Human Target is Back!

The season premier of Human Target is tonight at 8 (here) on Fox!

Yes, I know that it's not science fiction, but it's a great action adventure show. Each week Christopher Chance (Mark Valley) protects someone who has become a human target, or as In Plain Sight puts it, "Somebody wants them dead."

For fans of Pushing Daisies (which I loved!), you should know that it also stars Chi McBride, who played Emerson Cod, the knitting detective who wrote and made pop-up books. He always plays a character that I just want to run up to and hug.

And for fans of Torchwood, there will be a new character in the series played by the same actress (Indira Varma) who played Susie.

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The yarn for the Christmas stockings arrived today. It's a very bright, warm red, perfect for the Christmas season. I still need the white yarn for the toes and heels and the fun fur for the cuffs to start, but they're going to be really terrific! I'll have a photo for you real soon, now.

I have to go. The tail end of the Doctor Who marathon on BBC in America is on, and I really want to watch it!

Have a lot of fun tonight watching Human Target!

Knitting Update!

I know.

I go through phases. Sometimes, all you get out of me is science fiction stuff, and lately, all I've talked about is knitting. But I have more knitting because I'm trying to finish some projects and get on with the Christmas present knitting.

First of all, we have a partially finished neckwarmer in Bernat Mosaic yarn (colorway is mosaic). This looks a little odd at the moment because I've gone crazy for patchwork, and I'm knitting  a section in one direction, and then picking up stitches and adding another shape in a different direction. I started with a band around one end to establish a size and with a matching border at the other end, too, it will look a bit more finished, planned, and less haphazard.

This is slow going because the yarn is less even and more thick-and-thin than I first thought, and even though I can work out how many increases and decreases at the edge of a given patch will give me the right shape, it means that I may have to pick up more or fewer stitches to match up. So, I frequently do it wrong and wind up ripping it all out. I'm going to use some yarn in either off white, or a very pale grey to whip-stitch over all the joins between shapes.

There will be a hat and mitts to match this, and then I will finish the Celtic sweater and I'll have some things I can wear together to look good, even though it will be too cold by then to wear them as outerwear. The neckwarmer, hat and mitts will work with a coat, though, and that's why I want to do them first.

Since this is the third time around for the Celtic sweater, I just want to get it done!

After all that, I'm going to get back to the hood I started for Jeff. You may recall that the Mosaic yarn hadn't arrived, and I wanted something to knit, and instead of finishing something that I'd already started (which would be sensible), I chose to start a whole new project. Being even earlier into my patchwork phase at that time, here's what I have so far on the hood:

I want to get some chocolate brown yarn to go with this for some patches, and some more of the lighter brown. So, it will have some patches that look like Fair Isle, and some in solid shades of brown. For the lighter solid colors, I plan to use simple textural stitch patterns like the seed stitch shown to set off the Fair Isle look. I found some really nice medium blue yarn that I'm going to use to whip stitch the joins in the patches. I think this is going to look really fabulous when it's done! It will also get a matching patchwork hat and mitts for a complete set.

After all that, I'll be switching to Christmas stockings for all except Malaia and John because I already made stockings for them. I've been collecting sparkly yarn in various colors that are popular with my family and friends, and can't wait to make stockings for everyone.

Besides, if I make something else for each person, I can stuff them in the stocking and not have to wrap them!

Then, it's onward and upward with just finishing projects that I've already started!

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For all you non-knitters out there, if you're thinking about obtaining Christmas presents for your friends and family, I can make custom knits for them! Yes, folks, I'm trying (once again) to make some "extra" money so that I'll have enough to continue being able to eat through the end of the month! So I'm very open to creating a fabulous one-of-a-kind item for Christmas gifting.

Some ideas include: Christmas stockings, a Doctor Who scarf, almost any knitted garment you've seen in a science fiction movie or TV show, a Weasley sweater for a Harry Potter fan, a rune bag with runes knitted in, or almost anything your imagination can come up with. Some of the Christmas presents I have planned to make are: a pair of stigmata mitts with a matching crown-of-thorns hat, and much more.

Exercise your imagination and have me make something truly spectacular for a loved one!

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The new season of Sanctuary starts tonight on Syfy! There's a new episode of Supernatural, too, and an episode of Medium which may or may not be new. It sounds a lot like one I've seen.

Tomorrow night, BBC in America will be rerunning episodes of Torchwood, and I'm wondering if that means that they're building up to the new season.

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Franklin has done it again, and put up the funniest blog post of his that I've ever seen. You have to check it out! Somebody asked him for help in retouching a photo.

Have a fabulous weekend! I'll be spending the weekend knitting, and you may not hear from me!

Update on the Imagination Contest

If you read this blog all the time, you know that I set myself the challenge of entering the Lion Brand Imagination Contest.

Well, it has to be submitted tomorrow, and I'm not even done the knitting, let alone the finishing, which is going to be extensive, so this post will be short, and you can expect nothing up here tomorrow!

As usual, it's my own fault. I have a hard time finishing/letting go of projects because if they're done, what will I have to do?

And this is especially boring for you because, I can't publish photos of it! You're going to just have to imagine that I'm busy and doing lots of really neat stuff to finish this.

But if you want some really entertaining stuff from a knitter, you should read today's post from The Yarn Harlot. Actually, her post isn't really about knitting, it's about baseball, and it has a very funny science fiction twist at the end.

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If you're reading this and it's still daytime, the SyFy Channel is running a Primeval marathon on their daytime rotation as I write.

But don't touch that dial just yet! BBC in America is doing the same thing with Torchwood!

There's a new Warehouse 13 on SyFy tonight, and a new White Collar and Covert Affairs on USA, too!

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I have to get going. I have a lot of knitting and even more finishing to do, and somewhere in all this, I really need to get some groceries, so I'm going to be very busy today and tomorrow.

Have a wonderful week, and I'll be back later!

I Ignore the Universe for One Day, and It Gets into Trouble

I had lots to do yesterday, and was online for about a half hour, and then went to do my stuff. As a result, I didn't get to read much on Facebook or really connect with other people.

I thought that would be all right. I mean how much trouble could all of you get into, right?

Well, John's sister, Doris had a heart attack and died. I found out about it when I got on Facebook today.

I feel sad about that. The last time I saw her was right after she'd had heart surgery. There's so much I want to say, but words are failing me at the moment. We'll miss her.

Then I read down further on Facebook and find that his daughter, Sara's boyfriend was in a theater when someone started shooting randomly. He's OK, but someone else was shot and died.

What's wrong with the world? I can't leave it alone for a minute!

There were a bunch of things I wanted to talk about today, but this has really taken the wind out of my sails. Everything will be postponed until later except for the TV info.

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Tonight, the new shows on include: Warehouse 13 (SyFy), White Collar, and Covert Affairs (USA).

On Saturday, BBC in America will be having a Doctor Who marathon, culminating in The Pandorica Opens, and The Big Bang, two episodes comprising a two-part story, and the last two episodes of the season. They showed The Pandorica Opens last week, and it is so good! I expect that the final episode will be equally good, maybe better.

And, as if that weren't enough, it will be followed by the first episode of the new season of Being Human.

I am so excited to see the last episode of the season of Doctor Who, but am expecting to be really sad that it's over.

For any of you out there who haven't been watching the Doctor and thought there was no way for you to catch up, BBC in America is giving you the chance to see the whole (new) thing, right from the beginning. They've been airing Doctor Who episodes every day at 5 pm (here), and they've cycled through, and will be starting with the first new episode (Rose) on Thursday!

Do not be discouraged by watching by the first episode. It's almost a rip-off of one of the old series, and not one of the better ones, either, but it sets things up for what is to come, and the stories get better and better as the season progresses. For Torchwood fans, you can get to see the beginning of Captain Jack Harkness in the two-part story The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances! Those two are followed by Boomtown, which has a kind of reunion party vibe, and Rose wears a beautiful knitted scarf. And learn about the founding of Torchwood itself in Tooth and Claw. Eventually, you'll work your way along to Blink, which is one of the best little horror stories I've ever seen. If you don't want to see Doctor Who, watch for Blink anyway, because it's a teriffic stand-alone story that you won't want to miss! And Captain Jack reappears from time to time, and fills in the blanks about what happened when he was absent from Torchwood.

On Friday, there will be a new Eureka and Haven on SyFy! Haven (the series) is based on a Stephen King book, The Colorado Kid, which I haven't read, and so can't comment on, but the series is shaping up to be good.

So, now I'm caught up on the TV part of the blog for the next few days, at least through Saturday.

I plan to blog before then, but if something happens and I don't be good and have fun!

LOST Weekend!

All you Losties probably already know that he grand finale of Lost will be on Sunday night.

Make sure you don't miss out on the rebroadcast of the very first, two-hour pilot, being aired tonight, though. Tomorrow night, they'll hit all the highlights of the story so far, and then show the two-hour series finale!

They said they'd answer our questions. They said that they'd let us find out what's been happening all this time.

I hope they're right! There have been a few clues this year, but no real answers yet.

So, set your DVRs/VHSs to record all this.

You're going to want to watch it again.

You know you will!

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BBC in America is going to be showing the newest Doctor Who episode tonight, too. It's Vampires in Venice, right after the rebroadcast of Flesh and Stone. Where I live, it's on during Lost, but they'll be showing both of them two more times later in the evening and on into early morning, plus Vampires will be on Tuesday evening, so you don't have to miss Lost to catch it!

In case you aren't paying attention, there will be a lot of science fiction on BBC in America this week. Torchwood will be on during a lot of Monday, and they seem to be making Tuesday evening dedicated to science fiction, including another rerun of Vampires in Venice. This Tuesday, however, there will be a lot of Primeval, starting at 11 am. Keep an eye on them all week, though, because they seem to really be caught up in the science fiction thing this week! Check your local listings.

I've heard that The Legend of the Seeker will not be returning after this season, and that means the series finale will be coming up soon, so don't miss it on the CW, Sunday night (if that's when it comes on where you live). I'm really disappointed that it's been cancelled.

I'm going to go and do a little spinning, run some errands, and enjoy all the fun stuff on TV this weekend!

I hope you have a weekend that's as much fun as mine is going to be!

Recovering from Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was wonderful, as usual. I got to see Holly and Robin's new, 52 inch TV, and it's wonderful, but we actually had Thanksgiving dinner in the new bar behind their house.

A while ago, Robin bought a Chinese dragon kite, and he wanted it for decoration. Here's a photo of it on the ceiling in the bar.

And here it is close up:

Here are Holly and Robin behind the bar:

A photo of Robin getting ready to answer a question, it looks like:

And a couple of photos of Holly:

I finally gave up and went home after 1:30 am.

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Before I forget to tell you, Vickie Howell is having her annual book giveaway! Today is the last day to enter, so get right over there!

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For all you knitters out there who need/want a yarn winder, here are instructions for making one of your own for a low cost.

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The ABC Family channel was running the "coundown" to 25 Days of Christmas, but gave up on that for Thanksgiving and Saturday. They're back with some Christmas movies, if anyone cares. I have to admit it, I'm a sucker for those gooey Christmas movies.

BBC in America told the people who put up the digital TV guide that they were going to show the Doctor Who episode, Utopia yesterday, but they really showed Turn Left. I hope they show the two episodes that come after Turn Left (The Stolen Earth and Journey's End). The other two are considered to be a whole story, but I think that Turn Left should be included as part of that story, and it should be a three-parter.

I just looked it up, and they're not showing Doctor Who next Saturday. In that time slot they're showing Torchwood, and they haven't put up any info on which episode yet.

By the way, SyFy is now rerunning Doctor Who on Friday mornings, very early, again, at least for a few more weeks. Next week will be Fires of Pompei. On Christmas Eve (Christmas day) and New Year's Day, they will not be showing Doctor Who. Hopefully, he'll be back in January.

Heroes will be the only new SF programming on Monday. Of course, SyFy will have it's usual reruns of Ghost Whisperer, and there will be reruns of The Big Bang Theory, and Castle. I know Castle isn't SF, but I like Nathan Fillion so much from Firefly.

I have to get going now. I promised John I'd get some more done on the back cover of Volume 3 of the Steve Canyon DVDs over the weekend, and yesterday went in a completely different direction from what I intended, and I didn't get anything done then, so I have to make it up now.

I hope you've all been having a great extended holiday weekend!

International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day today!

You can actually buy a book about the day! It's called The Pirate Life.

Holly will be at a renfair in Michigan (or possibly, Ohio) today, and she'll be wearing her pirate costume, which you may remember from last year.

Whichever fair she's at, she'll be at the other one tomorrow. I envy her! Not only that, but she's getting to see Malaia, John, Heather, and all the other wonderful people out there. I miss them! And she's already gotten to go to Hoagie Man, and will get to go back again before she leaves. I envy her! And she got to fly there on a plane! Even if her flight was delayed and delayed, and even though it was a commercial flight, she still got to fly, which is one of my favorite things in the world!

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I started the fourth and last sock for Holly in the Winter Night color last night. I have to decide if I want to do the green (Kenai) or the purple (Cosmos) ones next.

Heather sent some hand spun yarn that was dyed in logwood, which makes a beautiful lavender color. She wants me to knit it into a copy of the hat that Hermione wore in the Half Blood Prince movie. Here's a photo of the one I made for Holly.

The yarn seems to me to be a little on the light weight side for this hat, though. The yarn was very scratchy, and rough, so I've washed it in a combination of shampoo and conditioner in the hopes that it'll get much softer. It's still drying, but part of it seems to be dry, and slightly softer, although it seems like it will never be something that I would consider nice to touch. I'll have to knit some swatches to determine the gauge I'll want to use.

I'm thinking hard about wanting to do something more interesting with it than the Hermione hat, though. Something that will show it off at it's best, which I don't think the Hermione hat will do.

Well, it has to finish drying, and get wound into balls and have some swatches made before I make any decisions.

Heather says she really wants that particular hat, but I think this yarn could be so much more.

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In case you haven't noticed, BBC in America has started to do the same daytime thing that SyFy has been doing: they're picking a series and showing several episodes of it each weekday. On Monday, they'll be having Being Human: the first episode, and then the last few of the first season. This past week, they showed some of Torchwood and some of Doctor Who. Keep your eyes open for the future.

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I had planned to go do some things with my friend, Nancy this weekend, but I'm still not feeling too good. The antibiotic should help in the long run, but it's making for some side effects at the moment that made me want to stay home and just exist until I can manage to feel better.

Yesterday, everyone in the world wanted me to be up early and be busy doing stuff. I wasn't really too enthusiastic about it. One of the things was a series of blood tests, and these make me think that I may have found a doctor who knows what she's doing. She ordered some very intelligent tests, and one no doctor has ever thought to do for my thyroid problems. So far, I'm impressed!

So, I'm probably going to spend the weekend knitting and watching TV. I have Children of Earth on the DVR that I recorded last weekend, and I'm thinking about spending the day watching it.

I hope you're going to have a weekend that's at least as much fun as mine, and with any luck, as much fun as Holly's!

We Have a New Element!

Well, it seems I was confused about something, and that is the definition of an element.

People learn to talk by listening to people talk. Babies listen to their parents and others who happen to be nearby, and eventually add meaning to the sounds they hear so that they understand what is being said.

In school, when they tell you about a new word, they give you a written or spoken definition. But after using words for a while, they acquire nuances in our minds, subtle shadings of the original definition, until we'd be hard put to define the words without using the same word.

One of those words for me is element.

I know that at one point in time someone defined this word for me, but somehow along the way, my personal definition of this word went something like this: A substance that is a basic, pure chemical substance, such as helium, hydrogen, oxygen, iron, copper, silver, gold, etc. Pure silver is an element, sterling silver is a compound, an alloy made mainly of silver, but also containing other elements to make the silver harder, thus making it practical for jewelry.

But they are adding a new element to the periodic table, and the new element is made by combining other elements, which is where I begin to be confused. This new element is made by fusing zinc and lead. The fusing part is where I begin to lose it.

So far, they've made a whole atom of it on two different occasions, for a total of two atoms. I know when you get this high on the periodic table that atoms start to be unstable, and it stands to reason that you don't want to get too much of it together in one spot or you'll precipitate an explosion. But two? Two atoms who haven't even been introduced to each other? And one only lasted "an instant." It seems a little skimpy to me.

But I'm guessing that, being scientists, they know what they're doing. And they've finally proposed a name for this new element, Copernicium.

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For you science fiction fen, you should be aware that the fabulous SF roller coaster ride is beginning today on BBC in America. At three this afternoon (here), they will be showing reruns of five Doctor Who episodes to get us in the mood for what's coming up this week.

There are two episodes from the first season of the new Who: the two-parter, The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances. The Empty Child is one of the most frequently cited as scary in the list of new Who episodes. It's chief feature is that it's the first episode where we run into Captain Jack Harkness, and he's a lovable rogue and con man, traveling in time.

The next three are from the third season finale, and are Utopia, The Sound of Drums, and The Last Time Lord, which also involve Jack.

In my opinion, they should have just continued to the end of season one with Boom Town, Bad Wolf, and The Parting of the Ways. The last two explain how Jack came to be (for all intents and purposes) immortal. Rose also wears a scarf in Boom Town that I would love to copy. It's beautiful!

So, they're getting us in the mood for the new Doctor Who special, Planet of the Dead, which will be shown next Sunday, but they're also getting us ready for the big news this week, Children of Earth, which is a five-part story that will be shown every evening this week starting on Monday, preceded by an inside look at the hub. Each day's new episode will be shown after a recap of the previous day's show. In the spoiler-free reviews I've read, each one of the five parts has left their audience jumping up and down and screaming at the end, so expect this to be something you'll get involved with.

Not letting us up for a moment this week, the BBC is following Torchwood with Being Human. This is the premier of a new series about three "flatmates" who happen to be a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost. I haven't seen this one, but I have heard good things about it.

As if all this weren't enough, it will be followed on Sunday by the new Doctor Who special, Planet of the Dead. What can I say? It's Doctor Who! What's not to like?

There's another Merlin on NBC tonight. I'm beginning to think of this as something someone from another planet wrote after hearing the Arthur story, but couldn't remember it right and didn't know much about Arthur's era. Once you do that, and stop looking at all the things they got wrong, it's an OK series. The original story contains enough scope that they could have done this and made it historically accurate as well as true to the legend. I suppose that part of my problem is that shows like Doctor Who and Torchwood have lead me to expect intelligence from the BBC, and sometimes that expectation is misplaced.

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Holly and I went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince yesterday.

It was far better than I could have hoped for! With a few relatively minor quibbles, I loved it!

The quibbles involve the fact that it would be impossible to fit the whole book into a movie. I knew that going in, and I knew they were going to have to cut a lot of it. There is one quiddich game, and the rest got cut. But the teams do have some neat new uniforms. I want a quiddich robe like theirs!

As expected, a lot got cut, but what's left is far more of the book than I ever thought they could cram into a movie. And it's wonderful!

Order of the Phoenix had so much cut out of it that it wasn't even a coherent story anymore. If you hadn't read the movie, I'm sure it didn't even make sense. But I think Half Blood Prince stands alone. You can see it without having to have read the books first, and it will still be a coherent story.

There is one scene that was made up of whole cloth, and came out of left field. It also could have ramifications for the next movie, but I won't spoil it here.

The bottom line is: you should go and see it if you haven't already.

I hope you're having a great weekend!

Well, Children of Earth, the whole-third-season/mini-series of Torchwood, has finished showing in England. Us poor Yanks have yet to see it, but you can find out more about it here, and here. It will be on BBC in America starting on the 20th of July, and will run each evening for five nights.

I wish I could comment with authority on this, but I can't because I haven't seen it yet. It sounds like it will be chilling, though.

Shore Leave, the science fiction/Star Trek convention, continues through this weekend. I can't be there, but I'll be retweeting stuff in the side bar, so check back for updates, or follow me on Twitter by clicking in the sidebar under the tweets.

ABC Family will be showing most of the Harry Potter movies all weekend. The first movie, Sorcerer's Stone  is about halfway through as I write this, so get on over there if you don't have the DVDs, or if (like me) you can't watch them because the input for DVD on your TV is broken.

Sorry there isn't some knitting input today. I'm finishing up some boring stuff that's not worthy of photos or conversation, but I'll be finishing up a neat project later today, and starting another project later today, and both of them will be photo and discussion worthy, so there will be more to see soon.

Hope you're having a great weekend, and that the weather where you are is as stunning as it is here!

The New Doctor Who Will be on Saturday!

On Saturday evening, the BBC in America will be showing the first special of the new season of Doctor Who, The Next Doctor! That was the Christmas special for the series this past year. I was hoping that there would be some information on their website about the future schedule of the Doctor, but all they're giving away is the schedule for Saturday (and Sunday morning). I eventually did find out that the next episode of the Doctor will be on July 26th. These will be separate stories, and they appear to be spreading them out more.

Instead of doing a whole season, the budget crunch prompted the BBC to do several specials rather than a whole season for both Doctor Who and Torchwood this year. The Torchwood specials will be in the form of a mini-series, called Children of Earth, and will be coming up in July, starting on the 20th. They'll be shown on five consecutive nights and form one whole story.

After all the nothing we've been experiencing on TV for the last month, the summer season will be starting real soon, now. Burn Notice is back, and Leverage is back in reruns, with the new season starting on the 15th of July. Neither of those is science fiction, but they both have brilliant concepts for this bleak economy. Each week, somebody with a lot of money and power gets his/her comeuppance due to the brilliance and hard work of someone who makes things as right as they can be after the bad guy messes things up. Action/adventure shows off it's best!

We have a bit more to look forward to, though. On the 7th of July, the SciFi Channel will cease to be, and it will emerge under it's new name, SyFy. They seem to think that the concept of science fiction is too confining, and want to introduce a broader concept. I think there is a lot of SF and fantasy that they could be showing on their network, but they're not doing it. Instead, they seem to be dedicated to showing Chupacabra, Dark Seas, Grendel and Beowulf a mind-numbing number of times. Actually, the first time was too much for these clunkers. No, I'm being too kind. They are some of the worst movies ever made!

I got off the subject, which was stuff to look forward to on TV. SyFy will be kicking off their new name with Warehouse 13. 

Remember at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, when the crate holding the Ark is wheeled into a warehouse and stored? Well, the place it would have been stored is Warehouse 13. I sense that the name of this show will slide into American slang as almost a synonym for The Twilight Zone. Unless SyFy has managed to mess this up, too. But the concept is great, and I have high hopes for it.

And the following Friday (the 10th), Eureka will be back with more of the same, if we're lucky.

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Yesterday, I went to the library, and thought you'd like to see the work they're doing on the small bridge that I usually cross to get there. It's closed at this point, and this was taken a few days ago, but I was unloading photos from my small camera and thought you'd enjoy it.

You may notice that although they are making it safe, it still sags in the middle. It's still very pretty, though.

Yesterday, on my walk, I saw something that looked just a little like a stork. But not quite. It was some kind of wading bird, and I wanted to take a photo, and even still had my camera out, but before I could get it up in position, the bird took off. It was beautiful, and I enjoyed it, though.

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Earlier today, I finished mitt part of the Ravenclaw "Wristwarmers" I'm knitting for the Harry Potter House Cup KAL/CAL. There are three because the mitts work fine on either hand, so I make an extra so I'll still have a pair when I lose one.

When I knit, I usually put my yarn in a large plastic bowl that I got at the dollar store. It keeps the yarn from rolling away, picking up lint from the floor, and generally getting dirty. But after knitting these three mitts, the bowl had lots of navy blue lint in the bottom of it. I plan to be adding silver stars to the mitts, and all that lint got me thinking that I might want to wash the mitts themselves before attaching the stars to see if the color is going to run. So, these are finished and ready to wash.

Here's a photo of the yarn I bought on Saturday. It's the new brand of yarn that Michaels is carrying. 

I love the  colors in it, and I originally thought I'd make a scarf out of it, but while I was at the library, I checked out a copy of Sally Melville's third book in the Knitting Experience Series. This one is the color book.

She has a beautiful sweater made in tweed stitch out of variegated yarn like this and a solid. It's beautiful, and I've been thinking that I need a new vest. I've been wearing my navy one (which I love) for more than ten years. The best thing about the vest is it's pockets! I really love pockets!

I can't recommend the books in The Knitting Experience series enough. I'm a very experienced knitter, and I found lots of really neat ideas, techniques, and tips in all of the books. This third one includes instructions for grafting in garter stitch, and it's the only place I've found real instructions for knitting back backwards, and purling back backwards. Those last two are techniques I've wanted to learn for a while. I think I'm going to have to buy a copy of this for myself!

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While I was taking photos yesterday, the camera told me the memory card is full, so I was going through all the photos while unloading it today to either archive or trash them, and I found this photo of John and Holly and I from a couple of years ago, when John was out here to work on Fade Out (which eventually got in the middle of a power struggle because everyone wanted it, and then everyone just seemed to forget it existed, and it faded out).

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I'm sure there's more I wanted to say, but I can't think of it at the moment, and it'll be nice to still have something to talk about tomorrow.

I had a fabulous sunset out my window yesterday. The photo doesn't do it justice, but here it is.


Have a great evening!

Depression

No, this time I'm not talking about a financial depression such as the great depression, although I'm sure that there are a lot of you out there that are feeling bad because of it.

This time I'm talking about being bummed out.

I haven't got a reason in the world to be so down, but I am for no reason at all. And the fact that I know there's nothing wrong and I'm still bummed only makes it worse.

Maybe it's due to the prevalence of rain ever since the middle of April that's got something to do with it.

It started yesterday, and might have had something to do with the fact that I was thinking about going to see a doctor. 

Yes, my sinuses are still doing their absolute best to drown me. 

Yes, my ear is still clogged up, and I suspect that anything that will unclog it will also unclog the other ear, too. 

Yes, my bones and joints hurt all over every time I move. 

And yes, I've gone to see doctors many, many times about all this in the last 35 years, and usually those doctors tell me (in spite of obvious, visible evidence to the contrary) that there's nothing wrong with me. 

Except for one doctor, who seemed to have it in for me, and refused to prescribe anything that wasn't harmful, and the thing he really wanted me to do would have been lethal! And telling him that I'd already tried it and nearly died from it seemed to make him even more excited, and anxious to try it again right away!

I really don't understand doctors in the United States. They seem to have lost all contact with the idea that they're trying to promote the idea that they'll do something good for your health. 

Most of them are obviously not doing anything good for your health, but at least they used to pretend they were.

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I've been meaning to go to JoAnn Fabrics all this week, and it's been raining all this week. Today, I thought I might have a chance, but it's been cloudy, overcast and rainy all day. Now that it's too late to go, the sun has come out, of course.

JoAnn is having some great sales today. If there's one near you, look up some great coupons on the internet, plus a list of sale items (scroll down for yarn, etc), and get on over there on or before Saturday!

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There's a new Burn Notice on tonight! That link will take you to info on tonight's episode, plus games and other neat stuff.

Merlin will be premiering in the US on NBC on Sunday. This is a show that was on in England a while ago, and is finally coming to the US. I don't know what the quality is like, but it's got a lot of potential, so I want to at least check it out. The NBC link is here. It has some fun games, too! Check it out!

And BBC in America has released some more information about Children of Earth, the new season of Torchwood. The whole season consists of one big story which will be shown over five evenings, starting on July 20th! I, for one, am very excited! Check out the Children of Earth link. There's a sweepstakes for a trip to Wales!

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I was distracted by finishing other projects, but I'm back to working on the purple beaded lace shawl. There's a lot of it to work on, too. After all the frogging I did, I'm back to where I was before I went berserk, and just a  little further.

You know, the sun has come out, and I'm starting to feel a bit better. Maybe it's just all the gloom and rain we've been having that's got me down.

I hope you're feeling better than I am!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope everyone who has born a child had a very happy day today!

I have had an absolutely wonderful day today!

Holly arrived at 10:30 today, just as she said she would. Unfortunately, I woke up about two minutes before she arrived. But it was all OK.

She took me out to get all the stuff from WalMart that I would've gotten last Sunday if I had had the forethought to be prepared for it, thus saving me a lot of discomfort and dampness (this was the first day for two weeks that it hasn't been raining, plus it's supposed to rain Monday, too). My back is a lot better, but still wouldn't have been happy with having to walk to the bus, and come back on the bus carrying a bunch of heavy stuff. 

We went to an early dinner at Ruby Tuesday and had fun (as usual) just being with each other.

This was followed by the new Star Trek movie!

I have to say it was excellent! I loved it to pieces. I will mention some overall impressions, and I don't think I'm giving too much away here, but if you absolutely don't want to know anything about it, skip the rest of this paragraph. It starts back at the beginning, and tells a story about how the Enterprise crew got together. The wonderful part is that they've gone back to the beginning with a whole new group of actors to play the old characters from the beginning. This story involves time travel, and it changes things so that all the stuff that happened originally may be completely changed. So we have the characters young again, and a chance to tell all new stories from the beginning should they choose to do so. And why wouldn't they?

OK, no more spoilers from here on in. J.J. Abrams did a fabulous movie, with a great story. The story had all the old characters, who were acting so much in character that there was a lot of the movie where I knew exactly what a particular character would do, and, in fact, I was able to say some lines along with the characters on the first run-through. At the same time, the situation had so much in it that was unexpected, and so many actions and reactions that were unexpected that it was exciting, non-stop action/excitement/fun all the way through!

I've had a wonderful day!

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I also want to wish a belated happy birthday to my brother, Jeff!

Happy Birthday, Jeff!

I kind of took yesterday off to let my back get in better shape for today. I don't think he'll see it here on the internet anyway, but I still want to wish him a happy birthday, which was yesterday.

I have to get back to being nice to my back instead of sitting here making it hurt more.

All the photos I promised will be up real soon now.

Oh, I nearly forgot: I watched Doctor Who and Torchwood on BBC in America yesterday, and they were full of trailers for the new season of Primeval, which starts next Saturday, and also (and this is the part I'm really excited about) trailers for Children of Earth, the next Torchwood story, which will be on in July (they're not pinning down exactly when). They didn't say anything about the new Doctor Who Season, though, and I'm disappointed about that.

I hope you've been having as good a weekend as I've had!

Torchwood!

Torchwood is back on BBC in America! It's in reruns, starting with the first episode, starting today.

The very first episode ever, Everything Changes, with be shown at 8:00 pm here, and then again at 11. As always, you should check your local schedule. Catch it today, or miss it!

They're also rerunning Doctor Who episodes. This week, they're showing Planet of the Ood. As always, check your schedules!

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I just finished the toe of the first of two Christmas stockings. There's still the back to seam, and the border at the top to sew down, ends to darn in, and either stars or pom poms to go with the loop for hanging to go. Photos soon!

It's a quiet, but very windy Saturday here. It makes me want to stay inside.

Have a great weekend!

Quiet Tuesday

Tru Calling is on the SciFi daytime rotation today! This would have worked better if I had told you about it before it happened, but I completely forgot.

I also almost forgot that Eureka is on this evening. There will be three solid hours of it: one rerun episode from last season, the episode from last week, and the all-new, never-been-shown-before episode, which, this evening, is What about Bob? What a wonderful addition to Tuesday evening!

On Friday, the SciFi Channel will be showing Doctor Who on it's daytime rotation. Especially not-to-be-missed, are Tooth and Claw (which shows the beginning of Torchwood), and School Reunion (where Sarah Jane comes back). For all you people who are getting psyched up for the Olympics or Ravelympics, don't miss the episode entitled Fear Her! It involves the 2012 Olympics.

Well, I found out why I can't get closed captioning on channel 50 (ABC Family) through Comcast. Part of what they were claiming was right, and part of it was wrong. And part of what I was telling them was right, and part was wrong.

With standard definition TV (NTSC in the US), the CC is imbedded in the information for the picture. If the CC is imbedded at the network level, if you have a TV that gets CC and it's turned on, it has to appear if you're getting a picture at all. That's what they were trying to tell me, and they were right about it. It's something that should be absolutely foolproof, no matter what. But they found a way to mess it up anyway.

High definition TV (ATSC), is so compressed to get a HD picture up there at all that they don't have room to embed CC into the picture. So it goes along with the sound. It can be displayed by any HDTV, but a standard TV hasn't got a clue and can't display it.

Comcast is broadcasting ABC Family on two channels. Channel 50 is supposed to have the SD signal, and 245 is supposed to have the HD signal. Can you see where this is going?

Right! They have the HD and SD channels switched! I was tuning in to 50 to get the SD signal and CC, but was getting the HD signal (which displays, but at SD), which doesn't have the CC embedded in the picture, and can't be displayed on my TV.

I called them today, and hopefully it will be fixed soon for all those people out there who haven't done a computer search on CC.

But I figured it out in time to see the last half of Middleman with CC, and then set the DVR to record the whole thing! It's wonderful! They throw in so many in-jokes for SF fans! At one point, Wendy and the Middleman are using code names over their radios, and one of them is "Gatekeeper" and the other is "Keymaster." Needless to say, the episode is about ghosts! It's a new favorite program for me. If you missed it, by the way, it'll be on later in the week a couple of times. Check your TV guides.

I'm still looking at cables for the shoulder of my Celtic sweater, and I should be swatching soon. I was trying to figure out how I was going to get the cable to start and how to turn the knitting so that half of the cable goes down the front and half goes down the back, and then I realized that I don't have to turn it. All I have to do is run the cable elements off the edge as I did on the hood, and will do on the buttonloops. Then just stop knitting and put the end on a stitch holder.

I need a cable with four individual strands for the shoulder, and then it needs to separate and two strands will go down the front, and two down the back. I'll add a short bit of I-cord that will go directly across the shoulder and be picked up at the edge in front and back. I could even weave it through the shoulder cable. This is going to be neat!

I'm going to put up a page within the next few days for the Celtic sweater. It will be just the beginning information right now, and I will add to it as I design it. So you can see the design process, too. Watch for the link to it in the sidebar within the next few days.

I will also be putting up a tiny ad for Designs Toscano in the sidebar. I love that company! I got some of their small gargoyles as a Christmas present one year, and I love them!

Have a great day!

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Addition:

I have some early information about the Celtic sweater up. You can get to it by using the link in the sidebar.

I still need to make charts for the parts that are already done, and get them into the right places, not to mention the parts that I will be swatching and charting for the Ravelympics before it starts.

Be patient.