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Author: Kris

  • The new issue of Knitty is out! I am filled with knitting inspiration and excitement. Oh, and fear too. Check out this article about the Sweater Curse. Basically it states that if you knit anything for a man before you’re married, you’re certain to break up. I was laughing at it until the author mentioned how making a Dr. Who scarf for her boyfriend led to the demise of their relationship. *gulp*

  • Congratulations to my friend Martin, who left our old company Netdecisions today. I think he was just about the last of my friends still working there. Good luck with the new job, Martin!

  • The Snook and I are off today to Homebake, a big Australian music festival. Hopefully I’ll have some good pictures for you afterwards.

    Later: Well, that was fun! I didn’t see any bands that made me shake my booty, but we heard a lot of new stuff and enjoyed being out in the sunshine. (Yes, Moms, we put on lots of sunscreen.) The festival was in the Domain, which is a park basically in the center of the city (as you can tell from the skyline in the photos below).

    Snookums     The city and Harbour Bridge in the distance

    Me and Snookums

  • Gryffindor Scarf

    Me modeling the Gryffindor scarfSpeaking of knitting… It’s done! Yes, that’s me modeling my very first Harry Potter house scarf. (Don’t worry, Sis; it’ll be winging its way to you shortly.) It took me about two weeks to finish. It was knitted double-wide and then folded over and sewn (to avoid having a “wrong” side). That means it’s double-thick and warm as hell. It also ended up a little bit longer than I intentioned… It’s over six feet. (Though the ones in the film are clearly pretty long too.) Here I’m wearing it doubled over and tucked through the loop. Click here to see a larger version and another of me with it just tied.

    Avid fans of CouchCam might have noticed that I recently started a second scarf. Here’s the surprise: It’s not intended for anyone yet! In other words, if you want one, I’ll make you one. You’ll have to cough up a little bit of cash though, and I can’t guarantee I’ll have it ready by Chrismtas (in fact, I definitely won’t), but if you want it, just drop me a line. I may even do more than one if there’s interest. (I can, of course, do colors for the other Hogwarts houses too.)

    Doubled up   Tied

    (The second one is darker because I had to stand farther away from the camera to get the whole length in.)

  • Which is nerdier, that I’m A) entertained by a discussion of Fibonacci sequence knitting patterns or B) planning to knit a Dr. Who scarf for the Snook? I know, it’s a toss-up.

  • Take the Snopes Christmas Quiz. I scored a measly 40%. I know jack about Christmas.

  • Note to Self: Keep your eyes peeled for cheap thrift store silk ties to construct the ultimate 1994 Sassy-girl outfit.

  • Thanks to Dave Barry’s Holiday Gift Guide, I now know what I’m getting everyone on my list for Christmas. Let’s see, there are some Catholics who’ll love these inspirational “Jesus-playing-sports” statues. I’m sure Dad would love the shotgun shell Christmas tree lights. My sister will appreciate the instructional tennis shower curtain to help her brush up on her game. And of course, the Snook will love me forever when he sees his magnetic filing cabinet flames.

    (I joke, but in truth I probably wouldn’t mind getting a duct tape purse. Or hey! Maybe I could make one. Hmmm, new craft project…)

  • Angel

    Rodd and I have been working our way through the Angel Season 1 DVD. We just got to the episode where Doyle dies. The spooky part is, according to Kim, Glenn Quinn, the actor who played him, died on Monday. Weird.

  • Well, the Snook is off for his company’s Christmas party today – they went lawn-bowling at Bondi, if you can believe it – so I decided to take in a movie. I’ve been eagerly awaiting Possession, which is based on the novel by A.S. Byatt (which I just read a few months ago). I liked the book a lot, even though I felt like most of the poetry and literary analysis were over my head. (You can read my initial thoughts about it here.) The movie, on the other hand, sucked. I thought it completely dumbed down everything I liked about the novel. Numerous characters and sub-plots are cut in favor of making a straightforward romance. It also managed the neat trick of surgically removing all the hotness from Aaron Eckhart and Jeremy Northam. (Seriously, I’m going to have to go watch Emma right now just to replace the images of Northam I currently have in my head.) I also don’t get why Eckhart’s character was made American instead of English. It obviously wasn’t a simple casting decision; they make reference to his origin several times in the script and tie his “impulsive” behavior (stealing manuscripts) to it. What the hell is the point of that? Were the filmmakers worried that American audiences wouldn’t go to a film where all four principals speak with a British accent?

    Overall I just thought the movie spelled things out that I felt should have been handled more subtly. Like the lesbian relationship between Christabel and Blanche, for instance. In the book we don’t know the truth, because it’s impossible for Maud and Roland to have known. But in the movie we have to see them clasping hands and giving each other numerous smoldering glances. I felt embarrassed for the characters. It felt like we were seeing things that they wouldn’t want us to see.

    Ebert would be ashamed of me, because I’m committing the cardinal sin of film reviewing: I’m reviewing the movie that wasn’t made rather than the one that was. He seemed to think that it was pretty good. I guess without reference to the original book it’s still a decent film, and it’s a fairly intelligent date movie. I just can’t get over the fact that, for me, the love story was the least interesting part of the novel. That the filmmakers chose to focus on that at the expense of everything else shows that they never really got the point of the story in the first place.