthday, when he realizes he really hasn't done much with his life, so he moves to San Francisco and starts living out of the closet, in the Castro. He organizes the neighborhood and runs for a position on the Board of Supervisors a couple of times and eventually, after he starts running on a campaign of hope, he wins. I don't think it's spoiling anything since it's fairly well known, but he's eventually killed, along with the mayor, by another member of the Board of Supervisors. Although it's a tragic story, you really get a sense of what a difference Harvey Milk made in his short time on earth and you feel energized and hopeful. The whole cast does a great job, including James Franco, James Brolin (who is fast becoming one of my favorite actors), and Emile Hirsch. This one is already out of DVD, so if you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it.

Continuing the theme of great acting, it's no breaking news to say that Meryl Streep is amazing. She completely inhabits the role of a tough nun in 1964. She's suspicious of the new priest, played by the always fantastic Philip Seymour Hoffman. Is he just progressive and a new kind of priest, or has he done something completely inappropriate with the one black child attending the church's school? Caught between them is a young nun played by Amy Adams. The acting was really great, including a small part of the black student's mother, played by Viola Davis. The cinematography and writing is really well done, but it's a bit cold and I didn't think it reached a level of greatness, but it really is worth seeing.

New Stash and Movies

2009-03-15T17:45:00.004-05:00

My best friend Bill and his wife recently had a baby, so I've been doing a little more baby knitting. The big project I'm working on for baby Sam is the Festive Fish blanket:

As you can see, I'm not even close to done. I didn't even start until after he was born, because he came a lot quicker than I thought he would - even though I knew the due date. Sometimes I'm just in denial about how much I can get done in any given amount of time. I'm using the Knitpicks Shine worsted and absolutely love the yarn and the colors I chose.

I also had a special request for some hats for the little guy (although we're suddenly having spring, so maybe he won't be needing them much longer!). I already had a couple of hats knit up, but I made one more especially for him:

I used the Jailbird hat pattern from MinnowKnits, Too just so I didn't have to do any math and used some of my leftover yarn from the mitred square blanket.

In other knitting news, I have some new additions to my stash. Kerry was nice enough to be my personal shopper at the Madrona Fiber Arts Festival again. Even though I don't need any more yarn, I felt a little bit ok with this because I actually have knit up all but one skein of the yarn she bought for me last year (yay for me!). Once again I mostly concentrated on the Blue Moon booth. I got some fantastic colors of Socks that Rock:

From left to right, that's Spawn of Braun, Never on Sunday, Jubilation, and Alley-oop.

Absolutely in love with them all. I'll be casting on the Jubilation soon, though, because I'm joining the latest KAL on the STR group on Ravelry.

I also got a skein of Luscious Single Silk in Spinel:

And because I fell in love with a skein Kerry brought back last year, I had her get me a skein of Cashmere laceweight from Just Our Yarn:

Catching up on a few more movies I saw this winter:

I was really surprised by how much I liked this movie. I'm not a huge Ron Howard fan (a lot of times I find his movies just too sentimental, too clean and pretty). I was just fascinated with this one though. As I'm sure you know, it's about David Frost's famous interviews with Richard Nixon, after Nixon left office. Both Frank Langella and Michael Sheen give amazing performances. You just are pulling for both of them. I mean it, it makes Nixon sympathetic. I'd really recommend this one, especially for people like me who love politics.

I AM, on the other hand, a huge Clint Eastwood fan. I have loved pretty much every movie he's directed, some more than others, of course. I wouldn't put this one at the top of my list, but I did really like it. Clint plays an old guy (shocking!) living in Detroit, the last white guy living in a neighborhood now populated primarily by Hmong immigrants. He's old and set in his ways and still remembering his service in Korea, so not so keen to be living among Asians. Because he's so angry and removed, he's pretty much estranged from his children and grandchildren. But somehow he ends up getting involved in the life of his teenage Hmong neighbor. I don't want to give away the plot, but it's a really good story and the ending was totally unexpected. I recently saw Changeling on DVD and can't believe he directed both of these movies this year. He clearly has more energy than most men half his age.

I saw this one before Joaquin Phoenix's recent strange appearance on David Letterman, thank goodness. I would have hated to have that in my mind while watching his sensitive, subtle performance. The movie is based on a Dostoevsky story. It's about an emotionally stunted guy who is living with his parents after his broken engagement has left him emotionally fragile. His dad owns a drycleaning business and he's in negotiations with a big businessman to buy him out. Phoenix meets the businessman's daughter and there's clearly a connection. They seem perfect for each other - they're both Jewish, down to earth and she clearly wants to take care of him. And obviously joining together would help the business deal too. So they start a relationship, but Phoenix is also drawn to his neighbor played by Gweneth Paltrow. She's blond, a party girl and as screwed up as Phoenix. The film is somewhat predictable, but more in an indie film way. I liked it, but it won't be on my Top Ten list next year.

FO and movie update

2009-03-07T15:26:00.003-06:00

I am happy to report an FO - and it was a gift, so I have never even mentioned it before, so here's the surprise!

Project Name: Scandinavian Jacket
Pattern Source: Knits for Babies and Toddlers by Fiona McTague
Yarn: Knitpicks Merino Style
Yarn Source: Knitpicks
Date Started: 11/16/08
Date Completed: 2/20/09

Comments: As I said, this was a gift, so I kept it under wraps while I was working on it. I really enjoyed it, though. Believe it or not, the pattern is written to be knit back and forth instead of in the round, which I had never done with fair isle before. So, I tried it and it wasn't bad. I would never do an adult sweater that way, but a baby sweater was ok and I was glad not to have to do steeks. It's big, but I wanted the baby to be able to wear it next winter, when he probably will be out and about a lot more. The mommy is a knitting friend, so she was very appreciative. I really love the yarn, Merino Style, but I'm sure it would pill like crazy on something that gets a lot of wear, because it's so soft. Such a nice, pretty, soft yarn, though.

I'm less happy to report that the Koolhaas hat I showed you last time is now suitable for wear with this sweater. Yes, my brother threw it in the washing machine and he shrunk it down nice and small - you know how great Malabrigo felts. I should have warned him, but I hardly ever wash my hats, so I didn't really think about it. Plus, he felted a sweater I knit for him once, so I thought he was clued into the whole washing machine and handknits thing. I think this is a pattern that's cursed for me, so I don't know if I'll be knitting him yet ANOTHER one any time soon.

I've also been working on a pair of socks for my nephew, Michael. It was a birthday gift for his 13th birthday and I wasn't sure how much he'd like them, but he actually said, "they're awesome."

I only finished one before his birthday, but he tried it on and it fit perfectly, so now I just need to finish the mate. The yarn is the Opal Harry Potter yarn in the Hedwig colorway. Michael LOVES Harry Potter and especially Hedwig. I knit the Quidditch socks last year in Slytherin colors just because he likes gray and green, so I thought this yarn was perfect for him. I'm using the Quidditch pattern again for this pair because I know it fit him well.

Ok, I've got a lot of movies to blog about because I was trying to get a bunch in before the Oscars. Here's just a start:

I wasn't crazy about this one. It was ok, but it's one of those movies where the characters all treat each other like crap and I just don't enjoy watching that. It stars Anne Hathaway as Kym, an alcoholic/drug addict and Rosemarie DeWitt as her sister, the Rachel who is getting married. It's sort of a slice of life movie, showing this family coming together for Rachel's wedding and all of the old hurts and disappointments surface. The acting was great all around and it felt very real, but like I said, just not fun. The film has a real documentary feel because there really isn't a big plot and structure. Stuff just happens, just like in life. It's filmed pretty much entirely with a handheld camera, which adds to the cinema verite feel, but it was way too shaky for one of the friends I saw it with.

This is another slice of life movie. I saw it the same weekend with Rachel and they went well together. Michelle Williams stars as Wendy and Lucy is her dog, her only companion in life. The film opens with Wendy on the road with Lucy. They're pretty much living in the car and then things go badly. Wendy is down on her luck and lonely and lives in a totally different world than Rachel and Kym, but they both show the lives of women in the our country today and neither one is a happy, joyful story. Williams filmed this movie right after she and Heath Ledger broke up and she made good use of whatever sadness and loneliness she may have been feeling at the time. Another great performance, but you need to be in the right mood to watch the film.

OK, long post. More movies next time.

Best of 2008

2009-02-24T18:02:00.002-06:00

It's been a month since my last post, so I've got a bunch of movie reviews I want to post, but instead I'm going to stick with tradition and post my personal Best Movies of the Year list around Oscar time. I liked the changes they made to the broadcast this year and enjoyed the show. It was fairly predictable, but I'm pretty happy with the winners. So, without further ado, here are my favorite movies of 2008:

1. In Bruges
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. The Dark Knight
4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5. The Visitor
6. Vicky Cristina Barcelona
7. Wall-E
8. Burn After Reading
9. I've Loved You So Long
10. Frost/Nixon

My favorite documentaries for this year were:

1. At the Death House Door
2. Young @ Heart
3. Man on Wire
4. American Teen
5. Gonzo
6. Up the Yangtze
7. U2 3D
8. Encounters at the End of the World

There were a bunch of other movies that I really liked a lot and quite a few that I liked, but didn't love, so overall I'd say this was a good year for movies, for me.

On the knitting front, I finished up one more preemie hat in January, using Chelle's preemie hat pattern. I guess I forgot to take a picture of that one.

I also knit up another Koolhaas hat for my brother:

I just couldn't capture how beautiful this yarn is. It's the regular Malabrigo in a very dark green. It was my first time knitting with Malabrigo and I loved it. And this time, I actually made it big enough to fit before I ran out of yarn:

And I finally blocked out my Chevron scarf:

Project Name: Chevron Scarf
Pattern Source: http://www.domesticrafts.com/Clog/2007/03/12/HitchingARideOnTheBandwagon.aspx
Yarn: Wollmeise 100% Wool in Red Hot Chili and Sonne
Yarn Source: Wollmeise
Date Started: 10/18/08
Date Completed: 12/3/08

Comments: When I placed my first Wollmeise order (back when the Wollmeise was dyeing to order and you could order any color she carried at any time) I knew I wanted to get two colors to make a chevron scarf. I thought these two colors would look really good together, and the scarf turned out pretty much exactly how I thought it would in my mind. There is one shade of orange that is present in both skeins, so the transition from one skein to the other isn't as abrupt as it could be, but I kind of like how gradual it is and that it reallly looks like it's just one skein of yarn with a lot of variation. This was the first time I knit or even saw Wollmeise knit up at a little bit looser gauge and I love it. I knit it on size US 3 needles and after I blocked it out, it's just really drapey and soft and warm. I'm very happy with how this project came out. I only used about 1/4 of each skein for the scarf, so I easily have enough for a pair of socks in each color left.

Here's a closeup view:

Don't you just feel better?

2009-01-21T17:46:00.003-06:00

What a great day yesterday was!! Unfortunately, I had to work, so I couldn't stay home and watch the inaugural, but I got to see enough of everything to be absolutely elated. After so many disappointments over the last 8 years, especially the death of Paul Wellstone, I feel such great hope.

I did spend part of MLK Day watching the fantastic concert on the mall and knitting preemie hats. I got three hats done:

Project Name: Spiral Preemie Hat
Pattern Source: http://www.geocities.com/bbcrafty_17//SpiralPreemieCap.html
Yarn: Artyarns Handpaint Stripes
Yarn Source: leftovers from a hat and scarf set - stash!
Date Started: 1/19/09
Date Completed: 1/19/09

Comments: I wanted to use up some leftovers in my stash and figured a worsted weight hat would go pretty fast, so I found this cute pattern on the internet. It went really fast but was still interesting to knit. And the ribbing-type will fit a wide range of headsizes. The pink one in the middle is Chelle's basic preemie hat pattern in some Plymouth Dreambaby DK I got in a yarn exchange at a knitting retreat I went to a couple of years ago. Look at me using up the stash for service knitting!!

I also took my nephew, Michael, out for a movie on MLK Day:

I would describe this one as mildly amusing. Neither Michael or I laughed a lot, but it wasn't a horrible way to spend a couple of hours. I think Kevin James is funny enough, but all of the jokes in the movie are pretty much exactly what you see coming. James plays a mall security guard who takes his job way too seriously. He's a single dad and has a big crush on the pretty girl who works at the hair extensions cart in the mall. On the day after Thanksgiving, thieves take over the mall so they can steal the credit card machine codes and the pretty girl gets taken hostage, so Paul Blart refuses to leave the mall without first rescuing his lady love. The movie is an obvious tip of the hat to Die Hard, but there are a few too many fat guy jokes and nothing that happens is in the least bit realistic. But Michael said he liked it and we had fun together. I'd say save the money and rent it or catch it on cable.

Knitting News

2009-01-18T10:39:00.003-06:00

OK, as I said last time, I wasn't super productive in the knitting department between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I did work on a few things.

I finished one front and the back on my Borghild cardigan. I thought I'd knit the boring stockinette back before the second front so that I'd have something to look forward to.

As I mentioned last time, I gave a pair of socks I knit last summer to my sister for Christmas and I was knitting a hat for my brother.

Project Name: Koolhaas Hat
Pattern Source: Interweave Knits, Holiday 2007
Yarn: Classic Elite Lush
Yarn Source: Needlework Unlimited
Date Started: 12/7/08
Date Completed: 1/13/09

Comments: I didn't finish it in time, but I had him try it on and he definitely needed the length the pattern gives for a man's hat. Unfortunately, I ran out of yarn. I looked for another skein in a couple of my local stores, but couldn't find this color. I thought the yarn was a little soft and feminine looking anyway, so I decided to just knit it in the women's length and keep it for myself. I used a little bit of some other yarn to finish up the top, so it's not as fuzzy, but it really isn't too noticeable. It fits me just fine. So, now I've started another hat in Malabrigo for my brother and hopefully I'll have it done by the Super Bowl.

I also knit a scarf, but I want to block it out before I take pictures and I've been too lazy to get down on the floor and pin it all out. I've got this cold that will not go away, so my energy level is sort of bottomed out. But, I'm spending most of the weekend sleeping, so I'm hoping I'll sleep it away!

I've also done a little crocheting. Here's my progress on the Babette blanket:

I have a definite love/hate relationship with that project. Sometimes I look at it and think it's great and other times I think it's hideous. I definitely am a better knitter than crocheter.

I'm currently working on preemie hats for the annual January preemie hat collection. Here's my first:

Jeanne and Chelle have taken down their blog since last January, but there's a Ravelry group, so if you're interested in joining us this year, let me know and I'll point you in the right direction. I plan to heed President-Elect Obama's call to service for MLK Day and knit preemie hats.

Hey, it's 2009!

2009-01-11T11:13:00.003-06:00

Thanks for coming back again, friends! I hope everyone had wonderful holidays. I went back to South Dakota for both Thanksgiving and Christmas and enjoyed spending time with my family. I put in some overtime at work and did a lot of baking, but had to forgo the Christmas cards this year. I only had two knitted gifts this year. I gave the Little Bunny Foo Foo socks I knit last summer to my sister, Laura. She LOVED them and was really excited to get another pair of socks, so she'll be on my list again for next year. I also started but have not even yet completed a hat for my brother. Once I finish that up, I'll post a picture. I made a few other beaded jewelry items for gifts too, but I didn't take a picture of any of them.

Since it's been so long since I last posted, I have a lot to catch up on, so I guess I'll start with the movies. I saw a couple of foreign films:

In English, that's "A Christmas Tale". This film stars Catherine Deneuve as the matriarch of a pretty dysfunctional family. She has two sons and one daughter. The oldest son is played by Mathieu Amalric who starred in my favorite movie last year, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. He again plays a man who is deeply flawed and selfish. His sister has cut him out of her life and effectively the family after he's nearly bankrupt their family. After the mother finds out she has cancer and needs a blood marrow donation, he joins the family for Christmas when it turns out he's a match and could donate to her. All of the old grudges come out and the family seems to feel free to say whatever pops into their heads. It's very smartly written and well-acted, but that kind of mean, dark humor never sits well with me, so I admired it more than I liked it.

If you're in on the vampire bandwagon, this one is worth checking out. This is a Swedish film about a 12-year-old boy who is picked on and lonely until he makes a new friend one night outside his apartment building. Turns out his new friend is a vampire. It's a good mix of drama and "horror", though I think if you're a horror film nut, this isn't going to be scary enough for you. A lot of the film takes place at night (the vampire can't just walk around in the daylight, of course) and the snowy landscape, so it's really beautifully shot. There is a lot of suspense and some gruesome scenes, but it's not overly gorey.

I saw a few English-language movies, too:

This one is getting a lot of Oscar talk, but it's another film that I admired more than I liked. Kate Winslet plays a 40ish woman who has a summer-long affair with a 15 year old boy in the late 1950s Germany. Years later, the boy is a law student and is surprised to see his ex-lover is a defendant in a Nazi war criminal trial. Ralph Fiennes plays the grown up boy, struggling with his feelings about this relationship and how it has affected the rest of his relationships. The film also is showing three periods in German history - the post war period, the late 60s and the 90s. The film explores a lot of themes of guilt, too - personal guilt, community guilt. The cast does a wonderful job, especially Winslet with a character who could be very unsympathetic. I just didn't care about any of the characters as much as I felt like I should have. Also, I really wasn't comfortable with the way they portrayed the affair between Winslet and the teen boy. I guess it's my years as a Guardian ad Litem, but I just am not comfortable seeing that type of relationship as a plot device.

This was a film that I loved whole heartedly. Dustin Hoffman plays a guy who writes jingles, but he's quickly becoming irrelevant to his ad firm. His daughter is getting married in London, so he flies in for the wedding and meets Emma Thompson, a single woman who spends most of her time taking care of her mother. Both of them just perfectly capture the feelings of loneliness and isolation that you sometimes feel as an older single person. Yet somehow, miraculously, they find each other and spend an amazing day together. It's sort of a Before Sunrise movie for middle-aged people. Yeah, there's a lot of romantic comedy cliches, but there are also some real surprises. I would whole heartedly recommend this film for anyone that's been through a heartbreak or two.

I'm not quite as enthusiastic about Yes Man. I should caution that I'm not a huge fan of Jim Carrey. If you love his mad antics, I think you'll find this one quite satisfying. Carrey plays a guy who is still trying to get over his divorce and just barely makes through each day as a bank loan officer. His friends try to get him out and having fun, but he's resistent. Until he's talked into taking a self-improvement seminar and makes a commitment to say "Yes!" to everything life offers him. Because of his new optimism, he ends up meeting a charming young woman played by Zooey Deschanel. There are some funny parts, but in general I thought it was pretty predictable and bit too silly for me. I'm not sure what the line is between the silliness of Jim Carrey and the silliness of Will Ferrell, but for some reason Ferrell cracks me up and Carrey doesn't. I did really like Rhys Darby as Carrey's boss, though he's playing a character who is almost identical to Murray from Flight of the Conchords.

And last:

I'm sure you've heard plenty about this one. Brad Pitt plays Benjamin Button, a guy who is born as an elderly infant and ages backward throughout his life. Cate Blanchett plays his true love, who he meets in childhood, when he appears to be an old man. It could have been super creepy, but Pitt does such a great job of convincing you that this really is a young guy who just looks old, that you don't even think of it as an old man and young girl. The special effects that "age" Pitt in his younger years and make him look even younger as an older man are amazing. And he's ridiculously handsome when he actually looks his current age. It was a great, tragic love story. The special effects make the story believable but the acting makes it real.

There are a bunch more movies that I want to see still. I hate that it's always feast at this time of year and famine in spring. Next time, I'll update you on my knitting progress.

Movie Catchup

2008-11-11T16:26:00.003-06:00

Ok, you saw the little bit of knitting I did. I also didn't see that many movies. But the ones I did see were good:

OK, you know I love the Coen Brothers and my boyfriend George is in it, so what's not to like? George plays Harry, a Treasury agent who is having an affair with Tilda Swinton's character, who is married to Osborne Cox, played by John Malkovich, who has quit the CIA and is writing his "memoirs", except his notes are accidentally lost and found by Chad, a personal trainer played by Brad Pitt, who thinks he and his co-worker, Linda Lipsky, played by Frances McDormand, can use them to extort money from Osborne Cox, or maybe the Russians, so Linda can get plastic surgery because she's having an affair with Harry too. Yep, it's totally convoluted just like it sounds, and I thought it was hilariously funny. All of these characters are as idiotic as they sound, and yet I loved watching them. The acting and crisp writing are what set this film apart. I think whether you like it or not will depend on how much you like the Coen Brothers style. It's not Fargo, but it's still pretty good.

I thought W. was just ok. I wanted it to either be hilariously funny or deeply insightful, and it was neither. Most of the funny lines we already saw in Fahrenheit 9/11 or just in the nightly news. The story is familiar to almost everyone who watches the news, too. W. was a disappointment to his daddy and jealous of brother Jeb. He partied it up in his young adulthood, but then he found Laura and Jesus and changed his life. He and his cabinet were not too worried about the facts leading up to the war, because Cheney wanted to consolidate power and get access to oil in the middle east and Rove thought it would be just great for re-election time. Colin Powell was the lone voice of reason, but eventually was a good soldier and went along. Yep, I kinda knew all that. The movie goes back and forth between Bush's early adulthood and the lead up to Gulf War II. I'm not sure that style of editing/storytelling was especially effective. And there's not really anything else about the Bush administration - 9/11, the war itself, Katrina, etc. I think we're just too close to all of this to have any good perspective, too. So, overall, it didn't totally work for me. I did, however, think the acting was amazing. Josh Brolin is far, far too good looking to be W., but if you close your eyes, he sounds just like him. I think he really captured the essence of the man and makes him fairly sympathetic. Everyone else is great too. Thandie Newton does an over the top portrayal of Conde Rice, but for me it worked because it gave it a little comic relief. I'd say this is probably worth renting if you're into politics and interested in seeing the performances.

In English that's "I've Loved You So Long". Boy, I don't even want to say too much about what this is about, because I think it sort of ruins the film. I've read a couple of reviews and they've given away too much, I think. My advice would be to just trust me and go see the movie and don't read any reviews. The beauty of the film is you are introduced to Juliette, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, at the beginning of the film and you don't really know who she is or anything about her. She looks beat down, sad and lonely, so you know she must have a story. As the film goes on, you learn more and more about her story and it unfolds like a flower - as does Juliette. Kristin Scott Thomas gives an amazing performance and you're just sitting there, fascinated by this woman. It's a French movie, with subtitles, so if that's not your cup of tea, fair warning. But otherwise, I'd highly recommend checking this out.

I'm going with the banned poster on this post for a reason. If you are offended by that poster, this movie is not for you. If Seth Rogen's face makes you giggle a little, check it out. I'm not the biggest Kevin Smith fan, but I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Seth Rogen plays Zack and Elizabeth Banks plays Miri, lifelong friends and roommates who decide to make a little porno film in order to make some money to pay the rent and utilities. BTW, Elizabeth Banks also played Laura Bush in W., so that was quite a contrast in my mind! The film is really dirty and has Kevin Smith's usual fascination with bodily fluids, but I laughed pretty much the whole way through. It ended up being a very sweet romantic comedy, sort of in the Camp Apatow tradition.

This is another film that I don't want to say too much about so as not to ruin it. I'm going to describe the basic plot, and it's going to sound really cheesy and lame, but trust me when I say it's not. The movie is about a young Indian man, Jamal, who grew up on the streets of Bombay/Mumbai and then goes on the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." There are flashbacks between Jamal's life and his appearance on the tv show. There are three actors who portray Jamal throughout the years and they all are really good. Directed by Danny Boyle, you really get to see what life is like for an orphan trying to make his way through Mumbai. There are all kinds of connections throughout the movie and the story itself is such that it could have been just unbelievable, but for me, it totally worked. I think Boyle flirted with the line between art and schlock, but never crossed it. Stay for the credits, which features a wonderful Bollywood dance sequence.

Yes, We Did!

2008-11-08T12:04:00.003-06:00

Amazing night, wasn't it? Sorry I've been absent for so long - I don't think I've ever gone over a month without a post before. This whole having a job thing really puts a crimp in my lifestyle :-) I spent most Saturdays doing some phone calling and doorknocking and Sundays with football, so I just haven't had a lot of time for blogging. They both paid off, though. We have a new President, and it's the one I wanted and I'm in first place in my fantasy football league. Yay and yay! I also was sick for a little while, but I'm feeling tip top now, so let's get back into the swing of things!

I have a ton of things to blog about, but let's go with the knitting this time, since this is supposed to be a knitting block. I finished up a couple more thing for the Knitters for Obama project:

A pair of socks from Woolease, and a matching hat:

The sock pattern was my own - one I cobbled together from a couple of other sources and measurements of Bill's feet. The hat is Ellen's Knit Hat and I really liked it a lot. If you're looking for a basic worsted weight hat pattern, I can recommend this one.

I was the collection point for the delivery of KFO goodies to the Minnesota Assistance Council for Vets. This is a great organization that does a lot of good stuff for our vets here in Minnesota, so if you're looking for a good organization to get involved with, I can't recommend them highly enough. I got a stack of hats:

scarves:

and washclothes and soap:

I had three big bags full of stuff to deliver, which was so much fun. They handed out a few of the items this week and it looks like the guys really enjoyed their new warm woolies!

I also finished up a pair of socks for myself:

Project Name: Froot Loop Socks
Pattern Source: Knitty, Spring 2008
Yarn: Chestnut Bay Fibers Galloping Colors in the Vikings colorway
Yarn Source: Chestnut Bay Fibers
Date Started: 8/30/08
Date Completed: 10/08 (I can't remember when I actually finished them)

Comments: I made these socks as part of a knitalong on the footballalong group on Ravelry. The colors are really beautiful and I can't capture them on my camera - it's a very true Vikings purple. The yarn is very soft and lovely, but it is a bit thin. I liked the pattern a lot. It's easy to memorize, but still interesting to knit. I think it would work better with a solid color and the darkest purples do swallow the texture, but I still like how it turned out. I liked the striped pooling of the colors and the variations kept the knitting interesting.

Update

2008-09-28T11:23:00.002-05:00

Now that it's officially fall, I'm keeping busy, but most of it is not really good blog material. It's election season, so I've been doing some volunteer work for the DFL and watching hours of political/news coverage. The debate was really fun to watch and I can't wait to see the VP debate this week. Most of my readers are progressives like me, so do what you can to make sure things change this time!

It's football season too. The Vikings have been pretty disappointing, but thank goodness they won last week or else I'd really be depressed. You feel like such a chump when you dump so much money into season tickets and then the games suck. My fantasy football teams are doing pretty well. I'm in first place in the league I care the most about, the one I've been in for the last 10 years that my brother is also in.

The new television season has started too. I haven't seen anything new yet, but it's good to see some old favorites return. With the writer's strike last year, it's been a while for some of these shows, and I'm happy to see them. I'll do my usual fall tv post in about a month or so.

With all that extra tv watching, I have been doing some knitting. I finished up the first of my Vikings Froot Loop socks:

The yarn (Chestnut Bay Fibers) is a little thinner than I'd like, so I hope these don't wear out too quickly. I didn't want to mess around with changing the numbers in the pattern, so the gauge isn't as firm as I'd normally like. They do fit very nicely though.

I'm also knitting one more pair of socks for the Knitters for Obama drive.

I'm using Woolease for this pair and am almost up to the toe right now on this first one. I'm starting to collect stuff for the Minnesota group now, so I should be able to finish up the pair in time for my delivery to the Veteran's group.

And finally I'm doing a knitalong on the Elsebeth Lavold Ravelry group. I decided to make the Borghild sweater in a Silky Tweed I had in my stash:

I love this yarn. Soft and silky and also just gorgeous. It's gray and cloudy today, so I couldn't get a good shot of it without the flash and the flash overexposed it, so hopefully next time. But it's a lovely green with flecks of orange.

Show and Tell

2008-09-18T18:02:00.002-05:00

I had a special request to see that necklace I'm wearing in the Mr. Greenjeans photo, so here it is:

I did not make it, but I got it at a craft fair last year. It's actually two-sided:

I love the colors on that side - the bright blues and golds are gorgeous. But I actually wear the other side quite a bit because it matches some tealish blues that I wear occasionally and don't have any other matching jewelery. I thought it was really a good value to get two pieces of jewelry in one!

Since I'm sharing, here's some stuff that I did make. Last weekend I made my yearly trip to the Scrapfest. Every year this event gets more and more popular. The lines for the make and takes were out of control. So, I took my classes and did fewer make and takes this year, so I have fewer completed projects and more works in progress, since the classes are only 45 minutes long, so you can't finish most things:

There's a couple of small books, some pages, some cards and a couple of other random stuff. I'm not sure I'll go back again next year. I do like the classes, but the crowds are just not fun for me. I took a vacation day to go Friday and it was super fun to sleep in and be off of work, though.

I'm also doing a knitalong for the Football Along group on Ravelry:

As I said when I first posted this yarn purchase, this isn't really blue, it's actually a beautiful purple. They're actually the perfect Vikings colors. I really like this yarn - it's from Chestnut Bay Fibers. It's very thin, but the fabric is nice. Very soft and cushy. The pattern is the Froot Loops pattern. It's an easy one to memorize and it keeps things interesting. Obviously, a solid yarn would show off the pattern better, but I actually don't mind the pooling look on these. Here's a close up:

FO

2008-09-17T17:52:00.002-05:00

Actually, I have two FOs! Exciting, huh?

Project Name: Mr. Greenjeans
Pattern Source: Knitty, Fall 2007
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Peru in Thraven Colorway
Yarn Source: Blue Moon Fiber Arts booth
Date Started: 5/25/08
Date Completed: 9/7/08

Comments: This sweater didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. I definitely think the top half is too big and the bottom half is about right. I should have adjusted the pattern and knit a smaller size on top. Or really, I should have started the cabled rib earlier so it start right under my bustline, like the pattern shows, instead of at my waist. I may try throwing it in the wash and see if I can shrink it down a little bit.

The pattern was pretty clear and easy to follow, although I did have trouble at the very beginning. The number of cast on stitches and the number of stitches in the set up row didn't seem to be the same, so I just adjusted on the back. I did adjust the measurements a little bit. I knit more of the cabled rib portion because I didn't want the sweater to fall right at my widest part and I wanted it to be more in balance with the top stockinette portion. I think if I had started the cable rib earlier, I wouldn't have had to lengthen it. I have short arms, so I didn't change the length on those, but they end up being regular long sleeves on me instead of bracelet length as shown on the pattern.

I had plenty of yarn left over, even with the longer length. The yarn has a very nice, soft feel although the alpaca is a little itchy to my very sensitive skin.I wore a tank top underneath and it wasn't too uncomfortable. I originally sewed a pretty pewter toned button on, but I didn't like how it looked like it was pulling, so I sewed the buttonhole shut and I'm going to use this brooch to fasten it closed.

Here's the back view:

and

Project Name: Veteran's Socks/Obama Socks
Pattern Source: I sort of mixed the Knit to Fit Ankle or Calf Socks pattern by Nancy Lindberg, the Ragg Hiker pattern from 2-at-a-time Socks, and my own random choices to create the pattern
Yarn: Plymouth Encore
Yarn Source: Knittin From the Heart
Date Started: 8/12/08
Date Completed: 9/12/08

Comments: These were knit for the Knitters for Obama group. They are being donated to a Homeless Veterans shelter here in Minnesota. I really love this color of Encore - it's a beautiful chocolate brown with flecks of blue. Hopefully they will keep some veteran's feet really warm this winter. If you are interested in knitting some worsted weight men's socks, I'd be happy to send you my final pattern.

Mid-Day Post!!

2008-09-04T15:13:00.002-05:00

Hey, look at me! Blogging in the middle of the day, just like old times. Things have turned weird in the sleepy town of St. Paul. Things may get dicey with the last day of the convention today, so I was able to leave work early and get out of Dodge. Well, sort of, since I live in St. Paul too.

The other plus side of having the convention in town is that I got to go to a taping of The Daily Show on Tuesday. It was really fun to see how a show like that is put together and see Jon Stewart interacting with the staff and how much he gets into even the taped bits. It was really great. I had to stand in line for about 4 hours beforehand, but it was worth it.

Afterwards, a big protest with about 2,000 people was right outside of the theater. They kept us in the theater for about 10 - 15 minutes and then if we wanted to leave, we could go out the back door and take the risk ourselves of something happening. I figured it would be best to get out while I could, so I did. It's weird to see so many cops all around downtown St. Paul. Cops in riot gear, cops on bikes, cops on horse. I was parked on the other side of the crowd, so I headed around to circle around and be able to get in front of them. There was a big group of police officers strapping on gas masks and then rushing right at me, but luckily I got through and got to the car and out. One of my friends who left after I did ended up getting maced and the biggest clash between the police and protesters happened right in front of the parking ramp my brother used, so I was glad we left when we did.

While I was waiting in line, I finished up the first of the socks I'm knitting for the Knitters for Obama group:

I cancelled my sock club membership and joined a new one - the Artsygal Sock Club. Here's the July selection:

I love this yarn! It's a merino superwash and is super soft. The red semi-solid is really beautiful too. I think it'll be great for some sort of textured pattern.

The August selection was a bit different:

This one is a mix of bamboo, merino and nylon. The colors are a little more subdued than I'm usually attracted to, but I do like the pretty sheen of the bamboo with the softness of the merino.

End of Summer

2008-08-31T11:21:00.003-05:00

I know it's not officially the end of summer yet, but Labor Day weekend always feels like the end of summer - the State Fair closes, school starts, football starts for real and the days are getting shorter and cooler. I love fall and I'm excited about it, but I'm also a little sad because this summer just zipped by and I don't feel like I made the most of it.

Another sure sign of the end of summer - the end of Summer of Socks. I finished up my second pair:

Project Name: Silk and Cashmere Ankle Socks
Pattern Source: Handmaiden Website
Yarn: Handmaiden 4 Ply Silk Cashmere in Sangria Colorway
Yarn Source: Simply Socks Yarn Company
Date Started: 7/27/08
Date Completed: 8/28/08

Comments: These are so incredibly soft and warm! I started with the pattern linked above, but I decided to skip the yarnovers on the edge and just do ribbing. Then I decided to carry the ribbing all the way down the top of the foot. This yarn has very little elasticity because neither silk nor cashmere do, so it probably won't stay huggy ribby very long, but I do like how it fits. After I finished the socks, I still had a ton of yarn left, so I undid the cast on and knit another inch on the legs, so the middle of the legs shift 1/2 a stitch. I still had yarn leftover at the end, so I probably should have just knit toe up socks, but at only 170m, I didn't think I'd have that much yarn. This is a gorgeous, special yarn and I'd definitely buy it again for a special project.

I had hoped to knit three pair of socks, but since it usually takes me about a month to knit a pair of socks, 2.5 pairs is about right for the time period. I'm also almost done with the first sock of my Obama Veterans knitting socks.

I also did a little beading. As I mentioned before, I got the Kit of the Month club from The Bead Monkey for my friend Florence for Hannukah last year and we try to get together periodically to do our kits together. Here's the latest:

Once again, it's really hard to get a good picture of your own wrist. There's a better picture of the kit at the link above. This project looks deceptively simple, but it's actually a bit complicated to keep the wires straight so you get the pattern right, without it looking like a big mess of wire. I finally got a system going and once I figure that out, it went pretty quickly. We also worked on another project, but that one required some time to set, so I'll show that one once we get it all finished.

I saw this film this weekend:

I always feel like I have to start reviews of Woody Allen films by saying I'm a huge fan. He seems to be one of those directors who either appeals to you or he doesn't and he definitely is one of my favorites. By the same token, I should also say that I don't like ScarJo. Obama supporter or not, she annoys me whenever I see her on film. I do think she's less annoying in Woody's films, which is good since she seems to be his muse these days. I still think she's a wooden actress and her performance in this film was no exception. She plays Cristina, an American in Barcelona with her best friend, Vicky. Cristina is an artsy, free-thinking woman who is always vaguely dissatisfied and searching for something better, especially in the love department. Vicky is her opposite in all ways, visually and temperamentally. Vicky is decisive and knows exactly what she wants and has her whole future, including her impending marriage to Doug, mapped out. Vicky and Cristina meet Juan Antonio, played by Javier Bardem at his most sexy and sultry, a Spanish artist known for his tempestuous relationship and divorce from his ex-wife, Maria Elena, played by Penelope Cruz. With a cast like that, there's a lot of sexy on the screen and your eyes just drink it in. The story of how these people interact and what they're looking for in love and in life is really interesting. It's not a laugh a minute and it's not earth shaking drama, but it's really well made and I loved spending every minute with this group.

I also finished up a book:

A friend of mine read this book for book club and now that I'm living the cubicle/office life, it sounded intriguing. I'm so glad I picked it up. It's about a group of people who work at an advertising agency that is slowly going down the tubes. It takes place in 2001, before 9/11, and everyone is gripped by the fear that they're going to be the next one laid off (which they call "Walking Spanish down the hall, from a Tom Waits song). The book is narrated in a first person plural voice - meaning it's not one person telling the story, but the whole group. It's an interesting device and I really thought it worked well. The book starts off very light and very funny - I could definitely see my coworkers and our office life in the characters and action. It gradually gets a little darker and more serious and there's a big shift toward the middle, where the middle section changes to one person's story. Then the last portion goes back to the third person plural narration and office story, but things aren't so light and funny any more. It's really different and I really enjoyed it. Even though the story is told through the voice of the collective, you get to know each of the people that work in the office, too, and they seem very real. The details are all spot on and really stay with you. If you've ever worked in an office, I really think you'd enjoy this book.

Catching Up

2008-08-24T11:15:00.003-05:00

Oh good heavens! I didn't realize how long it's been since my last blog entry, until I sat down to see where I last left off. This summer is speeding by so quickly!! What have I been up to since then? Finished up with the Fringe Festival. I saw some more really great shows and a couple of groaners. I thought I'd really miss not having the ultrapass this year, but I still saw 15 shows and that felt pretty ok. So, maybe next year I'll skip the ultrapass again. I believe the Fringe starts the day after I return from my big trip, so I probably won't feel much like running around town anyway.

I saw Keb' Mo' again. He was just as silky smooth as I remembered. Such an attractive, talented guy. The show was at the MN Zoo Ampitheater and I may be getting too old for that venue. There was an opening act and after three hours with no support, my back was killing me. It's so pretty and the sound is so good, though.

I spent the rest of that weekend at the Irish Fair. It was such a gorgeous weekend, just perfect! I worked a couple of the ticket booths, but most of my time was spent in the volunteer tent, helping coordinate all the volunteers, so I had plenty of time for knitting and whipped up these washcloths for the Knitters for Obama drive:

I went out to the State Fair and enjoyed all of the gorgeous work on display there. As I do every year, I vowed to learn how to do rughooking because I love those pieces. I managed to not buy any yarn there this year, but I did get my annual pair of fleece lined slippers, so I'm all ready for the cool weather now.

I did get this yarn in the mail:

It's another Obama fundraising yarn (100% of the profits go to the Obama campaign) from C*eye*ber Fiber. This colorway is called Fired Up and it's gorgeous!!

I saw a couple of movies, too:

I was disappointed in this one. I am a huge Will Ferrell fan and I even liked Semi-Pro, but this one was just not that good. There were some funny moments, and I do have to admit I was in a theater with only a couple of other people and they weren't laughing, so if there had been more people there laughing it up or if I had been alone and could have felt more comfortable just laughing out loud whenever, I may have done so. As you've probably heard by now, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly play 40 year old men who are still living at home - Will with his mom and John with his dad. The mom and dad get married, so the two men have to live together and blended families are even more difficult with men who suffer arrested development, I suppose. Since I'm 40 myself, I just had little patience for two characters who were so annoying and ridiculous. The laughs weren't that huge and the ending was played much more straight and cheesy than one would expect from the first half of the movie. I'd say rent it if you love Ferrell, but otherwise, don't bother.

I liked this film much more:

This is a French thriller based on a mystery novel by Harlan Coben, an American author. I haven't read the book, so I'm not sure how different they are, but the film is really well done. It was really suspenseful and kept me guessing all the way to the end. It really has the feel of a Hitchcock film, so if you're a fan of that type of film, you must see this. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, so I'll just say it's about a pediatrician whose wife is killed one night while they're at their lake house. Eight years later, new evidence surfaces that may implicate the doctor in his wife's murder and he starts to wonder if she is even dead at all.

Making Progress/Fringing

2008-08-02T09:55:00.002-05:00

I started another pair of socks for Summer of Socks:

I wanted something a little more quick to knit up this time, so these are in a sport-weight yarn on size US2.5 needles. And they're ankle socks. Because I only have one skein - Handmaiden Silk and Cashmere. Oh, it's lovely, lovely stuff. So soft and pretty. But way too expensive to make full sized legs. So far, I'm enjoying it immensely.

I also am making progress on my Mr. Greenjeans sweater:

I'm a little worried about the fit on this one. I know, it's a top down knit, how could I not have tried it on a million times to make sure it was just right as I went along? Because I'm lazy, that's why. I tried it on a few times and just ignored that little voice in my head. Which I'm going to continue to do. Yes, I am an idiot. The proportions look ok in that photo, but on me, the cabled rib section starts too low. I am pretty long waisted, so I should have stopped the stockinette and started the cable rib earlier. Oh well, we'll see how it looks when it's all done. I started the first sleeve. This is a little hard to knit right now because it's so dang hot in my house and it's a very hot and heavy piece of knitting to have sitting on my lap.

I forgot to mention last time that I saw this guy in concert again:

As always, he and the Heartbreakers put on a great show. They've been around for over 30 years and it's amazing how many hits they've had during that time. And they seem to still like playing those songs. The crowd was really into it too. I kind of liked the lighting/displays they did. There was a big cone-shaped video display and some big screens across the top of the stage and a lot of different videos and lights throughout. It was just kind of interesting. If you're into that kind of thing, here's the setlist:

1. You Wreck Me
2. Listen to Her Heart
3. I Won’t Back Down
4. Even the Losers
5. Free Fallin
6. Mary Jane
7. End of the Line (Traveling Wilburys)
8. Breakdown
9. Saving Grace
10. A Face in the Crowd
11. Honey Bee
12. Learning to Fly
13. Don’t Come Around Here No more.
14. Refugee

ENCORE 15. Runnin’ Down a Dream
16. Gloria (Van Morrison)
17. American Girl.

The Fringe Festival has started again, so I've been spending most of my free time on that since Thursday. I didn't get an Ultrapass this year because next week I've got a lot of other stuff going on, so I'll only be seeing about half the number of shows I saw last year. I still highly recommend you check out a show or two if you have any interst in live theater at all. Here's what I've seen so far:

Boys Don't Make Passes At Girls Who Wear Glasses
This is a two-person show by two perennial Fringe favorites - Laura Bidgood and Curt Lund. They stand behind a music stand and tell stories, sometimes together and sometimes individually. This year's show is about what is it means to be a nerd, especially in the romance department. As always, very funny and relatable.

An Intimate Evening with Fotis: Part Two
The sequel to Mike Fotis' one-man show last year. He sits at a table and reads stories of his life in a forceful, rapid-fire style. So, so funny. This year I felt like he was talking about my life. One story was about his deep fear of bats, another his love of Tom Petty's music and the last was about the power of his blogging to mete out social justice.

Tipping the Bucket
This is a one-woman show, by another Fringe Favorite, Allegra Lingo. This year's show is about her search for spiritual meaning and eventual conversion to Catholicism, even though she's a lesbian. As always, she's a great storyteller and her pacing and the movements and music she includes in the show are very well-done, I had a hard time connecting to the material.

An Inconvenient Squirrel
My old favorite, Joe Scrimshaw. I've sung his praises often enough in this space that it's probably no surprise to hear that I loved this show. What is surprising, is that I also found it not only funny, but completely charming. This is a family show and the kids in the audience I saw it with loved it. It's about how the squirrels have names that reflect who they are and how one squirrel isn't sure exactly who he is, so he doesn't want to be labeled just yet. The lead squirrel is played by frequent Scrimshaw collaborator, Tim Uren. Joe plays a number of other squirrels, with my favorite being Thespian Squirrel. Dan Rooney also gives a fantastic performance as Socially Awkward Squirrel. I'd love to take my nephew to see this one.

Boom
This is a one-man show, but it's not storytelling, it's a play with Andrew Connor playing all of the parts. Connor is half of The Cody Rivers Show, a troop I just loved last year and am looking forward to seeing again tonight. Connor's work in this show is amazing. It's a sharply written satire commenting on how our government is selling out to corporate interests and how devastating it is for our community and its citizens. But it's also really funny. Connor's performance is as good as his writing. The way he quickly moves from one character to the next, making each one distinct and fully realized is a sight to behold. He obviously isn't making any makeup or costume changes, but I could literally SEE the difference between the characters.

FO!

2008-07-28T18:19:00.003-05:00

I finally finished my first pair of Summer of Socks socks:

Project Name: Leyburn Socks
Designer: Mintyfresh
Pattern Source: Pepperknit Blog
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug
Yarn Source: Needlework Unlimited
Date Started: 6/21/08
Date Completed: 7/27/08

Comments: I like these socks quite a bit. The pattern is kind of neat and easy to knit. I was afraid about the fit, because it doesn't have much stretch, but they fit me perfectly. It is my first time knitting with Jitterbug and I really like it. Beautiful colors and very soft. I had only a small ball of yarn left, so if you have larger feet or want long legs, you may want to pick up an extra skein. It was also my first time knitting with Knitpicks Harmony needles and I love them too! Very smooth wood with a nice sharp tip, but not as hard on my hands as the Knitpicks Options DPNs. Here's the obligatory sole to sole pose:

and a top view:

I also saw this last weekend:

Let me start by saying I'm a HUGE X-Files fanatic. Like, top five all time favorite show fanatic. I love, love, love Mulder and Scully. So from that point of view, I enjoyed the movie. Duchovny and Anderson slipped right back into their old roles and it was thrilling seeing them interact and hearing some of the old dialog. The story itself was decent, though a bit out there (no pun intended). There is nothing from the alien mythology of the show in the film - it's a stand alone monster episode. It was like a pretty decent episode of the show. But I really would have loved it more if it had explored the mythology and continued from the first film. I'm sure they wanted to draw in people who didn't watch the show and make it watchable to that audience. They were fairly successful - I think you could enjoy it as a summer matinee if you'd never seen the show before and had no idea who these characters were. But if you're in that position, I don't think it's anything special. Not bad, but not fantastic either. I think this will be last X-Files movie, because there were a grand total of 12 people in the theater I saw the film on opening night. Not good box office. I guess it's time for me to put away all those X-Files action figures, books, trading cards and posters for the last time....

More of the same

2008-07-20T17:20:00.003-05:00

More knitting for KFO group done, this time a ballband washcloth:

I also finished up a pair of socks, but it doesn't count as part of the official Summer of Socks total because they've been in progress for quite a while:

Project Name: Feather and Fan Socks
Designer: Judy Sumner
Pattern Source: Socks, Socks, Socks
Yarn: Panda Wool
Yarn Source: Needlework Unlimited
Date Started: 5/10/07
Date Completed: 7/17/08

Comments: These were my "car knitting" project for the last year (knitting I keep in the trunk of my car for when I need something to work on when I'm out and about). As you may recall, I've been working my way through the Socks, Socks, Socks book. I knit them mostly at CLEs and watching the kids at the park on Tuesday nights. These are constructed a little differently than your basic sock and I think they fit pretty well. It was my first time using Panda Wool and I really liked it. Very soft, but the bamboo gives it a little shine. I bought three skeins because the balls are pretty small, but with the lace pattern and my preference for 4" legs, I only needed two balls. I would definitely use this yarn again, either for socks or for baby garments.

and the obligatory sole-to-sole shot:

I also saw one of the films I've been looking forward to all summer long:

It lived up to my expectations. As you've probably heard, it's the sequel to Batman Begins, with Christian Bale returning as Batman and Heath Ledger as The Joker. Gary Oldman returns as James Gordon, Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox. Besides Joker, we get Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two-Face. There was one cast change - Maggie Gyllenhal takes over for Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. I mention everyone because this truly is an ensemble effort. Of course it's a Batman movie and Batman/Bruce Wayne are the lead and Joker is the primary villain, but you really get a lot true ensemble scenes and really, really strong performances all around. Oldman is exactly as I pictured/heard Lt. Gordon when I read "Batman: Year One". Bale is fantastic as the dark and depressed Batman as well as the playboy cad putting on a show for the world, Bruce Wayne. But the most amazing performance is of course, Heath Ledger at The Joker. He's just incredible. You don't want him to ever leave the screen, because he's magnetic every time he's on there. It's pretty much a lock that he'll be nominated for an Academy Award, but I really wouldn't be surprised to see the film nominated as well. It's really a good, gripping movie that's got some great special effects, but is also intellectually satisfying. If the lead characters weren't in a bat costume and crazy makeup, this would still be a fantastic action thriller. I also have to warn the parents out there. It's pretty dark, violent and scary. I think if it wasn't a Batman movie, it'd be rated R instead of PG-13. I think it's probably too intense for younger kids and borderline for 10-13 year olds, depending on how sensitive your child is. This Batman is about as far away as you can get from the old Batman tv show and even most of the previous Batman movies.

Knitting and Wall-E

2008-07-16T18:10:00.003-05:00

I finished another piece for the Knitters for Obama, but this time it's part of another KFO project:

Project Name: South Dakota Square (50-State Afghan)
Designer: Rhonda White
Pattern Source: http://www.knittingknonsense.com/people_places.html
Yarn: Vanna's Choice
Yarn Source: Another KFO knitter
Date Started: 7/5/08
Date Completed: 7/12/08

Comments: This is my contribution to the 50-State Afghan, which is going to be a prize in a fundraising drawing by the Knitters for Obama group on Ravelry. There are a ton of fantastic prizes, so if you're so inclined, the details are here.

I've also finished the first of my Leyburn socks:

and here's the side, heel view:

This pattern isn't super stretchy, but it fits me perfectly. You increase once you start the legs since you have the pattern stitch all the way around, but it also made it much wider than the foot, so I was a little worried it would be too big and droopy. But my thick calves came in handy - it fits exactly as I would want it to fit.

I finally got to see the movie that's been raved about so much, too:

Everyone else has probably already seen it, so I won't get into too much detail, but a quick synopsis - Wall-E is that adorable robot. He seems to be alone on Earth (except for his indestructible pet cockroach) after it's been abandoned by us human after we trashed the place like a rockstar in a hotel room. He's eventually joined by another robot, Eve, and they end up both joining the humans on their endless vacation. I absolutely adored this movie. It's funny, sad, exciting, wise, everything you want in a film. It's absolutely gorgeous. The animation is so detailed and beautiful that there were times where I completely forgot it was animated. I really wanted to get into Wall-E's "room" and look through all the little bins of things he had found and saved. Even though Wall-E never says a word and is a machine, you could completely read his every thought and emotion (and he definitely had both). If you haven't seen this yet, please do. I really think it's a movie that's begging to be seen on the big screen so you could truly appreciate the beauty of the animation.

Happy Independence Day!

2008-07-06T14:11:00.003-05:00

The celebrating continued this weekend with my sister and nephew and her mom coming up to visit me. We had a fantastic day on the 4th. We went to a carnival in Richfield (where my brother lives) and enjoyed a beautiful sunny day. Jason and Greg were having some high powered discussions that I wasn't privvy to:

Jason is getting so big! He can even walk all by himself now:

And he enjoyed going on a few rides with his mommy - including this big slide:

I think Michael liked the rides better than Jason, though. He's still a little too young to really think it's neat. We all got plenty of sun and junk food, but we saved room for a nice birthday dinner for Greg and I (just like the old days. My brother's birthday is today, so we often had joint birthday parties with the family over the 4th of July). After dinner we cooled off in the pool:

We capped off the evening watching the great fireworks at the Taste of Minnesota. Kim and Kerry were staying in the Crowne Plaza in downtown St. Paul, so we were able to enjoy the fireworks from the air conditioned comfort of the hotel room and sip on a few cocktails, too. It was a fantastic day.

I didn't knit much on the 4th, but yesterday I finished up a scarf that I'm knitting for the Knitters for Obama project:

Project Name: Striped Scarf
Designer: Lion Brand
Pattern Source: lionbrand.com
Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun
Yarn Source: Probably Joann's or Michael's
Date Started: 6/7/08
Date Completed: 7/5/08

Comments: We are knitting warm winter wear for homeless veterans in several key election states. I had these two colors left over from another project and thought they looked ok together and appropriately manly. The darker blue knits up at a slightly smaller gauge than the lighter blue, which is annoying. I thought about changing needles for each color, but decided it wasn’t a big enough problem to have to remember to do that, as I’d invariably forget to change at least half the time.

One of the states we are knitting for is Minnesota, so if you're interested in contributing something, let me know. I'm going to be the coordinator, gathering up all the knitted or crocheted goodies and delivering them to the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans.

Forty is Fun

2008-07-02T17:37:00.002-05:00

Last weekend Greg, Michael and I went to the Star Wars exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota:

We all really enjoyed it. There are a lot of artifacts from the Star Wars movies:

That's (of course) R2-D2 and Princess Leia's costume from the beginning of the first movie. There are also really fun activities and games to play:

That one was an activity where you build a vehicle that uses magnets to travel from point to point. Very cool and very fun. I'd highly recommend the exhibit if you're a fan of the movies or just like science. We also saw the IMAX movie about Special Effects. It's ok, but not one of the best Imax films I've ever scene. It's a bit dated since it was made a few years ago and there are so many more great FX techniques now.

Then yesterday was my 40th birthday. I had one day a few weeks ago where I kind of freaked out and thought 40 sounded really old, but the panic passed after a couple of hours and otherwise it really hasn't been that big of a deal for me. I guess I'm just pretty satisfied with where I'm at with my life now, so getting older doesn't seem like anything major. There's something about the mid-decades that are harder for me. At 25 I was the most freaked out about where I was and how my life was turning out. At 35 I had a little adjustment to realize that the picture I made for myself and how I thought my life would be wasn't going to be the same. But by now I've come to terms with my life choices and how things turned out and I really am pretty happy with everything. I guess we'll see where I'm at when I'm 45 :-)

I wasn't even sure whether to post about it, but I had to share the big surprise I had. I got up and got ready for work as usual in the morning. I walked out the door, thinking about what was on my schedule, etc. and I catch sight of a man in a suit standing right outside the door:

I'll admit I was really startled and frightened at first because he looked so lifelike and I thought maybe someone was stalking me, but after a second I noticed the face and realized it wasn't REALLY Barack Obama delivering some birthday balloons, just a life size cardboard cutout. Then I started laughing. It was fantastic! Thanks, Kerry - you got me good!

She also gave me a beautiful birthday cake tape measure for my collection:

And some of my co-workers had a real cake for me:

Yes, one of my co-workers calls me "Nae" for short, or sometimes Nae Nae. We're a little silly in our office sometimes.

I also had a gorgeous present from Deb sitting on my desk when I came in:

She hand-dyed some gorgeous merino sock yarn for me. My problems capturing purple on my camera are well-documented in this space, so I won't bore you again, but trust me, it's a gorgeous purple color. That birthday cake also had purple and yellow flowers, not blue.

After work I had a fun little party over at Senor Wong's with a bunch of people from work and some other friends. I really had a great time - it was so nice to feel so celebrated and loved all day long.

Another new project

2008-06-28T10:14:00.003-05:00

I haven't knit a sweater for myself in a while, so I decided it was time to do that again:

It's the Mr. Greenjeans sweater from Knitty. I'm using some Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarn called Peru. It's an alpaca, merino, silk blend that I just love. Very soft and cushy. The colorway I'm using is one of the Raven colorways called Thraven. So far I'm happy with how it's going.

I got to see a sneak preview of Alex Gibney's newest documentary this week:

For those who aren't familiar with Hunter S. Thompson, he was a writer, best known for creating what is known as Gonzo Journalism. He's most associated with his columns for Rolling Stone magazine and his books such as "Fearing and Loathing in Las Vegas" and "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail." Thompson inserted himself into his stories, becoming a part of the story, and wrote from his own personal perspective. I guess you could say he was the first "imbedded reporter". He took vast quantities of drugs and injected outlandish fiction into his stories. The film does a great job of looking at Thompson's life, from his early days riding with the Hell's Angels for a controversial book he wrote about the group, through his peak writing for Rolling Stone and travelling with George McGovern during the 1972 presidential election, through his final decision to commit suicide after Bush was re-elected in 2004. Johnny Depp sort of narrates the film by reading passages from Thompson's work, and there are tons of interviews with his two wives and son, writing colleagues such as Tom Wolfe, Douglas Brinkley and Jann Wenner, and political figures such as George McGovern, Jimmy Carter and Pat Buchanan. It's highly entertaining and again shows how the more things change, the more they seem the same - the late 60s seem so similar to the period we're in now. I really wish Thompson was around now to write about this election. I think he would have loved Barack Obama. I also have to say I loved the soundtrack. The film uses the music of the era - huge hits that everyone knows - to punctuate what's happening on screen. I guess it's sort of like a movie I don't like, Forrest Gump, but I liked the wink Gibney seems to give in the song choices.

Happy Summer!

2008-06-25T18:13:00.002-05:00

Well, it's officially summer and it sure feels like it around here. It's sunny and warm and humid. I've been partaking in the usual summer activities, too. Sunday we went to a baseball game:

Ben's team got to run onto the field with the Saints and participate in warm ups and such:

Ben's #13. The rest of us got to sit back and enjoy the game.

Even though the Saints lost, I wasn't too sad because they lost to the Sioux Falls Canaries and I still feel loyalty to my hometown. Plus, I got to sit outside and knit and watch baseball - how fun is that?

Summer also means Summer of Socks. On Saturday I cast on for my first (hopefully not only) pair of the KAL:

These are the Leyburn socks knit in Colinette Jitterbug. The colorway is Kingfisher and this picture doesn't do it justice. It looks just black and blue in that picture but there's a wide variety of purples and some green in there too. I really love it. It's my first time using Jitterbug and I really like it. It feels nice and soft and I like the fabric it makes.

And because summer is so short, I also picked up this yarn:

It's a Minnesota Vikings colorway from Chestnut Bay Fibers. The picture again doesn't capture the purple very well. It's a true Vikings purple, though. The yarn is a superwash merino and it feels so soft and cushy. I'm putting this one away until football starts in the fall again, though. Chestnut Bay will dye any team colors for you, so if you're foolish enough to support a sports team other than the Vikings and want some yarn of your own, check them out!

Reviews

2008-06-19T17:28:00.002-05:00

I saw a couple of movies last week. First was:

It was pretty good. Not as good as Iron Man, but not bad. Edward Norton has finally won me over. The first movie I saw him in was Primal Fear. He got incredible reviews and was touted as the next big thing. I thought he was just ok. Overrated. But over time, he's really won me over. I've really liked him in The Illusionist, The Painted Veil and this film, so he's officially off my list of actors who kind of bug me. Norton plays Bruce Banner, who everyone probably knows turns into The Incredible Hulk because of his exposure to high levels of gamma rays. There were little nods to the tv show, which I was a huge fan of back in the day, and the comic books, which I really liked. I felt like it was just a little too much action, though. Tim Roth plays Blonsky, who turns into The Abomination. The climactic battle scene between the Hulk and the Abomination felt like a rip off of the Transformers battle scene from last summer's movie - or like Godzilla, as my brother pointed out. It just wasn't all that interesting to me and the movie felt like it dragged out. If you're a fan of super heroes, comic books and big action films, I'd say check it out. If that stuff isn't your cup of tea, skip this, but go check out Iron Man - I'm telling you, it's a great movie!

The other movie I saw was this:

I didn't care for this one. I really wanted to like it. I've been a big fan of M. Night Shyamalan. I liked Signs and The Village even though I may be one of the few. Didn't see the last one. I checked out the reviews for this one and some of my favorite critics liked it, so I thought I'd give it a shot. The writing was just terrible. If you sit and think about the plot and what happens for any amount of time, the whole thing just falls apart. And I've been a big Mark Wahlberg fan, but he sounded so wooden and stiff reciting these incredibly lame lines. The idea was pretty good - some sort of biological disaster is causing people to kill themselves. The opening sequence where you first see something taking hold of people and them killing themselves is pretty scary and creepy. But then it all sort of unravels. There were a few moments of suspense, but it really wasn't very scary or suspenseful and I don't blame him for not wanting to be a one-trick pony, but there isn't some sort of trick twist ending, either.

And I finished up a book:

I've heard so many great recommendations for this series and I finally picked up the first one. The main character is Stephanie Plum, a woman who becomes a bouny hunter because she really doesn't have many other choices. Her first assignment is to capture Joe Morelli, a former cop accused of murder who also happens to be sort of an ex-boyfriend. Plum is a great character and the writing and pace of the story are great. The mystery kept me guessing most of the way through the book and I liked how everything got wrapped up. I'm assuming Morelli makes his way into future novels, and I'll be looking forward to reading his, Stephanie's and her family's further adventures.

Thank you Elizabeth!!

2008-06-15T11:09:00.002-05:00

I participated in the Special Swap this go around and got my package this week from the awesome Elizabeth. I'm a little late reporting this great package because I forgot to tell Elizabeth my new address, so I had to wait for the box to be forwarded from my old office. It was well worth the wait, though! The theme this time was "Sweets" and this group of gifts was indeed sweet!

From the top left, there's a spindle and some fiber to get me started (apparently Elizbeth doesn't think I buy enough yarn - I've gotta start on the fiber too), a couple of cookbooks that look amazing - some cupcakes and muffins and all chocolate recipes, and next and winding back down, a jackpot of candy - I seriously think my eyes sprang out of my head like you see on cartoons when I opened the box and saw all that candy (it's pathetic, really, that an almost 40 year old woman would be that excited by candy), I ate one of those Reese's as soon as I took the picture, in between the Twix and Mounds you can see some beautiful earrings and stitch markers that Elizabeth made just for me - love them!, on the middle left, there's an adorable cupcake magnet (which will be gracing my cubicle shortly) and a nice magnetic notepad. And the creme de la creme on the bottom left is a skein of Sundara sock yarn. You know you want a better look at that beauty.

I've never seen Sundara in person, but I now know why it's so popular. It's a really soft, lovely yarn and the picture does not adequately capture the rich, bold colors of that green colorway. It's gorgeous and I love it!! I loved all of the fun ribbons that everything was tied up in too - I'll be reusing those ribbons on my cards, too, Elizabeth. Thanks again for such a fantastic package - everything was perfect.

I also wanted to let everyone know about a project The Yarnery is doing. Here are the details:

The Yarnery is very excited to let you know about The Promise Blanket project. We are asking anyone and everyone to knit a square made of fingering weight superwash sock yarn and send it to us. Then we will sew the squares together into at least one blanket (more if you’re generous) to auction off for charity.
The charity we have chosen is the Women’s Advocates, Inc., which provides shelter and resources for women and their children who are victims of domestic violence. Something that shouldn’t exist, but sadly does. Domestic violence affects too many families and if the proceeds from our project can help even one woman start anew we’ve made a step in the right direction.

Inspired by Socks In The Cities and Knitalong: Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together by Larissa Brown and John Martin Brown, we are hoping to create a beautiful blanket knit by people near and far. We will display the blanket(s) in our store and online and hold the auction on Saturday, August 16, 2008. The auction will be open to knitters and non-knitters, with all of the money going to the Women’s Advocates, Inc.

If you would like additional information about the Yarnery, the blanket, or the Women’s Advocate visit yarnery.com for links. If you have any questions please email me at sitckal@gmail.com.

We would appreciate your help in any of the following ways:

*A 7 ½ square made of sock yarn (the Knitalong book has a pattern - you can find it in our store or at the library).

*Donate any of your left over fingering weight sock yarn to The Yarnery, 840 Grande Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105

*Mention our project with a link on your website, blog, store, class, etc.

*If you are in the Twin Cities, MN area please join us at The Yarnery on July 20, 2008 from 6:30 - 8:00pm for an “old-fashioned” sewing bee to seam the blanket together.

Thank you for your support and good will.

I knit my square, and I hope you'll all do the same:

So Much Goodness!

2008-06-08T15:36:00.003-05:00

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted, but so many good things have been going on!! I don't even know where to start. Last weekend I went to the drive in but I'm not even going to review those two films. I saw the new Indiana Jones movie, but Bill got to the movie late and he was bringing the food, so I spent a good 20 - 30 minutes dishing up food for the kids and getting everything together, so I feel like I didn't see the film well enough to do a review. My impression of it is that if you like the Indy films, you'd probably like this one. I enjoyed most of it, but I thought the end was a little too hokey, a little forced and wrapped things up a little too neatly. I'm a big Shia Lebeouf fan, and I liked him in this movie, so if they start a new series with Shia, I'll probably keep going. The other movie was the new Chronicles of Narnia movie. I never saw the first one and I only read the first couple of chapters of Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe as a pre-teen, so I really didn't understand what all was going on. I think this one is another one where if you're the intended audience, you're probably going to like it, but otherwise, eh. Not bad, but nothing earthshaking.

I managed to finish a project that I never even got a chance to introduce to you all.

Project Name: Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks Scarf
Designer: beforesunrise
Pattern Source: A Time to Knit blog
Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino - Purple Mystery Colorway
Yarn Source: The Yarnery
Date Started: 5/22/08
Date Completed: 6/6/08

Comments: This was a super quick project, primarily because I had a two-day CLE and I knit on the scarf through about 3/4 of it. I absolutely love this pattern and would love to do it again with a variegated yarn. I know the picture looks like a blue scarf, but it actually is an absolutely stunning color of purple. The red tones just would not show up in the pictures. You can see it a little better on the Malabrigo website, but they still didn't capture how striking the color is. I used 2 skeins of yarn and it's 64" long. I used a size 9 needle and cast on 33 stitches. It is 5.25" wide. This is a fantastic yarn - just as soft as you'd expect from Malabrigo and with a nice sheen from the silk. I would definitely use it again. Here's a closeup of the stitch pattern:

I also got to see one of my favorite bands last week:

In case you don't recognize those guys, it's REM. I've seen them quite a few times and I'd put this show close to the top of their best. As I (and the bands I grew up with) age, I find it interesting to see how the tock stars are handling the approach of middle age. I have to say, age hasn't phased Michael Stipe a bit. He still looks fantastic, long and lanky and bendy and energetic. The band played a great mix of old stuff and new songs off their latest album. I haven't bought the new album yet, but I definitely will after seeing this show - it sounds like a good one. Here's the set list for the other REM fans out there:

Living Well’s The Best Revenge
These Days
Disturbance at the Heron House
What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
Hollow Man
Shaking Through
Man Sized Wreath
West of The Fields
Accelerate
Ignoreland
Star 69
Auctioneer
Houston
Electrolite
The One I Love
Final Straw
Sweetness Follows
Let Me In
Walk Unafraid
Horse To Water
Bad Day
I’m Gonna DJ
Encore
Supernatural Superserious
Welcome to the Occupation
Losing My Religion
Fall on Me (w/Johnny Marr)
Man on the Moon

The highlight of the week, though, happened in the same spot two nights earlier:

It was an incredible speech and I felt so lucky to be part of such an historic occasion. And the fact that the candidate that I feel so passionate about actually got the nomination made it even more spectacular. That never happens! I didn't take a ton of pictures, but I did take a few, which I'll share in case you're interested. It was my first time seeing Michelle Obama and I love her and I'm kind of obsessed with her purple dress, so I took a lot of pictures of the couple together. Here they are coming out to the roaring crowd:

Oh my gosh, they look so good together!

Here's the candidate, giving his amazing speech. The cheer when he announced he was the nominee was deafening!

And I couldn't resist this last one at the end, when Barack puts his arm around Michelle - the intimacy and love of the gesture was touching.

And I was even more happy about my latest yarn purchase:

It's from Black Bunny Fibers and a portion of the price goes to the Obama campaign. Yay!!

Happy Memorial Day!

2008-05-26T11:46:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend as much as I am. I still get a little thrill out of having a day off of work and still getting paid.

I've had some good crafting time over the weekend. I finished up the last of my Knitters for Obama preemie hats:

These are winging their way off to the old home state, South Dakota. And with that, the primary/caucus season is over and we're done knitting preemie hats. Once the nomination is official, we'll be knitting for the general election, if you're interested in joining in.

I've also started a couple of new projects. The first I officially started a couple of months ago, but I put it on hold to finish up my projects from Yarnover. And it's not even knitting:

It's the first square for the Babette blanket. I'm not much of a crocheter, but I got help getting started from two women in my lunchtime knitting group who are very good crocheters and now I'm on my way. It's a fairly simple pattern to crochet, if you're thinking about it and intimidated by the idea of crocheting all those squares. Obviously, it's a bit futzy with all of the color changes and sewing the squares together, though.

The original project is gorgeous and brightly colored, but since I already made a really brightly colored blanket recently, I decided to go in a different direction and go with more neutral colors. The original also calls for Koigu, which is fantastic, but a little pricey. So I'm using one of my all time favorite yarns, Rowan Classic Yarns Cashsoft 4-Ply. Not the cheapest yarn on the planet, but I got a lot of it on sale at Elann, so it wasn't prohibitively expensive. And it's amazingly soft. Stay tuned for more developments.

And I couldn't let a long weekend pass without a movie:

Oh my gosh, I loved this movie! I don't know what took me so long to see it with a cast like this. Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell star as a couple of Irish hitmen who work for an English gangster played by Ralph Fiennes. Farrell and Gleeson are shipped off to Bruges, Belgium after one of their hits goes awry and then need to hide out for a while. This suits Gleeson just fine - he loves the architecture and history of the place and Bruges really does look gorgeous in the film. Farrell is bored to tears though, having the intelligence and maturity of about a 12 year old. Things don't go as planned in Bruges, either, though, so Fiennes ends up having to show up and set things straight. And that's all I'll say about the plot, because you need to see it all unfold for yourself. It's all put together like a thing of beauty - with one event causing another, causing another. It's really a well written script. It's so unique too - hilariously funny but deadly serious in turns. I guess the closest I could compare it to is Pulp Fiction. Though this isn't anywhere near as bloody as Pulp Fiction and is actually funnier. And I can't review the film without commenting on how great it is to see Colin Farrell again, especially in such a great role. A few if us at work came up with our lists, you know the list, the five people who would get a pass from your significant other for if you had a chance to you know, get intimate with. Farrell is on my list and seeing him in glasses really confirmed his place on the list!

I also need to bring your attention to another film I saw this weekend, this time on DVD:

This is an amazing documentary about how our handling of post-Saddam Iraq has gone so poorly. The film clearly and in a really simple way lays out the decisions that were made and how that led to the chaos that ensued. Most of the most illuminating interviews are with people who were part of the Bush Administration's work in Iraq, so these are not crazy-eyed liberals who were opposed to the war from the start. I can think of no better way to honor our servicemen and women than to see this film and really understand why so many died needlessly in this war and how to make better decisions in the future so that this situation does not happen again.

FO!!!

2008-05-19T17:51:00.002-05:00

Oh boy, it's been a long time since I've posted an FO (at least one bigger than a preemie cap or bib). I finished the Cable Lattice Socks:

Project Name: Cable Lattice Socks
Designer: Coats Patons
Pattern Source: Knitnet
Yarn: Socks That Rock - Little Bunny Foo Foo
Yarn Source: Blue Moon Fiber Arts
Date Started: 2/16/08
Date Completed: 5/18/08

Comments: These are a little funky with the change from striping to flashing, but I kind of like them. The pattern is very straightforward and not difficult. My slowness in finishing them was just lack of knitting time, not difficulty with the pattern or the knitting itself. I fell in love with Socks That Rock all over again with this pair of socks, but I came so so close to running out of yarn - just a couple of yards left when I finished. I probably could have made them .05 to 1 repeat shorter and been ok, too.

It seems like I always have more coming into the stash than I have going out. I got a couple of new skeins of sock yarn as part of the Amazing Threads sock club:

I'm not a huge fan of the footie pattern that came with the yarn and this yarn is thicker than I typically like to use for socks, so I'll probably knit something else with this yarn.

More than just Movies

2008-05-16T17:03:00.002-05:00

I finished up another preemie cap for the Knitters for Obama effort - this one was shipped off to Kentucky.

I also saw something a little more mainstream than the Film Festival stuff I've been reviewing lately:

I have to say, though, I loved it! I'm a sci fi/comic book fan, so I love it when a super hero film is done right and I definitely would say this was done right. If you're one of the few who haven't seen it yet, Iron Man is the alter ego of Tony Stark, a millionaire playboy who owns a weapons manufacturing company. He's a genius and when he's injured while showing off his newest weapon in Afghanistan, he gets himself out of captivity by building himself a suit of armor out of pieces of his weapons - oh yeah, a FLYING suit of armor. When he was initially captured, he took a lot of shrapnel in the chest. He has an electronic magnet implanted in his chest to keep the sharpnel from flowing through his veins into his heart, killing him. Robert Downey, Jr. plays Tony Stark/Iron Man and it's brilliant casting. Downey's own checkered history and redemption give a certain honesty to his portrayal of Stark. The film has fantastic special effects and keeps you totally engaged in the story. There is also a layer to the story about war and profiteering that will keep serious moviegoers interested too. But this is seriously a fantastic popcorn movie and the perfect way to kick off the summer movie season.

Besides movie-going, I've also been enjoying some music. I saw this fantastic duo:

What a wonderful show. They each have really gorgeous voices, but joined together it's just magical. They played a number of songs from "Once", some songs from their album and a couple of new songs. The crowd was really enthusiastic. They definitely have a devoted following. Glen Hansard introduced almost all of the songs and in true Irish fashion, couldn't resist a bit of storytelling. Sometimes the song intros were longer than the songs themselves. :-) Overall it made for a really wonderful evening and I hope this pair is together for a long time to come.

I also got to see this hilarious duo:

Another completely enjoyable evening. My friends and I had rockstar seats for this one and it was so much fun to see Flight of the Conchords up close and personal. If you haven't seen their show on HBO, their a New Zealand duo who play folky/pop songs with witty and hilarious lyrics. The tv show weaves their songs into each episode where they play characters very similar to themselves - kind of like Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Seeing the songs performed without the context of the show wasn't any less enjoyable. Bret and Jemaine are both goofy, funny and completely adorable. If you haven't seen this show and enjoy smart humor, check it out.

Wrapping Up M-SPIFF

2008-05-12T17:38:00.002-05:00

I ended the film festival like I began it - watching a documentary by one of the masters of the form. This time it was Werner Herzog:

I couldn't find a poster for the film, but as you may be able to suss out from the photograph, this was a film about a very cold place. It's called "Encounters at the End of the World" and it's a sort of travel journal/nature documentary about Herzog's trip to Antarctica. There are a few penguins in the film, but it's not your typical nature doc. Herzog definitely shows some gorgeous sites - this really is meant to be seen on the big screen, especially if you like snow and ice. But he also concentrates on the people living in Antarctica. As you can imagine, it takes a certain type of person to choose to live "at the end of the world", and the people we meet in the film are quirky. Herzog narrates and he's got a very dry sense of humor.

I only watched one film in the Best of the Fest:

This was another film I couldn't find a poster for. It's called "Witnesses to a Secret War." It's about the U.S.' clandestine war in Laos during the Vietnam War. The U.S. recruited the Hmong people in Laos to fight against the Communist troops in North Vietnam. When North Vietnam and Laos fell to the Communists, the U.S. abandoned almost all of the Hmong who were no longer safe in Laos. Most of the Hmong went to refugee camps in Thailand and many have settled here in the U.S. We have a huge population of Hmong in St. Paul and the film also profiles Hmong refugees - both those who came to St. Paul in the 70s and those who were still in Thailand when the film began. It's a really interesting look at the immigrant experience and a good lesson about how we treat the "freedom fighters" we recruit abroad. The film will be returning to Oak Street next month and will also be shown on PBS some time next year.

I also had a chance to see a sneak preview of an upcoming film:

This is a Merchant-Ivory film and whatever thoughts spring to your mind when you hear that label, probably apply to this film. It's a big, lush, beautiful period drama. It's the story of a young man, T.K., in India in the 1930s who is working for a wealthy English businessman. T.K. comes from a very traditional Indian family, but was educated in English schools, so he's sort of a part of both worlds. His boss is having an affair with his Indian housekeeper, even though both are already married. I probably don't have to tell you that kind of thing didn't go over very well in India in the 1930s and T.K. has to figure out where his loyalties lie and what he's willing to do when the relationship is exposed. The film is really well made and quite lovely, but it left me a little cold. I just didn't feel any emotional connection to the characters or the type of urgency that I think I should have.

Documentaries

2008-05-11T11:26:00.004-05:00

I know even among the movie watching group, there aren't that many who love documentaries, so I'll try to keep this short. But I find that those who do love them, like to hear if something is good and this is always a good place for me to find info about something I've seen in the past. This year's M-SPIFF had a lot of documentaries and I found some that I really enjoyed.

Lynch is probably the least widely appealing of the films I saw. It's a documentary about the film director David Lynch. If you're not familiar with his work, he loves to take beautiful images and idyllic situations and then show how under the surface everything is rotten. He also is quite a surrealist, putting unexpected images and characters into his films. I'm a huge Lynch fan, so I enjoyed seeing how his twisted mind works in this movie. It was mostly filmed while he was working on his last movie, Inland Empire, so you got to see a lot of interviews about what he was thinking about and see how he meticulously sculpted some of the sets and directed actors, etc. in creating the film. I think this film is probably reserved for those who are fellow Lynchphiles or perhaps people who are just really interested in seeing an artist's creative process.

I guess this one may have limited appeal also, but it shouldn't. I'm not a huge rap fan and I only know a handful of Public Enemy songs, but I do know that they've been hugely influential, so I wanted to find out more. If you are a big fan of the group, I'm not sure how much new information is revealed in the film, but for me, it was really fascinating. The heart and soul of PE is Chuck D, who is revealed as a really thoughtful, borderline genius of the industry. The way he combines a pointed political message with a party atmosphere on stage is just brilliant. Flavor Flav is clearly crazy, but Chuck D is smart enough to know how important he is to the success of the band. Professor Griff and The S1W are less known in the mainstream, I think, but add a gravitas to the band. The film contains a lot of concert footage that I think is probably appealing to the fans, even if they already know the full story of PE. There are also a lot of interviews with other artists who have been influenced by PE such as Henry Rollins and the Beastie Boys.

A film I think everyone should see is "American Teen". LOVE that poster (if you're not as ancient as I am, it's a take off on the Breakfast Club poster). It follows the story of 4 teenagers in an small Indiana town as they go through their senior year of high school. At first you think they really are just like the characters in Breakfast Club - the rich, popular girl, the slightly off-beat girl, the high school jock and the geeky misfit. But just like in Breakfast Club, you find out people don't fit in neat little boxes. Things aren't easy for anyone when they're 17 years old, facing decisions about the future, trying to fit in, figuring out who you really are. I was completely fascinated with them all and at times loved each one and at times wanted to shake each one because they were being so stupid. It was just endlessly entertaining - funny and sad in parts.

Up the Yangtze was also a really engaging film focusing on some teenage subjects. This time it is two Chinese teenagers working on a cruise ship on the Yangtze River. The Three Gorges Dam is flooding out vast expanses of land on the banks of the Yangtze River. So rich Americans and Europeans have been taking cruises up the river to see the area before it disappears. The film follows two teens who work on one of these cruises - one a boy from a comfortable family. He's an only child and a boy, one of the generation that their boss on the ship talks about as being totally pampered and spoiled by their parents and families. The other is a girl from a poor family who is losing their home due to the dam. They live in a small shack and farm a piece of land on the banks of the Yangtze. They don't have enough money to send their daughter to high school, so she reluctantly takes a job on the cruise. The film does a great job combining these personal stories with the bigger story of China's turn toward capitalism and how the economic progres and success of some in the country comes at the expense of those less fortunate.

More Foreign Films

2008-05-05T17:37:00.002-05:00

Just so I don't lost all my knitting readers, I'll start with the knitting. I have been knitting a little bit in between films. Here's most of what I've been working on:

I'm in Knitters for Obama on Ravelry and we've been knitting up preemie hats and baby bibs to send out to the states before their primary/caucuses to generate some good publicity and good feelings. Here's one story about it.

I also finished up the Lucy Neatby bracelet I started in class at Yarnover:

I haven't sewn on a button because it's way too small for my wrist. She has instructions for how to lengthen the bracelet at the end of the pattern but since I didn't read through the whole thing before I started knitting that was just a little too late for me. When I realized I was getting ready to finish it up and it was going to be too small, I decided I didn't want to rip back and try to make it longer, so I'm contemplating either giving it to my niece or just making it into a keychain instead.

OK, that's about it for knitting. Back to the movies. In the foreign film category but not nominated for an Academy Award I saw an Irish movie called "Kings":

Kings is the first major bilingual (it's mostly in Irish Gaelic, but there are some scenes in English) Irish film. It's about six men who emigrated from Derry to London in the late 70s as young men, full of dreams of success. It's 30 years later now and one of them has died, so they rest come together for the funeral and wake. Most of the men haven't found the success they dreamed of - only Joe, played by Colm Meaney, who runs a successful real estate business. All of the men are alcoholics (although Joe also indulges in cocaine) and struggling with their own guilt over their friend's death and facing the thoughts that come when you think about your own mortality. The film is based on a play and the bulk of the film takes place in a bar room and feels very stagey. They are able to show flashbacks to the young men and the days leading up to their friend's death, though. I really connected with the characters and the feelings of isolation, loneliness and disappointment. I recognize those men. I thought this was a really good companion piece to "Tiger's Tail" also. The economy is going great guns in Ireland, but these guys left before that happened and now are absolutely destitute, living in ramshackle homes. The acting was really great, but I wish I spoke Irish so I could have fully understood it without having to read the subtitles.

The next film I saw was Boarding Gate and I think your reaction to this film depends on your feelings about its star, Asia Argento. I saw her once described as an indie film version of Angelina Jolie and I think that's a perfect description. She absolutely exudes sensuality. I though it was ok. It's a sort of thriller. Argento plays an ex-prostitute who had a very destructive relationship with a successful businessman played by Michael Madsen. The plot is pretty convoluted and not very realistic. But it's gorgeously shot and beautiful to look at. If you're an Argento fan, it's a must see.

Myrin (Jar City to American audiences) is another thriller, this one from Iceland. Jar City is a more straight forward, traditional thriller and I really enjoyed it. I've only been to Iceland once, but I thought the film captured the dark and depressed nature of Reykjavik really well. The people I met there were beautiful and very kind, but everyone seemed very down and depressed - I think that has something to do with how short the days are during the winter. But I came away from the film the same way I came away from my trip - wanting to spend more time there and sort of drawn to it. The film is about a police detective investigating the murder of a man in his apartment. The investigation leads to more crimes, some that happened years ago. It also explores the detective's relationship with his daughter, a drug addict living on the streets. I was really caught up in the story and enjoyed following it through its twists and curves. This is a film for those who enjoy smart, dark thrillers.

OK, enough for now. Next time, documentaries.

So Many Movies, so little time

2008-04-30T17:26:00.003-05:00

OK, I've been overdosing on the M-SPIFF so I have a ton of movies to review. I know most of these are obscure and while I've gotten some great comments and I appreciate it, I know not everyone cares about a documentary about David Lynch, so I'm going to break this up into several posts and try to make them short reviews. If movies aren't your thing, check back next week and maybe I'll have some pretty knitting pictures!

I guess I'll start with some foreign films. I mentioned last time I saw one of the films nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar. I saw three more of them. The last Talk Cinema for this season was:

This is a bio-pic of Ghengis Khan. It's the first in what is intended to be a trilogy, so it covers the period of when he was 9 years old until he united all of the parts of Mongolia and became "Ghengis Khan". (Khan means leader) This is one of those big, sprawling movies that you need to see on the big screen. There's gorgeous scenery of Mongolia and huge armies fighting each other. I really think it would lose some of its power on television, so if you have a chance to see it on the big screen, take it. I think it may get a more wide release in the art houses later. I really enjoyed the film. I didn't know much about Ghengis Khan and I was just fascinated with his early life. It's very bloody, with those big battle scenes with swords and blood flying everywhere. But it's also a love story about the man and his wife. I was somewhat skeptical about the authenticity of the story because he seemed like such a modern guy, but it appears that a lot of it is probably based on historical facts. Since it was so long ago, some of the details are hard to verify, but the speculation does suggest this story is close to what really happened. Ghengis Khan was a pretty remarkable man and this is a flattering portrait. If you like big, historical epics, this is a film you'd enjoy.

Katyn is another historical film, this one about the massacre of thousands of Polish Army officers in the Katyn forest during World War II. Poland was being invaded by Germany on one side and Russia on the other. Russia was looking down the road to after the war and wanted to neutralize any dissent from Poland (most of the intellectuals in the country were army officers during the war), so they secretly massacred the entire group and blamed it on Germany. Of course Germany claimed innocense and blamed it on Russia, but since Poland became part of the U.S.S.R., the truth of what happened didn't really come out until Gorbachev came into power. It's another part of the war that I didn't know anything about until I saw this film and it was really interesting. There were some parts of the film that I thought were a little disjointed and I had trouble following. Sometimes I had trouble keeping track of who different characters were and sometimes characters seemed to just appear out of nowhere. But the end of the movie is so strong and so powerful that I forgave any of the weaknesses.

This last film is also based on a true story. This time it's about an Israeli military post in Lebanon on the Beaufort Mountain. The Israeli army captured the mountain during the Lebanon War in 1982 and maintained its presence there until 2000, when it decided to withdraw. The film is about the Army troops stationed at the post in the last days before the withdrawal. Hezbollah constantly attacked Beaufort and right before the withdrawal, they stepped up their attacks to try to make it look like the Israelis were retreating due to weakness rather than voluntarily withdrawing. If I had a vote for the Oscars, this would be my choice as best Foreign Language film (although I didn't see the last nominee, 12). It was a really powerful film about war and the futility of some military action and the way the soldiers get caught up in the middle of decisions made far, far away. If I had one criticism, it would be that a lot of war movie cliches are used in this film. When a guy starts waxing poetically about his girl back home and how he's going to ship back home in a couple of days, you kind of know what is coming next. Other than that, though the acting was excellent and the pacing was excellent. I felt like I was right there in that outpost with them, under attack. I just really found this one so moving and would highly recommend it.

More foreign films and lots more documentaries next time. The documentary I posted about before, "At the Death House Door" is playing again at Oak Street Cinema (as is Katyn) as part of the Best of Fest series.

More Movies, but not M-SPIFF

2008-04-25T17:31:00.002-05:00

I saw a couple of movies outside of the festival this week. First up was:

Technically, The Visitor is part of the M-SPIFF, because it was the opening film. But I couldn't make it that night and was lucky enough to get tickets to a sneak peek this week. It's opened at the Lagoon this weekend and it's a wonderful film. It's about a Connecticut college professor named Walter who is living a life of quiet desperation. He is forced to present a paper at a conference in NYC, but when he shows up at the apartment he keeps in the city, he finds it's been illegally sublet to Tarek, a drummer from Syria and his Senegalese girlfriend. Walter doesn't want to force them out on the street, so he lets them stay with him in the apartment until they can find somewhere else to live. Then Walter and Tarek become friends, with Tarek teaching Walter how to play the African drums. One day after a day of playing drums in the park, Tarek is arrested and since he's in the country illegally, he's detained for deportation. The film is a small story about something real, but it doesn't come across as some great lecture or white liberal guilt. It's incredibly well acted and well written and directed. You get very involved in these characters' lives and really want things to turn out well for them. The writer/director is Tom McCarthy, who played one of the least sympathetic characters ever to appear on The Wire (a show that features drug dealers and murderers, dirty cops, selfish politicians and apathetic teachers). Obviously, McCarthy is just as gifted an actor as he is a writer and director.

I also saw this film:

The Counterfeiters won this year's foreign language Oscar and while I wouldn't say it measures up to last year's winner (The Lives of Others), it still is a very good film. The film is based on the true story of a group of Jewish concentration camp prisoners who were given the task of creating undetectable forgeries of British and American money. The Nazis planned to use the fake bills to flood their enemies' markets and weaken their economies. They also realized they could use the forged money to buy real supplies for their failing military operations. The film's main character is a master forger who is in the death camp not only as a Jew, but also as a career criminal. The film does a good job of exploring the themes of the high price of survival and the prisoner's guilt over the relative luxuries they got (comfortable beds, reliable food, easy work) for their work as opposed to the rest of the prisoners. The movie is a little bit formulaic in the characters, but things did not always proceed exactly as you expected. It's definitely the type of film that will give you plenty to think over and talk about afterward.

M-SPIFF

2008-04-21T17:37:00.002-05:00

No knitting content today. I did have my Saturday knitting group this weekend, but other than stabbing myself with the knitting needle right in the palm of my hand (those Knitpicks needles are sharp!) I really didn't accomplish that much. I finished the other twined knitting cuff, but it looks just like the first, so I won't post again. Thanks for the really nice comments, though!

I did see a couple of movies at the M-SPIFF on Friday night. First was a documentary:

This is a documentary co-directed by Steve James, who directed Hoop Dreams and Stevie and it's an incredibly powerful film. If you've seen either of those earlier films, you know James' documentary style - he illustrates a larger issue by getting intimately involved in the life of someone dealing with that issue. In this case, it's the death penalty and the main subject of the film is Carroll Pickett, a man who served as the prison chaplain at the state prison in Huntsville, TX. While Pastor Pickett was working at the prison, the death penalty was re-instated and as you may know, Texas has been doing a booming business in executions ever since. Death Row inmates are transferred to Huntsville on the day of their execution and Pastor Pickett counseled and ministered to 95 prisoners on the day of their executions, including being present for the execution. The film really focuses on Pastor Pickett as a man - fully human, with weaknesses and strengths, like us all. Interspersed with Pastor Pickett's story is the story of one of the men he counseled, Carlos Deluna. Mr. Deluna was executed in 1989 and there is a great deal of evidence which demonstrates that he was an innocent man. This is an amazing film that everyone should see, whether they are in favor, opposed or not sure about the death penalty. It will be shown on the IFC channel on 5/29 and will be released on DVD. Mr. James was present for the screening at M-SPIFF and talked a little bit about some of the special features they will include on the DVD. Pastor Pickett made a tape recording of his thoughts following every execution. We hear some of those tapes in the film, but there will be even more of those recordings on the DVD. I would highly recommend this film to anyone.

The second film I saw wasn't quite as affecting:

This was an Irish film, directed by John Boorman ("Deliverance", "The General", "The Last Tailor of Panama") and starring Brendan Gleeson as a successful Dublin land developer who suddenly is being stalked by a man who looks exactly like him. The title is a reference to the term "The Celtic Tiger" which was the name given to the period of the 90s when Ireland had a huge economic growth. Ireland went from one of the poorest countries in Europe to one of the wealthiest by the end of the 90s. As a result of that, there'a a wide gap between the haves and the have nots and there's also been a huge increase in alcoholism and drug abuse. Gleeson's character gives a speech in the film where he warns to be careful when you have a tiger by the tail, because it can bite you in the arse. The political message of the film was pretty heavy handed - from that speech by the Gleeson character to the large number of people in the streets vomiting and getting high and the ongoing debate between the main character and his son, a Marxist, about the evils of capitalism. There was a section in the middle where I grew very annoyed with the film because the events occuring because of the mistaken identity between the main character and his double could have been easily solved with a few phone calls. I hate it in movies when conflict is created by people behaving as no real people really would. I liked how the film ended up, though, so by the end I had a little more fondness for the film. I liked Gleeson in both roles and I loved Ciaran Hinds in a small part as the main character's childhood friend who is now a priest. Kim Cattrall plays Gleeson's wife. She does a fairly good job, though her Irish accent comes and goes. I can't really say I'd recommend this film, but if you're interested in Irish film or have a particular fondness for Dublin, it may be worth a rental.

Mid-week post

2008-04-17T17:53:00.002-05:00

I posted a preview for this movie a couple of weeks ago and I got to see it last night:

I loved this movie. If you saw the preview (scroll down to my March 10 post if you want to watch it), you know it's about a chorus of senior citizens who sing rock n roll songs. Like all great documentaries, this film just brings you right into these people's world and you feel like you're part of it. Seeing old people sing The Clash and Coldplay could be cutsie and cheesy, but they and the chorus' director take it so seriously and professionally that it really is wonderful. These people really connect with the words to the songs and put all of their years of living into interpreting them. I cared so much about these folks by the end, it was almost like they were my own relatives. It's hilariously funny sometimes and deeply sad others. I would recommend this film for anyone. And, I have a pass for two free tickets to the next sneak preview on Thursday, 4/24 at the Edina Theater. If anyone would like the pass, let me know. The film opens it regular release next Saturday, 4/26.

It's also being shown as part of the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF)this Saturday at 5:30 at the St. Anthony Main theater. The MSPIFF is also showing some of the foreign films I've reviewed here over the last couple of months that I saw through Talk Cinema. In particular, Roman de Gare, And Along Came Tourists, and Yella. So, if any of those interest you, you don't have to try to find a DVD, you can see them at the Film Fest. The MSPIFF starts today, so expect to see reviews of some more obscure films again over next couple of weeks.

I do have some knitting related news, too - I got some new yarn in the mail:

This is a sock yarn from C*eye*ber Fibers called "Yes We Can". It's dyed in the lovely blues and reds of the Obama logo with some lovely purple, probably to show how Barack is building a bridge between the "reds" and the "blues". And best of all, $15 from the sale of each skein of yarn goes to the Obama campaign. I love it!

Knit Intensive Week

2008-04-15T17:29:00.003-05:00

Wow, last week was the most knitting focused week I've ever had, except when I've gone on knitting related trips.

Thursday night I was lucky enough to see the Yarn Harlot speak at St. Thomas. It was a dreadful day - snowing and cold and dreary. In April I've had enough winter and I hate to see snow. If it was just me, I probably would have skipped it altogether. But I was going with friends and we were driving together, so I decided to be a good Minnesotan again and venture forth. I'm so glad I did. I'm so behind in my blog reading that I haven't read the Harlot's blog in months, but she's still in fine form. Hilarious thoughts about how the rest of the world views us knitters and how much we benefit from this crazy knitting-obsessed lifestyle. After the talk a few of us went over to the Chatterbox Pub for more knitting and music bingo - so much fun.

Even though we were all super tired from our evening the night before, we ventured forth again on Friday for Stitch, Bitch 'N Die, Joseph Scrimshaw's latest production at Bryant Lake Bowl. I've mentioned on this blog numerous times how much I love Joseph, so it's probably not hard to predict what I thought of the show. It's a comedic murder mystery in which all of the suspects are the members of a knitting group. Seeing two of my worlds collide like that was fantastic and I thought the play was hilarious - and somewhat insightful of knitting groups, believe it or not. It's playing this weekend and next weekend again, so as always, I suggest you check it out.

As if all of that knitting fun wasn't enough, Saturday was the annual Minnesota Knitter's Guild Yarnover. I had a conflict on that day last year and skipped it and I forgot how much fun it is. It's just great to see a bunch of your knitting friends all in one place. And of course there's the market. I managed to kind of restrain myself. Sort of.

I took two classes. The morning class was Twined Knitting with Beth Brown-Reinsel. I really didn't know much about what this technique was, but I wanted to take a class with Beth Brown-Reinsel, so I signed up. I'm so glad I did - I love it! Twined knitting is a Swedish technique where you knit from both ends of a ball of yarn, alternating which end you knit with each stitch. It creates a fabric that is very thick and cushy and warm and you can make lovely textured patterns. One layer of stitches can sort of sit on top of the other layer of yarn, making it look very three-dimensional. I think it's lovely and I loved the technique. We started a sampler wrister in the class:

I finished up the wrister at home and I'll definitely be making the other one and trying this technique again in the future.

The afternoon class I took was a Beaded Knitting Bracelet class with Lucy Neatby. I've done a lot of beaded knitting before, but again, I just wanted to take a class with Lucy Neatby and of course I love beaded knitting, so there you go. I can't say I learned a ton of new things, but I really enjoyed the class. And I did learn how to get beads from a hank onto your knitting cotton in a quick and easy way. I was just stuck on the concept when I had read about it before, but having her show me how to do it did the trick. We started the bracelet in class, but I haven't finished it yet:

And to cap the whole week off, I finally finished Jessica's hoodie (just in time for the warm, sunny weather we're having now):

Project Name: Olivia's Sweatshirt
Designer: Julie Carles and Jordana Jacobs
Pattern Source: The Yarn Girls' Guide to Knits for All Seasons
Yarn: Crystal Palace Merino Frappe
Yarn Source: Needlework Unlimited
Date Started: 12/21/07
Date Completed: 4/13/08

Comments: This should have been a quick and easy knit, but it ended up taking me a long time. I think I just didn't have enough knitting time to work on it regularly. I had no problems with the pattern though - easy to read and understand and no errors that I found. I loved the yarn - it's a brushed merino, so it sort of feels like fleece. As I mentioned before, I ended up having to buy one more skein of yarn to finish the pocket bands, so if you make this sweater, buy an extra skein of yarn just in case or use a different yarn for the pocket linings as Cathy suggested. If I had thought of that before I sewed the linings in, that would have been a fantastic solution.

Jessica agreed to model it when I had just pinned the zipper in:

and the hood view:

Weekend Update

2008-04-07T17:25:00.005-05:00

Saturday was Talk Cinema and we got to see this film:

This is the kind of movie that you benefit from going in cold without knowing too much about it and figuring it out for yourself, so I'm not going to say too much. I'll just say that I liked it. Richard Roeper calls movies that have sort of interesting structure or twist endings "puzzle movies" and this would fit into that category. It's the kind of movie that you can talk about on a lot of different levels afterward - I love when a movie can bring up big philosophical issues as well as filmmaking and "taste" issues and you can really talk about it. If I still was in a movie club, this is the kind of movie I would choose to watch and then sit and talk about afterward. We had a good discussion led by a film critic from out east, but a small group where you could really talk about your thought and opinions about life would be even better.

After Talk Cinema, my friend and I had our monthly beading afternoon. I ended up just making one necklace and one pair of earrings because this necklace was very time consuming:

I really like how it turned out, though. The earrings were a little easier, but it was hard to work with the delicate chain - sorry about the poor photo quality:

In every picture I took, the camera focused on my hair, not the earring. I could have posted a lovely picture of my hair, but that's not what I wanted.

I also got the latest installment of the Amazing Threads sock club:

I should probably cancel my subscription for that, because I don't need any more sock yarn and I really only LOVE about half the selections, but now that it's only every other month, it's kind of fun to get and not that expensive. I'm going to wait until the May selection comes and re-evaluate then.

Other Fun

2008-04-04T17:59:00.002-05:00

Besides going to the movies, I've had some other fun too. I think I forgot to mention I read this book:

I know, I'm late getting to these. I try to read each book right before the next movie comes out, so I have the book fairly fresh in my mind and I don't know what's going to come next when I see the movie. But after I finished book 5, I couldn't wait that long to read book 6, so I read it now. If you read the Harry Potter books, you've probably already read this one and if you don't, you probably don't care, so I won't describe it. I'll just say that I really loved it and I'm really sad there's only one more book left. So far I've managed to avoid any spoilers for the final book, so I may read that last one this summer before I do stumble across something I don't want to know.

I also read this book:

I'm trying to go through all of my books and get rid of the ones that I realistically will never read and read some of the ones that I've had for a long time. This is a mystery that's part of a series about a woman who is an attorney and grew up with hippie radical type parents. In the series, she sort of struggles with her identity and where she really sees herself in the world. I started reading this series either when I was in law school or shortly thereafter and really loved it and identified with the character. For whatever reason, I set the last three of this series aside and never read them. I wish I had read this when it first came out. It's set in the mid-90s and a lot of it is about computers and technology and all of that stuff is now incredibly dated. I'll still read the last two of the series because I enjoy the authors writing and the story and characters, but I'm not sure if I'd recommend it to others to pick up now.

I also did a little visiting for Easter. I dyed Easter eggs with my niece, Alexis:

My nephew Jason, wasn't really sure about the taste of eggs, but he sure liked playing with the plastic Easter eggs:

Isn't he absolutely adorable? He turned 1 just after Easter, so I got to celebrate that with him too. Also adorable is my new "nephew", Dexter:

Alexis just loves him. He's so wiggly and puppy-like. Love him!

And finally, I've done some knitting. I had the absolute pleasure of meeting up with the Uberstrickenfrau while I was in Sioux Falls. We both managed to overcome our shyness and fear of meeting strangers from the internet to have coffee and knit and it turns out it's almost like we already knew each other and weren't really strangers. Huh, funny that. You can read her hilarious (as usual) tale of meeting on her blog. She's not as far behind in blogging as I am, so you'll have to scroll down a little bit. She even captured the moment for posterity with a photo like a REAL blogger. I'm so glad to have met in person and super excited to have someone to knit with when I'm ready to strangle my family (not those cute kids, just the adults).

As for the actual knitting itself, I am almost done with my other niece, Jessica's hoodie:

I absolutely ran out of yarn, so I was just going to sew on the zipper and call it done, but when I put my hands in the pockets, I think they are too shallow, so I'm going to see if I can still get another skein and knit on the pocket ribbing on the top of the pockets too.

I also finished the first of my Cable Lattice socks. What a difference a few stitches make:

In the ankle area, where I had a lot of stitches, the striping disappeared and the colors were sort of randomly spread out. By the time I decreased down to the foot size (4 stitches less than on the leg), the stripes had morphed into flashing. I actually kind of like it. I think it looks cool and so different. Here's how it looks on the foot:

Time Flies

2008-03-30T21:56:00.002-05:00

I've definitely been having fun, but I didn't mean to once again go so long between posts. I'll get this figured out eventually. I've managed to make time to see a few movies, so I'll start there. The first one I saw was this:

That's a pretty lame, boring name for a pretty good film. It's based on a true story about a group of petty criminals who rent out a handbag shop in early 70's London so that they can dig under the shop next door and into a bank vault. They're in it for the cash, but they've been manipulated by MI-5 to do the job because they want some naughty pictures of Princess Margaret that are being used by a radical black power leader to blackmail the government. The film is pretty fast moving and keeps you interested and following along through the whole thing. I had never seen a Jason Statham movie before and I really liked him. He's got a great screen presence and hopefully he'll get more interesting parts like this and not just the pure adrenalized action he's been doing. I'd recommend this for people who enjoy heist flicks and just want a fun, easy afternoon at the movies.

I can't recommend the next film I saw, luckily for free:

It was really just a mess. Charlize Theron stars and produced the film. She plays a down on her luck mother who seems to have gone through a string of bad relationships and has a strained relationship with her 13 year old daughter. After her latest boyfriend is thrown in jail for growing large amounts of marijuana on his property, she and her daughter move in with her younger brother, played by Nick Stahl. Theron's character hits the road with some plan in mind and leaves her daughter behind with her brother, who starts to try to take care of her, although he has a tough enough time caring for himself. I liked the performances of all of these actors, but the story was really disjointed. They threw in every indie film cliche you can think of and it just didn't flow very well. There was also a dream-like sequence at a swimming pool that seemed completely out of synch with the rest of the film. If you're really interested in film acting, maybe check it out, but otherwise I'd say don't waste your time.

The last film I saw was:

The film is set in 1930s London and has the feel of the screwball comedies of the era, especially at the beginning. Amy Adams plays an American actress, who goes by Delysia Lafosse, trying to hit the big time by sleeping with a hot young director, living in the apartment of the owner of the club where she sings and romancing her piano player. Frances McDormand plays an out of work nanny, Miss Pettigrew, who manages to work her way into Delysia's life and serve as her social secretary. As you can imagine with all those relationships to juggle, Miss Pettigrew has her work cut out for her with plenty of door slamming and fast talking and the sort of hijinx you saw in Screwball Comedies. Miss Pettigrew is utterly capable, though, and as the film goes on, you start to see the real people behind the overacted facade. Everything is wrapped up a little too nicely, as is the tradition, but I found it satisfying. I was thrilled to see Ciaran Hinds in a romantic lead role, as a lingerie designer who has an interest in Miss Pettigrew. If you're a fan of the old 30s comedies or just romantic comedies in general, this is worth a look.

Besides movies, I also saw this guy:

It was an amazing show. Probably my favorite of all of the Springsteen shows I've seen. He had an incredible energy and seemed really in synch with the rest of the band. The guy is amazing. Here's the set list, if you're interested:

1. Night
2. Radio Nowhere
3. Lonesome Day
4. Darkness on the Edge of Town
5. Gypsy Biker
6. Magic
7. Reason to Believe
8. Prove It All Night
9. She’s the One
10. Livin’ in the Future
11. Promised Land
12. Waitin on a Sunny Day
13. Backstreets
14. Devil’s Arcade
15. The Rising
16. Last to Die
17. Long Walk Home
18 Badlands

ENCORE
19. Girls in their Summer Clothes
20. Jungleland
21. Born to Run
22. Dancing in the Dark
23. American Land

It was fun to close the show with "American Land" on the day before St. Patrick's Day.

I guess I'll cover the knitting world in my next post. I'm hopelessly behind in the ABC-Along postings, too.

Actual Knitting Content

2008-03-13T18:27:00.002-05:00

I know I've been promising, and here it finally is. I've been knitting up my Elann samples from the last six months, so that's kind of boring to look at. But I've almost finished the Olivia's Sweatshirt for Jessica:

That's kind of boring to look at too. It's just plain blue stockinette. The real excitement is feeling it. It's a very nice, soft fabric that I think Jessica will like. All I have left is knitting and sewing on the hood and installing the zipper. Just in time for spring! :-) Oh well, you can always use a hoodie when it gets cold at night, right?

I've also been working on a pair of socks:

These are called Cable Lattice Socks - I got the pattern in an old issue of Knitnet. I'm using Socks That Rock yarn in the Little Bunny Foo Foo colorway. I'm in love again! STR is definitely my favorite sock yarn. It's so pretty and also so soft and cushy. This particular colorway is extra yummy because it looks like ice cream - chocolate, caramel, strawberry. Mmmmmmmmmm.....

More movies

2008-03-10T17:23:00.008-05:00

I know this blog has become all movies, all the time, but I promise there will be knitting content. I've recently been knitting something I don't want to blog about, so that puts a crimp in things. But I also have started a new pair of socks and I'm almost done with Jessica's hoodie, so I do have some blog fodder some day. In the mean time, I saw some movies this weekend:

Be Kind, Rewind is directed by Michel Gondry and stars Mos Def as a video store clerk, Mike, and Jack Black as his best friend, Jerry. The video store is owned by Mr. Fletcher, played by Danny Glover. The video store is in trouble, so Mr. Fletcher pretends to leave town for a few days while he actually scopes out the fancy chain store in town - you know, the one that actually has DVDs instead of video tapes. He leaves Mike in charge of the store and while he's gone, Jerry comes in and erases all of the tapes after he's become magnetized while trying to sabotage the power plant he lives next to. The guys decide to re-enact some of the videos so the customers can still watch the movies and maybe Mr. Fletcher won't find out they screwed up. Their movies catch on and become very popular.

I must be the target audience for Michel Gondry because I find his films charming and amusing (he previously directed The Science of Sleep and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). The set up is completely improbable, the world the characters live in is unrecognizable as reality and the ending is totally cheesy, but darn it, I just enjoyed myself so much watching this film. I loved the characters and wanted things to turn out well for them and I loved their movies. So, I guess if you like something kind of off-beat and different, check it out. Especially if you love movies and feel a personal connection to them.

This weekend was also a Talk Cinema weekend and the film was a French mystery/love story:

In English this is being marketed as either "Crossed Tracks" or simply "Tracks." I'm not sure if this will get much of a release state-side so I won't go into any great detail. As I mentioned there's a murder mystery and a love story and it was pretty engaging, but I doubt it'll stay with me for long.

I had the great pleasure of seeing this, too:

U2 is one of my favorite bands and this was definitely a must see for everyone else who loves them. It was filmed in South America during the last tour and really envelopes you with the 3D process. The visuals are amazing and you feel like you're really in the crowd. The digital sound is also fantastic. I just loved Adam Clayton's bass and the Edge's guitar in New Year's Eve and Where the Streets Have No Name. They also did a pairing of Sunday, Bloody Sunday and Bullet the Blue Sky, which I've seen them do in concert before, but am thrilled to see again. Two great songs which go so great together. The film is strictly concert footage - there's no interviews or behind the scenes stuff. The 3D effects are almost all just to make you feel like you're actually at a concert, though there is one part where Bono reaches toward you as if to touch you and there are a couple of visuals that float in front of you - mostly words. This film is not being planned to be released on home video, so instead of drinking green beer to celebrate St. Paddy's Day, why not go see Ireland's favorite sons?

To bring knitting back into the blog a little bit, I will post this great poster I saw at the Edina:

I saw a preview for this documentary a few weeks ago and it looks great. Here's a preview:

Best of 2007

2008-03-06T17:56:00.004-06:00

It was a good year for film, so it was hard to choose the Top Ten. Here are my favorite movies of 2007:

1. Diving Bell and the Butterfly
2. Into the Wild
3. Once
4. King of Kong
5. Lars & The Real Girl
6. Taxi to the Dark Side
7. The Savages
8. Sweeney Todd
9. Sicko
10. Gone Baby Gone

Yeah, none of my Top Ten were nominated for the Academy Awards this year. In 2005 my top five were the five nominees. That was really rare, but it's also really rare that none of my favorites are nominated. I actually really liked all the nominated films this year, but they just didn't grab a hold of me like these did. I should say none of them were nominated for Best Picture, because Taxi to the Dark Side actually won the Best Documentary Oscar.

On July 1 I did a top five of my favorite movies so far and it was a light and funny bunch, with Once at the top. I predicted that more dramatic films would make it on my top ten and oh boy, did they. Diving Bell and Into the Wild edged out Once for the top spot on my final list and they were both really emotional for me.

This year I intermixed the documentaries and fiction films because I didn't see as many documentaries this year as I had in years past - I think the big bounty of documentaries has passed again - or maybe I just wasn't as good about seeing them when I wanted to. In any case, I had three documentaries on my list and if I slid those off, I probably would have added Rescue Dawn, Knocked Up and Michael Clayton. I also really liked another documentary this year, My Kid Could Paint that. I haven't seen No End in Sight yet, though.

So, that's the list for this year. I highly, highly recommend all of the films I listed and pretty much all of them are available on DVD if you want to add them to your Netflix list.

In other fun and exciting news, I got a great package in the mail! My Special Swap partner this time was Kat and she sent me an outstanding parcel. Our theme this go around was A Day at the Spa. Everything arrived in this pretty box:

I opened it up and found a pretty card and these pretty little surprises:

Soothing blues and greens, I'm already relaxing! But when I opened those little packages up I found some pretty great stuff:

Kat was way too generous!! Starting from the right, there's a hand-knit beautiful blue and green facecloth - gorgeous and soft. Next in the back is a really fragant candle - I can't wait to try that out. It smells fantastic. Beside the candle is a bag of chocolate/white chocolate squares. I couldn't wait to try those out - they are delicious!!! In front of and beside that are two big packages of Burt's Bees products. LOVE the Burt's Bees (luckily Kat does too, because I sent her some too). There a little something to soothe every part of my incredibly dry hands, feets, face and body (come soon spring!) Next to that is the best relaxation of all, knitting! Kat included a bunch of really fun accessories and a gorgeous skein of yarn and scarf pattern from Knitspot. You want to see that yarn close up, don't you?

As you can see on the tag, it's Arequipa from Ball and Skein - an alpaca/silk blend (two of my favorite fibers!!) It's a gorgeous colorway called storm - purple and gray and black, beautiful, beautiful! Thank you so much for the fantastic package, Kat. I'm really looking forward to continuing our friendship and of course using this stuff up!!

Movie Update

2008-03-01T11:37:00.002-06:00

Since I haven't blogged regularly lately, I have a few movies to review. I get a mixed reaction to the movie reviews. Some people really like them and some people just want knitting content. If you fall into the latter category, move on - just movies today.

I finally saw this film:

I liked it, but I didn't love it. There's been a lot of comparisons this week between Blood and No Country and my reaction to both was similar. Really well done, great filmmaking, but kind of left me cold, so not my favorite movies of the year. Blood is about an oilman played by Daniel Day Lewis. The film opens with DDL mining for silver and is completely dialog free. It's beautiful filmmaking and really sets up who this character is and what he's about. During his mining he finds oil and becomes a very successful oilman. One day he's given a tip about some oil rich land that can be had for cheap by a young man played by Paul Dano. DDL goes to this land and buys oil leases and develops the oil fields. He meets the brother of the man who gave him the tip, also played by Paul Dano. This man is an ambitious preacher and there's a lifelong animosity between Dano's character and DDL character. So the film is about oil and greed and ambition and religion and family. There were times I struggled to stay with the film, because it has a very slow, deliberate pace and it's a pretty long film. Those are two things that usually don't bother me a bit, but maybe because it was a Friday evening or just the film itself, I had a tough time this time. I would recommend it, though.

Shorter and much easier to follow was this:

This is a family film about two twin boys and their older sister who move into their family's ancestoral home with their mom when their father leaves the family. The house had been occupied by their great aunt before she was finally committed to an insane asylum. See, she thought that fairies had stolen her father. Turns out, the old lady was on to something. Her father, Arthur Spiderwick, played by one of my favorite actors, David Strathairn, had written down everything he had learned about the secret world of fairies which is all around us, but we just don't see. The fairies, goblings and other spirits are animated and the CGI and real world look really good together in this film. The twins are played by Freddie Highmore, who does a good job distinguishing the two brothers. I was a little troubled by how poorly the dads come off in this film, but overall I thought it was a fun film and the kids all really liked it (age 6 to 12).

Even shorter and easier to understand was the last movie I saw:

Yes, another Will Ferrell comedy, this time about an ABA league basketball team, the Flint Tropics. If you giggle at the idea of a team in Flint, MI called the Tropics, you'll enjoy this silly film. This is not one of the great Will Ferrell movies, but it's funny enough. I agree with Robert Wilonsky, who called it "comedy comfort food." There's a lot of gags about the 70s and sports and Will Ferrell's typically enthusiastic but kinda dumb character. But there's also the cliched sports movie storyline about the grizzled old vet who needs to find his love for the game again for one last run at glory - this time the grizzled old vet is played by Woody Harrelson. There actually are a couple of black guys on the team too, including Andre Benjamin as the star of the team, looking to make it to the NBA even if his team doesn't make it through the ABA/NBA merger that is looming. Benjamin (aka Andre 3000 of OutKast) really looks like a baller - who knew he was so sexy? There are a number of characters who are really funny and although the movie as a whole isn't fantastic, I'd still recommend it for a fun matinee when you need a laugh. I also have to mention the soundtrack. As a huge fan of 70s soul, I enjoyed the film just for the great music. It may have been set in Flint, but the music is pure Motown.

OK, that brings me up to date. There are a couple of other films I wanted to see from 2007, but I think I've seen all the essentials. Next time I'll post my list of my Top Ten of 2007. It was a really good year and it'll be hard to limit it to just 10.

C is for Cashmere

2008-02-27T17:29:00.002-06:00

Oh my gosh, I'm so far behind in my blogging!! I feel like I'm falling out of the blogging family, because I am posting so infrequently and don't have time to read and comment as much as I used to. I need to get settled into a schedule that includes some computer time!

Anyway, I'm going to try to get as caught up as I can without having an unmanageable post. Maybe I can post twice this week! Since I'm so far behind with it, I'll start with the ABC-Along

C is for Cashmere

Like most knitters, I love yarn. And the yarn I love most of all is cashmere. I just love the soft feel of it as you knit it. And the drape of the fabric that cashmere makes. And cashmere is mostly on the thinner side, which I prefer over the big fat yarns. I grabbed some of the cashmere and cashmere blends out of my stash for this picture. Apparently what I REALLY like is some red cashmere. Because that's a lot of red.

Speaking of red, I have a finished object, too:

Yes, my legs really are that ghostly pale. Scary. Here are the particulars:

Project Name: Monkey Socks
Designer: Cookie A.
Pattern Source: Knitty
Yarn: Wollmeise - Maria's Deepest Purple colorway
Yarn Source: Wollmeise
Date Started: 12/2X/07
Date Completed: 2/16/08
Comments: As I mentioned before, this is my first pair of Monkey socks and I really like them. It's a great pattern that isn't hard to knit, but keeps things interesting. It fits really nicely on my foot, too, I think. This was my first time using Wollmeise and I love it. It's very tightly spun, so it's not as soft and cushy as something like Socks That Rock or Smooshy, but it is a great yarn for textured knitting. The texture really pops. And the colors are amazing. So, so beautiful. My poor photography doesn't so it justice. I love how the heels look too:

As always, I made the legs shorter than the pattern called for. Otherwise I followed the pattern exactly. I accidentally knit the second sock one repeat longer on the foot than the first, so I had to rip back and re-do the toe - just my own inability to count. I had a ton of yarn left over in the skein - probably enough for another pair of socks if a different color was used for the heels and toes. I highly recommend you add some Wollmeise to your stash!

I mentioned my beading projects in my last post and here's the last kit I made:

My bad photography strikes again, but that pendant is a really pretty stone with some sparkle in it. I like the detail of having the toggle at the front instead of in the back of the neck. Super easy necklace.

I guess that'll be it for now. I have a couple of movie reviews and my top ten of the year list for you next time. I've bought some yarn that I may come clean on. And I've started a couple more projects. Come on back, now, ya hear?

Thanks Carrie!!

2008-02-16T10:36:00.005-06:00

I got a great little gift in the mail last week and I was so busy running around, I didn't even know about it at first - lesson to everyone, check the mail, even if you're busy!

It's my Pay it Forward gift from Carrie. So cute, huh? She made a beautiful little knitted bag - that must be great felting yarn, because the fabric came out perfectly. She also sewed that cute little pouch and decorated the little Moleskine notebook to match - gorgeous! The inside of the pouch is the purple fabric you can see on the notebook. I'm so impressed with Carrie's sewing skills - it's just perfect! And everything's in my favorite color, purple! Thank you so much for the surprise during this hardest of Minnesota months, February. The long dark days and the endless cold is always hardest to take in February, before the days get noticeably longer and the snow starts melting in March. For my friends who signed up for Pay it Forward with me, I've gathered my materials, so you may see a little surprise of your own sometime in the next few weeks.

I did a little crafting for myself last weekend. I gave my friend Florence a "Kit of the Month" subscription from Bead Monkey for Hannukah last year. I bought one for myself as well so that we could do the beading together when we got the kit each month. We started off with a free kit I got for signing us up, the Fiore necklace. I made mine in pink:

Sorry for the quality of these pictures. It's really hard to photograph yourself in the mirror and get the little beads in focus too. This was a little bit challenging kit, but it was fun and I like how it came out. I have a lot of pink clothes that I can wear this with. I hadn't done any beading in a while and it was really fun. Since I had all the tools out, I made a couple more kits I bought at Bead Monkey too.

That's their Signature Pearl necklace. I love pearls and I like the colors they put together for that kit. I haven't worn the third necklace I made, so I'll post a picture of that after I do.

I've also been knitting a little bit. I finished up my third preemie hat:

I followed Chelle's pattern that I also used for the first one, but this time I used worsted weight yarn. I probably knit it at a gauge that was a little too firm, but it'll work. As you can see, I ran out of yarn at the top, so I switched in an unmercerized cotton and then made a pom pom to sort of cover that different yarn. I think it looks ok and it'll work. It's slightly larger than the other two I made, but it's still being modeled by a grapefruit, so I think it'll work.

I did a little more knitting (and a little ripping), but I'll save that for next time.

Packed with Fun

2008-02-11T17:19:00.000-06:00

What a great week last week was. I mentioned in my last post how great the Obama rally was. Afterwards, we tried the new Japanese place downtown, Musashi. I thought it was good, but not great. They have a really large menu, with lots of different things, so it would be a great place to with a big group. I had a bento box, which included soup and salad, an appetizer, teriyaki chicken, a sushi roll and tempura chicken. The serving size was very generous too. So, it was a good value. My brother got a sushi platter, which was really beautifully presented. I enjoyed everything, but if I'm downtown and I'm choosing, I'd prefer Nami or Origami. It's definitely worth a trip if you are with a group, want a good portion size or the location is ideal for other plans.

Last Sunday was of course the Super Bowl. And what a game. We really had fun. We watched at Buffalo Wild Wings and I won the grand prize drawing, too. Unfortunately, it wasn't a big screen tv or a trip to the Pro Bowl. It was just a MGD lighted sign. I never win anything, though, so I was excited just to hear my name called.

Then of course we had the caucuses on Tuesday. Another amazing night. I could not believe how crazy it was. I've caucused probably a half dozen times or so and I've never seen so many people before. Long backup on the roads getting there, huge lines to get in the door. I really feel like people are hungry for change and hungry to play a part in that change. Awesome! Let's just hope it doesn't revert to politics as usual by November.

I saw a few movies over the last week, too. I saw a documentary that is nominated for the Academy Awards:

This is really a remarkable film, but boy it was sometimes hard to watch. It's about the U.S. policy on torture. It starts with a taxi driver in Afghanistan who is turned into the US military as being suspected of driving for some rebels who shot at a military post. While he was in custody he was beaten to death. Turns out he was completely innocent and the people who turned him in were the ones who shot at the military post. Ooops. The same people who ran the prison in Afghanistan were sent to Abu Graib and I think everyone's pretty aware of what happened there. A lot of the ideas of how to "interrogate" terror suspects at Abu Graib originated from policies at Guantanamo Bay. It's so embarrassing and depressing to know that my government is doing this. The director of the film also directed "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room". If you saw that film, you know his style. You're never in doubt as to what his viewpoint is, but he presents it in a very calm, rational way, giving the other side the opportunity to make their case. The author of the famous "Torture Memo", John Yoo is interviewed pretty extensively about why torture is legal and why the Geneva Convention doesn't apply to "enemy combatants". There are also a number of interviews with the soldiers who worked at the prison in Afghanistan and at Abu Graib. They're really open and honest and the message is clear that this is not just "a few bad apples", but a policy instituted at the highest levels (see Vice President, Secretary of Defense and Attorney General). I would highly recommend this film, but be prepared for it.

Not quite as impressive was:

Diane Lane plays an FBI agent who specializes in computer crime. She mostly tracks down identity theft and copyright piracy. But she gets a tip about a website where a kitten is killed (I know, it's horrible). So she ends up heading an investigation into this website where the killer moves on to people and the more people that log onto the site, the faster the person is killed. It's a pretty gross concept and the torture is not entertaining. I was almost drawn in by the thriller/mystery aspect and Diane Lane's great performance, but then in the last act, it turned incredibly stupid and the very last shot is just corny as hell, so I can't recommend this.

Talk Cinema this week featured another foreign film, this time from Beirut, Lebanon:

Sweet movie about the lives of a group of women living in Beirut. Sort of an artsy version of a chick flick, but I really enjoyed it. You got to see a little bit about what life is like for women living in Beirut, but it was really subtle. The lead actress also wrote and directed the film and she didn't hit you over the head with the messages. The actresses were just gorgeous too.

I'll save the rest of my week for another post. I did actually do some knitting and I got a fantastic gift in the mail.

B is for Barack

2008-02-03T10:27:00.000-06:00

B was easy for me. B is for Barack.

I love politics. When I first graduated from high school, I worked as a campaign staffer for a US Senator (Abdnor - yeah, that was when I was a Republican). Loved the job. I was a political science major in college. I have worked on dozens of campaigns over the years and seriously considered a career in political campaigning and legislative support, but chose the security of the law instead. So, it's nothing new for me to be excited during a Presidential campaign season.

Except I've never been as excited about a candidate for any office as I am about Barack Obama. I truly believe that he could be an agent of real, lasting change in this country.

Ever since Paul Wellstone died, I've felt pretty sad and hopeless about our country. Wellstone was a real hero in this state and a hero for progressives everywhere. His death was a real blow and I still can't think or talk about it without getting teary-eyed. Wellstone died and Norm Coleman was elected - a man I don't respect at all and am really depressed to have represent me. And then we had the war in Iraq. And the economy went into the tank. Pawlenty was elected Governor and cut every program and service in this state to the bone. Bush was re-elected. It's been really disheartening to see my state and my country on such a sad and depressing road.

But Barack Obama makes me hope for a brighter future. He makes me think that people can pull together and work for a better country for everyone, instead of everyone looking out for himself. He makes me think it's possible for people to be engaged and care. That the war can end, people can have real healthcare coverage, we can start planning for preservation of our environment instead of trashing it. The country can be run for the good of the people, not the corporations.

I had the chance to see Barack Obama in person yesterday at a rally. It was quite an amazing experience. People lined up for literally miles:

Those are people waiting to hear a politician speak!! And that's just one of the lines. I was up in the skyway and the line wrapped all the way to the end of the skyway and back up into a U on itself. There were so many people that it took two hours to get into the Target Center. The place was packed:

He spoke for about an hour and was passionate, thoughtful and persuasive. Wouldn't it be nice to have a smart President again? One who can actually string sentences together and use real words, instead of made up words? The biggest cheer was definitely when Obama mentioned that George W. Bush would not be on the ballot this November.

So, that's why for me B is for Barack. I hope everyone who is reading this in Minnesota will join me and caucus for Barack on Tuesday night.

I have also been Knitting Blue. (Afterall, B is for Blue too, which I am through and through):

I finished the first front for my niece's hoodie. I just stuck the fork in there to highlight the pocket - it was the closest thing to grab. I am almost done with the second front, so I just need to sew it all together, knit the hood and the edgings and put in the zipper. I was hoping to get it done by the end of January, so I'm sad I didn't quite make that goal. Hopefully by Valentine's Day, though.

I have also finished another preemie hat:

This one is grapefruit sized. Here's how it looks from the top:

Project Name: Cabled Baby Hat
Designer: Julie Hentz
Pattern Source: Knitting Pattern a Day 2008 Calendar
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino
Yarn Source: The Yarnery
Date Started: I can't remember - sometime in January
Date Completed: 1/29/08

Comments: Another preemie hat for Jeanne and Chell's collection. I started one more and when I get that finished (hopefully today), I'll send the three over.

Movies and Knitting

2008-01-28T20:42:00.000-06:00

I finished up my first Monkey sock:

As usual, I made the leg shorter than the pattern called for. The sock really fits well - this is a great pattern. I like how the Wollmeise worked in the pattern. I especially love that stripey heel!

I also saw a couple of films this weekend. On Friday night I saw this one:

I really liked this film a lot. Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman play a brother and sister who aren't close, but have to come together when their father starts showing signs of dementia and his live-in girlfriend dies, leaving him homeless. The siblings take their dad back to the east coast and find a nursing home for him and spend some time getting him settled and sort of living together as a family again. The film takes on some pretty heavy topics, like death and family duty. But it has a lot of humor, too. Hoffman and Linney give really strong performances, really bringing these siblings to life. Since my brother is my best friend, I'm always a sucker for films about brothers and sisters and I'm getting to the age where I'm starting to worry about what I'm going to do with my parents as they age, so this film really spoke to me. But I think it's so well written and so well acted that it would appeal to anyone who is interested in people and their stories.

I also saw a film on Saturday:

This is a German film that isn't going to get a wide U.S. release, so I won't spend a ton of time on it. It is definitely worth checking out if you have access to foreign films when it comes out on DVD though. It's about a young German man who chooses to do his civil service at the Museum in Auschwitz. It's another real character study and I was fascinated with the people and really caught up in their story.

A is for Aran Afghan

2008-01-21T16:08:00.000-06:00

I'm a little bit late getting started, but I did sign up for the ABC Along this year. As I said,

A is for Aran Afghan

As you may recognize, this is the Great American Aran Afghan from Knitter's magazine. I chose this for A because Aran knitting is my favorite. Cables are my favorite technique - a little bit of challenge to follow the chart, but not super hard to do. I also just love a nice Aran sweater. I'm half Irish, so I think part of it is just my attraction to all things Irish. I sort of got stuck on this project because I ran out of the yarn I originally bought for it (Berella Muskoka, which is now discontinued). I've tried to buy more on eBay over the last few years, but this color just never comes up. I've picked up a few other skeins of natural colored worsted weights and I'll probably just mix the rest of the squares in those yarns around with these and hope it all blends together well enough. Maybe I'll take this up again one of these days!

I did get some other yarn this weekend - my sock yarn club selection for January from Amazing Threads.

As you can see, it's Lang JaWoll Color Aktion. I haven't knit with this yarn before, but I've heard great things about it.

I also had Talk Cinema this weekend and saw an Israeli film:

This is a really charming film. It's about an Egyptian police band that goes to Israel to play in a cultural center and ends up in the wrong town. They get off the bus and find themselves in a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere, with no more buses for another day. They meet a woman and two men sitting in a cafe and the Israelis sort of take them in for the night. This could be a set up for a really cutesy, corny film, but the first-time director does a really great job of showing these people from very different cultures learning that they have far more in common than they do different. It's really a hopeful film about the future of the middle east, but also rather sad. I just loved it. I would really recommend it - it'll be playing at a Landmark Theater locally next month if you're interested. Quite a bit of the film is in English because that's the language both "sides" know and can communicate in, if you don't care for reading sub-titles. In fact, Israel submitted it to the Academy Awards for best Foreign Language Film, but it was disqualified because too much of it is in English. It did win the equivalent of the Oscar in Israel and has been a big hit on the film festival circuit.

Cold Enough for Ya?

2008-01-19T08:32:00.001-06:00

My friends outside of Minnesota and it's neighboring states, count yourself lucky this weekend. It's currently -11 and it's not going to get all that much warmer today. I've been really hankering for a new puppy since the holidays, but I have to admit it's days like today that made me decide to wait until spring to embark on puppy training.

On the knitting front, I joined in on Jeanne and Chell's annual preemie cap effort this year:

I'm kind of embarrassed that it took me two weeks to knit that little thing. It's sitting over an onion, by the way. I've often heard that preemie heads are about the size of an orange or a grapefruit. I ate all my oranges before I managed to finish up this cap and it was a little too small for the grapefruit, so I figure onion is close enough :-) I used their pattern for this one and I encourage everyone to whip up a little hat or two for the cause - it really doesn't take that much time, as long as you sit down and actually knit! I'm going to make at least one more before the end of month, hopefully two more.

I also had the pleasure of a really fine dining experience this week. A friend and I tried out Il Vesco Vino in St. Paul and I would heartily recommend this place. The restaurant is on Selby Avenue, in the space where The Vintage used to be, if you're familiar with that. It's a gorgeous, romantic space - if you're looking for somewhere special to dine on Valentine's Day, this would be an ideal spot. The food was really delicious too. I had the fixed price three course dinner - you choose a soup or salad, a pasta and an entree. I had a romaine salad, gnocchi with tomatoes and cheese and a beef tenderloin with tomatoes and capers and roasted potatoes. The salad was good, but nothing special. The gnocchi and beef tenderloin were outstanding, however. Sometimes gnocchi gets a bit chewy, but it was a perfect consistency and the "sauce" (not really a sauce, more of a topping) was delicious. The beef tenderloin was done perfectly, moist and tender. I tried my friend's beef shortribs with a potato puree and loved those just as much. Even though I was completely stuffed because I had to eat every bite of my dinner, I wanted to try dessert, so I ordered the tiramisu. It was very good, but still not as good as the one I had in Italy, which is always the measuring stick for me. There is a nice wine list here too, though not as extensive as in The Vintage days. They sell wine by the quarter and third carafe too, which I always appreciate, since one glass of wine is usually not enough for me. Dinner wasn't cheap, but it wasn't horrendous, either. I would highly recommend this spot for your next fine dining event.

I also managed to scoot out of work and to a late matinee yesterday. I saw this film:

I thoroughly enjoyed it. The film is set in 1980 and it stars Tom Hanks as Charlie Wilson, a Congressman from Texas who hasn't had much to show of his 6 terms in office when the film starts, but certainly enjoys the perks of being in Congress, namely it's cache with the ladies. Julia Roberts plays a very wealthy Texas woman who sometimes dallies with Congressman Wilson and clearly contributes quite a bit of money to his campaigns. She's a right wing religious anti-Communist true believer of the type that were taking over the GOP at that time and she lobbies Wilson (who is one the defense and intelligence committees and thus has great sway over the purse strings for any sort of covert operation)to begin funding the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan to defeat the Russian army who has invaded the country. After Wilson visits Afghani refugees in Pakistan and sees the conditions, he believes strongly in the cause and starts cashing in some of the good will he's stored up over the years of doing nothing much in Congress. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the CIA operative who is running the show in Afghanistan. The whole thing is just fascinating. Even though it's a pretty complicated story about funding and weapons and political factions, it moves really quickly and you don't get bogged down in details. It's written by Aaron Sorkin, whose tv shows I greatly admire, and I thought he did a great job with this film, too. Philip Seymour Hoffman is just brilliant in his role. He's hilarious and smart and just completely real. I'm sure you'll hear his name when the Academy Award supporting actor nominees are announced. If you enjoy politics and a good story, I'd really recommend this film.

I still have a couple more films to see before I do my final Top Ten of the Year (I'm sure you're waiting with baited breath!). Talk Cinema is today, but it's a foreign film, so I guess I'll have to get to a couple more films soon. Look for a bonus post next week since I have Monday off! Stay warm!!

A Lifelong Dream Fulfilled

2008-01-12T13:26:00.000-06:00

When I was a pre-pubescent, I spent hours listening to Barry Manilow Live on my record player. I loved that man and I loved his songs and after 30 years, I finally got a chance to see him live for real. And I LOVED it! Yes, call me a Fanilow.

The show was pretty much exactly what you would think it would be. He played almost every song off of Barry Manilow Greatest Hits (another album I played over and over again in my room). Remember that meme that went around a few years ago where you were supposed to list five songs you know every word to? Turns out there's about 20 Barry Manilow songs I know all the words to, even though I haven't heard them in a while - the wonder of the young brain. The stuff you put in there at that age really sticks! Barry has been releasing albums that are standards from the 50s, 60s and 70s, so he did a few of those songs, as well.

The spectacle wasn't quite as big as I was expecting, but I think that's because this isn't a full on tour. Everyone got a Manilow green glow stick to wave around all night (well, almost everyone. Due to my Irish luck, I didn't get one). It looked very cool. Barry wore a dark suit, as you can see above. He changed the jacket about a half dozen times, though and his background singers had a bunch of costume changes. There was a few neat video presentations during the show, including Barry on the Midnight Special singing Mandy - which eventually became a duet between live Barry and video Barry. At the end there was a big streamer cannon. Fantastic.

Despite the fact that Barry is 64, he's still a pretty amazing performer. Yeah, he's had a little bit too much work done, but he didn't look as weird as he has in some photographs I've seen. And he had an amazing amount of energy - he sang and danced around and was totally upbeat. He's not the stringbean he was in the 70s, but he's definitely still lean and fit. And his voice is still strong and amazing. The man has perfect pitch and he can still belt out a tune. Yes, it was really cheesy, but I loved every minute of it.

My own personal favorite was Weekend in New England. He sounded just amazing on the song and it brought me right back to being 10 years old and dreaming of the Prince Chearming who was going to be pining for me. I'll admit to feeling some sadness too that 30 years later I'm still waiting for that Prince Charming. My life certainly isn't what I thought it was going to be when I was that 10 year old girl living in South Dakota. But I guess, whose life is? In any case, if you've ever thought that maybe you might like to see Barry Manilow and you have a chance, I strongly recommend you go for it. I'd like to see him in Vegas next time I'm there.

Here's the setlist, if you're interested:

1. It’s a Miracle
2. Daybreak
3. Somewhere in the Night/This One’s for You
4. The Old Songs
5. Jump Shout Boogie
6. Chattanooga Choo Choo
7. Moonlight Serenade
8. Weekend in New England
9. Bandstand Boogie
10. I Made it Through the Rain
11. Can’t Smile w/o You
12. Looks Like We Made it
13. Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed
14. Even Now
15. NYC Rhythm
16. Could It Be Magic
17. Yesterday
18. Cant Take My Eyes Off of You
19. Where Did Our Love Go
20. What the World Needs Now Is Love
21. Mandy
22. I Write the Songs
23. Copacabana
24. Old Friends
25. Forever and a Day

Before the show, we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant I'd never been to before, The Tea House. It's on the east side of St. Paul, just off of 94, almost on the border with Woodbury. It's a really lovely restaurant. Once you step inside, you can't believe you're in a stripmall Chinese place. The food was really delicious, too. We started with the juicy buns and Shanghai pancakes, as recommended by Dara Moskowitz in the City Pages - they were both really good. I'd love to go to the restaurant for dim sum some weekend. For entries we ordered the Sweet and Sour Chicken and the Gui Chou Chicken. They both were really good and they were a good compliment to each other. The Sweet and Sour Chicken had nice, meaty chicken chunks and was pretty light on the sauce. The Gui Chou Chicken was chicken strips with roasted chilis and bamboo shoots and it was nice and spicy - I was happy to have the sweet and sour to cool off my mouth, though I liked the Gui Chou Chicken better. One caution if you decide to try this place - it got a great review in the Pioneer Press, so they've been really busy. They ran out of food last weekend and we had quite a wait for a table on Friday night. I'm sure in a few weeks it'll calm down again. I'd definitely recommend trying this place out if you're in the east side of town.

I have also been knitting a bit, too. I've made good progress on the hoodie for Jessica:

I've finished the back, the pockets and have started one of the fronts. Maybe I can get this finished up before the weather stays warm for good.

Back to Regular Programming

2008-01-06T11:45:00.000-06:00

So, it was a great holiday. I had great fun visiting with family and friends from Christmas through New Year's. All of the gifts I made and purchased were well-received and I received some really lovely gifts in return. Given that there was so much going on, I cut out some of my holiday routines - no baking, no cards. I'm thinking about doing New Year cards, but if I do that, I've gotta move soon, the year won't be that new for long.

I spent New Year's Eve at one of my favorite places, in the movie theater. I saw this fantastic film:

For me, something magical happens when Tim Burton and Johnny Depp collaborate and this film is no exception. I loved the film description in Tony Scott's New York Times review, so I'll quote it here:

A barber, wronged by a powerful judge, returns to London and sets up shop, cutting throats as well as hair. The bodies of his victims are turned into savory meat pies by Mrs. Lovett, his energetic partner in business and crime.

Simple and to the point, but lovely language. Anyway, Johnny plays the barber and he's simply amazing. He captures both the sadness, loneliness and isolation of the character as well as the rage and mental illness. It's a heartbreaking performance. I fell in love with him even more, watching this film. It's not just the hormones talking - he really is one of the best actors of our generation, with an amazing range and ability to tackle such wide-ranging material. Helena Bonham Carter plays Mrs. Lovett and she and Johnny look great together on screen. They both are just ghostly pale with dark, dark hair and clothing and circles under their eyes. The look of the film is wonderful, with one scene of Mrs. Lovett's secret wishes for a better life that is in stark sunny contrast, making it even more touching and hilarious. Loved them both so much. Alan Rickman plays the evil judge and with this role and Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films, he truly embodies the essence of ill will. I need to see him in another romantic hero role to remind myself that he isn't really evil, just an amazing actor. As you can probably guess from the title and the description, this film is quite violent and really bloody. There's quite a lot of blood on the screen. It's bright, bright red, and really stands out against the grays and blacks of the rest of the screen. It gives it an unreal look, but you still feel every bit of the shock and horror of the deaths shown. Sweeney Todd also has a litle shoot from beneath his barber chair to the basement where Mrs. Lovett grinds up the bodies to make the meat for her pies, and that whole process is quite realistic, so if you have tender sensibilities, keep that in mind. The audience I saw the film with was largely senior citizens (apparently, going to an early movie on New Year's Eve is quite popular with the older set - I'm trying not to let it reflect on me that that's what I was doing too) and some of them made it quite clear this film wasn't what they were expecting and they didn't like it one bit. Every death elicited comments and sounds and at the end, I heard quite a few disgusted comments as people left the theater. In fact, the couple right behind me were quite vocal and so I feel like I'd really like to see it again without having to listen to the continuous commentary. Ah, the theater going experience, right?

As I've mentioned on this blog before, every year for New Year's I make one very specific, hopefully achievable resolution, in the hope of making one small change in my life to improve it or myself. Last year's was to stick to my budget. I had mixed results. I did fairly well in keeping track of my spending and being more aware of where my money was going, though some months I just gave up. I'm continuing on with that, though, so I do feel like I made a real change. And now that I have a "real job" and know exactly how much money I'm going to make and it isn't going to wildly fluctuate from month to month, it's more important than ever to stick to the budget, because I won't be able to count on just making more money later to compensate for spending sprees.

My resolution for this year is to start every week with a relatively clean home. I started the year with a sort of clean house, though there is still plenty of stuff I can get rid of and organize better. But I want to make sure that every Monday morning when I leave for work, the dishes are all clean, the clothes are all clean and put away, the floors are washed or vacuumed, the tables aren't cluttered, etc. We'll see how this one goes.

In knitting news, I'm rewarding myself for slogging through all that gray ribbing and getting most of the Christmas knitting done. I decided to join the rest of the knitting world and knit myself a pair of Monkey socks:

As you've read on a million other blogs, this pattern is great. It's interesting to knit, but not difficult at all. And it goes pretty quickly. I'm treating myself by using one of my skeins of Wollmeise - this color is called "Maria's Deepest Purple" and I love it because it's my favorite colors - red and purple. It's just gorgeous! And the perfect antidote to the overload of gray in my knitting and in the melting snow outside.

Happy New Year!!

2008-01-04T06:35:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a great New Year celebration, whatever you did. I went to my boyfriend Johnny Depp's new movie on New Year's Eve and enjoyed it quite much. I'll do a review next time.

For today, I want to participate in the recipe box "meme" that was started over at Mason-Dixon Knitting. Here's one of my recipe boxes:

Ugly, isn't it? If they give a prize for ugliest recipe box, I think I'd have a good shot at winning. But it's very precious to me, because it was my maternal grandfather's recipe box. Before she died, my maternal grandmother gave it to me, and it's just a treasure. When she gave it to me, I was hoping it would be filled with recipes for the food I remember eating at their house. It's full, but I don't remember most of the recipes that are in there:

You may have noticed the magnet on top of the box in the first picture. I'm not sure if that was something they kept with the box or it just happened to be stuck to it when Nana gave it to me. I'm guessing maybe they kept it with the box and then used it to stick the recipe they wanted to use to the fridge. Even though some of the recipes I was hoping would be in there aren't, I love looking at what is in there, because some of the recipes are handwritten:

Most of the cards are in Nana's handwriting. Nana didn't really cook much, Grandpa Pat did most of the cooking. But I guess he didn't like his writing and so Nana wrote up the recipes for him. I love seeing that familiar handwriting, now that she's gone.

There is one recipe in there that was very familiar. Nana did make this one and she taught it to me as a teenager. I have a handwritten copy she gave me in my own recipe box (which truth be told, is equally ugly - a brown plastic monstrosity). I didn't know she got the recipe from a newspaper, but obviously she did. It's not fancy or anything - it's sort of one of those simple, midwestern sturdy foods, I guess. But I make them fairly regularly. Back in the days when Bill and I were dating, he loved it when I made these ribs.

Just in Time

2007-12-28T18:29:00.000-06:00

I finished another Christmas project, just in time to wrap it up and head on out of town to visit the relatives:

Project Name: Cardigan for Merry
Designer: Anny Purls
Pattern Source: Anny Purls blog
Yarn: Knit Picks Andean Treasure
Yarn Source: Knitpicks
Date Started: 9/19/07
Date Completed: 12/27/07

Comments: This was a Christmas gift for my baby nephew, Jason. I really love the color, but I'm worried that the yarn will be too scratchy for his delicate skin. It feels really soft to the hand, but when I hold it against my skin, I feel the little hairs poking at me. Most of the other knitters who felt it thought it felt really nice, so I'm probably worrying about nothing. I really love the cable that is used (from the Cardigan for Arwen pattern in Interweave Knits). The pattern is really clearly written and I didn't change a thing.

Merry Christmas!!

2007-12-25T22:10:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone who celebrates it had a wonderful Christmas. I certainly did. I started the day with this happy news:

Yes, my fantasy football team is Big Dawgs and I won our championship!! Yay!!! I'm the only woman in our league, so it's always a little extra victory for us ladies when I win. My brother also won the consolation bracket championship, so it was a clean sweep for the Ladd family this year!

I spent the day with said brother and his kids and enjoyed a delicious meal and got some really nice gifts. My brother knows me so well. I ALMOST finished Michael's sweater. I had it all seamed but one side seam when I decided that the sleeve I sewed in wrong side out just bugged me too much to leave, so I ripped it off and wrapped it as it was and finished it while we watched "Fargo". I think it turned out very nicely:

Project Name: Quidditch Sweater
Designer: Anne Bergeron
Pattern Source: Charmed Knits
Yarn: Lion Brand Woolease
Yarn Source: Either Michael's or Joann's, I can't remember which
Date Started: 10/1/07
Date Completed: 12/25/07

Comments: I knit this in the Slytherin colors per Michael's request - he just likes those colors together. This is a well written, straight forward sweater. It shouldn't have taken me so long to knit, but I got really short on knitting time in November and December.

The ribbing is rather hugging, so Michael acted like a goofball for that picture and stood stiffly and refused to smile, but I think it felt pretty ok, because he kept it on and I mostly saw him looking like this:

Yes, he got a PSP from his daddy. I'm pleased with the length on the arms. I kept vascillating on how long to make them because I failed to measure his wingspan. I couldn't get him to put down the PSP long enough to try on the socks, but I think they'll fit ok.

Jessica also got a sweater piece, this time still on the needles, which she found hilarious. She liked the yarn a lot, so I think that'll be a hit too. I also gave her the wristers and she wore them the rest of the day, so overall I think the Christmas knitting went over well. Now I just need to finish up Jason's hoodie. All I have left is to finish kitchnering the hood, sewing on the buttons and making the button loops. Except I don't have buttons, so I need to pick those up before the weekend. I wish there was a fabric/yarn store in downtown St. Paul so I could do it over lunch. Probably better in the long run that there isn't, though.

I didn't knit anything for my niece Alexis this year, but she requested a beaded bracelet so I made a nice pink girly one for her tonight:

A little knitting and beading, some good food, one of my favorite movies and time with my family - a great holiday, I'd say!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

2007-12-22T08:50:00.000-06:00

I got a new cable for my card reader, so we're back in business, picture-wise. It's a snowy day today, just in time to make it look all Christmasy. I've been celebrating the season already, though. Both of my knitting groups had our Christmas celebrations this week. A week ago was my Saturday group and we had a really nice potluck - everyone brings such delicious treats! We do a Secret Santa type of exchange and I got a nice set of tubes for holding DPNs when you're knitting socks or such. Definitely will be using that. I also picked out a little gift for myself that day:

The new Noro Kureyon sock weight. So pretty!!

As I mentioned last time, I also started my one last Christmas gift, which I have no hope of finishing by Tuesday:

It's a zippered hoodie for my niece, Jessica. Luckily she's an X-tra Small and it's on size 8 needles, so it should get done fairly quickly. In fact, when I started knitting it, I got worried that it was looking like something that might almost fit me, so I was worried I was way off gauge. I double-checked the pattern and I was knitting the back, not one of the fronts. Yeah, that's tiny.

Wednesday night my other group had our little get together and gift exchange and I got an abundance of goodies. Everyone was so thoughtful and generous - it really made me feel lucky to belong to such a kind and caring group. I will share what I gave everyone, first because I've made it a rule for myself that I have to share my purchases on the blog before entering them into stash (hoping that I will shame myself from making more purchases) and second because you might like the idea for yourself. I sent Scout's Swag a picture of the coffeehouse that we meet in every week

and asked her if she would create a custom colorway for our group:

The tag, in case you can't read it, says "Wednesdays at Nina's". I think it turned out very nicely and we all were really happy to have our own, special colorway. Thank's Scout!!!

Lastly I got the December selection from the Amazing Threads Sock Club and it's really lovely:

It's Pagewood Farms hand-dyed. And finally, November tagged me for the Christmas meme:

Here are the questions (feel free to substitute the winter holiday of your choice & to add questions):

1. What was the best Christmas present you got as a kid? This is really bad, but I don't really remember any one specific gift I got for Christmas as a kid. We always got a lot of presents because we didn't get much stuff the rest of the year. I got lots of crafty stuff that I remember always liking.

2. What was the best Christmas present you got as an adult? My puppy Finbar. Back in 1996 I took all of the money I got from anyone for Christmas and put it together to buy him. I remember I drove out to the breeder in Buffalo, MN and it was a snowy night. I had intended just to look at the dogs, but I fell in love and had to take him home that night. I miss my babies this Christmas!

3. What’s your favorite Christmas carol? I thought I had done a Top Ten List of my favorite Christmas songs last year, but it turns out it was three years ago - goodness time flies! Here it is again:

1. The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole

2. White Christmas - Bing Crosby

3. Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley

4. Fairy Tale of New York - The Pogues featuring Kirsty McColl

5.Santa Clause is Coming to Town - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

6. Winter Wonderland - Johnny Mathis

7. It Must've Been Ol' Santa Clause - Harry Connick, Jr.

8. Do They Know It's Christmas - Band Aid

9. Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy - Bing Crosby and David Bowie

10. Let it Snow - Dean Martin

4. How long can you stand to listen to Christmas music before you break? I love Christmas music, so I could probably listen to it all year long. I know it's weird, given that I don't consider myself a Christian. But I love tradition and I just really like the music.

5. How many Christmas albums do you own? A lot. I used to buy at least one every year. I didn't this year, because I'm trying to move everything over to iPod so that I don't have so much crap around the house.

6. Did you ever go caroling as a kid? I was in chorus in grade school and junior high and we would go carolling at malls and retirement homes and such. I don't think I ever went door to door, though.

7. Would you willingly eat fruitcake? I haven't yet, but I would probably try it in the right circumstances.

8. Do you own any Christmas sweaters? This is really embarrassing, but yes. I have two of them.

9. Do you own any Christmas jewelry? Of course. I have earrings, necklaces, bracelets and pins.

10. Do you wear them? Yes. I don't wear the sweaters to work or anything, but I do wear the jewelry to work.

11. Did your family have any Christmas traditions? Like what? We would have Christmas eve at my paternal grandparents house and we always had oyster stew with the dinner - the kids had to have some of the milk and eat one oyster. We also were allowed to have a little glass of wine. Christmas morning we would get up and open our presents from Santa. Christmas Day was spent with my step-mom's family. They always did a name draw for Christmas, because it was such a large family. Since my parents were divorced, I think we usually spent time with my mom and my maternal grandparents more around New Year's. We also did a ton of baking, which I used to keep up with myself, but not this year. My step-mom always makes lefse, which I love even though I'm not Scandinavian. We'd make sugar cookies, peanut butter cookies with chocolate kisses, fudge, white chocolate covered pretzels and a wreath made out of cornflakes and marshmallows. My auntie would always make Mounds bars and rosettes. My grandmas would make spritz cookies. Yum!

12. Do you buy Christmas presents for your pets? As I said above, I don't have any pets this year. But this is the first time since 96. Sometimes I would buy a holiday themed toy for Finbar or some holiday treats for them both. But My step-mom, my sister and I always bought presents for the dogs from the dogs.

13. What’s your favorite Christmas cookie? Probably pretty frosted sugar cookies. Though they aren't specifically Christmas cookies, I always make chocolate chip and I love those too.

14. What’s your favorite Christmas candy? Those Mounds bars my auntie makes. I've tried to make them myself every year, because I don't always see my aunt every year now that my dad is down in Florida, but they just never turn out as good as hers.

15. What’s your stocking look like? When we were growing up, we just had the red fake furry ones. In my house right now I have two stockings hung, though. I have a small one that a friend of mine knit for me, which I just love! and I have a fabric one with an applique snow man that matches a quilt I bought when I was in Georgia for work one year.

16. How do you feel about the “Steal from Your Neighbor” Christmas present game (the one where people pick gifts from a pile, but others get to steal it)? I have never heard of doing this at Christmas. I've seen it at baby/bridal showers and it's ok.

17. What is the oldest ornament on your tree? I don't have ornaments on my tree. But I always check on my mom's tree that she has an ornament I made in kindergarten. It's a cardboard tube that's about 2.5" long covered in silver paper and glitter. I think that's the oldest one on her tree - about 35 years old now.

18. Real or artificial? Artificial. I have a really small house so I don't really have room anywhere for a tree. I just put out a tabletop tree that is fiber optic, so it glows different colors.

19. How do you feel about Christmas letters? I have mixed feelings. I've never done one myself. I can't say I'm overly excited about them - I would really prefer to get a little handwritten note and keep in touch with people throughout the year. But if that's the only way I'm going to hear from some of my friends, I'll take it.

20. Do you have Christmas decorations or lights outside your house? What are they? Not this year. I used to put up some lights on the outside porch, but there's not really a good place to plug them in anymore.

21. How far would you drive to see Christmas lights? On my own I probably wouldn't do it. But if the kids wanted to or a group of friends, I'd be game to go wherever.

22. Are you a fan of tasteful or tacky? I lean toward tasteful. A really pretty light display is just gorgeous. I have to say a whole hell of a lot of lights gets me too, even though that's tacky. I can't stand the plastic and blow up displays, though. Just lights for me.

23. Do you have any Christmas collections? Nope.

Checking In

2007-12-16T10:35:00.001-06:00

Still dreadfully little knitting going on as I continue to get used to my new job and finish up the old one. I did start my last Christmas present, which I have no hope of finishing up in time, but I can't get my pictures to download onto the laptop, so I guess I'll save that for another post.

I have spent some time in the movie theater, as this is the best time of year for films. Wednesday night I had dinner at Amazing Thailand with some friends. This is really a lovely restaurant. So beautifully decorated and the food really is amazing. The presentation is lovely and everyone really enjoyed their food. I had a curry that was delicious. I definitely will be going back - I think next time I'll try the Pad Thai, because that's always my measuring stick for a Thai restaurant. After dinner we saw this film:

This is a fantastic, beautiful book and the film does the book justice. It's about an upper class young woman, Cecilia, played by Keira Knightly who falls in love with the housekeeper's son, Robbie, played by James McAvoy. One hot summer day Cecilia's younger sister, Briony, sees Cecilia and Robbie through a window and misunderstands what she sees. She ends up ruining all of their lives by her misinterpretation, a story that is heartbreaking and yet beautiful. I remember how much I was frustrated and irritated by Briony when I read the book and the young actress who plays Briony brings her to life exactly as I imagined her. Knightly and McAvoy are both gorgeous and really make you care about what happens to this young couple, also. The cinematography is beautiful - this really is a film to be seen on the big screen. The story is told in three parts, like the book - the opening act at the family's country home in between World War I and II, Robbie in France during World War II and Cecilia and Briony working as nurses in London during the war. The book is really epic and I wondered how they could make it into a film that wasn't 5 hours long, but they really did a good job. Things are edited, but you still really get a full picture of the story and don't feel like you're missing something like you sometimes do with book adaptations. I think this year is going to be very competitive in the adapted screenplay Oscar race. I would recommend both the film and the book to you.

Friday night I saw "It's a Meaningless Life and Other Twisted Holiday Tales", a storytelling cabaret put on by Joseph Scrimshaw and his usual collaborators - his brother Joshua, Pablo, his wife Sara, Tim Uren and Philip Low and Alan Berks. It was a little bit uneven, but some pieces were really hilarious. My favorite was Joshua Scrimshaw's tale of his grandmother, including one trip he and Joe took with their mother to visit her in Texas. Joseph did two pieces - one based on the Christmas Carol, one year later and the other I'm blanking on right this second. He and Sara did The Nutcracker in 5 minutes, which was really funny and showed how ridiculous that ballet really is, from a logical viewpoint. I was unfortunate enough to be sitting in front of a very loud and boisterous (and possibly intoxicated) woman. We also had an older couple in the front row who declared to Pablo in a bit of audience interaction that they were offended by the show and wanted their money back. I'm not sure what they were expecting of a show called "It's a Meaningless Life", but apparently something more Christmasy. Some people! If you enjoy a little dark humor and storytelling, I recommend it. It's playing at the Garage Theater through next weekend.

Yesterday was Talk Cinema and I saw one of my favorite films of the year:

Wow. This was just a stunning movie. It's based on the autobiography of a French man, Jean-Dominique Bauby, who was editor of French Vogue Magazine - incredibly handsome, rich, successful, had it all. Then he has a massive stroke and is completely paralyzed, except for one eyelid. A speech therapist works out a system that allows him to spell out words by choosing letters by blinking and so he's able to communicate with friends and family and writes this autobiography using this method. It sounds like it's maudlin and corny, but it really isn't. If you made the story up it would sound impossibly and hokey, but it's all true and such a testament to human determination. And yet, he's no saint. It's a portrait of a man that is very truthful. The film is directed by Julian Schnabel and his experience as a visual artist is evident in every frame. Most of the story is told through Bauby's perspective, so you see things sometimes blurry, often uncentered, sometimes with his eyelid as part of the frame. It's just so different from anything else I've seen. Janusz Kaminski, who happens to be my favorite cinematographer (he's worked with Steven Spielberg pretty often), is the cinematographer and proves his brilliance once again.

Mathieu Almaric plays Jean-Do, as his friends call him, and gives a stunning performance. There are some scenes that show Jean-Do either before the stroke or simply as he remembers himself and he's just the essence of the French dreamboat - so gorgeous and smooth and impeccably dressed and you can really see what he's lost. But most of the time he's completely paralyzed and honestly really does act using only one eye. It's just amazing. Max Von Sydow plays Jean-Do's father and there's two fantastic scenes with him that are just devastating. At the end of the film, I just wanted to weep, it was so gut-wrenching. I really hope that this film wins the Best Foreign Film Oscar. I can't imagine there will be another film that can rival it's beauty and impact.

Hey, it's me again!

2007-12-09T10:46:00.001-06:00

Did you miss me? Probably not, because that week rushed right by and you didn't even notice I was gone :-) The new job is going very well. I really like it and I'm really glad I made the change. I haven't adjusted to the new schedule, yet though. I'm so tired every night and even though I may be getting close to the same amount of sleep, I'm just so tired. Its like jet lag, I guess. Eventually I'll get used to it. So, between the new job, continuing to finish up stuff for the old job, and social engagements, I have hardly had a minute to knit. But, I did finish one small Christmas gift:

Project Name: Dori's a Genius
Designer: Julie Carles and Jordana Jacobs
Pattern Source: The Yarn Girls' Guide to Knits for All Seasons
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM
Yarn Source: Needlework Unlimited
Date Started: 11/23/07
Date Completed: 12/6/07

Comments: Even though it took me about two weeks to make them, it's just because I had so little knitting time. They're really a fast and easy project. They are knit with just one skein of Koigu, so it's a great project to use up your orphan skeins of sock yarn. You knit with the yarn doubled. The pattern calls for size 9 needles, but I'm a loose knitter so I started with size 8. I felt like it was still too loose, so after the ruffle, I switched to size 7s. I had less than a yard of yarn left when I finished - I love when that happens! Here's a picture that is less eye-blindingly bright, but not very clear, showing how they look on the hand. It's hard to take pictures of your own hand!

One of the things I did this week is see this film:

Great movie, but I was a little disappointed. It's sort of a girls' answer to another great movie from this year, Knocked Up. Ellen Page plays a 16 year old girl who gets pregnant after she has sex with her best friend played by Michael Cera. The script was written by Diablo Cody, who used to live here in the Twin Cities and wrote for City Pages. The film is set in a fictional northern suburb, so there are a few references to Twin Cities places, which is kind of fun for us locals. The script is wonderful, full of humor and dialog that is just a treat to listen to. One of my slight disappointments is just that no one is as smart and funny and talks like Juno does. But it's still really fun to watch and listen to. The script is brought to life by the amazing cast. Ellen Page delivers those lines with perfect timing and pace and really brings real heart to the character - she does show that Juno isn't quite as smart and sophisticated as she thinks she is. Michael Cera is his usual hilarious, deadpan self. Another small disappointment - this is he same character he played in Superbad and before that in my all time favorite tv show, Arrested Development. He's got it down pat and is hilarious, but I'd love to see him play someone that's just a little bit different. Allison Janney and J.K. Simmons are two of my favorite character actors. They play Juno's parents and each has a great scene with Ellen Page. Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman play a couple from St. Cloud who want to adopt Juno's baby. They both do a fantastic job with their roles also. Really an amazing ensemble - I wouldn't be surprised if they picked up the Actor's Guild award for Best Ensemble. My biggest problem with the film, though, was that I felt like I had already seen the whole outline of the film and most of the best lines in previews. Perhaps because of the local connection, I was really interested in this film and they promoted the hell out of it and I think I saw every promo they made. It's my own fault. When you love movies and want to find out what's out there and what you should watch, sometimes you find out too much and I think this is one of those cases for me. I think if I had seen this film before I knew anything about it or if I just sort of knew what it was about, I would have just loved it. But hilarious scenes and lines that I'd already heard a few times just didn't have the same thrill for me. I would definitely recommend seeing it, though.

Last Page of Calendar

2007-12-02T09:31:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it's December already. I turned to the last page of the calendar and I'll be it'll be time to put up a new calendar before you know it.

I finished up about half of what I needed to last week. Probably a little more than that, but I didn't finish everything for sure. I'll need to keep working the old job for a little while longer even while I'm starting the new job. Should be interesting to see how long I can keep that up. Ugh.

I stayed late to finish up a Custody/Parenting Time Evaluation on Friday night and then met up with some friends to have dinner and then see this film:

I hated this movie. It was directed by Noah Bambach, who also directed The Squid and the Whale last year. I thought that movie was really over-rated, but I flat out hated this movie. I think I just don't have the Bambach sensibility and will not go out of my way to see his next films. This film doesn't have a plot so much as a series of interlocking scenes. It stars Nicole Kidman as Margot and Jennifer Jason Leigh (the director's wife) as Pauline, Margot's sister. Margot and her teenage son travel to Margot's childhood home on the East Coast for Pauline's wedding. Pauline lives in their childhood home with her teenage daughter and her fiance, played by Jack Black. These women are very smart but damaged, so they spend the entire film cutting each other with their razor-sharps wits. They're both intensely self-absorbed women, which makes them pretty poor parents, especially Margot. It was really unpleasant for me to watch these horrible women behaving badly. I wasn't engaged in the film at all and was shocked when I later found out it's only 90 minutes long - I seriously thought it was well over 2 hours because it felt to me like it was going on and on and on. This is getting some really stellar reviews, but count me in the camp of those who found it pretentious and boring.

Saturday we had a bit of a snowstorm, but my brother managed to draw me out of the house for a much, much better film:

Blade Runner is easily one of my Top Ten All Time Favorite Films. Ridley Scott has tweaked it now and again and released Director's Cuts, but this is billed as The Final Cut. There are a few small additions and edits here and there, but the main change is that he digitally enhanced the film and music. It's playing at The Uptown, so seeing it on the huge screen was really such a treat. The picture quality is amazing and the sound was great. It was a thrilling experience.

If you haven't seen Blade Runner, I strongly recommend it. It was originally released in 1982 and is set in 2019 Los Angeles, based on a book by the great Philip K. Dick. Harrison Ford stars as Rick Deckard, a police officer known as a Blade Runner. His job is to hunt down and kill escaped replicants - sort of robots that are billed as "more human than human". He's been brought out of retirement to "retire" (kill) four replicants who have escaped labor camps set up off-world - we have destroyed the planet so badly that most people live in colonies on other planets. The replicants are led by Rutger Hauer. In the process of his work, Deckard meets a woman named Rachael, played by Sean Young, who doesn't realize she's a replicant until Deckard figures it out and spills the beans. The film really was a masterpiece visually, showing a future that is not that far off from what we may see in 2019 and was copied over and over again in futuristic films over the last 25 years. Scott shows a world with gigantic global corporations dominating the country, advertising everywhere. As I mentioned, we've ruined earth, so it's black and rainy and dirty all the time. Los Angeles is extremely multi-cultural and very overcrowded. There's a huge disparity between the poor and the rich, who have a cornucopia of technical gadgets. A lot of those gadgets aren't exactly the same as we have now, but they're definitely similar. For instance I remember how cool I thought one scene was where Deckard takes a photograph and feeds it into a machine, which then displays it on what looks like his television and he's able to enlarge sections of the photo through voice commands and eventually prints out an enlarged portion. That seemed so incredibly cool in 1982. Now I can easily scan in a picture, photo shop it all I want and print it out, no problem. We still don't have flying cars, though.

I haven't seen Blade Runner on the big screen in a few years, so I forgot just how incredibly good looking and charismatic Harrison Ford was back then. Rutger Hauer looks every bit the essense of the Teutonic ideal. I was a huge fan of his for a while and miss seeing him in great roles. Sean Young was really at her peak playing the doe-eyed Rachael, all shoulder pads and red lips. It was really such a treat to see this in the theater, but a DVD version is coming out in a few weeks and you can bet it's on my Christmas list.

It's my habit to go out for noodles whenever I go see Blade Runner (it's played a few times at Oak Street Cinema and as I said, some Director's Releases have come out), because Deckard is shown eating noodles at an Asian noodle stand and it always makes me hungry for noodles. Since we were in Uptown, we went over to Fuji Ya and had noodles and sushi. Isn't this plate of sushi gorgeous?

I also finished up a book last night:

This was the latest in the Christine Bennett holiday murder series. Christine is an ex-nun who solves murder mysteries as a hobby. This is her 17th and even though the murder was thought to be suicide and 20 years old, Christine is able to figure out whodunnit. I like this series and this was a good episode. There were a lot of possible suspects and I didn't really know for sure who and why until the very end, which is what I like best in a murder mystery. I think I'm going to pick up Harry Potter #6 next.

Speaking of Harry Potter, I also have some knitting content! I bought a table top Christmas tree from Red (for Boy Scouts) and it came last weekend. So I decorated it up with the Harry Potter sweaters and snitches and gave it to Michael for an early Christmas present and he said he really liked it:

I offered to make him another sweater with an "M", but he said he wanted it to just be Potter sweaters, so that means I'm done with that project! Quick and easy. By the way, my brother isn't storing it on his stove. I just picked it up and put it there for the picture so that I wouldn't have to bend over.

I See A Light

2007-11-29T09:55:00.000-06:00

Only two more days left to wrap things up and I think it can almost be done. I've gotten a lot of the documents I needed to draft done and I think I'll be able to finish one custody report tomorrow. That leaves one home study which I know I won't be able to finish because a key person I need to talk to is gone until Monday. So, I'll have some stuff to finish up in the evenings and weekend after I start the new job, but it's doable, I think. It's been really hard to tell the kids that I'm leaving.

I took a break and saw this documentary on Tuesday night:

In English, Terror's Advocate. It's about French lawyer Jacques Verges, who has made a career of defending various terrorists, dictators and other unpopular clients. Verges' mother was Vietnamese, so he says that he knows what it's like to be discriminated against and colonized. He seems to see his work as defending those who have been colonized and discriminated against, too. The film is very dense and involved and I think my lack of knowledge of world politics hampered my understanding, especially in some parts that were setting up a theory that Verges maybe went beyond just zealous legal representation. He's a fascinating character, with a lot of contradictions, so I enjoyed the film when it was more concentrated on him and his motives. The political intrigue sometimes lost my attention, but it was necessary to understand the theory that Verges crossed a line. Verges disappeared for 8 years and refuses to say more than that he went underground. The director, Barbet Schroeder, uses STASI survellience records and interviews with people who knew Verges to suggest he was involved in activities with the terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal. There's even a knitting reference - Carlos insists that his live-in girlfriend "get her hands dirty" since she knows so much about his activities. She's arrested for planting a bomb and Verges represents her at the trial. She ends up in prison for 4 years and Verges visits her something like 150 times during that period - the implication is clear that he's got a personal relationship with his client and that he probably used his private meetings with her to do more than discuss legal strategies - very dangerous when she's involved with a man like Carlos the Jackal. Anyway, Verges shows us a sweater that the woman knit for him while she was in prison - and later she slying says that she didn't knit Carlos a sweater -wink wink nudge nudge. Knitting is so sexy! Anyway, it's a pretty interesting documentary, but a bit dry if you're not familiar with middle-eastern politics.

This film was expected to perhaps be nominated for an Academy Award, but the short list was revealed last week and this is not on it. Every year the Academy releases a list of 15 finalists for the nominations before it releases the final nominations, so that members have a chance to see as many of the potential nominees as possible. This year it seems like so many really good documentaries have been left off the short list: Air Guitar Nation, King of Kong, The Davil Came on Horseback, In the Shadow of the Moon, Crazy Love, Darfur Now, Jimmy Carter: Man from Plains, Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten, Kurt Cobain: About a Son, My Kid Could Paint That and Pete Seeger: The Power of Song. I haven't yet seen every single one of those, but I've seen most of them and they all have gotten really good reviews. If you like documentaries, I'd highly recommend adding them to your Netflix list. I've only seen two of the short listed documentaries, but I liked them both very much. I really wanted to see a couple of the others when they were here, but documentaries typically only play a week at the most, so if you're busy that particular week, you're out of luck. It's frustrating. Anyway, here's the list of semi-finalists, if you will:

Autism The Musical
Body of War
For The Bible Tells Me So
Lake of Fire
Nanking (which played here last night only - I couldn't make it, argh!)
No End in Sight
Operation Homecoming
Please Vote for Me
The Price of Sugar
A Promise to the Dead
The Rape of Europa
Sicko
Taxi to the Dark Side
War/Dance
White Light/Black Rain

An Invitation

2007-11-27T08:35:00.000-06:00

I have nothing to blog about these days. I've spent the last four days either working or cleaning. Ugh, I hate being a good girl. This is my last week to wrap up my law practice and I have a number of things I need to get done, so I had to schedule some meetings over the weekend and review a bunch of documents. I didn't even get to see the Vikings FINALLY win a second game in a row this season. :-(

When I wasn't working, I was cleaning up the house. The city fire inspector is coming in to the house to do an inspection and so I needed to get it up to shape. It's my own darn fault for being such a bad housekeeper and such a good shopper, but I still didn't like having to do it. I did manage to finally get rid of a few problem areas of clutter, which makes me happy. Now I just have about a million more to go before things are really nice and neat, but that'll have to wait for another time.

I did also read some blogs post-Thanksgiving and I signed on for Paying it Forward with Jen and Carrie. Here's the deal:

The idea of the exchange is I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on this blog post requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet, and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise (probably sooner rather than later however)! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog - this means you must have a blog, sorry blogless readers.

Since I signed up with two people (I couldn't help myself - I was feeling deprived!!) I'm going to make it 6 people, if that many are interested. I have a couple of ideas for things to make. I can tell you though that it won't be until after the new year. Back to work!

Ahhhhh, that's better

2007-11-24T10:07:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving was a very nice, relaxing day. The turkey was delicious. The football games weren't very competitive, though. Since I was bored and disiniterested in the Cowboys winning again, I took Michael to see this movie:

Eh. It was ok. Nice looking animation and a few chuckles, but not really funny or that entertaining. I actually started to doze off a couple of times. You probably already know the story - Jerry Seinfeld voices the lead bee, Barry, who is just graduating and ready to choose his job in the hive. But he doesn't want to be just a worker bee, he wants to explore the world, so he flies outside the hive with the "pollen jocks" and falls in love with a florist, voiced by the tastefully named Renee Zellweger, after she saves him from being killed by her loud-mouthed boyfriend. Yes, there's a bee-woman love story here. Which is kind of creepy, in my opinion. Michael liked it and it was pleasant enough, just not up to my high expectations for Mr. Seinfeld.

I knit a little bit on Michael's Quidditch Sweater (when I was at home, not with him. It's sort of a surprise, because he picked all sorts of things out of the book). For someone who is tired of knitting grey ribbing, I made a stupid mistake. I somehow mis-remembered that I did all of the sleeve increases before I started the green stripe. Um, no. So when I finished the increases, it was already too long. So I had to rip back to where I was supposed to start the green and continue on. It probably was only about an hour's worth of knitting, but it was frustrating!! I only have a tiny little ball of green yarn left, so I'm afraid I am going to run out before I finish the neckband. I'll have to see if I have another skein of that dark green Woolease in my stash. Anyway, just have to finish the top of the sleeve shaping, sew the pieces together and do the neckband and that's done too!! Easily finished before Christmas.

But I also started another Christmas gift, this time for Michael's sister, Jessica. And it's in blessed pink, red and orange. As I was winding the yarn up, it looked fantastic in front of my pink and orange curtains:

I love this yarn and I think I'm going to have to pick up a couple of skeins for myself to make socks with. It's Koigu, color P803D. I'm making a pair of wristers from "Knits for All Seasons" with it:

Fast and Easy Project.

I had to work yesterday and had a meeting all morning, but I still wouldn't have gone shopping yesterday. I hate crowds and those Black Friday shoppers are scary. I did nip into Joann's after dinner last night and picked up some Paton's Classic Wool that was on sale for $3 a skein. I'm going to make the Hedgerow Coat from Interweave Knits Fall 2007 with this yarn.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T10:09:00.000-06:00

One things I'm thankful for today, is that I finished my Quidditch Socks:

Project Name: Quidditch Socks
Designer: Lauren Kent
Pattern Source: Charmed Knits
Yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweit
Yarn Source: The Yarnery
Date Started: 10/10/07
Date Completed: 11/20/07

Comments: These are a Christmas present for my nephew, Michael. He chose the Slytherin colors, but said it was because he likes green and gray, not because he likes Slytherin House. He also said he wanted them to be crew length, not knee-highs, so I shortened the leg length from the pattern. I should have made the green stripes closer together to balance the new shorter length. These are knit toe up and my wonderful friend Deb happened to be with me when I started each sock, so she was nice enough to do Judy's magic cast on for me. The toe looks so great with that technique. Next time I knit toe up socks, I'll have to figure it out for myself. Unless Deb happens to be there and enables me to be helpless again. :-)

With that I have my first knitted Christmas present done, yeay!! And I can cast on something that isn't gray or green, yeay!! I also have a completed pair of socks for this month for the Socks in the Cities KAL, yeay!!! I felt like these socks took me forever to knit, but it was actually just over a month, which is pretty fast for me. Although it made me realize that if I knit one pair of socks a month, it's going to take me a long, long, long time to knit through my sock yarn stash. I should perhaps stop buying sock yarn.

As you could see in that sock picture, it's snowing here! There was actually a light covering of snow on my car when I left the office last night. And it was still snowing later that night when I had to go back to the office to pick up my laptop because I left it sitting on my desk. And when I got up this morning, it was snowing. And yet, there really isn't much accumulated:

The bunny was glad because he's still well camouflaged in the brown leaves and grass and dirt of my back yard. I think the ground is just too warm still, so it's all melting on contact. I like the snow though. It looks lovely falling lightly to the ground and it puts me in the holiday mood.

Another thing I'm thankful for today is that in just over a week, I'll be starting a new job. I'm going to work for the State of Minnesota and I'm really excited. I've been self-employed for almost 15 years, so it's going to be a big lifestyle change. But I think most of the changes will be good. I'm going to have to figure out this blogging thing, because my routine now is on the days when I don't have a meeting or hearing first thing in the morning, I go through my email and return any calls that are urgently required and then blog. Since I have to be at work at 8:00, I'm not going to have any extra time in the morning. I'll be getting off much, much earlier than I work now, though, so I'm guessing I'll just shift a lot of my morning routine to pre-dinner time.

Because another thing I'm thankful for is being part of this blogging community. I just love reading everyone's blogs and feeling like people are genuinely interested in my blog. It's such a great feeling.

I'm also thankful that I have a nice house to live in, great food to eat today and every day and the luxury of having a nice stash of yarn, being able to go to movies every week, going to plays and concerts, Vikings season tickets and the time to be able to enjoy all these things. I know I am so lucky to not have to work three jobs to make ends meet and the income to be able to indulge myself on a regular basis. I am very grateful!

And most of all I'm thankful for my loving friends and family. I got a ton of support in the process of getting this new job and I know the good thoughts and wishes from my friends helped and made me more confident. My parents are all so proud of me, which makes me really happy. And I'm excited to spend the day today with my best friend, my brother!

Another Weekend Gone

2007-11-20T09:59:00.001-06:00

Time flies when you're having fun, doesn't it? Friday night I saw this film:

I liked it, but I didn't love it. Denzel Washington plays a drug kingpin in 1970s New Jersey. Russell Crowe is the police detective who is heading up a taskforce to take down big time drug operations and targets the Washington character. It's a really well done film, and I was engaged with what was happening and fascinated with both of the characters. But it just wasn't overwhelming. At the very end of the movie, Washington and Crowe finally get in a room together and have some scenes together. They were electrifying. Both actors give their usual amazing performances. Although I'm not sure I was as scared of Washington as I would have been of the real Frank.

Saturday was another edition of Talk Cinema and we saw a German film:

Very strange movie and I don't know how to describe it without giving away the plot. This is one of those puzzle movies, where there are a few twists and turns along the way. In the briefest of descriptions, it's about a woman named Yella who lives in East Germany. She and her husband have recently split up and the company they ran is bankrupt, so she gets a job in West Germany. There were times during the film where I was a little bored and not sure if I liked it, but there were other scenes that were really great and interesting and by the very end, I did like it quite a lot. In the Talk part of Talk Cinema, it was compared to a David Lynch film and I'm not sure I'd agree. It did have sort of the weird, twisty quality of a Lynch film, but it was very, very dark, whereas in Lynch's films, you have this layer of brightness and happiness and the darkness is under the surface. And most of his films have great humor, which I didn't really see in this film. The other part of the Talk that was really invaluable was that we had a professor from the German Department at the U of M talk about the film and give us some context, which I really found fascinating (although the two women behind me spent the entire time making nasty comments about how boring he was and begging him to shut up). Apparently the film is a commentary on the state of reunified Germany and the perception of East Germans of capitalism.

One of my knitting groups took the trip up to Yarn Cafe on Saturday afternoon and we had a great time knitting and eating and shopping. I limited myself to this one skein of yarn:

I know you're shocked that it's sock yarn. It's Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome. I've never used sockittome before, but it seems very soft and nice. It's more loosely spun than the supersock. Most of the yarns in my collection are brighter colors than this, so I thought it would be nice to add a little more muted, romantic colorway.

Speaking of sock yarn, I also got the latest selection in the Amazing Threads sock club:

As you can see, it's Araucania Ranco from Chile. The pattern is just a basic ribbed sock pattern, but I think I'll probably try that with these socks because I'm not sure about the dye pattern.

Sunday of course was another big Vikings victory. I'm a huge Daunte Culpepper fan, so I wore my Culpepper jersey to the game. It was hard not to cheer for him, but I still have to cheer on my favorite team. This week in fantasy football I play my brother and I have Chester Taylor on my team, so each touchdown was doubly sweet, as I taunted him that I was kicking his ass. Hey, if he had to lose to his sister, at least he got to see the Vikings win, too.

Still Stuck

2007-11-15T09:27:00.000-06:00

I still haven't been knitting much. I have stuff going on every night and when I get home, I'm having a hard time picking up the needles and knitting. I really think it's because I'm not inspired by these projects and they're taking too long. It's an endless loop - I'm not knitting them because they're taking too long and they're taking too long because I'm not knitting them.

I didn't even knit at my knitting group last night because instead of meeting to knit, we went out for dinner at Ngon. This is a charming little restaurant on University Avenue in St. Paul. It's simply and beautifully decorated and everyone loved their food. I had a lemongrass beef lettuce wrap appetizer that was delicious and then the Pho Tai. Servings are generously sized. We all got desserts and I tried everyone's and they all were really delicious.

Since I haven't been home that much, I haven't been watching much tv, either, so I have plenty of shows saved up for when the re-runs start. Here's a nice list of how many episodes are left to air in a lot of the current shows.

I also finished reading this book:

I outlined the plot of the book when I reviewed the movie, so I won't go into that again. I loved this book, just as much as the movie. I wish I had gotten off my ass and read it before I saw the movie so I could have had a "clean" reaction to it. The structure of the book is different than the film. The book is much more linear - the film kind of skips back and forth in time, which I think works very well in the film. The book answered some of the questions I still had at the end of the film, so I appreciated that aspect. It was really well written - totally absorbing even though I aleady knew what was going to happen. I think I got a little fuller picture of Chris McCandless from the book - clearly Krakauer admires McCandless as much as Penn does, but he also isn't afraid to show his weaknesses. Krakauer inserted himself into the book quite a lot - he writes about his own experiences in mountain climbing as a man about the same age as Chris. On the one hand, I felt like it was pretty egotistical - this is supposed to be Chris' story, not the authors. On the other hand, I really did feel like his own story illuminated Chris' and helped me to understand Chris better, since chucking everything to live off the land is something that doesn't appeal to me in the least. There's a chapter where Chris' sister finds out what happened to Chris and I was literally sobbing. I know part of that comes from my own relationship with my brother, but Krakauer really does a fine job in telling this story and getting the reader invested in it. I highly recommend reading this book - it's very quick and easy to read.

Since I don't have any knitting to show, I thought I'd post some of the yarn I bought at last year's Treasure Hunt LYS Hop. Since it's been a year and I haven't knit it yet, I think it's time to officially call it stash. I did knit up a fair amount of the yarn I bought last year though. I haven't knit a stitch from this year's purchases yet, but that will change once I get ONE Of these Christmas projects done.

Coldwater Collaborative had a sale on all of their Alchemy Yarns, so I stocked up on some of these lovelies:

This picture looks kind of blue, but it's actually purple. It's Synchronicity, a silk/wool blend. I have 6 skeins. I was thinking of making a shell sweater for myself with the yarn, but I probably need another skein or two to do that and I haven't been able to find it so far. If you have more of this yarn hanging about and what to sell it, let me know.

This is called Silk Purse - it's 100% silk in a lovely green and blue variegation. I thought maybe a pair of wristers or something small and close to the skin like that.

This is Synchronicity. I was originally planning to make a baby hat if my sister had had a baby girl instead of a boy. I may still make a cute pink hat for my next friend that has a baby girl.

Another skein of Silk Purse, with the same intentions. Either a baby hat or some sort of small accessory. I just couldn't pass up my favorite pink in lovely soft silk!

What a Difference a Week Makes

2007-11-12T09:31:00.000-06:00

I can't believe the team that was so dominating against the Chargers last Sunday is the same team that was so pathetic against the Packers. THE PACKERS!! And Adrian. Oh my gosh. If Adrian can't play there's very little reason to keep going to these games, except that I've laid out a significant amount of money for the tickets. I guess we'll see. I also am not dominating on my fantasy football team this week like I did last week, but I could possibly still win. We play Individual Defensive Players in our league and I have two of them playing this week. If I get 12 points, I still win. Fingers crossed here. I'm in second place in the league and I'd like to stay there.

I barely knitted this whole weekend. I did finish sewing together the pieces of the Cardigan for Merry and started the hood:

Now I just have to finish the hood, which at least has the cables in each end, and I'll finish my first Christmas gift. It'll be here before you know it. Friday night I went shopping and the mall is in full on Christmas season. There are sales and displays of Christmas gifts in every store. The Christmas decorations are everywhere and there were Christmas songs playing.

What else did I do instead of knitting this weekend? I do apheresis at the Red Cross, so I did that on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon I took Red and Michael to Gameworks for some fun playing videogames. They each won a stuffed animal in the crane games and they made it all the way through an Ocean Hunter game, so I think it was a good day all around. That night Greg, Michael and I went out for an Asian buffet dinner and then spent the rest of the night playing Buzz. I did pretty well as far as getting the answers correct, but I'm a step or two slower than Greg most of the time on the timed parts of the game. I blame age - my mind just doesn't work as quickly as it used to.

Minnesota Film Arts has been having a little bit of a documentary film festival at the Bell and Oak Street Theaters. There were a couple of films last week that I wanted to see and missed, but I finally saw one yesterday:

It's a film exploring both sides of the issue of abortion. The director, Tony Kaye, who also directed American History X, worked on this film for almost 20 years. A lot of the footage is pretty dated - there are a lot of protests referencing Bill and Hillary Clinton. But I think it captured pretty well that American society is at a kind of war and it's not just about abortion, but the very nature of what is valued in society. The director has reported that he is conflicted about the issue himself and I think he did do a pretty good job of laying out both sides of the argument fully and fairly.

I did get the feeling that he leans toward pro-choice simply because a lot of the pro-life people he interviewed were borderline insane. They were just so far out there, that it was frightening. Of course, that may just be what he had to work with because that's what is out there. He interviews Village Voice writer Nat Henthoff, who is a civil libertarian, but is pro-life based on his belief that life begins at conception. He explains it very sanely and rationally, unlike some of the more religious zealots interviewed.

One benefit of having such a long-term project is that he gets some really interesting footage of Paul Hill. Mr. Hill is shown advocating that many sinners should be put to death - not just doctors who perform abortions, but also blasphemers - anyone who says "God Damn It". Mr. Hill later went on to shoot and kill a doctor who performed abortions as well as a man who escorted him. Hill was eventually convicted, sentenced to death and executed.

The film also shows a band singing pro-choice songs featuring a lead singer in hip boots, black panties and black tape over her nipples. She beat herself with a coat hanger and sort of masturbated with it. So, there was a little "out there" behavior on the pro-choice side as well. One of the more interesting interviews was with Norma McCorvey who was the Jane Roe in Roe v. Wade. Ms. McCorvey was a choice advocate for many years, working at a clinic and targeted by the pro-life movement. She described being so depressed that she started cutting herself. A few years ago, Operation Rescue moved into office space next door to the clinic she was working at and she started visiting their offices. She said she felt welcomed and peaceful there and she eventually became a pro-life advocate. They show her speaking at some sort of Pat Buchanan rally, to thunderous applause. You could see the struggles that she had had and personally I think she just really craved the care and attention that she now gets.

There were quite a few other things that were difficult to watch. There are two abortion procedures shown in the film and footage from a graphic pro-life video. The first procedure is the termination of a 20 week pregnancy, so the fetus was quite developed by that time. It was really, really tiny, but the body parts shown in the tray are recognizable as a head, arms and hands, feet and legs. The second procedure was only a few weeks into the pregnancy and there was nothing recognizable as a human being in that procedure. The termination was just part of what the filmmakers showed of this procedure. They showed the woman coming to the clinic with her ex-boyfriend, being interviewed about her history and why she had chosen to terminate her pregnancy, and then a post-procedure interview. The woman who agreed to open herself up in such a way was so brave. It was one of the most compelling things I've seen on film. The whole thing took place right here in the Twin Cities and she was almost exactly my age, so I perhaps felt a little more close to it.

As far as the filmmaking goes, I thought it was presented really well, mostly consisting of interviews. The film was shot in black and white, which is actually hundreds of shades of gray, of course, just like the issue itself. A lot of the interviews were shot in extreme closeup and brightly lit from the front, so the effect was that you could see every little blemish on the person's face and they did not look that sympathetic or attractive. It seemed like he did that more for the women he interviewed, while the men like Paul Hill, Noam Chomsky and Alan Dershowitz were interviewed in medium shot. Overall, though, I would really recommend this film. No matter what your views about abortion, it will make you think about it and consider the arguments on both sides. I think it also highlights something about our society that is really concerning to me. Instead of having a marketplace of ideas where people debate and discuss issues, we've become completely polarized and the strong polemics drown out any real exchange of ideas.

TGIF

2007-11-09T10:11:00.000-06:00

This week went really fast, but I'm still glad it's Friday. Although, guess what I saw this morning:

That's not cottonwood, folks. Sure, it's not a blizzard or anything. And sure, it's November and Minnesota, so snow is to be expected. But it was so nice last weekend!! And I still haven't unpacked all my winter clothes. I need to do that this weekend. The light flakes have stopped falling, so it's already disappearing.

I had a chance to see two sneak peeks at films this week, both literary adaptations. On Wednesday night I saw this:

I really enjoyed this one. For those who haven't read the book, the film is about a boy from Afghanistan who is best friends with the son of his father's servant, even though they are from different ethnic backgrounds. Boy, it's hard to explain this one without giving away too much. Let's just say that eventually the boy and his father leave Afghanistan when the Russians invade because the father has been openly critical of Communism. They eventually find their way to the United States. The boy grows into a man in the U.S., becoming an author and husband. Then he gets a call to come back to Afghanistan. By then the Taliban has taken control, so the Afghanistan the man remembers from his childhood is gone. It's a heartbreaking, beautiful book and the film is very faithful to the book. There are sections of the book that had to be taken out for time considerations, but I think it's very well done. If you enjoyed the book, I think you'll really enjoy the film. The boys in the film capture your heart. The actor who played Baba, the boy's father, was brilliant. He was at our screening, so I had a chance to meet him and he answered a few questions.

Thursday night I saw this film:

This is based on the Cormac McCarthy book. I haven't read that book, but I understand the film is also very faithful to the book. For those who haven't read it, it's set in Texas in 1980. Josh Brolin plays a guy who is out hunting and comes across a drug deal gone bad. Among all the bodies, he finds a case with $2 million in it, so of course he takes the money. Javier Bardem plays a psychopath who is chasing Brolin to recover the money and kill him. Tommy Lee Jones is the county sheriff investigating the drug deal murders who figures that since there's no money around, Brolin must have it. The sheriff is trying to protect Brolin from himself, but also dealing with his own feeling that the world has changed too much and become too violent.

I had a mixed reaction to this film. I would say I admired it more than I liked it, if you know what I mean. It's directed by the Coen Brothers, whose films I seem to either just really click with or not. This one would fall into the latter category, like the Big Lebowski and Barton Fink. I liked them just fine, but I didn't love them the way I do Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Miller's Crossing, Fargo and O Brother. It's getting over 90% positive reviews at Rotten Tomatoes, so I'm obviously in the minority.

On the positive side, it's a masterpiece of workmanship. The Director of Photography Roger Deakins has worked with the Coens many times and they've created a film that is so gorgeous. Every shot is like a painting and so visually arresting. I strongly recommend you see this on the big screen if you're so inclined, so you get the full effect. The pacing is incredibly precise. It's a murder mystery/thriller and the tension and suspense was almost unbearable. I don't use this term lightly, but I'd call it Hitchcock-like. There were some scenes where I was literally holding my breath, waiting to see what was going to happen.

What didn't work for me was the ending. I got the book at the screening, so I cracked it to the last chapter and the end is straight out of the book, but I was really unsettled by it. I also just wasn't as engaged by Javier Bardem's character, Anton Chigurh as most of the reviewers seem to be. I've seen him comapred to Hannibal Lector but he just didn't capture my imagination the way Lector did. His silly hairstyle is supposed to be ironic, I think, but it sort of got in the way for me. I didn't find him nearly as crazy and unpredictable as I think I was supposed to. The other thing is that the film subverts your expectations and film convention in many ways, which I think critics really liked. It sort of disappointed me, though. Not that I have to see everything play out the way I expect and demand hackneyed film conventions, but I just think leaving out things that you think are going to happen lessened the impact of the film for me. Overall, I would still really recommend it. It's worth seeing and it's really well done. It just won't be making my Top Ten list this year as I suspect it will for most reviewers. I also have to warn the squemish that there is some real violence in this film and a lot of blood, so if you can't take that kind of thing, maybe check out something else.

Mid Week

2007-11-07T10:06:00.000-06:00

Well, I was half right. It was so much fun to watch Adrian Peterson on Sunday!! Yes, it was an extremely exciting day and I thoroughly enjoyed it. And the team actually won, despite several turnovers. Adrian is also on my fantasy football team, so I had quite a productive day in fantasy football as well! Life is good.

As you may have heard, the WGA strike has begun. The late night chat shows are in re-runs. Most of the sitcoms have stopped production because the writers keep working on those right up to when filming starts. Some of the dramas have started to shut down either because they don't have any more scripts or because the showrunners are not crossing the picket line. It's been interesting to see which actors have visited the picket lines. The tv writer for one of the local papers wrote that he thinks this strike is going to last at least until March. Expect to see a lot of reality tv after Christmas if that happens - it sounds like CBS is going to try to bring their Big Brother show back for a winter run. This could get ugly, folks.

Since I still have good shows to watch, I am making progress on my boring knitting projects. I put the shoulders together and am about 2/3 done with the first sleeve.

Yesterday was election day, so I got some knitting time in between voters again. There were only a couple of races in St. Paul this year - City Council and School Board. There was still over 20% turnout at the precinct I was working, which is pretty good for such a short ballot. Next year is going to be crazy busy, though, with the Presidential and Senatorial elections. I worked on the Quidditch socks, but once I finished the foot because I forgot to bring the green yarn (idiot!). So I started the second "car knitting" sock - the feather and fan one in lime green Panda Wool. It was nice to get that bright splash of color, but I need to mix in something red or purple or pink pretty soon. Green and gray are just putting me to sleep!

I want to close with a "present" for Chappy's Mom. As you may recall from last year, she loves calendars and has requested a look see at everyone's calendar for her birthday. Last year I had a bunch of calendars to show off, but this year I only have one:

It's a fantastic movie poster calendar that I got from a friend for a Hanukkah present. I didn't get a knitting wall calendar this year. At the office, I'm using a free calendar that I got from my Congresswoman that has pictures of Washington, DC on it. I don't know why I lost my calendar mojo this year. Usually I have too many calendars to find a place for.

Bruce and The Rocket

2007-11-04T08:51:00.001-06:00

Friday night I got to see this guy again:

and he brought along his friends this time:

It was a great show. He came on stage (about 45 minutes late. Bruce is always significantly late) and tore into his newest hit, Radio Nowhere. He barely stopped playing for over two hours. There were a couple of really short statements, but mostly it was just one song after another. Here's the set list:

1. Radio Nowhere
2. No Surrender
3. Lonesome Day
4. Gypsy Biker
5. Magic
6. Reason to Believe
7. The Night
8. She’s the One
9. Living in the Future
10. Promised Land
11. Your Own Worst Enemy
12. Incident on 57th St.
13. Workin on a Highway
14. Devils Arcade
15. The Rising
16. Last to Die
17. Long Walk Home
18. Badlands

ENCORE
19. Girls in Their Summer Clothes
20. Thunder Road
21. Born to Run
22. Dancing in the Dark
23. American Land.

Good mix of the old, old stuff, the brand new stuff and a few things in between. That encore was smoking! Badlands was amazing too and I've had it running through my head off and on ever since. Thunder Road is one of my Top Five Bruce songs, so I was really excited to hear it. If you haven't picked up his new album, I think it's worth it. Great rockers and it fits in really well with the old stuff. After the show they announced they were coming back again in March, tickets on sale this Saturday, so if you've never seen Bruce Springsteen, it's just one of those things you have to do at least once in your lifetime. I'll be there again, too.

Saturday was Talk Cinema and I saw this film:

It's a Canadian film, but when it gets a U.S. release it'll be called "The Rocket". It's a biopic about the great French Canadian hockey player Maurice "The Rocket" Richard. He played for the Montreal Canadiens for almost 20 years in the 40s and 50s, winning the Stanley Cup 8 times. He was a prolific goal scorer, including being the first to score 50 goals in 50 games. The film tells the story of his life, including the difficulty he had being a French Canadian. American audiences probably aren't as familiar with the discrimination that French Canadians suffered as they are with the civil rights movement in the U.S., but there are some parallels. Richard was often discriminated against in hockey, as well, and wasn't protected by the league. One of the key moments leading up to the French Canadian civil rights movement in the 60s was what is known as the Richard Riot of 1955.

Richard was regularly hit by sticks and beaten up by opposing teams without much protection from the game officials. In a game against the Boston Bruins, Richard was hit over the head with a stick by a Bruin. Richard retaliated and eventually even punched the linesman. The NHL commissioner suspended Richard for the remainder of the season, including the playoffs. The Bruin player wasn't punished at all. It was the longest suspension in league history and the people of Quebec (where hockey is unbelievably important) considered the punishment very unjust and too severe and there ended up being a riot in the streets. It was sort of a turning point in French Canadians no longer being willing to accept being treated as second class citizens and in the 60s massive changes occurred.

I liked the film. I was really caught up in learning more about the struggles of this great player and cheered him on as he showed an amazing amount of determination. After the Richard Riot, he came back to the Canadiens the next year and they won five straight Stanley Cups. This is just sort of a post script in the movie, so the focus really is on Richard's life and his role as a French Canadian role model, not really on hockey. Though there are of course plenty of hockey scenes. Watching men play hockey without helmets is really scary.

Today I'll be taking in my favorite team, the Minnesota Vikings. Happily, they'll be all padded up and wearing helmets. I don't hold out much hope of a Viking win, but it'll be my first time seeing LaDanian Tomlinson in person and it'll be great fun to see LT and AD (All-Day Adrian Peterson) running up and down the field. After that like every other football fan in the country, I'll be glued to the nearest tv set I can find to watch the Colts v. the Pats.

TV Talk

2007-11-02T13:39:00.000-05:00

I have entered a phase in my knitting when I'm totally bored with all of my projects. I'm sort of nearing the end of them all, and they're all green and/or gray, as you know. Plus, they're ribbing or stockinette. *yawn* Here are the second front and sleeves of the Cardigan for Merry:

Now I have to sew it together and then knit on the hood. At least then I'll have the cabling to perk up my interest. I'm a little worried about the blocking thing, though. These pieces have benefitted greatly from being soaked in hair conditioner and water and pinned out. (On a side note, the water did have a tinge of green and looked fairly dirty. It's Andean Treasure from Knitpicks. It fills a little dirty while knitting, too. So, beware if you are knitting with this yarn in the future). Since the hood is knit onto the cardigan, I need to either dunk the hood and pin it out or re-wash the whole darn thing. I'll probably end up doing that.

Anyway, since the knitting is boring, I'll do my annual fall tv report. As you may have heard, the Writer's Guild of America (WGA) may be going on strike. Their current union contract expired yesterday. Films take so long to make that you probably won't see any fallout in the film world. I'm sure the writers will keep writing on their own while on strike, so once the strike is over, they'll just be able to sell those scripts off. TV is another thing all together, though.

First thing you'll see is the nightly chat shows. They have new content every single day and pretty much all of the hosts are also members of the WGA. So, as soon as Monday we could be seeing re-runs of Letterman and the Daily Show, etc. The networks have been preparing for a possible strike, ordering lots of scripts and bumping up production of shows, so what we see now will probably continue at least through the end of the year, and I hear most of the them will be able to get through February sweeps if there's a long, protracted strike. Fox will be in the best position, of course, because American Idol doesn't have writers. Last time there was a strike, the reality tv boom was born, so expect to see lots of re-runs of some shows and lots of reality tv and news shows if the strike lasts.

One positive aspect of a possible strike is it seems like the networks are giving their new shows time to develop. We're a little over a month into the new tv season and only two shows have been cancelled. Last year there were far more cancellations by this time. The cancellations were a dumb reality show called Nashville and a show called Viva Laughlin. I watched the two episodes of Viva Laughlin and I didn't really like it, but I was willing to give it a little more time. It was about a guy who opens a casino in Laughlin, NV and is suspected of killing his former business partner. What made it really different is that the characters sang along to the songs on the soundtrack. Like in the opening, the main character is driving to and then walking around his new casino and he's singing along to Elvis singing Viva Las Vegas. It was weird. I'm kind of glad I'm not wasting any more time on it.

So, on to the other new shows. I'll go by what day they air:

Monday

Chuck (NBC)- I really like this one. Chuck is a computer geek who has a bunch of government secrets in his head. An NSA hottie and a CIA agent go undercover as his girlfriend and his co-worker to protect him/exploit his knowledge. It is totally illogical, but a ton of fun. I like all the actors in this show and their chemistry with each other.

K-Ville (Fox) - This one is ok. It's starring Cole Hauser and Anthony Anderson as post-Katrina New Orleans cops. In the opening it's revealed that the Hauser character is actually an ex-con. I kind of like that aspect and the post-Katrina fall out. The rest of it is kind of typical cop show stuff.

Journeyman (NBC) - I really like this one too. The lead character is a reporter who suddenly starts travelling through time (he has no control over where and when he travels) to fix something in the past - save someone's life or help them make a different decision or something. He's married and has a little boy, so this can be very inconvenient. He also has a brother, who is a cop, and who also used to date his wife, so their relationship is a bit rocky. Kevin McKidd from Rome plays the main character and I like him. This show fits into a trend this year (like Chuck), of having stand alone stories, with a little bit of an ongoing story too. So you can watch individual episodes and enjoy them and not feel like you're missing a whole lot, but if you do watch every week, you're rewarded with a bit more to the story. Last year a lot of shows that had an ongoing story were cancelled, so I think tv execs feel like people can't commit to watching a show every week.

Tuesday

Cane (CBS) - This is the only new show I watch on Tuesdays. It's an old fashioned nighttime soap opera. Jimmy Smits stars as the head of a rum company. He's a refugee from Cuba who was adopted by the founder of the rum company and sort of adopted, but he is also married to the only daughter of the family, which is sort of incestuous, isn't it? Anyway, Jimmy Smits is gorgeous and intense and I like this sort of thing.

Wednesday

Pushing Daisies (ABC) - My favorite new show. It's highly stylized and sort of wacky, but I love it. It's about a guy who has the power to bring things back to life, with his touch. But if he touches something he's brought to life again, it dies for ever. And if he doesn't touch who he's just brought back to life within a minute, someone else dies instead. Which makes him understandably a bit cautious about getting close to people. But his childhood sweetheart dies and he can't help himself, so he brings her back to life and doesn't put her back to death. So now they can't touch again, otherwise she'll die forever. But they love each other deeply. And every week they solve a murder mystery. Kooky, but charming. If you are interested in seeing one new show this year, check this one out.

Back to You (Fox) - To be honest, I've only seen the first episode of this show, so I can't make a good judgment. It seems like a decent enough sitcom, though sitcoms aren't my favorite types of shows. I've taped some more episodes and if I end up loving it, I'll let you know.

Private Practice (ABC) - The spin off from Private Practice. Another gorgeous cast. These guys are a little older, so they're more relatable to me. They seem a little more grounded. They still have their problems, but they seem less angsty about it. I like everyone in the cast, so I'll keep watching it.

Life (NBC) - Another one I really like. It sounds like it has a pretty good following, so hopefully this won't be cancelled even if there is no strike. It stars Damien Lewis from Band of Brothers as a homicide detective who spent 10 years in jail for a murder he didn't commit. As part of his settlement with the City, he gets his job back after he's exonerated. His time in prison has definitely given him a different perspective and I find it really interesting. He's also secretly trying to figure out who set him up for this murder. So, another show with a thread going through the season, but mostly stand alone episodes.

Dirty Sexy Money (ABC) - I like this one too. Peter Krause (local connection!) plays a down to earth lawyer who agrees to take his father's place as a wealthy family's attorney after his father's death. He suspects someone in the family may have murdered his father and figures the best way to investigate is to stay close to the family. The family are all messed up rich folks and their antics are highly amusing.

Nothing new on Thursday, but a whole lot of great returning shows!

Friday

Moonlight (CBS) - The show follows the life of a modern-day Vampire. It's sort of kitschy, but I find the cast attractive and enjoy the stories so far. I probably wouldn't watch it if it were on another night.

Women's Murder Club (ABC) - Although this show is on at the same time as Moonlight and I watch them both, so I must like them both somewhat. This one is about a group of 4 women who all work in the world of criminal law and support each other both at the job and off. I like the cast and I like the mysteries.

No new shows over the weekend, either. Saturday night is dead on tv and Sunday is just a lot of my same old shows.

The one show that I watched and gave up on was Big Shots, on ABC. I had high hopes for that show because I love the cast. But it was just so poorly written and unbelievable, without being tongue in cheek or fun. At least to me. I just didn't find any of the characters in the least bit realistic or interesting.

So, I've been impressed with the new season so far. Some really good shows that I hope won't get cut short with a strike. All of the networks now put their shows on the web so you can catch up with old episodes for free. So if something sounds good, I highly recommend jumping on the computer and catching up.

Home, Sweet Home

2007-10-30T11:16:00.000-05:00

The less said about the Vikings game on Sunday, the better, probably. I will say, that I am really psyched about our new, close up seats this year. It sucks to pay so much to watch a losing team, but it's so fun to see everything so well. STILL loving Adrian Peterson, too.

Sunday night I attended the Socks in the Cities KAL get together at The Yarnery and I finished the first of the Quidditch Socks:

I stuffed the leg with yarn because they look a little better with the ribbing slightly stretched, but it's way too small to fit on my fat leg. Since I made the leg shorter, I should have also adjusted the stripes to make them closer together, but I don't think Michael's really going to care much.

The Yarnery has decided to continue the Socks in the Cities KAL to be an ongoing event. Every month there will be a featured sock yarn that members will be able to get a discount on and there will be a prize drawing every month for members who have finished a pair of socks that month. Periodically there will be KAL get togethers too. We had a great time knitting, chatting and eating cookies on Sunday - the time flew by. So, if you're a sock knitter here in the Twin Cities, join the SITCKAL!

A couple of weeks ago, Amy posted a sort of meme - things around the house that make you smile. I've seen it on a few other blogs too and it seemed like a good idea. I was starting to feel a deep-seated need to take a vacation, but I don't have the funds for a vacation right now, so taking a moment to appreciate what I've got right here at home seemed like a good idea. Then a whole lot of people lost their homes due to the fires in California. I heard an interview with a guy about how he got a reverse 911 call to evacuate and they had about 30 minutes to pack up the car and get out of Dodge. So that also made me take a look around and think about what I really, really love (material-possesion wise. You know I most appreciate my family and friends, of course) and would want to pack up and bring with me. So, here's what I came up with:

This is what I call my knitting nest. It's my favorite spot in the house. I have my super comfy recliner so I can kick back or even lay back and knit and watch my favorite tv shows or movies. Next to the chair I have a little ottomon that I hide my latest yarn purchases in, so they don't count as official stash, yet, but they're not sitting out staring at me accusingly. I keep the current works in progress on there so I can pick one up and start knitting at a moment's notice. Next to that is a nice big basket that my dad gave to me a couple of years ago for Christmas. There were gourmet treats in there originally, but now I keep the extra balls of yarn for all of my current projects, a couple of projects that are lined up to be next on the needles, my Options needles set and my bigger notions bag. Everything I need to knit is right there within arms reach and I'm so happy and comfortable being there. In case of a fire, I would definitely grab all of my current WIPS and throw them in that basket and bring the basket along.

As a side note, I'd also like to point on the green walls on this and many of the other pictures. I absolutely adore my green walls and I'm so glad I painted them this summer. Pretty much every day when I'm sitting and knitting, I take a moment to appreciate how bright and cheery my favorite room is.

You may have noticed this little basket tucked beside my chair in the last picture. It's my measuring tape collection. I love all my super cute measuring tapes and I get so much pleasure from taking out one of these little gems when I need to measure something. I sort of like this basket because it matches the walls, but I am looking for pretty big bowl, maybe a nice goldfish bowl or something, to put the tapes in so I can see them all, not just the ones on top.

On the wall next to the front door I have this memo board, which I tuck in little cards I've gotten or mementos from events. My favorite thing on the board is the valentine that Red made me that says, "Renee, you are nice. From Red" If I had time, I probably would take this with me in an evacuation. I also have a box of photos waiting to be scrapbooked that I would definitely take with me. If I had time, I'd start bringing my photo albums too. Losing my pictures would just be heartbreaking.

This is a bowl of sock yarn that I keep in the living room as "art". Whenever I buy new sock yarn and I haven't officially entered it into stash yet, I keep it in the bowl for display purposes. It's overflowing since I went on the shop hop. When I took this photo it was just my Wollmeise. Oh, you haven't seen my Wollmeise yet, have you? I've been keeping it secret to myself because I love it so much. Some day I'll take pictures and post about it and officially enter it in the stash. This photo represents the stash, though. I get immense pleasure from my yarn collection. Most of it is in the basement and sometimes when I go down there to do laundry, I'll just go through a random box to look at and fondle the yarn. So pretty, so soft, so out of control. In case of a fire, I'd try to bring some stash with me, but there's no way I could fit the whole thing in my car. I was trying to figure out what I'd bring. Maybe just the boxes of sock yarn - they're all in smaller, handled boxes, so they're easy to carry. I have the stash from Maryland Sheep & Wool in its own box, so maybe I'd bring that one. I have all the red yarn that isn't sock yarn separated into its own box too, so that'd be easy to choose. For sure I'd bring that bowl of yarn from the living room, though.

That's my down comforter. I love it! It's starting to get cold at night here, now. I like to turn my furnace down to 60 at night and then just snuggle under the comforter. I really need a new mattress - mine is really old and lumpy, but I still like to stay in bed in the morning because it's so warm and comfie under my comforter.

There are a couple of pieces of technology that I can't live without. The first is my laptop. A couple of months ago I switched over to a laptop and now I use that both at home and at the office, so I always have all of my documents with me. Plus, I have it with me all the time so I can check my email or read blogs or whatever if I have some free time while I'm in between hearings or something like that. I absolutely love my laptop. But I also live in mortal fear that I might lose it, because everything is on there. If there was a fire, I'd DEFINITELY grab my laptop.

My other electronic must have is my cell phone. I also use my cell phone for a mobile phone, my home phone and my work phone. So I always have it with me. And it's bright pink with flowers on it, so I love it!

And finally, there are a few products I can't live without. These are what I like to think of as my "Good Things" like Martha or like Oprah's Favorite Things. From the left, I have the Wellpatch Migraine pads. I get tension headaches once or twice a month and unchecked, they are just horrific. I used to get them at night quite a bit, and I couldn't lay down, I couldn't sit still, the only thing that seemed to work was taking a Tylenol PM and driving around in my car until it started to kick in. Then I discovered these pads. I can feel a headache coming on and if I take Exedrin and put on one of these pads, I can usually avoid it. It seemed like they stopped making them at one point and so I stockpiled them, worried what I would do. But they were actually just repackaging them, so they're widely available now.

Next I have Vaseline Intensive Care Hand & Nail formula. My hands get really dry in the winter, but I don't like greasy lotions. This one is fantastic feeling and if you massage it into your nails too, it strengthens them up better than anything else I've found. And it smells nice, but not too strong. This is another product that I thought was discontinued for a while. That bottle in the picture is actually one I got in London - I was so excited to see it! But, it was only be repackaged (again!) and is also widely available.

Let's see, on the right, at the top is Being Gutsy by Rusk. This is my can't live without hair product. A couple of years ago I kept my hair straight and wore sort of a bob. My hairdresser gave me this product to give it extra body since I have very fine hair. It's amazing. Your hair feels like it has product in it, which is kind of a bummer, but it's not greasy. And the difference it makes in the body is well worth it. When I went back to curly hair, I stopped using it temporarily, thinking I didn't need more body. But my hairdresser suggested I try it to make the perm last longer and I realized it did more than that. It keeps the curls looking full and pretty without being fuzzy. Now I can't live without this. My hairdresser said they took this off the market for a while before, so now I live in fear that it'll be discontinued again.

Beneath that is my mineral powder. I have oily skin and get a shiny face and I love the look and feel of mineral powder.

Next to that is Soak, which most of you have probaby tried. I adore this stuff. It really does make your knits look and feel wonderful. I'd never wash my handknits in anything else.

Finally, something that isn't really in my house, but I keep it with me at all times. My Tide pen. I am a huge klutz. And I have an ample bosom, which I call my shelf, because every time I eat something, I end up spilling and the shelf catches the food and it sits there. But the Tide pen really works. If you drop a piece of lasagna down your shirt, you're probably out of luck, but a bite of lasagna and it's much less noticeable after the Tide treatment. Coffee drips? No problem! Until I embrace the bib as a fashion statement, the Tide pen is my constant companion.

So, that's it. The things that give me little thrills every day and some of the stuff I'd grab if I had to go. Obviously, I'd grab some clothes, too. I have too many to get them all, so I decided I'd just grab a suitcase and throw whatever I could grab in the front of the closet. I'd also grab a couple of books to read - my current read and just whatever was on top of the stacks. I wouldn't bring any of my CDs or DVDs. My ipod is always in my purse, so I'd have some music to listen to. Everything else I guess I could replace or live without. So it'd be some clothes, a couple of books, my pictures, my laptop and cell phone, my current knitting projects and then whatever yarn I had time to drag to the car. For some reason, I feel like yarn is more irreplacable than books or magazines or CDs. Each skein is unique and special. I think that's why when I really like it, I buy it, because I feel like I'll never have that chance again. Yeah, I've got a weird relationship with yarn.

So, what do you appreciate/can't live without?

Reviews

2007-10-27T16:18:00.000-05:00

Thursday night I saw "Outside the Actor's Studio: 10 Years of the Scrimshaw Brothers", a series of comedy one-acts from Joshua and Joseph Scrimshaw. The Scrimshaws are hilariously funny and immensely popular around here. Most of the bits they did were great. There was one piece that didn't work for me. But it was a fun show and if you're looking for something light and fun to do tonight, their last show is at 10:00 at Bryant Lake Bowl. They're doing a couple of other shows between now and the end of the year, though, so if you can't make this one, check out one of the others.

Last night I took in this movie:

The film is based on a book written by Dennis Lehane, the author of "Mystic River". This one is the 4th in a series featuring Boston private detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. The film is directed by Ben Affleck and stars his brother Casey at Patrick. I was stunned with how good Casey Affleck was. I've seen him in a few other films and he's always sort of annoyed me and seemed like a second rate character actor, but he very successfully carries this film. It's set in South Boston, where a 4 year old girl has been abducted. The girl's mother is an alcoholic and drug addict who seems more than a little too happy about being the center of attention. Her older brother and his wife hire Patrick and Angie to help find their neice - thinking that their neighborhood ties might get them access to people and information that the police don't have. The film is a very satisfying mystery thriller, which kept me engaged throughout - I really, really, really had to go to the bathroom (those movie sodas are so huge!), but I couldn't leave because I didn't want to miss anything. There's also a whole other level to the film, though, that explores right vs. wrong and Patrick struggles with doing the "right" thing - but how do you know what is the right thing. That's something I struggle with all the time in my work and so I found it just absolutely fascinating and so well-done. I would highly recommend this film.

I was lucky enough to get a few more knitting books to review and I'm woe-fully late in getting to that. It seems like I'm always rushing off to one thing or another, and I really wanted to give myself some time to carefully read and review these books. So, finally, here I am. First up is my very favorite:

This is another book where the sub-title is a very nice description of the book: “24 Original Designs Updated for Today’s Knitters.” Mr. Fassett takes some of his beloved patterns from the last 20+ years and re-imagines them – sometimes just updating the color schemes to be more contemporary, but sometimes taking a motif from a sweater or coat and applying it to a smaller accessory like a bag or pillow or scarf. I’ve been a huge fan of Kaffe Fassett since I started knitting and his first new knitting book in ten years doesn’t disappoint.

Kaffe Fassett emerged as a knitwear designer using yarn in knitting like a painter’s palette. He tried to break the myth that color knitting is really complicated and beyond the reach of a beginner knitter. He continues to preach that gospel with this new book, with many picture captions describing how simple the garments are to knit, using just one or two colors per row, even though there are dozens of colors in the full garment. He only uses stockinette stitch and most of the designs are very simply shaped. There are no gigantic oversized coats or sweaters as Mr. Fassett used as his canvas with these designs originally, but there are some simple rectangles and squares in the form of afghans, pillows, stoles, scarves and sweaters and vests with very little shaping. These are not tailored or close fitting garments, but rather knitting artworks that are wearable.

The book itself is hardcover, but there is no dust jacket – which I like because I hate beat up old dust jackets. The book is drop-dead gorgeous and even if you don’t want to knit any of the projects, it would be a lovely coffee table book, so I appreciate the hard cover. According to Mr. Fassett’s introduction, the pictures were taken at Charleston House in Sussex and I agree with the designer that this is a perfect backdrop for his designs. Most of the garments are shown in more than one picture and there are quite a few pictures that are very nice close-ups, so you can really see the details. There are also a few pictures that are just extreme close-ups of the knitting – you can see the pattern and design, but you can’t tell if it’s a sweater or blanket or pillow. Mr. Fassett appears in some of the pictures, looking as gorgeous as his designs.

The book opens with an introduction from the designer and then a gallery of the designs, which is a feature I really like. It gives you a quick overview of what’s in the book if you’re just looking at it in a yarn or book store and if you’re trying to remember if a certain design is in that book, it’s nice to be able to look at one page. The first half of the book shows the pictures of the designs and a few pictures of just the house. As I mentioned, it is really beautiful. There are also comments for each of the pictures, with Mr. Fassett talking about how easy or difficult the design is or where he came up with the idea for the motif or even giving some ideas for other color palletes you could use. If colorwork still seems too daunting to you, there is one design that is strictly striped, but still uses many different colors and maintains that “Kaffe Fassett” look.

Mr. Fassett is a Rowan designer, so it’s not surprising that all of the yarns used in the book are currently available Rowan yarns – mostly Cotton Glace, Handknit Cotton and Scottish Tweed. As with most Rowan designs, the sweaters aren’t generously sized. Most of them fall within the range to fit a bust of 32” – 44”. Some of the sweaters and vests only come with instructions for one size. However, the designs do include a pretty generous ease and are simple shapes, so it wouldn’t be difficult to fiddle a bit and make it either smaller or larger. All garments have a schematic and they are all knit from charts. Since the chart is the full garment, some of them may need to be blown up to see them well. Some of the charts are in color, so if you made a copy, you’d need to use a color copier. A lot of the motifs are fairly easy to memorize, however, so you may not even need to refer to the chart that frequently. There is one page with a short description of some knitting techniques – such as intarsia, fair isle, blocking, sewing, reading charts and getting gauge. The book is almost entirely just pictures and patterns that speak for themselves.

If you're a veteran KF knitter, you'll eat this book up. If you're a fairly new knitter, I'd urge you to give it a try - knit up one of the pillows and see how fun and easy it is to knit up 20 different colors in one project. As for me, I always wanted to knit the Foolish Virgins Sweater and never got around to it. Now I can knit the Foolish Virgins Scarf and try my hand at a number of different KF motifs.

An Abundance of Riches

2007-10-24T13:06:00.000-05:00

Last week I picked up the door prize that I won at Needlework Unlimited during the Shop Hop:

I was just thrilled with my prize! It totally makes up for not winning anything last year. I got a skein of some cotton sock yarn:

And a skein of Megaboots stretch - I have never knit with this yarn so I'm really excited to try it out because I've heard such good things:

I also got two skeins of Colinette yarn (Silky Chic and Firecracker) and a couple different patterns for scarves that use these yarns.

Those bright and cheerful colors are right up my alley, too! There were also a couple of patterns and some yarn bobbins tucked in there too. Thank you so much Karen/Needlework Unlimited!

My luck lasted a bit longer, too and I won a prize on Darlene's blog for being the 50th entry in her yarn contest, some very cute stitch markers:

Thank you Darlene!!

And I paid for it, but I got some more yarny mail when the October Sock Club arrived from Amazing Threads:

Opal Socken Zirkus and a basic pattern for toe up socks on two circular needles.

And although the yarn is coming in faster than it's going out, I did finish one sock. These are my current car knitting, so I just work on them when I'm out and about and have some free time:

For someone who doesn't like lace socks, I seem to be knitting a lot of them lately, eh? I actually really like how these fit. They're from Socks, Socks, Socks and knit in Panda Wool yarn, which I really like a lot.

I'm Back!

2007-10-22T11:16:00.000-05:00

And I'll bet most of you didn't even know that I was gone. I feel sort of strange announcing on the internet "Hey, world! I'm going to be gone for a few days, so my house will be empty. Come on over and help yourself to anything you want." So, sorry for no warnings about my absence.

Before I left, I got a chance to see David Sedaris again. This was one of his best "readings" ever. He just seemed really relaxed and happy and the stuff he read was highly entertaining, of course. If you haven't read any of his books, I'll once again urge you to pick one up. Or better yet, get a book on tape so you can hear his words as they should be - spoken by the author.

I went to Utah for work. It was a nice, uneventful trip. I got a little bit of knitting done because we flew into Vegas and had a bit of a drive to Utah and back. I worked on the ribbed sweater for Michael, so it looks exactly the same as the front and I won't bore you with a picture.

I also had time to read on the plane, so I finished up this mystery:

It's the latest in the V.I. Warshawski series. If you haven't read this series, it's about a Chicago private detective named Victoria, but known as V.I. She's a tough lady from the South Side who went to college and then law school and eventually became a private investigator. She has a fondness for expensive shoes. She lives upstairs from an elderly gentleman who sort of watches over her and they share ownership of two dogs. I really like the character and the series. Unlike a lot of mystery series, this one hasn't deteriorated over time, in my opinion. Paretsky always includes some sharply pointed political aspects to her books and this one is no different. In this one, V.I. gets roped into coaching the girls' basketball team at her old high school when her old coach gets ill. She starts looking for corporate donations to pay for a real coach, including meeting with the family owners of "By-Smart", clearly based on the Waltons and Wal-Mart. She ends up getting tangled up in the family's internal squabbles and a murder investigation. Paretsky also explores the issues of immigration, low wages, health insurance coverage and teenage pregnancy. If you like a good mystery with a liberal bent, I'd recommend this one.

We spent the last night in Vegas because we had an early morning flight, so I got to have dinner at Spago in Caesar's Palace. Oh, fancy! Everyone really enjoyed their dinners. I had a blue-cheese encrusted steak with fingerling potatoes. For dessert, I had a sampler platter, so I got to try the strawberries with a vanilla custard, peach melba, a mocha cake ala mode and a creme brulee. I just love to try little bits of different things. If you're in Vegas and have some money to drop for dinner, I would highly recommend Spago.

When I got back, I had tickets for a sneak preview of this movie:

One of my favorite movies of the year!! Ryan Gosling plays Lars, a guy from Wisconsin who cannot connect with other people, not even his brother and sister-in-law. They live in his childhood home while Lars lives in the garage. One day at work, one of Lars' co-workers shows him a website selling real dolls - sex dolls that are very lifelike. Lars orders one and when it arrives, he's convinced it's a real woman named Bianca who he met on the internet. Lars' family and everyone in town treat Bianca like a real woman because they're trying to help Lars. This of course leads to some really funny scenes, where the ridiculousness of this big doll being treated as a person is shown. But the film has so much heart. You just so want to join the town in taking care of Lars. Gosling does just an amazing job in the film. He's a man of few words, but a lot of intense emotions. Gosling conveys so much with his facial expressions and his body language. The rest of the cast is superb also. I was just blown away by the actor who plays Lars' brother, Paul Schneider. He's got his own complicated feelings about Lars and Bianca and their family and childhood and he also conveys so much through his face. I can't wait to see this guy in more films. I also just loved all the little details in the film - it doesn't lay things out explicitly, but it trusts the audience that they're going to be able to connect the dots and figure things out. I just loved this little film and I hope it gets a wide audience.

I've already seen three Lead Actor Oscar contenders (Ryan Gosling, George Clooney and Emile Hirsch) and it's only October. It's going to be another hard year to chose a winner.

This weekend also kicked off the new season of Talk Cinema over at the Edina Theater. The first selection was this:

It's a remake of an earlier film and stage play. Michael Caine plays a successful thriller writer living in an English mansion that looks like a normal country mansion on the outside, but inside is all poured concrete and stainless steel - all the furniture is highly modern and sparse and he has all manner of mechanized devices - a fishtank that slide up and down, lights and music that chance with a push of a button, an open elevator that takes you between floors. Jude Law plays an unsuccessful actor who is having an affair with Michael Caine's wife. He comes to Caine's house to plead his girlfriend's case for a divorce. In the original version of the film, Michael Caine played the younger man and Laurence Olivier played the older man. I don't want to go into too much detail, but the two men begin a series of battles of wit with each other. You get the feeling they aren't even really battling over the woman, but rather for intellectual supremecy over the other. The film is written by Harold Pinter and directed by Kenneth Branagh. It is highly stylized, both in writing and in look. The language is snappy and quick, and I especially enjoyed the first scenes, when the two men are meeting each other for the first time and sizing each other up. It's quite funny, but the humor almost disappears by the end of the film. I absolutely loved the look of the film too - all reflections and odd camera angles and extreme close ups. It is meant to be over the top, I think, and it worked for me, but my friend felt like it went too far. Overall, I didn't care of the movie much, though. As the film went on, each of the men got nastier and nastier and there are a number of twists and turns. For me, by the end, I really didn't care what happened to these men and I couldn't invest in what was happening on screen, because I felt like it could all be just a trick anyway. So, overall I'd say it was nice to look at and listen to, but I can't really recommend it.

Second Annual Shop Hop

2007-10-15T10:16:00.001-05:00

First let me say that I accidentally erased my entire description of the shop hop. I guess you're lucky, because I'll probably be less long-winded the second time around.

Once again I really enjoyed the Shop Hop and I'm glad they did it again this year. I go to The Yarnery and Needlework Unlimited all of the time, but I had only been to Three Kittens and Zandy's once or twice in the last year and I hadn't been to the other three shops at all since last year. There is a lot of overlap from one store to the next, but each stoe also has it's own unique offerings and the vibe/personality of each store is different. We're really lucky to have so many great choices in the Twin Cities. The stores are all around the metro area, geographically, so a good part of the "hop" was spent in the car, going from place to place. I only ran into traffic once - going from the western metro to the southern metro as rush hour was beginning. I had a delightful lunch with Deb. We ate at a little place across the street from Coldwater Collaborative called 318 Cafe. It's really cozy and comfortable and the food was delicious. I had a salad with proscuitto, pomegranite and blue cheese. Yummy! The best part, of course, was the company. Since we live on opposite sides of the metro, I don't get to see Deb nearly as often as I'd like, so it was so nice to sit down together and talk. If I hadn't been on a mission, it would have been so fun to spend the rest of the afternoon knitting and chatting in that lovely space. But, I had yarn stores to see and fiber to buy! And I did buy a few things:

Mostly sock yarns - what a surprise! Some yarn for a hat and enough for a sweater. Some really pretty buttons, a bracelet kit and a couple of patterns. More than I need (well, to be honest, I don't need ANY more yarn, so any purchase would be more than I need) but not as much as I bought last year. Some of my purchases from last year I never did show on this blog nor did I knit them up, so I may be coming clean and officially putting them in stash in the coming months. As I STOP buying yarn. For real. At least until the new year.

So, a good shop hop. I can't remember if I mentioned last time, there were 7 shops included. Each shop had a little give away. This year the theme was "tools of the trade", so the give away was a little knitting notion. Here they all are:

From the left, it's a couple of Chibi needles, some coilless safety pins, a stitch holder, a tape measure, some needle end protectors, some stitch markers and a little plastic zipped bag to store them all in. As you visited each shop, you got your little card stamped. If you visited all of the shops and got all of the stamps, you could put your card in for a big drawing. I have the luck of the Irish - which is no luck at all - so I'm not holding out hope this year. However, each shop had door prize drawings and I was lucky enough to win a door prize at Needlework Unlimited. I haven't gone back to pick it up yet, so I don't know yet what it is. No matter what it is, I'm happy to have won and I'm glad that I did the shop hop again. I hope they continue the tradition.

Saturday night I had dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen. Have you been there? This was my first time. For some reason, I was under the impression that it was a slightly upscale fast food restaurant - along the lines of Chipotle or Noodles & Co. I don't know where I got that idea, but it's a regular sit down restaurant with an extensive menu and a full bar. I was pleasantly surprised. The servings are gigantic, but for a chain restaurant, it was pretty good. My friend had the Chicken Masala and I had a Margherita Pizza and we both enjoyed them. We also saw this movie:

The film is about a group of 5 women and 1 man who form a book club to read the 6 Jane Austen books, one per month. Each of the people have a romantic issue that is modern, but also reflected in the Austen books. The actors all are good, grounding the film in real life instead of reducing it to stereotypes or predictability. The cast, both men and women, are all very attractive, although sometimes they aren't very likable. But if you would consider going to a movie called "The Jane Austen Book Club", then you'll probably enjoy this film like I did.

Sunday was spent knitting and watching football. I know I say this every Monday, but thank god for Adrian Peterson! He's just so much fun to watch and such an amazing player. Not to mention the only chance my team has to be successful. I worked on a pair of Quidditch Socks for Michael, to match his Quidditch Sweater:

I know in this photo it looks like the sock is blue and green, but it's just because it's so cloudy out and I couldn't get a good picture. It definitely has a blue tinge, but it's actually gray.

Combo Platter

2007-10-13T11:56:00.000-05:00

I did indeed do the shop hop on Friday. I did all but one store, so I think I'll head over to that last one today and then post about the whole thing next time. Despite letting myself off the hook as far as buying something at every store, this time I just wanted to. But I bought less in total than I did last time, so I suppose that's good. I do like the things I picked up, too.

Thursday night I was going to attend a sneak preview of a movie, but it was all full by the time I got there. But a friend and I did get to enjoy a really good dinner at a restaurant I had never been to before, Namaste Cafe in Uptown Minneapolis. It's a charming restaurant in an old house. The rooms are painted orange and yellow and the art on the walls is gorgeous. I really coveted a picture near our table for my own green walls. We got two different curries and shared them - Kathmandu curry and almond curry. We both really enjoyed both of them. We got them only medium hot and they weren't very spicy, so I wouldn't hesitate to ask for the spice level you really like. I will definitely be making another stop at this restaurant.

Last night was our semi-regular movie night with some friends from law school. It was a small group, but we saw a great movie:

Gorgeous George plays the title character, a former prosecutor who has become the "fixer" for a big corporate law firm - fixing the sticky wickets of firm attorneys and clients, such as DWIs, blackmailing mistresses, etc. He's sort of a corporate version of Mr. Wolf in Pulp Fiction. Clooney's performance in the film is amazing. Remember the days when George would deliver all of his lines with his head sort of cocked to the side and looking out from under his long eyelashes? Those days are long gone. He gives such a subtle, multi-layered performance. You can see the Clooney charm and intelligence and see how he could be a guy who fixes problems by smooth talking his way through things. But you also see a man who is just tired and scared. It's pretty amazing. The film itself is a sort of legal thriller - it's the kind of film that I think John Grisham wishes his books were. Really smart and complicated and fast-paced and just fascinating. I don't want to give away any of the plot because I think some of what makes it work is that it just jumps right into the story and you're sort of off-balance and then it goes back and explains how things came to be and things are revealed bit by bit. It doesn't depend on a lot of explanation, trusting the audience to connect the dots. It also has perhaps my favorite ending title sequence of all time.

And since this is a knitting blog, sort of, here's my Cardigan for Merry all blocked out:

As you can see, I was able to block out the cabled edge pretty much even with the rest of the front. Hopefully it'll look ok once it's all done. Here's a closer look at that gorgeous cable:

I love the cable. It's reversible, so I have grand plans to knit it up with a chunky yarn for a scarf.

Christmas Knitting

2007-10-11T11:44:00.000-05:00

I'm all about the Christmas knitting now. After all of that lovely purple I was knitting in August and September, I'm in a world of gray and dark green. This is how my little knitting corner looks these days:

Knitting for boys is decidedly less colorful than knitting for me! Not that I don't like green. Especially when it's paired with a lovely purple, like in this sock yarn:

I was in Borealis looking for some yarn for a sweater that my niece Jessica requested for Christmas and I just couldn't leave that sock yarn behind, despite my vow to not buy myself any more yarn until the new year. It was just too pretty!! I may give myself a free pass tomorrow too. There's a shop hop at some of the local yarn stores again this year and it's this weekend. I was going to avoid it so as to avoid the temptation, but I'm feeling too left out. I'm not going to be so compulsive about buying something at every store this year, though.

And I am making some progress on those holiday knitting projects. It isn't all buying yarn, all the time. Here's the front of Michael's Quidditch Sweater:

I know it looks awfully long and skinny. The ribbing is supposed to be slightly stretch on the body, so it'll be wider and a bit shorter when worn. Hopefully. Michael is pretty long and skinny himself, so perhaps it'll be perfect without the stretching. An entire sweater in ribbing is really boring, by the way.

FO!

2007-10-08T09:33:00.000-05:00

Since the Vikings weren't playing this weekend and last weekend was my mother's birthday, I decided to head down to South Dakota to see the family. On the way out of town, I stopped by the new Mary Lue's location in Mankato. The new store is really cute. It's much smaller than the spot in St. Peter was, but it looks much nicer. They seem to be focusing a little more on their higher end yarns. If you want some Elsabeth Lavold Silky Wool, this is your stop - they have an entire shelf with color after color of Silky Wool. They also have tons of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride in a bunch of different colors. They still have some of the sheepy gift items, but less than before. I bought a couple of patterns, but no wool, since I'm still trying to only buy yarn for Christmas gifts and they didn't have what I was looking for there. It's definitely worth stopping by - it's very close to the highway, so easy to pop in on your way through town.

I had a great time visiting the family - my little nephew Jason has grown so much since I last saw him at his baptism:

I'm on the horns of a dilemma about the little cardigan I'm knitting for Jason for Christmas. My first problem was that the bottom hem was flipping up like crazy and the whole thing was just curling up into a cigar shape. I figured the edges would stop curling one I had it all sewn togethet, but I'm not sure about the hem. Then I was worried that the alpaca is too scrachy. I could feel it through my clothes on my lap as I was knitting it and it was kind of scratchy, so I'm not sure it's appropriate for that soft, delicate baby skin. Then I started knitting the front and the cabled part was shorter than the stockinette part. Like, an inch shorter. So, could I block it out to the same length as the rest, or should I rip out the whole thing. I decided I should wash the back in hair conditioner and block it out to see what happens. So, the hem flipping has been solved - the edges and the hem lay nice and flat now. I think the scratchiness has been alleviated too. I still wouldn't wear it next to my skin, but with a shirt underneath, it's not poking at me. So, I think I'll finish the first half and try blocking out the cabled edge a bit and see how it goes.

While I was waiting for the back piece to dry, I finished up my Pineapple Socks:

Project Name: Pineapple Socks
Designer: Lijuan Jing
Pattern Source: Jojoland Pattern Leaflet
Yarn: Jojoland Melody
Yarn Source: Needlework Unlimited
Date Started: 9/10/07
Date Completed: 10/7/07

Comments: This was my last project for Project Spectrum this year. And I only finished one week late - not too bad considering how late I started them. This was my first time using Jojoland Melody and I really like it. It feels nice and knits up well and I love the gradual color changes. I probably wouldn't make this pattern again. I'm not fond of lace patterns in socks anyway and this one was super easy to memorize, but it was sometimes difficult to manipulate the stitches. I knit on size 1 needles and they are very close fitting - almost too tight, really. I really have to stretch them to get them over my heel. I didn't fully understand this heel and toe structure, so I made the leg shorter than I intended. I made the legs 1" shorter than the pattern called for and they ended up being anklets instead of the short socks that I usually prefer. I don't know what this heel pattern is called, but it's really shallow. You knit the heel back and forth, decreasing on each end, and then once it's as narrow as you wish, you start increasing by picking up stitches on those ends you just knit back and forth on. You do the same thing with the toe, kitchnering the toe to the bottom of the foot, basically where your toes start on your foot. It's interesting, but not my favorite structure. Since I made the socks a little shorter than the pattern called for and my feet are only 9" long, I was able to get the whole pair out of one ball of yarn. Here's how much I had left:

Close, huh? Here's another view of the socks, the obligatory sole to sole pose:

Stash Enhancement

2007-10-04T10:26:00.000-05:00

Tuesday night was rainy as heck and it's getting dark too early to go to the park any more anyway, so we headed over to the Mall of America so that Red and Michael could ride the rides in the Park at Mall of America (formerly known as Camp Snoopy). They are doing major renovations to the park, switching it over to Nickelodeon and adding some new rides. In the mean time, several of the old rides are shut down, so there were only a few of the big rides open for the big kids. Just a warning in case you were thinking about taking your kids out there. The boys were perfectly happy going on the Timberland Twister over and over again.

Last night I had dinner and then saw "Speed the Plow" at the Jungle Theater. It's a David Mamet play about a Hollywood movie executive being lobbied by his best friend at the studio to make a prison film that might be a blockbuster and his temporary secretary/girlfriend to make a film based on a novel about radiation, maybe artsy, but probably not a blockbuster. It's also about power - everyone is trying to get it and keep it, in different ways. It's a good scenario to think about - art or commerce? The Mamet language is as fun to listen to as ever and the three actors all do a fine job with it. It's a pretty dark look at Hollywood and the world, though, and I felt so depressed at the end.

I've been doing pretty well with my vow not to buy more yarn - it's been almost 2 months now. I thought I'd share a couple more skeins that I bought BEFORE the pledge.

This is one of the last skeins that I bought. I was on the west bank for the Fringe Festival and I had about a half hour to kill between shows, so I stopped by Depth of Field, just to browse. Well, I couldn't pass by those gorgeous bright colors. It's Jitterbug in the Mardi Gras colorway.

This beauty is Handmaiden Silk Cashmere 4 Ply. When I bought that Smooshy yarn I threw this in the cart because it sounded delightful and the shipping wasn't going to be any extra, so I might as well make it worth it, right? Besides being so pretty, it's also really soft. Much too nice to make a pair of footies, like I was planning. It'll probably end up as wristers or something like that, that I wear close to my skin.

New Projects

2007-10-02T09:43:00.000-05:00

Thanks for all the nice comments about my finished Tomato. It's so much fun to finish a project and get so many nice compliments about it!

Since I finished up that project and I'm finished with the Harry Potter ornaments at least until I get the tree and see if I need more, I started two more projects. First, I'm making the Cardigan for Merry for my youngest nephew, Jason:

I'm using the yarn called for in the pattern, Knit Picks Andean Treasure in the Moss color. It 100% baby alpaca, so it feels really soft and nice to knit with, but I hope the alpaca hairs don't make it too scratchy for the baby. This is the type of sweater that my sister will always put another shirt on him underneath, so hopefully it won't be right next to the skin and will be ok. The yarn splits like crazy, so I'm doing the cables with a needle. It's also rolling like crazy. I'm going to have to do a good blocking job before I sew it up. Since I took that picture I have finished the back and started the right front. I really like the cable - and it's reversible!

The other project I started is for my older nephew, Michael. It's the Quidditch Sweater from Charmed Knits:

He likes the Slytherin colors the best, so I'm making it gray with a green stripe. Using just plain jane Lion Brand Woolease. It was on sale for $2.50 a skein at Michael's last week, so this will be a very inexpensive knit. I'm about halfway up the body to the armholes so far. A whole body in ribbing is really boring, but it'll be good for knitting in public.

I'm also continuing on with the purple Jojoland socks. I'm about 2/3 done with the second sock. I joined a Sock Knitalong hosted by one of our local yarn stores, so after I finish that sock, I'm going to start a pair of socks to match Michael's sweater.

Other than that I've just been enjoying The War still. Some of those stories are so amazing. It all wraps up tonight. I've liked a couple of the new shows. I'll wait until everything has premiered before I do my year fall tv review. Sunday of course I watched the Vikings lose in embarrassing fashion again. It was pouring down rain when we left Metrodome, too. I'm going to see Vikings' owner Zygi Wilf speak at the University today, but I'll try not to ask him why the only player who can make a play on offense sat out the last drive.

FO!

2007-09-29T21:32:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned last time, I finished up my Tomato:

Project Name: Tomato
Designer: Wendy Bernard
Pattern Source: No Sheep For You
Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 Cotton
Yarn Source: I can't really remember, but maybe Borealis
Date Started: 8/15/07
Date Completed: 9/23/07

Comments: This was a project I did for the last color grouping in this year's Project Spectrum. I started and finished it within the allotted time! I think this is the quickest I've ever knit a sweater for myself. This pattern was featured in the Interweave Knits Knitting Daily emails for a while, and I used the modifications Sandi talked about in KD. Specifically, I did darts in the bust area and divided the front and back at the bottom for side vents. I'm not sure I like the side vents, since I didn't add back in the extra stitches I decreased for the bust darts. Therefore, the front has fewer stitches than the back, so the side vents aren't really on the side. The darts definitely make the sweater more form fitting and so it's probably more flattering than having all that extra fabric, but it also really makes me look busty. I think it looks better when I have a necklace to draw the eye up a little like this self-portrait:

It's even warm enough these days that I can still wear it a time or two before I have to pack it away for winter. This yarn is one that Mission Falls discontinued for a little while, so I bought up all of the skeins of this purple in some store locally, I think Borealis. It's a nice and soft cotton, but I prefer a smooth mercerized like Cotton Classic.

I saw a couple of movies this weekend, on opposite ends of the spectrum. This one is one I loved:

What a powerful, amazing movie. It's directed by Sean Penn, who I love as an actor. He's always talking about how he wants to give up acting forever and just direct and I'm afraid with this film, he may decide to make that move for good. It's based on a novel by Jon Krakauer, a true story about Christopher McCandless. Chris graduates from college in 1990 and decides to give away all his money (he's from a wealthy family, so it's over $24,000) and hit the road. His goal is to end up in Alaska, just to live in the wilderness and commune with nature. The film goes back and forth between Chris in Alaska and his journey to get there. You may think by that description, that it's a beautiful, fun road movie and part of it is that, but it's so much more. The non-linear structure is wonderful, because you really build up a connection with Chris and things are revealed in a really effective way. At the beginning of the film I really was irritated with Chris and sort of wanted to slap him. But the more you watch the film, the more you learn about who he is, how he came to make these choices and what effect they have on him, his family and the people he meets along the way. It's really something special. Chris is played by a relatively new actor, Emile Hirsch. His performance is pretty amazing and I'll be pretty shocked if he isn't nominated for an Academy Award. He captures so many different layers of Chris - his selfishness, his naivete, his charisma and charm. He also makes a pretty significant transformation over the course of the film. There are loads of great supporting performances throughout the film, too. Sean Penn incorporates all kinds of camera tricks. Sometimes I thought it was a little too much trickery in that it took me out of the film and into the "filmmaking", if you know what I mean. But overall, it obviously worked because I was totally sucked in and believed everything, which is so crucial when filming a true story. All of the scenes were filmed on location, so you get a ton of gorgeous scenery of the southwest, South Dakota, Alaska. The soundtrack includes a number of haunting songs written and performed by Eddie Vedder, that are the perfect accompaniment for what's happening on screen. I can't recommend this film strongly enough, but make sure you're prepared for the emotional impact.

On the other hand, I hated this:

You've probably seen the previews, so you know this movie stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as a big time pro football quarterback who suddenly finds out he has a young daughter. It is really awful. It was completely predictable. Everything that happens in the film is telegraphed far in advance and you'd have to have never seen a movie before in your life to not know what was going to happen next. And yet, as impossible as it seems, everything that happens is completely unrealistic. You know what's going to happen, but you also know that that would never happen in real life. I don't even want to say more than that, because it will just make me mad. I will say, however, that The Rock actually can act. He has tremendous charisma and even though the dialog was ridiculous, he kind of sold it. I am hoping he'll be able to work his way into better material than this in the future.

For the record, I didn't choose "The Game Plan." We were going to go mini-golfing at Lava Links in Pavilion Place mall, but they've closed down. So sad. We've had so much fun golfing the volcano there and playing air hockey. We'll really miss it. Since it was closed, we went across the street to the place responsible for closing it down, the huge AMC Theater at Rosedale Mall. Once that theater opened, the theaters at Pavilion Place closed and I guess once the theaters closed, there wasn't enough traffic into the mall to keep Lava Links open. On the plus side, Chipotle is scheduled to open next to the theater later this fall, so I finally have a Chipotle near my office!

Back Again

2007-09-27T13:35:00.000-05:00

I had a little involuntary blogging break over the last week. My cable modem quit working so I was without internet until I got it replaced this week. It's amazing how something I lived without for 30 years is now such an integral part of my life. Needless to say, besides being behind in my own blogging, I'm behind in my blog reading. You people are very prolific! :-)

Last time I posted, I was going to the MN Music Fest. It was really fun! When I work the Irish Fair, I always work in the ticket/id booth, usually carding people and giving them the id wristbands. At the Music Fest, I was actually in a beer tent, serving beer. People only get ided once, but they come back for beer over and over, so I felt like I had all these friends coming to see me again! Some of them were funny, some would give me a hard time, some were just nice. I even made a couple of dollars in tips, which was nice, since the food smelled great and I was happy to take a break and have a bite to eat. I was at the beer tent next to the main stage, so I was able to hear and see Soul Asylum really well and we closed down before the show was done, so I was able to catch the end of the show "in the crowd". Dave Pirner seemed to be in great spirits and they sounded really good. They played a great mix of old favorites and a few songs off their latest album. I'm really glad I volunteered for this event and I think I'll do it again next year.

What else have I been up to? I saw this movie:

It was pretty funny. I'd say I liked it, but I didn't love it. It's co-written by Seth Rogen, who was the lead actor in "Knocked Up" and produced by the director of that movie, Judd Apatow. So, it has a very similar sensibility. It's about one day and night in the life of two guys who are best friends. They are graduating from high school in a couple of weeks and going to different colleges, so when they are invited to a party, they decide they better make the most of it. The plan is to get two girls that they have crushes on drunk so that they might agree to sleep with them. Yeah, we're not talking high levels of intellectualism in this film. It starts out very, very vulgar and gradually becomes more sweet and sincere, like the other Apatow films. I liked "Knocked Up" and "40 Year Old Virgin" better, but I still laughed hard in some parts and by the end I was really pulling for these guys.

Sunday of course was football day and the Vikings once again embarrassed themselves in losing to the Chiefs. Enough said about that. At least my fantasy football team won!

Last night I went to Talking Volumes at the Fitzgerald Theater. It's sort of a book club that is co-sponsored by Minnesota Public Radio, the Star Tribune newspaper and The Loft Literary Center. The author this time was Sherman Alexie, a Native American author who is also a poet and screenwriter. You may have seen a film he wrote a few years ago, Smoke Signals. He was there discussing his two latest books, one a Young Adult title called, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" and the other a novel called "Flight". He was opinionated, funny and so intelligent and quick-witted. He certainly didn't stick to the topic for any length of time, going off on tangents about politics, race, writing and just about anything else you can think of. It was a highly interesting discussion and I'll definitely be picking up some of his books soon.

Speaking of books, I finished this one:

It's the third in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. If you read this series, I don't need to say more and if you don't read it, I don't want to ruin anything. I'll just say that if you haven't read this series, I highly recommend it. It is much loved and pretty much everyone who picks it up, grows to love it. It's hard to explain what the series is about and sound coherent. The main characters are Claire, a nurse just back from WWII who goes on a second honeymoon with her husband to Scotland and is suddenly transported back 200 years to 18th century Scotland. There she finds her true love, James Fraser. I know it sounds weird, with time travel and romance and historical fiction all rolled up together, but the books are really well written and you get so caught up in the lives of the characters. Especially Claire and Jamie, who are just about ideal. I enjoyed this third book, although there was some really, really weird voodoo stuff toward the end that felt a little out of place to me. Nevertheless, I'm really looking forward to the next episode in this series. The books are all really long and since I'm such a slow reader, it takes me a while to read them, so I won't be picking it up right away. I haven't read a nice mystery for a while, so I'm definitely going to pick up one of those next.

And speaking of WWII, I've been watching The War on PBS. If you haven't been watching, it's a Ken Burns documentary mini-series about WWII, sort of organized around the citizens of 4 towns in America. The Northern town he chose to highlight is Luverne, MN, a small town on the Southwestern border with Iowa and South Dakota, where I just happen to have come from. Both my mother and father graduated from Luverne High School and so both of grandparents lived in Rock County. My parents moved to Sioux Falls shortly after I was born, but until I got a job in 8th grade, I would spend pretty much all of my summers in between my grandparents homes, so I spent lots and lots of time in Luverne. It's been really fun to see the town and its people in such a well-done series. It really makes me miss my grandparents, though. I will have to call my surviving grandfather who now is living near my auntie in Wisconsin and see what he thinks of it. I'm sure he remembers the newspaper editorials they've been featuring in the series and all of the people being interviewed.

I've also been trying to catch some of the new fall shows. This year they seem to have returned to the old style of having a big "fall premiere week". Not every show is premiering this week, but the majority of them are. Last year they tried to spread it out over about 6 weeks. It's kind of nice to have new episodes of your old shows back again.

I've also been knitting a bit - I have one FO and two new projects I haven't posted about yet, but I'll save that for next time.