Just in Time

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.

What a Difference a Week Makes

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.

TV Talk

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.

New Projects

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.