I is for...

Inspection Committee!

I used to have a very thorough inspection process before I began projects. Joey insisted that he have approval and disapproval rights for yarn being used. As you know, bunnies are full of disapproval, so it was a very strict process indeed.

Honestly, though, it never was an intentional thing. I just find it very funny that the bunny was very curious about whatever yarn I had laid out. Because if he was out and about while I was sorting yarn, he would come over and investigate. In reality, I think he smelled the cedar sachets that I keep in the yarn tubs, but it's more fun to think that he was inspecting my choices. :)

Scruffy has his part in the inspection process as well, though he seems to be more interested once the yarn is no longer in skeins. He really doesn't pay attention to the yarn if it's not "on the loose" and thus a threat to the household. He is interested in the yarn once it is in projects, too. Of course, it's a running joke in the house that he cannot actually sit just on the floor, but has to sit ON something on the floor. My projects spread out as I take pictures are a perfect example of something to sit on.

2 x Pelham 123 = Pelham 246?

Hehehe. I have such a dorky sense of humor...

Anyhoo, we recently watched the 2009 remake of The Taking of Pelham 123, the original of which is one I have enjoyed for years. So, here are thoughts on both versions of The Taking of Pelham 123.

Plot: Well, the new one is a remake, so the same plot for both. A group of heavily armed thugs take over a NYC subway car and hold it and its passengers hostage, demanding ransom from the City of NY.

Zach liked the newer version better than the older one, but then he's not as big on classic movies as I am. The newer one had points I liked and that I didn't, so I'm copping out and saying I like them both in different ways.

We'll start with the acting. Garber (the transit authority "good guy") was played as a totally different character by Walter Matthau and Denzel Washington in the two versions, because (let's face it) they are about as different as you can get. For being an "everyman" type character, Garber varies a lot between the two movies based on how different Matthau and Denzel physically are. I liked them both, though. Matthau's version was disgruntled and tired, just a guy on the job, not any superstar or big shot. Washington's was a little more jaded, a big shot was accused of bribery, and that was why he was working the desk. Still tired and every-man, just not as frumpy, I guess. Solid acting though. Really, the high point of the casting. And let's face it - Denzel is good at most things he's done, just by opening his mouth. Like Travolta's character said, "he sounds sexy." He's one of those voices you could just give the phone book to, and it would be a good listen.

Which brings me to the villains (Travolta playing the lead in the remake). Travolta was over the top. Just didn't like him. He had some good lines, but overall, was just too much for me. Robert Shaw played a much colder, more composed villain. Shaw just struck me as more believable as a personality who could engineer such a heist, as well as recruit 3 other guys to go along with him. I just have a hard time seeing Travolta's character as one that would inspire enough confidence to have people follow him in what seems a pretty crazy plot. "Rob something underground with limited escape routes? Sounds like a great idea! (insert sarcasm) Nutcase... (muttered under breath)" seems more like the response that Travolta would elicit.

As for supporting cast, I actually really like James Gandolfini as the mayor in the new version. Pretty funny, in a dry sort of way. Well, if not laugh-out-loud funny, he was a lighter character without being out of place. Make sense? I didn't like how the rest of the robbers were underused in the remake. In the original, you actually got to recognize all 4 robbers as individual characters. Here, Luis Guzman is waaay underused (he's a good supporting actor, and can do much more than what he was given in this movie), and the other two robbers I don't think said but two lines each, just walked around holding machine guns and looked threatening.

Which brings me to the next point, how the characters were 'developed.' There was the bribery subplot that I mentioned above involving Garber, which I just felt was unnecessary. Zach didn't mind it, and it did lead to one of the few scenes with actual tension in the movie, but at the same time, it just didn't fit well for me as character development. Garber was a good character being just a guy at his job who got dragged into all this nonsense. He didn't need to have this back story to make him more rounded. There are lots of guys who have no major identifiers on their CV, just guys who show up and do their job and maybe get promoted, maybe not. That's life. I dunno... the whole subplot just didn't mesh well with me.

Oh, and the girlfriend in the newer version bothered me too. She was talking online to her boyfriend (one of the hostages) and they were able to keep communicating secretly despite the armed men. There was one scene, though, where she was asking her boyfriend if he loved her, in response to her having told him that she loves him. I wanted to slap her. I mean, c'mon, he's lying on the floor of the subway train, with men with big guns walking around in the background. Does he really look like he can talk at that point?? And for that matter, how do the cops find out that the girl has the Internet connection to the train, but the robbers (who are watching all sorts of news while on the train) do not?

Another thing I didn't like about the remake was how the action sequence became over-the-top as all modern movies are. A car crash sends a taxi flying through the air? Really?

Overall:

Original: 4.5 of 5. Overall, enjoyed the cast better here, though there are no stand-out superstars. More cat-and-mouse, less straight-out action. Yes, it's on my shelf already.

Remake: 3.5 of 5. Entertaining, but with it's irritations. Don't look for plausibility, just accept it as a summer blockbuster type adventure movie and enjoy it as such. If you're looking for suspense, though, look to the original. Don't know if I'd get it for my shelf, honestly - not that I disliked it, but that if I'm watching the story, I'd rather watch the original telling.

International Babylost Mothers Day

Since we lost our nephews-to-be in January, the whole family has been learning about different efforts and groups who work with still-born and miscarriage grief. So many people are affected by these circumstances, but so few people know what to say. Take a moment to learn a little more, if you know of someone who has lost a baby.

Please take this day (the 1st Sunday in May, the week before Mother's Day) to recognize and honor mothers who never got to see their babies grow up.

Yes, there is also a Babylost Father's Day, as well, though not until September.

Adventures in Knitting DIY Toys, Pt 3!

Pattern Minders this time!

I kept seeing these on Etsy when I was browsing for other knitting ideas, but didn't find any directions on a Google search. I wanted the style where the magnets sandwich the page and keep in place that way. So much neater and more secure than Post-Its! Since I couldn't find directions from someone else, these instructions are entirely what I've figured out based on looking at pictures. I am proud of myself, even though this is really a simple pattern to figure out. :)

Supplies:

• Magnets
• Pretty Ribbon
• Superglue

I used 1/2 inch x 4 inch magnet strips from Wal-Mart. You get a bunch of them in packs for a dollar, so you've got plenty to play with. The other benefit to this particular magnet is that 4 inch strips work beautifully for 8.5 inch wide paper.

I found ribbon spools on sale at Michael's, but really any ribbon that you like will work. The ones I used first were a navy and gold celestial pattern, and a old font with "Remember" on it. I know that one is 'supposed' to be a scrapbooking ribbon, but I thought it was just too perfect for a pattern minder :)

The magnets I had were 1/2 inch wide, so they worked beautifully with the 5/8 inch wide ribbon. I think I would have had a little more trouble lining the ribbon and magnet up evenly if they had been exactly the same size.

There's really nothing to these, so here we go!

Directions:

Decide what size pattern minder you want to make. With the 4 inch lengths of magnet, you can easily make different sizes. Beyond multiples of 4 in the magnets, any other adjustments can be made in the amount of ribbon between sections of magnet. I wanted pattern minders for standard 8.5 inch sheet patterns, so that's what I was working with.

Cut a length of ribbon to the size you want. For my pattern minders, I cut lengths of ribbon of 20 1/2 inches. This makes them actually wider than 8.5 inches, but the little bit of extra ribbon acts as a bookmark as well, so I can find my pattern again when I close the book.

Leave a length of ribbon on each end to overlap the end of the magnet. I had about 1 1/2 inch of ribbon overlapping at each end. Besides making the end a little neater, this tucks the end of the ribbon out of the way and secures it, cutting down on fraying.

Overall, the lengths of ribbon total as follows:

1.5 + 8 + 1.5 + 8 + 1.5 = 20.5 inches
(overlap + magnets + ribbon at the fold around the page + magnets + overlap = total length)

Superglue the magnets in place. I know these particular magnets have a sticky side for attaching whatever to them, but I found that the glue wasn't quite strong enough for the use I was putting it to. Enter the superglue!

While supergluing it all down, make sure to glue between the magnet strips as well as to attach the ribbon. This makes joins the magnets together and makes it a single 8 inch stretch of magnet, instead of two 4 inch sections side by side. Cuts down on the wear as you're using it, since it's not folding and pulling at that midpoint.

Make sure all 4 magnets are glued into place. Let dry. I used small binder clips to keep the magnets secure as they were drying.

Ta da! I told you they were simple :)

I did find one example online, on Seabreeze Spinners. This one though, isn't what I was looking for. Very useful, but not all my patterns are copied out on loose sheets, and this style pattern minder wouldn't work as well with books. I also like my projects to be portable, even those with involved charts, and the white board isn't as portable. Still, if I get into very involved projects that I don't want to carry around or which have bigger charts, this is a pretty good idea. It's also nice that the "minder bar" is a ruler, so you can always check measurements easily.

Back down to San Diego!

So, to escape the cold front (read: wind storm) that rolled through the High Desert, and to escape post in general and get away to civilization, we took the weekend as an excuse to scamper down to San Diego. A perfect afternoon to hit up Sea World! So much fun. I hadn't been to a Sea World park since we lived in Orlando when I was a kid.

First stop - feeding time at the otter area. The California otters get treats which the keepers call otter pops. Shrimp and shellfish and fish bits, put into a plastic tube, filled with water and frozen. Otter pops! The otters have to bang the tubes to get the treats out, so it simulates the natural behavior of cracking open shells. But, the plastic tube is a lot gentler on the habitat than actual shells. We learned that at the Monterey aquarium - using real shells scratches up the tank badly enough that you can't even see in anymore! We were lucky because this one otter brought her snack over to the corner right against the window to bang on it. We could see her pounding away to get her treat out - so cute!

The dolphins had great viewing windows at their tank, and were very interested in the people watching them too. And one, I swear, had a sense of humor! There were signs all over the dolphin viewing areas saying not to reach over the wall (i.e. into the tank). One dumb teenage chose to ignore the signs and start to reach over. This dolphin below splashed him! And then had this smile on its face - I swear he was laughing!

The Shamu show is required viewing at Sea World, isn't it? The parks have reduced in-water parts of the acts, since the trainer at the FL park died a few months ago, but these are still impressive animals to watch. I was excited too - got some nice pictures. The whales are so big that their jumps are not too fast for my camera's shutter speed (unlike the penguins!). Means I can actually catch pictures mid-jump, not the splash afterward :)

And of course we had to visit the penguin exhibit! So, there I am with the Magellanic penguins outside (the ones that live in South AMerica, not Antarctica). And with a cute little toy too. Sea World has all the dolls for sale, of course - Barbie as a trainer, Barbie as an Arctic Explorer, etc. This one was a little friend of the 'main dolls' and we just got such a kick out of it. She had a long reddish-brown braid, freckles, and what was her animal friend? The penguin! Too funny :)

I remember feeding the stingrays when we were little in Orlando, but I hadn't ever fed the pinnipeds before (seals and sea lions for those of you less science-dork than I). Zach and I split the tray of fish between us to feed them. So much fun! Yes, I am a giant little kid at parks like this :)

We had truly gorgeous weather while we were there. Flowers in bloom, light breeze, comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt.... lovely. We don't really get "spring" as such in the desert, so we enjoyed it a lot in San Diego. The sunshine was beautiful, but the breeze was enough to keep us off the water rides. Would have been a LOT chillier if we'd have been damp! And the sunshine made for some lovely pictures - I particularly liked the belugas. Since their tank is outside (unlike at the GA Aquarium), the sunshine created some wonderful patterns on them as they swam.

All in all, a lovely quick weekend trip. The only downside to the whole weekend? Finding out our favorite little pizza place in San Diego closed!! They actually made real garlic knots, but it looks like their building changed management, because the whole building was empty. Very upsetting :( Still, being in a city again means tons of eating options again, so we still enjoyed our dinner out, just minus the garlic knots. I swear, we're gonna be at a city again when we leave this post and not know what to do with ourselves, so many regular dining options!

For you Anne!

Gotta love LOLCats! Yes, the grammar and spelling gets irritating sometimes, but the fact remains, they find some funny kitty pictures :)

Review: The Departed

So, we didn't plan it this way, but seeing Shutter Island recently and getting The Departed this weekend from Netflix, means that I have back-to-back Scorsese-DiCaprio movies to chatter about! So, here you go, part 2 of the unintentional series: The Departed. Maybe we should do The Aviator next? :)

Plot: Set in Boston, a mobster rat in the state troopers and a police rat in the mob play back and forth trying to find and eliminate each other. Twists, crosses, double crosses and bloody endings abound.

Phenomenal cast. Matt Damon is a likeably arrogant ass. I think that's really the only way I can describe him. Mark Wahlberg (with a baaaad haircut) is funny, in a very dark way. One of those characters who are so foul-mouthed, so wrapped in their own world and own way of doing things, that it's amusing in some sort of way. I dunno. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks that, but I was amused. And Leonardo DiCaprio adds this to the list of movies proving to people my age that he is more than Romeo or Jack (from Titanic). He was very good, very believable cracking under the strain. I think I need to add Blood Diamond to the queue now, and see his performance there too. Jack Nicholson is great, cast as the aging, powerful, slightly paranoid, crime boss. He's one of those actors that's just so good as the slightly crazy, powerful type. Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin deserve mentions too, as supporting cast members. Very well done, both of them, but in smaller roles they got overshadowed by the others.

Direction: Scorsese definitely earned his Oscar here. Great job. 'Nuff said. Everyone keeps comparing it to Goodfellas, Scorsese's other key mob movie, which (surprisingly) I haven't seen yet. As much as I liked this one, I think I'll have to bump Goodfellas up a little higher on the queue.

I know the plot is nothing original - cops 'n' robbers, and the movie specifically is a remake from a Hong Kong film Mou gaan dou (Infernal Affairs). The writing though is very well done. It's very effective, with some very effective lines, and very believable characters. And the writing is very funny too, in a dark sort of way. Not that it's a comedy or even close - just some darkly comedic writing at times. And (being of Irish heritage) I liked some of the Irish jokes in there too.

And yes the very final scene (view of Boston rooftops, with a rat walking across the balcony)... well, I agree with the Simpsons' take on it: as Ralph says, the rat "symbolizes obviousness." Not annoyingly ham-handed, but it was on that side of the spectrum. Doesn't ruin my opinion of the movie or anything, but just a little silly.

Oh - warning: STRONG language. According to IMDB trivia on the movie, this is the movie with the most uses of the word "f***" and its derivatives (237) to win the Best Picture Oscar. And no, f*** is not the only curse word they liked. So, if you are sensitive to language, catch this when it comes on TV and the language gets cleaned up a bit. :)

Overall: 5 of 5. Not a 'happy' movie, but very entertaining movie. Deserved the Best Picture Award. Definitely shelf-worthy!