Haven't We Had Enough of This?

I just heard about a new documentary, Young@Heart, about a senior citizen choir that sings rock songs. It looks cute.



I'm not crazy about the poster.



Why is knitting still the international symbol for old age?

Screen-Full Sunday

A few weeks ago at Purlygirls I was shocked, shocked, to discover that most people there had never heard of Rosalind Russell.

"Auntie Mame?"

Blank stares.

"She starred with Cary Grant in His Girl Friday."

Blank stares.

So tonight I had movie night. I invited over a group of knitters. Wes set up a projection screen and we watched His Girl Friday. I had to run out in the middle of it to take Wes to the emergency room. He got jabbed very hard in the eye by our younger son this afternoon in a coat-putting-on accident. It turns out he got a corneal abrasion. He has to wear an eye patch overnight. Arggh, mateys! He should be better tomorrow.

Anyway, the film was viewed and I don't know if anyone enjoyed it as much as I did (and always do) but I felt I did my part to spread the word on great classic films.

I also finished stitching down the binding on my coins quilt and threw it in the wash. It's drying right now.

I've been knitting steadily on my Tangled Yoke. I have the body and one sleeve done. I haven't been blogging it because stockinette in charcoal yarn makes for terrible photos and dull blogging.

Big Winner

The Seattle Children's Film Festival ended tonight with an award ceremony. Wes's film won Best in the Northwest and the audience prize by a "landslide." Hooray for Cookies for Sale! It's heading to LA for the children's film festival then it will be in the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.

I Don't Know How He Puts Up With Me

I have been a very bad wife. I completely forgot to blog that Wes's latest film, Cookies for Sale, is showing at the Seattle Children's Film Festival. It is showing two more times during the festival.

Here's a little taste of Wes's film stylings.

What Time is It?

My sleep schedule is all out of whack. I'm still feeling pretty sick and have fallen asleep crazy early a few nights in the past week. Like last night I fell asleep at 7:30. So then I woke up at 11:30 and stayed up until 2. Or Monday morning for no good reason at all I woke up at 6 and could not fall back to sleep. All of this is cutting into my knitting time, my time with friends and my life in general. I'm am so very, very tired of being sick. My sinus infection seems pretty much cleared up but I'm still hacking and coughing and feeling like crud.

I have very little new knitting to report other than I have working on the gusset decreases on my second Bayerische and my Tangled Yoke is getting a little longer in the body.

What I can report on are documentaries. I have been on a small doc kick lately.

Grey Gardens: Albert and David Maysles's fascinating portrait of the Edith and Edie Beale, aunt and cousin of Jackie Onassis. Shot in 1975, it thrusts you into the strange, sad world of this mother and daughter living in a crumbling East Hampton mansion. There is no exposition, no explanation. You are just dropped into their home and observe their co-dependence and decay. Incredibly interesting. The Beale's lives are being turned into a feature film. Given that the director's only previous credits are PA positions on crap films I'm not feeling too hopeful about this turning out to be any good.

The Weather Underground: An informatiive, though terribly biased, history of the 70s radical group, the Weathermen. Mostly talking heads with some historical footage.

Little Dieter Needs to Fly: Werner Herzog's portrait of Deiter Dengler, a German-born US naval pilot shot down over Laos in the Vietnam war. His incredible story of his capture, life in a prison camp and eventual escape and rescue is heart-breaking and bizarre. Herzog revisited his story again in Rescue Dawn with Christian Bale which I hope to see soon.

Born Into Brothels: Zana Briski befriends and teaches children living in a brothel in Calcutta's red light district about photography. The film, which won the 2005 Oscar for Best Documentary, is both up-lifting and gut-wrenching. It beautifully illustrates the universality of childhood and hope.

A is for Ailing

No, I'm not doing the ABC-along. But I am sick and getting sicker. I think my cold has blossomed into a sinus infection. I declared yesterday a stay-in-bed day. I hunkered down with my laptop, Endpaper Mitt and some movies. I knit on and off (mostly off) and am ready to start the thumb increases.

I watched movies between naps. First I watched Once. It's a sweet but slight film. Really it's just a vehicle for the music. Fortunately I enjoyed the music but a viewer who didn't would have a hard time liking this film.



Next up was Elephant. Elephant is a spare, chilling film which documents the mundane events of the lives of high schoolers before their school erupts in violence. Rather than attempting to explain teen violence, it merely documents it as you spend a day perched over the shoulders of various students.



Thankfully I was able to get an appointment today to see a doctor. Fingers crossed I will be well enough to travel to TNNA.

2 Second Film Reviews

Atonement: Stunning. Brilliant adaptation of a truly magnificent novel.
No Country for Old Men: Brutal. Brilliant adaptation of a truly magnificent novel.

And yet Alvin and the Chipmunks made $45 million this weekend.

Enchanted

We took the boys to see Enchanted yesterday. It's a great movie. Amy Adams is pitch-perfect as a classic Disney princess. The film is clever, well-paced and lots of fun. The boys both thoroughly enjoyed it too. My younger son declared, as the credits began to roll, "That was the best movie ever!"

The grand finale of the film reminded me of watching Lord of the Rings with my older son. The boys, sitting on each side of me, kept saying, "Kiss her. Just kiss her!"

Another Screen-Free Sunday

The Gee's Bend show was wonderful. I wish I had had the foresight to buy tickets to the panel discussion with some of the quilters. I had an epiphany standing in the gallery looking at the quilts. The quilts of Gee's Bend made me want to make quilts. I love their improvisational style, their organic forms and the sense of history and time about them. I wasn't attracted to fussy, "perfect" quilting. Then, once I started making quilts, I went straight toward the fussy/perfect ideal and left spontaneous and lively by the wayside. I want to have both. I spent some time in the Open Art Studio at the museum with Wes and the kids and made a "paper quilt." Even just gluing random strips of paper down was very liberating.



Can I work in a plug for museums here? You know how people always say no one on their deathbed ever thought "I wish I'd spent more time at work." Well, I have never left a museum thinking, "That was a waste of time." I always find time at a museum interesting and enriching. So I would strongly recommend a trip to a museum for everyone right away!

I finished my first Broken Cable sock in the car on the way to Tacoma.



I started number two last night watching* Hot Fuzz** with Wes.

I've got my yarn on the drying rack but I have no idea when it will actually get dry. The weather forecast is for lots of rain for the entire week. I hope it can dry before it gets mildewy.



This was kettle-dyed for a variegated effect. The final color isn't what I had hoped for (it never is).

Screen-Free Sunday is still working remarkably well. We went to the museum, did some shopping, came home, made dinner, cleaned the house, reorganized some of the kitchen cabinets, did laundry and dishes! We ate dinner at the dining room table all together! Plus I had time to finish spinning the singles for my current project and start plying. (No photo). It's amazing and embarassing how much time gets sucked up by the computer around here.

*The screen ban lifts once the kids are in bed.
**Very light and funny but the second half was a little too drawn out. The outtakes are priceless though.

Things are Coming Together

The Seamless Hybrid is coming together. The sleeves are now joined to the yoke and my favorite part begins--the raglan decreasing.



I got a surge of energy last night and put the doll quilt together. I pieced the backing, basted the whole thing and started quilting. I ran out of steam with only a tiny bit left to do. Word to the wise, don't start free motion quilting after midnight. No good can come from it.

I've been catching up on Netflix lately.
Weeds, Season 2: What a well done show. The cast is great. Incredibly entertaining.
The Shop on Main Street: Czech drama set during WWII, a very gently told dark story with lovely flashes of humor and tenderness.
Last King of Scotland: Maybe everyone has already seen this. Forest Whitaker is riveting as Amin. The narrative feels a little rushed.
Extras, Season 2: Ricky Gervais's style of squirm-in-your-seat comedy isn't for everyone. I happen to love it. This series is hilarious. I woke the kids up from laughing so loud. The guest spots this season are killer.
House, MD, Season 1: Nope. Didn't like it. Couldn't get into it. I love Hugh Laurie but the writing is so weak in the first few episodes. Wes and I were completing everyone's sentences because the dialog was so obvious.

En route, Rome, Season 2 and Dexter, Season 1!

Cry Me a River

After going off on parents with babies at movies yesterday, I thought I'd try to be more constructive. Here is a short, cobbled together list of film-going options for people with infants.

Kirkland Parkplace cinema still offers its parent-and-baby program at 9:45 a.m. the second and fourth Fridays of each month. The cinema opens all its auditoriums so parents can choose which feature they want to see. (404 Parkplace Center, Kirkland, 425-827-9000).

However, the following are the Cry Rooms:
Landmark's Metro Cinemas - Auditorium # 1
Landmark's Varsity Theatre - Auditorium # 1
Landmark's Guild 45th Theatre - Auditorium # 2
Information on which Film is playing in which Auditorium can be obtained by calling (206) 781-5755
For the Guild 45th, press 3 and just listen. The cry room is attached to the blue theater, which they mention second.
For the Metro, press 5 and then 3. This is a special cry room message.
For the Varsity, press 8. The cry room is attached to the main, downstairs auditorium, which they mention first.

At Lincoln Square in Bellevue they have special Thursday screenings for parents with infants.
"MOTHER'S DAY THURSDAYS 10:00 AM SHOW WITH AT YOUR SEAT CONCESSION SERVICE!
Every Thursday at 10:00 AM Lincoln Square Cinemas hosts a presentation specifically designed for parents and their infant children. This is a parents chance to bring their strollers and come watch the latest movies with like minded parents. Shows are presented with the lights up a bit and the sound down a bit. Box office opens at 9:45AM. These show times do not appear on the regular schedule—check back here each week to see what's playing."

Come on, "at your seat concession service." What more could you want?

Potter-Full Weekend

We've had a whole lot of Potter going on this weekend. Wes took our older son to see Harry and the Potters at the downtown library. There was a huge crowd and it sounded like a really great show. Originally we planned to all meet downtown, have a great dinner and see the concert. It became clear that my younger son would want no part of any of the plan. So I stayed home with him. Then on Saturday I left my younger son home with Wes while I took the big guy to see Order of the Phoenix. It's my least favorite book of the series so it's not too surprising that I didn't like the film as much as the others.

My film-going experience was also really ruined by the couple sitting next to me--in the center of the row--with a small infant. The baby fussed and cried the whole time. They got up and left three or four times during the show. I mean, really, if you're going to bring an infant to a movie at least sit on the aisle so you don't have to walk back and forth in front of 20+ people several times during a movie. What's really annoying is that there's another theater in town showing Harry Potter that has a cryroom in it. That's where I saw all my movies when my kids were babies. Sorry for the rant. I'm sympathetic as a mother but was totally pissed off as a film-goer.

In a bit of a coincidence, my Hiiumaa socks that I started earlier this week are in Ravenclaw colors.



I didn't plan it at all. I just had these two oddballs that I got as a gift a few years ago from Nanette. I also knitted for a while during the movie but had to stop when I approached a color change since I couldn't count my rows. When I got home I found that I had stopped at the exact point of my color change. Woot for me.

Thank you all for all your notes of condolence. I think this might be rougher on Wes than me. He got Zasu in college. As he said last night, he'd had her for more than half his life. Wes went to a party last night and it was very eerie to be in the house with the children asleep and no one to keep me company. I promise to try to keep everyone and everything else around me alive for a while.

Trying to Breathe

I'm having a bit of a rough week. I've had a death in the family which has made lots of other little things, that normally would be merely irritating, seem like hugely horrible things. Little things like school ending--I like the children going away for six hours a day for free--, Wes going on a business trip, blackberries overtaking the house, dirty dishes. I'm this close to losing it.

Ravelry seems to be sending out more and more invitations each day. If you're still waiting, just hang in there. Among the truly cool things on the site is a new feature that allows you to search your needle inventory for a particular size via text message (sorry, this link will only work for current Ravelry users).

Let's see, what else?
The Good German was a huge disappointment. I knew the reviews had been luke-warm but since I'm one of about 32 people in the world who really loved Bubble I thought it might work for me. The most--or only--interesting thing about the film is how it was made. The film looks great. The score is great. But how is it possible to make George Clooney seems dull and unappealing. That is a trick. Maybe I need to go see Ocean's Thirteen this weekend. That should cheer me up.

Sock's Up

After a week or so with no socks on the needles I cast on for the Welsh Country Socks from Folk Socks.



I'm using some Knitpicks Essential from my stash and can I just say that so far I am unimpressed. Or rather, you get what you pay for.

I knew I was going to see Surf's Up on Saturday with my older son (younger didn't want to go) and that I wouldn't be able to knit the patterning or calf shaping from the Welsh Socks in the dark. I needed a simple knit. In one of those perfect convergence moments I got an email from Knitting Daily with survey results on why no one was knitting the socks from their free Comfy Socks pattern. The reason was mainly that the socks are super-thick. They're knit in bulky yarn at 3 sts/inch. I knew these would be great for Dulaan. I've been feeling a little guilty that I haven't been knitting more for adults. Kids' knits are so much faster, easier and cuter to knit. I also had several skeins of Dale of Norway Ara sitting unloved and abandoned in my stash. So I knew what I would knit at the movies. I cast on the first sock on Friday night. I knit the leg during the movie. But the sock went so quickly I was at the heel before the movie ended. I pulled the first sock right off the needles (got to love wool for all its stickiness) and I cast on the second sock in the dark. I was able to knit most of the second leg during the movie too. I didn't quite finish them at home last night so I took them out with me today. They are thick, plush and incredibly warm. I hope they find a happy owner in Mongolia.

The movie, by the way, was really very cute. It's done as a mockumentary about a famous surfing penguin. There's a lot of good business in there referencing reality shows and documentaries. I was glad my older son and I had started to watch March of the Penguins the night before. If you're kids are interested in going to this one you will be pleasantly amused for 85 minutes.

I also finished watching The Lost Room. Like my previous experiment with Battlestar Gallactica, I was trying to stretch myself a little. I really like Peter Krause, from Six Feet Under. But this thing was so low-rent I could not believe. And they didn't even attempt to make anything pull together, make any sense or resolve in any way. Terrible writing, terrible effects and frankly the actors looked like they had to do their own make-up.

Friday Night Knitting

No, not this.

This.



Once I finished the first leg, I picked the second one back up. The barber-poling is slightly different on the second sock but not as different as I feared. I knit these while watching Tsunami: The Aftermath last night. I was worried it would be exploitative. It wasn't. But it also wasn't that good. The POV was entirely Western. They also failed to embrace the enormity of the event. It should be called, "Tsunami: That Terrible Thing That Happened to Westerners While Visiting Thailand That Taught Them All Valuable Life Lessons."

Night Out

Wes has a new food obsession. There is now a taco truck in our neighborhood. I think he's eaten there three times in the last two weeks. We ventured there in the chilling rain last night.



Yum.

Then we headed off to see Zodiac. I'm not a David Fincher fan. I thought Seven was a completely meaningless exercise in vile, sadistic behavior. I left before the ending. Hated it. But the reviews for Zodiac were very good and the cast is chock-full of actors I really enjoy (Mark Ruffalo, Elias Koteas, Donal Logue, Chloe Sevigny, Philip Baker Hall, Brian Cox and more). It is above all else an amazing looking film. The art direction is incredible. It is also a film that, thankfully, does not dwell on the violent and grotesque much to the disappointment of all the teenaged boys in the theater. And unfortunately it is just too long. It drags towards the end.

I did get some time to rip back Poppy's sleeves and start reknitting them with increases.



I've also been working a little on a new project that will be as perpetual and never-ending as the shawl in Like Water for Chocolate.



Why it's a square blanket knit from all my sock yarn leftovers. It's currently about 20" across. I can picture myself 15 years from now with this puppy on a 60" circular still going around and around and around.

On Notice!

After watching Babel, I've got my eye on you, Innaritu. Time for some new tricks. You're multi-plot, multi-character caravans of misery are starting to get on my nerves.

Don't Worry

I pulled myself together last night. I picked up Poppy and knit a fair bit on the body while watching Stranger Than Fiction. Please, if you passed on this film thinking it would be a dumb Will Ferrell comedy go back and rent it right now. It was sweet, inventive and really wonderful. After all it's the same director as Monster's Ball and Finding Neverland. And the cast is absolutely stellar--Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Maggie Gyllenhall, Queen Latifah and Tony Hale (who I miss so much now that Arrested Development is gone).

As for iTunes I have tried several versions both old and new and have reset my iPod multiple times. I found the problem discussed extensively in the Apple forums but the fix applies to older versions of iTunes so when I feel more patient I will have to go and change back to an older version again. So much for plug and play, hmm?

Oscar Catch-Up

At AMC you can see all five films nominated for best picture on Saturday for $30! Plus you get a large popcorn and soda with unlimited free refills. Cool.