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.

Thank you, friends!

Thanks to everyone who sent kind words and supportive thoughts to me, my brother and our community. It really has been such a surreal experience.

I had my first experience finding a new route around the bridge on Thursday night. The Fringe Festival has started and Thursday I was going from one theater in South Minneapolis to another one in North Minneapolis. The easiest and fastest way between those two points is 35W, but now you can't get over the river that way. Weird! so, I drove through downtown and took backstreets.

On the way home from the theater, I had to drive down University Avenue to get to 94 so I saw the bridge. What a sad, horrendous sight! Coming up to the bridge, there were several huge satellite trucks. That's not something you usually see in Minneapolis. Everything was heavily guarded - there are tons of police officers guarding the area to make sure no idiots try to climb down there. The first thing you see as you look at the entrance ramp to the highway is nothing. The road isn't there any more. Really, really weird. The you notice that the road is still there, it's just way, down below and at a steep upward then downward angle. They haven't done anything on the bridge yet - everything's been concentrated on recovery efforts in the river. So, it still looks the same as it did when it fell. All the cars are still sitting there. So scary and spooky looking. It was just really hard to see that.

Yesterday I was driving back to my office one of my usual routes, up 35W, but getting on 94 heading east right before the bridge. That's now the detour route, so of course traffic isn't moving all that quickly in that area. Gives you plenty of time to look over toward the bridge area. You can't see the actual bridge from there, but you definitely see the activity. I think I saw 6 helicopters coming and going around there. Again, these are sights we don't see in our nice little metro area. Life is very surreal, as I said.

I found out one of the women who died on the bridge is Native and her mother works for the tribe I work as a GAL for. A guy at Brugger's told me his father in law was one of the workers on the bridge and happened to be taking a cigarette break when it collapsed, so he wasn't on the bridge. He joked, "who says cigarettes kill?" Anyway, that's the end of my bridge talk, at least for now.

As I mentioned, the Fringe has started, so no movie reviews for a couple of weeks and very little knitting. I get an ultra pass and try to see as many shows as possible. It's so much fun! In the past, I've reviewed the Fringe shows I've seen, but I'm not sure any of my regular readers (that huge crowd of people!) are all that interested in that, so I'm going to skip it this year. But if you're interested in my thoughts on any of the shows or want a recommendation for something to see, drop me a line. I will say this - I'm pretty sure I've seen my favorite show already. Macbeth's Awesome Scottish Castle Party written by and starring the fabulously talented Joseph Scrimshaw. As you can probably suss out, it's a hilarious version of Macbeth, poking fun at theater snobs and rubes who enjoy interactive theater at the same time. I laughed almost the entire hour. It's playing every night at 7:00 and 8:30 at the Black Forest Inn on Nicollet. I'd like to see it every night. If you see one show this Fringe, make it this one. If you want someone to go with, let me know and I'd be happy to meet you down there. If you want to see something else or just want a personal introduction to Fringing, let me know and I'd be happy to do that too.