Movie Monday - 8/15/2011

Knitting some, not finishing much...Not watching movies...What is wrong with the Merry Karma?

It's been really oppressive around here.  We almost set a new record last week for consecutive 100-degree days, but we didn't even tie.  A front was trying to reach us on Thursday but didn't make it.  Still, the temperatures dropped well below 100.  Then, early Saturday morning....it rained - 1.6 inches where we live.  It was a welcomed event, for sure.  I was kind of bummed about not breaking the record, after living through almost that many days...but...just...not...quite.  I got over it though.

My roses may not, even with the rain:



So, I did see one movie...

Gattaca, a science fiction thriller set in a world where people of means can choose the genetic make-up of their offspring, and whether one is allowed to realize their dreams and aspirations is dependent on that genetic make-up.  The underlying theme is that discrimination is wrong, no matter what the methods.  Ethan Hawke plays a person with inferior DNA who buys some favorable DNA from a paralyzed man played by Jude Law.  Uma Thurman, who has quality DNA, plays the love interest.  It was really good.

MK out.

WIP Wednesday - 8/10/2011

Howdy, howdy!

The theme for this week's WIP Wednesday is socks.  On Sunday morning, fresh off the wonderful high after attending Sock Summit 2011- it took me a whole week to come down - I noticed that the June socks were not finished, the July socks were not started and the August socks weren't even a thought.

I promptly started the July 2011 socks that afternoon.  I decided to make them toe-up and I used a short-row method to get them going.  I really like working with this yarn.  It is Lone Star Arts Fusion in the Aggieland colorway.  As I've mentioned before, it looks more red than maroon to me, but I love red; so, I'm good with it.  Anyway, the yarn has a nice twist to it, and it feels good in my hands.  I am using 2.0mm (US 0) circulars.  Since they kind of look like peppermint candy to me...and I love peppermint candy at Christmas time...they are my (Christmas in) July 2011 Socks:



I picked up the June 2010 socks yesterday and transferred one onto my 2.0mm Signature Needle Arts double points.  Love these needles - and look out!  They are really sharp, but I digress...Anyway, I searched my library for a short-row heel.  I wanted a short-row in stockinette - and not a Turkish heel - a real short-row heel.  Lucy Neatby does a great garter stitch short-row heel, but I had my heart set on stockinette.  I found one in Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitting Socks. I think I really like it so far:



The plan for today is to work both heels on the June socks and get the July socks to the point where it's time to work the (I'm thinking short-row again) heels.  Then, I think I will find the yarn and pattern I want to use for the August socks.  I might even get them started today.

MK out.

Movie Monday - 8/08/2011

Finally...some movies to discuss:

Inside Job, a documentary, is a pointed look at the recent economic meltdown leaving quite a bit of the middle-class in dire straights, while the investment bankers were lining their pockets with millions of dollars.  It kind of made me sick.  It is an eye opener…You should see it.

Wild Grass is a hard to follow movie.  Is it because it is in French with English subtitles?  Or just because it is a French movie and they are so subtle sometimes that it is hard to figure out what is going on?  I don’t know, but there were many scenes in which one isn’t sure if it’s real or if it’s Memorex. And can I tell you how slow it is in places? It’s about a man who finds a woman’s wallet. He becomes so obsessed with her, that she has to have the police tell him to cool it, at which time she becomes obsessed with him.  He is seemingly happily married with two grown children.  However, he seems to have a dark side that is never explained in the movie. She is a successful dentist who likes to fly airplanes.  I recognize two of the actors – Emannuelle Devos, who plays another dentist and the good friend of the lead female character, and Mathieu Amalric, who plays a police detective.  Meh.

Old Dogs with Robin Williams and John Travolta was pretty dumb.  The two play close business partners who are charged with taking care of a set of seven-year-old twins.  There were some funny parts – mostly slapstick-ish…but…dumb. 

Tamara Drewe is a dramedy about an ugly duckling, who grew up, had a little plastic surgery and returns to her home town where things get stirred up a bit. The movie is adaptated from the graphic novel of the same name. Gemma Arterton, Roger Allam, Bill Camp, Dominic Cooper, Luke Evans and Tamsin Greig star in this cute, little British film set in the quaint little town of Ewedown.

I didn’t really like My Own Private Idaho, starring River Phoenix and Keanu Reaves…can you tell it’s old?  The two play a couple of male prostitutes in Portland, OR.  Mike (Phoenix) is in love with Scott (Reaves).  Scott is from an affluent family, doing the street urchin thing to aggravate his father.  Mike has narcolepsy – and falls down asleep when his stress level rises.  The two go looking for Mike’s mom and travel to Italy, where Scott falls in love with a girl.  It was gritty and sleazy – there’s drug use – and none of these things make for a bad movie in and of themselves necessarily.  It just didn’t ring my bell.

In Local Color Trevor Morgan plays John, a young wanna-be artist meets one of his idols, Nicholi Seroff, played by Armin Mueller-Stahl.  John talks Nicholi into letting him hang around and maybe picking up some tips from the old man.  It was slow in parts, but kind of a sweet coming of age story.

Hope y'all are staying cool...

MK out.

 

WIP Wednesday - 8/03/2011 - Not knitting...

It's too hot to knit.

(Did I say that out loud?)

It's too hot to cook, too.  Instead, it's a good time to tear off the late-1980s wallpaper from the kitchen walls and just paint them. 



See it close up?



Now, it's gone.



MK out.

Ten on Tuesday - 8/02/2011 Love is in the air...

Today's Ten on Tuesday from Carole is Ten Favorite Romantic Comedies.

Oh my goodness, I have so many, but here are the first ten that popped into my mind (in no particular order):

1.   Sleepless in Seattle
2.   Sabrina - both versions
3.   Four Weddings and A Funeral
4.   The Parent Trap - both, but the original the most
5.   When Harry Met Sally
6.   Groundhog Day
7.   Working Girl
8.   The Holiday
9.   Arthur - both versions
10. It's Complicated

It is so hot outside...maybe staying inside and watching a movie is a really good idea.

MK out.

Sock Summit 2011

We interrupt the regularly scheduled Movie Monday in order to bring you the exclusive Merry Karma account of Sock Summit 2011. So, grab a chair, your beverage of choice (or your knitting) and get ready for some pictures...

I flew into Portland on Wednesday afternoon. I already knew that there were at least two other Summiteers on my flight because I saw them as they boarded and we exchanged the "Are you going to Sock Summit?" greeting.  I caught up with one (Annimol*) when we landed, and then we ran into Lucy Neaby in the line to purchase MAX tickets. Here's a not very good quality picture I took of Annimol and Lucy on the train:



This year, I decided to volunteer at Sock Summit.  I figured it was a good way to get to know people and really feel a part of the whole thing.  I am very glad that I did and I will do it again.

I made some new friends.  I met shirleysnh2004 while we were sitting at the volunteer table in between assignments:



I worked with MP on the loading dock Thursday morning helping vendors move in:



I met a fun group of ladies from the most exotic region of our country - the State of Iowa.  They are (from L to R) altygrae, Restoknitter and judithio:



Here's a good shot with Annimol:



I also met mccute while we were working on the loading dock together.  Here we are at Burgerville:



I ran into a few luminaries in the wild.  Franklin Habit was enjoying a Voodoo Donut.  He was wearing a kilt, and no, I did not look under it:



Here's Lynn Hershberger.  She has been a teacher at DFW Fiber Fest before:



I got a picture of Lucy and me:



Here's a picture of Lucy and Lynn together.  They are very colorful:



Next, there's Sandi Wiseheart.  The Exotic Iowa girls and I had met her Wednesday night at Burgerville.  She was sitting by herself and came over and joined us.  From that point on, she was our friend; so, I had to take a picture with her:



I snapped a picture of Tina and Stephanie together (rare) and sitting down (rarer).  It didn't last long:



I took some great classes.  One was Sock Design Workshop:  Know the Rules, Then Break Them with Star Athena:



Kate Atherley taught Writing Up an Awesome Sock Pattern:



I took Writing Sock Patterns from JC Briar:



I didn't get a picture of Parna Mehrbani, but I took a One Hour Wonder class with her called The (C) Word.  Copyright for Knitters and Designers.  It was very informative, as were all my classes. 

I listened to wonderful lectures.  Anna Zilboorg gave an interesting talk called Deeper Meaning of Sock Knitting.  She seems like such a cool lady that Restoknitter and I adopted her as our favorite Aunt.  She was okay with that:



Sock Yarn Stories by Clara Parkes gave me good information about which yarns are better suited for sock knitting and why:



Stephanie's talk This Is Your Brain on Knitting informed us why knitting is good for us.   

I participated in the Flash Mob.  If you look real hard, and look through to the back row...you will see me. 

I shopped...and can I just say, you might be a Needle Ho, if when you introduce yourself to the Signature Needles Arts owner she exclaims, "Oh, I know you! I recognize your name."



So...of course I bought needles.  I bought two circulars from Signature to complete my collection of their 5" needle shaft, stilleto point, 24" circulars.  I also bought a set of Blackthorne double points in 2.25mm (1 US) because I don't have any, and they are supposed to be very strong and won't snap...and because, well...I don't have any...and I am a Needle Ho:



Sock Summit was the only other time this year (besides DFW Fiber Fest) that I was allowing myself to purchase yarn.  So, I did.  From L-R, I got one skein of Sanguine Gryphon Skinny Bugga! in Northern Purple Gold Beetle; Goth Socks Strychnine in Red Queen; Grinning Gargoyle's nice, fingering-weight MCN in Honeysuckle and BugSnugger's soft fingering-weight in Calmer - a color making its debut at the Sock Summit.  I got that last one to give to my friend Ruby.  She was going to come to Sock Summit, but ended up not being able to:

 

I regretted not purchasing anything from Jenny the Potter at the last Sock Summit; so, I made sure to buy this adorable needle vase this time:



Kind of clockwise - Soak makes some great wool wash. I bought a travel-pak.  They also make a nice foot cream called Heel.  Bar-Maids makes a nice lotion body bar.  I bought the smaller, Lo-Lo To-Go in Honeysuckle. (Is there a theme?  No.)  I also bought some of their Lo-Lo Cuticle Intensive to carry in my purse:



I found some buttons with knitting-related sayings:



Here's my Sock Summit swag:



The "It" item of the whole weekend for me is The Stitch Light.  You pick out the color of your strap, you pick out the little bag (that holds the little things you don't want to lose, and that I tend to lose, while knitting), put it all together, adjust your strap length, sit down with your knitting, turn it on and vee-oh-lah!  You can sit there and knit happily along and see what you are doing while (for instance) The Husb is watching tee vee and doesn't like you to turn on the lamp because it causes a glare on the screen.  It's by Buffy Ann Designs:



All in all, it was a phenomenal experience. Stephanie and Tina, along with all the ST-2s -Debbie, Rachel, Natalie, Lisa, Stephen and Debra - did a fantastic job. I think Sock Summit is a first class fiber conference. Thank you Ladies and Gents....I had a wonderful time.

MK out.

*Ravelry names used to protect the innocent.

Movie Monday - 7/25/2011

Agora is a historical drama loosely based on true events, set in Alexandria, Egypt in the fourth century A.D.  It was a time when the Christians and Pagans were trying to stake a claim on their territories. The main character is Hypatia, a philospher, astronomer and mathematician who was widely respected.  She is played by Rachel Weisz.  She has a very loyal slave who is smarter than any of her students, and who has to choose between his loyalties - his master and Christianity.  It is a good story, but very brutal and bloody.  Why can't people just be nice to each other?  That's the central question in my Pollyanna world.  Anyway, if you are into historical dramas with some graphic depiction of the inhumanities man inflicts on man...this movie is for you.

Ramona and Beezus is a cute little movie adapted from the childrens books series by Beverly Cleary. I remember reading them to children while babysitting. Joey King plays Ramona and Selena Gomez plays Beezus.  Their father is played by John Corbett...so, although it is a cute, little kid's movie with a predictable plot, it's a good way to spend extra time you might find that you have.

I liked Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, even despite the inconsistencies to the story that The Kid pointed out to me.  This film is a long way from the warm, fuzzy and heartwarming story of a boy wizard who is finally brought to the place he belongs after a less than warm and fuzzy upbringing.  As one watches the HP films, they get darker and darker, and this one was the darkest of all, but it was the final battle between good and evil.  As I did when I read the book, I really liked the epilogue set nineteen years after the battle.  Again, looking back over the series, I am amazed and humbled by the sheer inventiveness and creativity of JK Rowling's story.  This woman is very talented.  I still enjoy rereading the books and rewatching the movies.  I just love my Harry Potter.

I loved the newest Woody Allen movie Midnight in Paris.  Woody Allen is a neurotic little man, and he writes neurotic characters into his movies.  Sometimes, he plays the main character, but this time, Owen Wilson does, and he could be a Woody Allen stand-in anytime.  My friend Jules thought the story was too superficial and a bit scattered.  That may be...but I didn't have high expectations for a deep story - or, maybe, it was just the thing for my mood at the time.  Without revealing too much, it's about a guy who has long admired the writers of the 1920s and the Paris of that era.  He is a screen writer who has always wanted to write novels. He is in a relationship with the wrong woman which makes his longing for the nostalgia of the past and his associated fantasies more real.  So, he decides to chase his dreams...It's probably the best Woody Allen film I've seen in a while.

And with that, I will take my leave.

MK out.