Gee it's been a while...

How many times do I say that?  If I had a penny for every time, I'd be rich!

Sorry no photos today.  Yes I have a new camera after the old one died last summer, but I don't seem to be able to take good photos with it so it sits hidden in a cupboard.

Wednesday two friends came over to learn to spin!  YAY!  This is in addition to another friend who is also learning to spin! Great fun was had and two are reporting great progress!

Thursday - shh - don't tell, is my conference day. I keep a conference with myself all day. This event repeats every Thursday. The subject of my conference is my National dress project. This past Thursday I succeeded in 1) numbering skeins of yarn headed for the dye-pot 2) tieing other skeins of yarn for ikat dying. I used thinly sliced bicycle inner tubing to tie the places off. I figure that traditionally they probably used pig gut. Those two things occupied my morning.

3) My Thursday afternoon conference session focused on the belt I am trying to weave for the National dress. I am still not satisfied with the results. Yes, they are better than the last disaster, but something is definitely not right and I suspect the wool and cotton mixed warp is the problem. Basically I think it looks hideously bad.

4) Then I went to my course and sat happily and worked on the pulled thread embroidry for the front of the blouse (collar and back placket still to go and I am not finished with the front yet... and I've been working on it for several weeks).  We still need to check on the vest trim, the weave for the vest and what the tex of the warp and weft is, and get the pattern for the cap.  Now I understand the vest trim is velvet, which makes little sense (to me) because it is spun velvet.  Ok, how is velvet spun? I thought it was woven?!?!  I understand the principle of weaving velvet, but spinning it...??? I wonder why no one sees this dress?  Why no one makes this dress?

Also I hear the vest fabric is very shiny wool (also very thin and fine) To me that means a very fine combed top, closely spun worsted. It is the only thing that can really provide a shiny wool.  Okay I've been spinning at 84 tex, and have spun a 50 tex, so maybe I am looking for a 25 tex.  Um, yeah, I know. It IS possible to BUY this fabric.  But come on! Once upon a time, other people - not machines - actually spun the fiber and wove the originals, so it should still be possible today - or are we less skilled than our ancestors?
Don't answer that question!
I need samples of that trim and that vest fabric!

Once again ... it has been a while

It has been a while. I stopped blogging to do other things. One of the things I've been doing is writing another novel. when writing a novel I write the novel rather than writing about writing it. Currently it has 192 pages and I might be about half finished.

I took up my bits and pieces of natrional dress again and am making some progress on that as well.  I might actually get to send some pictures here soon.

Other than that ... the weather is perfect (autumn) and things are settling down for a week of language checking and sewing... I need a winter coat and there are a few other project that need my sewing machine.  Maybe another bog will come sometime sooner than the last one.

Durability

I like products with durability. I do not set out to abuse things I buy, but I do expect them to withstand "use".  On January 21 2011 I bought a new cell phone and on February 21 2011 it fell from my hand which was by my knee to the floor. The back came off, the battery fell out, I put it all back together and: it didn't work. I took it to ask about repair only to discover that I had abused it and the warrenty didn't cover abused phones. I also learned that for half the original cost of the phone, I could send the phone to be "looked at"... ah, that cost was for sending the phone, not for the "looked at".  I can look at a dead phone myself at no additional cost. The cost of having it "looked at" would exceed the original cost of the phone - and there was the shipping costs too, remember.

I left the phone, and all its perifials, and told the "service" department to trash it.

So now I am back to my old phone.  I will try to get it a new case, because the old case is chipped, cracked and that isn't nice.  But hey, this old phone has been chewed on by my dog, I've accidently washed it in the washing machine, I have long lost count of the number of times I've dropped it, seen it come apart and put it back together again only to have it keep working.

So how many years of life does a cell phone have before it is an antique?  By the old rules mine has fourty three years before it meets its fiftieth birthday.

I also have an old Sony Viao, fifteen years old, which has seen far more abuse than it took to knock out that ex new cell phone... I liked the "keep working" attitude of that Viao well enough to buy a new Viao seven years ago. Both work like dreams-come-true. I like that. That is what I paid for and that is what I got: tools that aren't afraid to work in spite of everything.

Yeah, I know: things do wear out, get used up, do not - or will not - last forever.  But I really think a phone ought to last longer than one month and that dropping is a normal thing to have happen to a cell phone... or, hey. I could get another new cell phone and treat it like an old land line. I could install it in a special padded cabinet and visit it from time to time.  Brilliant idea!  I think I'll leave it at the shop and just visit it there.  Cheap solution. Little or no danger of abusing the delicate thing. Also, new models come out constantly, so the latest and greatest will always be available there!  Yep, that oughtta do it!

How to Train Your Dragon

Last year I saw How to Train your Dragon at the cinema.  When the DVD came out, I bought it. I love that movie.  Over Christmas I "discovered" the book. The movie is based on the book. Actually there is an entire series of seven books on the theme writen by Cressida Cowell. Last week I ordered the first two books.  This week the books arrived. Hum, there are vast differences between the book and the film.  The book is more suited to kids, especially boys. The names are, by and large, the same. Hiccup and Toothless are the main characters and Stoick is Hiccup's dad.  Stoick does briefly disown Hiccup, and Hiccup is not the image of the viking type. There is a monstrously HUGE dragon which Hiccup and Toothless manage to defeat thanks to the help of the other kids.  And basically there is the end of all similarities.

If you're a "which came first: the chicken or the egg?" type person; then you, perforce, MUST prefer the book to the movie - because the book came first... whether or not you'd even heard of it before now, it was first.  If you're more the "let me consider the evidence" type; then you will want to watch the film and read the book, afterwhich you will decide whether or not you like: a) the movie, b) the book, c)neither, or d) both.. If you're an opinionated type then you'll have a firm opinion and defend it. Finally, if you're influenced by other people's opinions, then do go read and watch before you finish reading this blog, because I am about to give my opinion!

I love the movie. It makes me feel good. I like feeling good and happy.  Don't get me wrong!  The book is good too, but it's good for totally different reasons. It is written for kids and it is meant to appeal to kids, especially boys. I don't have a problem with that at all.  While the book definitely amuses me, and certainly keeps me reading, it doesn't provide me with those delightfully happy moments that the movie does. I suppose for many people the movie may be "too happy"- perhaps unrealistically so, so for them the books ought to be realistic enough.  The movie is perhaps "older" - Astrid is not part of the book, which seems for a slightly younger audience of boys at the "yuck - girls!" stage of life.  In that sense, the book is very realistic. The movie is meant for everyone.  There's enough action for the boys and that Astrid thing for the girls. There's the typical sense of "aloneness" that most kids go through in both book and movie. Movie Toothless is more like a Norman Rockwell Labrador retriever to movie Hiccup - the friend who is a friend when there are no other friends. Book Toothless is more like a pain in the butt to book Hiccup, so more like dealing with a real pet dog.  The language and art in the book is very appropriate for the intended audience... although some parents may think I am being overly generous for saying that. 

Wanna know? Then ya gotta investigate this truth for yourself and have your own opinion!

Inception

Last night I watched Inception, on loan from a friend. It certainly does not fall into my “favourite” movie category. It definitely doesn’t fall in into my “wanna see it again" category, nor even into my “good film well worth seeing once” group. I don’t think I’ll even go so far as to say “well that was interesting”. I think it’s in the “Yep, I saw it” category, after which I can politely listen to whatever anyone thinks of it: be it good, bad or indifferent to them, I will at least know whereof they speak. Okay, so you want a positive note? There were some interesting scenes.

While watching the film, I was fixing one of my chairs. I had to take it completely apart, scrape down the flanges, scrape old glue off and out of the various rabbets, maintain a clear idea of which end went in which rabbet, reglue, reinstall all the pieces and knock it all firmly into place for the glue to set up. It made the time pass as the film unravelled itself. I have another chair that is also in need of the same attention.

This morning I decided to plant two onion bulbs. They’d sprouted and I’d done some investigating only to find them surrounded by rotting onion, which I discarded. Anyhow, finding suitable pots, enough – just enough – potting soil and so on, revealed a huge supply of plastic bags, plastic bottles – not the redeemable kind – and all sorts of typical (for me) collectables; roots and bark for dyeing; dirt; things meant for the compost; dog biscuits; a small assortment of rocks collected walking with the grandkids…. I got most of the real trash ready to go out and reorganized the rest so that at least it looks less, ah what shall I say: chaotic; um, messy…. I also found a handy pot full of potting soil which is perfect for a plant that needed re-potting. So now I have two onion bulbs planted and a re-potted something or other, in addition to a much tidier cupboard.

Eclectic

I am eclectic. That should be very apparent to anyone who knows me, perhaps less obvious to those who don’t know me well. How does this work, why does this work, what happens if I do this, does that make any difference, can I learn to do that? These are some of the underlying questions that drive me. Of course there are some things that I wouldn’t do – bungee jumping for example (of course with my osteoporosis it would be dangerous, but even before I knew I had it the idea of jumping from a height – no heights please – didn’t appeal).


Recently I was giving a bit of a history lesson. Lilja had just finished reading The Lord of the Rings (LOR)and we were discussing kings, nobility and how government has changed through the millennia from family groups, through tribes, and on to kingdoms and today’s modern world. She’s still into the LOR world, so I drew a parallel to the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA - see sca.org), which is something Lilja would enjoy taking part in.

One of my SCA friends, Adeliza, suggested I share some of the film clips of SCA stuff available on youtube with Lilja. So off I went to Google. And yes I found some great stuff on the SCA on youtube. I spent hours looking at things, trying to narrow down the choices to something sensible for ten year old Lilja.

Among the things I found was a song: I’ll See Your Six (c) copyright 1993 W.J. Bethancourt III who is known as: Ioseph of Locksley in the SCA. You can find the lyrics at: http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/susan/sf/filk/seeyrsix.htm, the song itself at www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1TTLtxzNTU. Once you get there, you may want to hear Bethancourt’s Mongol Doodle Dandy and his Unanswered Questions too, in fact you might enjoy most of his music! I suppose what I like about I’ll See Your Six and Bethancourt's other music is the eclecticness it portrays.

Day before Christmas

Tis the day before Christmas... the days are getting longer, there’s snow and the weather is clear and about minus 25 Celsius. This month I have treated myself to all sorts of wonderful indulgences: movies and books. Actually I have overindulged in these areas, undoubtedly to my personal detriment, but such is life.

Books: I have made the difficult but challenging decision to not purchase Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight books – yet. I will beg my friend Hanna to permit me to continue to abuse her copies instead. I have borrowed (consumed) her copies of Breaking Dawn and Eclipse… or they consumed me. I found them completely un-put-downable. I’d read through the night – even after I’d already read them once, twice, three times and OUGHT to have been reasonable enough to put a book mark in, close the book, and go to bed. After I returned them to Hanna, I decided they were too dangerous to my health to actually own them simply because I could not stop reading them – unless they are safely ensconced on Hanna’s bookshelf and under her lock and key!

So instead of the Twilight books I have ordered Patricia Briggs’ Raven’s Shadow, and Raven’s Strike; and Lois McMaster Bujold’s: Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls, and the Hallowed Hunt. All of which I have read, loved, want to read again and HOPE that I have the self-disciple NOT to stay up all night reading them again. I should put a qualifier here. I did not really even like Paladin of Souls much less “love” it, but it is definitely worth reading again and it is part of the series.

Movies: Instead of the Twilight books I bought the Twilight movies! The books are better than the movies but that’s okay, I like the movies well enough. I also bought Music and Lyrics, and How to Train Your Dragon both of which I like for their positive feel and I can watch these without getting tired of them. For an additional change I also bought a McGyver movie… um well, I have not taken to it. I know there will come a time when I’m very happy to have it though. It will be a relief, a change. That time will probably be in March. There are still a few more movies I wish to acquire.

Meanwhile, Funlayo and I are making tentative plans to see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. We plan to take Lilja and possibly Sofia if she meets the age limit. I think none of us anticipate being entirely happy with the movie version – which could of course ruin the film for us. We’ve spent so much time seeing the story while reading the book; that we’d really like to have that vision brought to the screen. I do think it is possible to love both a movie and a book for the different element they expose. I also think it is time for the movie/script writing industry to re-evaluated what the audience wants in book to movie translations.