Making Progress/Fringing

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.

So Much Goodness!

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!!

More than just Movies

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.

Time Flies

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.

A Lifelong Dream Fulfilled

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.

Bruce and The Rocket

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.

Back Again

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.

Music Meme and more yarn

I started a new project, but I'm not very far into it, so I'm going to wait to post about it until I can post a nice picture. I finished the body of the Tomato sweater and I'm very happy with how it came out. I picked up around the neck for the neckband. I had 10 more stitches across the front than the pattern called for, so I decreased some of them in the first row. Hopefully that will draw it in and make it a little less revealing than it has been in my progress photos, without looking all gathered up and weird. Pictures of that after I finish the neckline. Second Pineapple sock has been started, but it looks exactly like the first, so that's boring. So, let's come clean on another yarn purchase. Some of us in one of my knitting groups decided to jump on the bandwagon and go in together on an order of Kauni yarn. It's gorgeous!



You can see some of the darker blue and red peeking through in the middle of the upright skeins. I think I'll make the standard Kauni cardigan, since I love the geometry of it. Those horizontal stripes and the boxy construction aren't going to be super flattering on me, but I still think it'll be a fun knit.

That's about it around here. I'm serving beer tonight at the Minnesota Music Festival. I'm volunteering on behalf of the Irish Faire. If you're there, stop by and say hi to me. One of my favorite bands, Soul Asylum, is playing. I'm hoping I might be able to catch the end of their set when I'm done.

Speaking of favorite bands, since I don't have a lot else, today, I thought I'd post this meme I got from Susan's site. Here's what you do: Copy this list; leave in the bands you’ve seen perform live; delete the ones you haven’t, and add new ones that you have seen until you reach 25. An asterisk means the previous person had it on their list. Two asterisks means the last two people who did this before you had that band on their list.

1. New Order* I saw them in 1989 with Public image Limited and the Sugarcubes with my brother. We were there mostly to see PiL, but I liked New Order pretty well. We left early during the Sugarcubes, show, though. I'm not a huge Bjork fan.

2. Sha Na Na* I can't remember where I saw them, but I remember it was outdoors. Like Susan, I have strong memories of Sha Na Na from my childhood.

3. Public Image Limited* See #1 above.

4. The Violent Femmes* They're from Wisconsin, so I've seen them a few different times - at outdoor festivals, at First Avenue, but my favorite was the time I saw them at Target Center in September, 2005. I posted about it here, so long time readers may remember. It was a fundraiser for Katrina victims that had been put together at the last minute. The Femmes were the headliners and Cowboy Mouth were also supposed to play, so Greg and I decided to go. Cowboy Mouth couldn't make it, so Dave Pirner from Soul Asylum stepped in. There were only a couple of hundred people at the show, so even though it was in this huge arena, it felt like a small, intimate show.

5. Bruce Springsteen - I've seen him a few times, alone and with the E Street Band. I think my favorite is the first time I saw him with the E Street band. They all just seemed so happy to be together and playing again. I had obstructed view seats behind the stage, but it was an open stage, so I could see everything perfectly well. It was November so he sang "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and threw candy canes into the crowd and I got one, which I still have. Bruce and the E Street Band are coming back this fall and I just got tickets this morning - can't wait!!

6. U2 - I'm a little bitter about U2 because on their last tour I just missed getting tickets because I was behind a scalper who was there with his wife and kids and each of them bought 8 tickets. Oh, I was so mad! But, I've seen a few different U2 shows and they're always entertaining and big.

7. Pearl Jam - I've seen them a few times. The first time I saw them was 9 years ago in 1998 at Target Center. I was kind of glad I didn't have fantastic seats because I loved the show and Eddie Vedder so much that I think if I had been close up, I might have quit my job and just followed them around for the rest of the tour.

8. Paul McCartney - I've seen Sir Paul twice now. The first time I just wanted to see him because he's the cute Beatle for goodness sake! I was absolutely blown away by the show, though. That man has written some amazing music. So even though he charges a ton for tickets, I jumped at the chance to see him again.

9. Paul Simon - Speaking of amazing songwriters, I've seen Paul Simon both alone and with Artie Garfunkel. I'm continually amazed at his way with words and the way he explores all facets of music.

10. Green Day - I don't know what took me so long to list Green Day. I've seen them a few times and every time it's fantastic. They rock hard, they care about the country and they're sexy. What else do you want?

11. Fleetwood Mac - I saw them once at the X. It was one of those things where my friend wanted to go, so I thought what the heck. I'm so glad I did. I forgot how much great music they made. And Lindsey Buckingham is one sexy man.

12. Soul Asylum - Duh. That's who I started this thing talking about. They're local, so of course I've seen them quite a few times. I can't help but get happy and sad whenever I hear them play. And even though Dave Pirner needs to brush his hair most of the time and usually looks like he could use a shower, he's always very sexy.

13. Sting - Speaking of sexy. Oh, boy. Most of the times I've seen him in concert, he's wearing a vest with no shirt underneath. Oh, those biceps. As you may recall, I also saw him with The Police.

14. Harry Connick, Jr. - Always charming, always sexy, always fascinating. His piano playing is marvelous, but I could just get lost in his voice.

15. The Smithereens - Some of you may not remember this group who never really hit it big. They had a few big hits in the 80s. I've seen them in concert quite a few times - they used to tour a lot in the 80s and 90s. I just love their music and they always put on a great show. I haven't seen them in a while, so I'd love to see them again.

16. David Bowie - I've seen him a couple of times. The first time was at Metrodome of all places. It was in 86 or 87, so he was still pretty big off of Let's Dance and Tonight. In high school I just worshipped him - in fact one of my senior pictures was me with a David Bowie poster. So shortly after I moved up here to the big city Bowie was in concert and I was thrilled. I saved up my money to go to the show - it was my first time in Metrodome. It was a big spectacle of a show and I loved it.

17. Counting Crows - I've seen them a few times too, and a lot of the time it just hasn't worked out well. Last time I mentioned that they played a weird mix of songs. The time before that was at the Basilica Block Party and it was so crowded, I was just very unhappy about being pushed and shoved. I'm still a huge fan of their music, though and I'll probably pick up the new album.

18. R.E.M. - Another band I always look forward to seeing. They always play a good mix of stuff from throughout their career. The most memorable time I saw them was at Midway Stadium, where our minor league baseball team plays. At the very end of the show, it started raining a torrential downpour. I was so wet by the time we got to the car. It was all worth it, though. The next time they were in town, they mentioned it, so it was memorable for them, too.

19. Tom Petty - I've seen him a couple of times, now, I think only at the X. I wasn't a big fan when he was really popular, but I dated a guy who loved him and you know how you sort of start to catch on to things when you're dating someone? I went to see him the first time because my friend is a big fan and it was such a great show, I'll always make an effort to see him if he's in town.

20. Bonnie Raitt - She's one of the coolest women on the planet. Just love her shows. She usually plays my favorite of her songs, You Can't Make Me Love You" toward the end of her shows. One time we saw her at the fair and this woman next to me took a cell phone call just as Bonnie starts this song. She sings it with so much soul your heart just breaks - I couldn't believe this idiotic woman could talk on the cell during something like that. Good thing I'm not a violent person.

21. Prince - Even though he's the Godfather of Minnesota Music and I love him, I've only seen him once. It was a fantastic show at the X - he played all his old music, some great newer stuff, awesome show.

22. Lyle Lovett - I've seen him a couple of times and it seems like we've had some really good seats for his shows. He's always so dry and funny and his songs are great. My favorite show was probably that show at the State Fair with Bonnie Raitt that I was just talking about.

23. Robert Randolph & The Family Band - I saw these guys opening for Eric Clapton at the X. I'm listing them instead of Clapton because Clapton was ok, but RR was AMAZING. Such an amazing musician, fantastic energy. I would love to see them again.

24. Bob Schneider - Bob is a musician from Texas. He plays sort of straight forward rock n roll, with really smart and funny lyrics. He's pretty good looking and he puts on a good show. I've seen him a few times - I like the vibe of his outdoors summer shows the best. He's been playing at The Fine Line most of the time he's been in town lately and I'm not that fond of that place.

25. Cowboy Mouth - And of course, I had to save the best for last. My favorite live band. I've seen them probably about 6 or 8 times now and every single show is so much fun. The music is great, the band is awesome. I'm hoping they'll play another outdoor free event again so that I can convince some of y'all to come out and see them.

So, that's my 25. There are a bunch more that I've seen once, but I tried to pick shows that I liked so much I'd come back again and again. Just for fun, do the meme yourself and then let me know, so I can see how much overlap we have!

Weekend Update

Ahhh, fall has begun. It was still really hot and humid last week, but towards the end of the week, the temperatures started falling and now it's a brisk 61 degrees mid-day. I love it! Except that I caught a bit of a cold, so I was just miserable with sneezing and body aches yesterday.

I spent most of Friday and Saturday at the Mall of America for Archiver's annual Scrapfest. I took three classes and spent the rest of my time there on the free make and takes. Every year this event gets bigger and bigger, so the lines for the make and takes were so long. Friday I ran out of the house because I had an early class, so I was a bit unprepared. Luckily I met a very nice woman in one of the early lines and we started chatting and hit it off, so we just hung around together the rest of the day. Saturday I was smart enough to bring a tote bag and a bit of knitting. I finished up another bib, that I had started at the Irish Fair last month:



The Scrapfest was lots of fun and I do enjoy papercraft a lot, but knitting is definitely my first love. Here are some of the make and takes I made over the weekend:



As you can see, there was a frame, a scrapbook page, a trick or treat bag, some cards and some litle picture books. I took one card class and two scrapbook classes. I wasn't able to finish my scrapbook projects in class, so I'll have some fun things to work on when I get around to it.

Friday night, I went out to see my favorite band to watch live:



Cowboy Mouth! I've mentioned on this blog many times before how much fun it is to go to a Cowboy Mouth show, but let me say it again. This is a fantastic band to see live. They play pretty much straight up rock. They are incredibly upbeat and the hallmark of their shows is their interaction with the audience. And not in a dumb or annoying way. I challenge anyone who sees them to leave without a smile on their face. There were a couple of new people in the band, but they still didn't disappoint. I was dead tired when I arrived, but left feeling happy and energized.

Sunday was of course Game Day!



Oh my gosh!! How much do I love Adrian Peterson? He's so fast and so strong, it's just a pleasure watching him carry the ball. And his beautiful touchdown? We havne't seen that kind of excitement in quite a while. Even though I was sneezing and blowing my nose every other minute, it was a really fun day. I can't wait for more!
I joined the Football along (link on the sidebar), so I'm looking forward to a little knitting and watching football next Sunday when the Vikings travel to Detroit.

Weekend Update

I know I say this all the time, but I'm continually amazed by how fast time is whizzing by. The past week looked to be nice and relaxed and turned very very busy. A lot of it was work related, but I had a lot of fun, too. I saw this awesome movie:



One of my favorite movies of the year! It's a documentary about two men competing for the champion high score in the arcade video game "Donkey Kong". The reigning champion is Billy Mitchell. He set the high mark back in the mid-80s and is part of the gaming establishment. He was named "Gamer of the Century" in 1999. The challenger is Steve Wiebe, a hard luck guy who gets laid off and decides to pass the time by trying to beat the "Donkey Kong" high score. You may be thinking, "Gee, that sounds really stupid and boring, I don't think I'd waste my time on that movie." Well, like all really good documentaries, this one goes beyond the subject matter of the film. Sure, if you spent some time at the arcade or the roller rink playing videogames in the 80s, you may be nostalgic about the competition. But this film is hardly about the game itself at all. It's about the nature of competition itself, about how we define ourselves, how we find a passion in life pursue it, forming a community and becoming in part defined by it. These guys are Gamers, they don't just play games. Sound familiar? I'm a knitter, I don't just knit. I absolutely love seeing people passionate about something. I also got completely caught up in competition and cared really deeply about these people and what was happening. I felt the same elation and indignation during some of the tournament scenes that I do when I watch the Vikings play, which you know I'm plenty passionate about. Give this film a watch if you care about people, about passions and love competition, even if you don't give a lick about videogames.



Speaking of passion and competition, Thursday night I went to the last Vikings pre-season game. Normally I don't go to the pre-season games because there isn't much passion and competition. The best players either don't play or see limited time. The game plans are very simple and limited. It's just boring. But I'm not alone - the market was flooded with tickets and Greg didn't want to go either, so I took Bill's step-son, Ben. And we stayed until every second had ticked off that clock. It was really fun to see the game through Ben's eyes. He's become really obsessed about sports and especially football over the last year. This year is his first year playing, so now he's really excited, seeing it from another angle. Neither Bill or Beth are that into football, so it's something that Ben and I talk about all the time and it was his first time going to an NFL game. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to share that with him. I also had my fantasy football draft this weekend, so I'm all geeked up about football starting for real, now!



Saturday night I saw The Counting Crows at Midway Stadium. It was a gorgeous late summer night, so it was really fun to sit outside and enjoy some live music. I'd say the concert itself was a mixed bag. I've seen Counting Crows in concert a few times and this show was really different. They didn't play many of their older, established songs. Half of the show were songs from their forthcoming album. I tend to like to listen to a new album a few times before I see the songs performed live, just so I have some familiarity. Some of the new songs immediately worked for me, some didn't. Maybe I'll like them better after I've heard them a few times. This was the last show of their tour and the lead singer, Adam Duritz, seemed to be in a very contemplative mood.

Labor Day was a nice, relaxing day for me. I met a friend for brunch at Highland Cafe & Bakery in the old Village Bistro spot in Highland Park. The baked goods are incredible! We shared a caramel roll that was pretty much perfect. I had a Monte Cristo sandwich - the bread was homemade, thick, rich slices. The cafe is definitely worth checking out if you're in the area. I hope it does better than the other restaurants that have been in that space.

I also did some knitting over the last week, but I'll save that for another post.

It's July already?

I know I say this constantly, but doesn't it seem like this year is going faster than ever? I can't believe it's already July. With July comes my birthday and I had a great birthday weekend last weekend. I got a number of very nice gifts from my friends - I'm so blessed with kind and generous friends! On Saturday night a couple of them took me out to True Thai, a restaurant that was just mentioned by Andrew Zimmern as perhaps the best Thai restaurant in the Twin Cities. My first time there and I will definitely be back. We had a few different appetizers and they all were delicious. I had the Drunkard's noodles. It wasn't very spicy, but I didn't specify what spice level I wanted, so I imagine they set it at "Minnesota hot" if not specified. My friends had the curry which was really tasty. This winter I want to go back and try the lemon chicken soup.

After dinner, Deb treated me to an evening at The Guthrie for the play 1776. I really liked it - and what a great way to celebrate Independence Day than to remember how it all began. The play tells the story of the Continental Congress' debate and eventual signing of the Declaration of Independence. It's sort of a musical, because there are a number of musical numbers. However, there's a lot of just straight dialog too, so it's not like your typical Broadway style musical. The music is ok. Enjoyable, but not something that's going to stay with me forever. In fact, less than a week later, I can't hum a single tune. The performances were really great. The play shows the "founding fathers" as the real men they were - human beings with faults and strengths just like everyone. I particularly enjoyed the performance of the actor playing Benjamin Franklin. We all know Franklin's wit from his famous sayings, and at least in this play, he seems to be a great fun to be around, too. I'm definitely going to have to pick up David McCullough's book, "1776" and read more about this.

I started my birthday as I traditionally like to, with a pedicure. There aren't very many spas open on Sundays, but Solimar was, which is a spa that I do enjoy. It wasn't quite as relaxing as I would have hoped because there was another patron there, so the four of us (the clients and nail technicians) spent the time chatting - mostly about books. Mostly about Harry Potter and the Outlander books (yes, we were all girl equivalents of fanboys). After that I headed over to Bill's for a picnic. Red was being absolutely adorable and even sat on my lap for a little while when we were watching some animation on the computer, which was the best present of all! In the evening I had dinner with Michael and Greg, so I got to spend the day with all my best boys at one time or another. A very nice, relaxing birthday.

A couple of days later, I enjoyed a gift for myself, a concert:



When I heard The Police were doing a reunion tour, I literally screamed. And waited for an announcement that they were coning through the Twin Cities. When it finally came, I realized that tickets were going to go on sale day I was leaving for the cruise with my mom, so I wouldn't have access to a phone or internet to buy them. After checking with several of my usual concert-going buddies and striking out, I finally convinced my brother to go with me and buy the tickets for me when he could - they went on sale at 10:00 on a work day, so most people were in the middle of their work day at that time. We got first row of the middle level, which is great because we didn't have anyone in front of us, but sucked because everyone around us was very sedate. But we were there and I was so excited!!

My top three bands of all time (in no particular order) are:

The Police/Sting
U2
Pearl Jam

I've seen Sting in concert a half dozen times, but I never got to see The Police because the last time they played together around here was in the mid-80s, while I was still living in South Dakota. I remember how jealous I was of Diego in Spanish class when he came back from a trip up to the Cities with his new Police t-shirt from seeing the concert. (On a side note, I just found out that my Dad went to that concert. He used to work for Carlson Companies up here when I was in high school - he commuted on weekends from Sioux Falls to Minneapolis. I'm so glad I didn't know that back then - I would have been so bitter - as only a teen can be).

I loved the concert. Every song they played is one I love. I thought they sounded great together and they looked fantastic. I think Sting and Stewart Copeland could still wear the clothes they had back in 85. Andy Summers is even older than the other guys and looked a little older too, but still great. They re-arranged a lot of the stuff, which really didn't bother me. I like it when you see a show live and it doesn't sound exactly the same as it did on the record. Sting plays some of the Police songs on his tours, so maybe I'm just used to the way he performs them. They got bad reviews from both of the local papers. I think it just depends on whether you like Sting or not. The re-workings are definitely more of his style and his work. Andy Summers also plays a lot of jazz, so I think he and Sting both gravitate more to a jazz sound than a reggae sound that The Police had in the early years. Stewart Copeland was just completely intense and high energy throughout the show. He and Sting were always the two battling it out in the old days and given I was a teenage girl, I always thought he obviously was a jerk who was jealous of Sting's popularity. That may be true, but now that I'm a little older and little wiser, I have to say that Stewart's amazing and talented and maybe he's right, too. If you're interested, here's the set list:

1. Message in a Bottle
2. Synchronicity II
3. Walking on the Moon
4. Voices in My Head/When the World Is Running Down…
5. Don’t Stand So Close to Me
6. Driven to Tears
7. Truth Hits Everybody
8. Bed’s Too Big without You
9. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
10. Wrapped around Your Finger
11. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
12. Invisible Sun
13. Walking in Your Footsteps
14. Can’t Stand Losing You

Encores:
15. Roxanne
16. King of Pain
17. So Lonely
18. Every Breath You Take
19. Next to You