Showing posts with label Spin Off. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spin Off. Show all posts

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Happy Palm Sunday

Today, SyFy is showing a lot of the Merlin series.

If you're looking for the authentic story of Arthur, this is not the place to find it! The costumes are only vaguely Medieval, the castle is from about 900 years after Arthur's time, and there are characters in the series with the names of people in the Arthur saga, but they're not anything like the originals. Examples include Guenivere, who became queen, and was not a servant; Merlin, who was enough older than Arthur that he saved Arthur right after he was born, and was not younger than Arthur, and so on.

Some of the stories are very good and do embrace Medieval ideas and principles, but some of the stories are squarely based on 20th and 21st century ideals and viewpoints.

I won't even mention the clothing, some of which seems authentic, but some comes from eras more like 1500 years in Arthur's future.

He's called "The Once and Future King," so maybe this is someone's idea of what might have happened if he came back 900 years later than his time.

Some of the stories are entertaining, though.

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My copy of Spin-Off Magazine appeared in my mailbox today!

You can see a preview of it here.

There was information about spinning heavy singles that are soft and (reasonably) balanced.

There was also an article about a spinning wheel maker with a company name of Spinolution. I've seen at least one of their wheels at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, but haven't really sat down and tried one. They actually treadle well, even though the treadle mechanism looks so odd. They have a new wheel out called the Hopper Travel Wheel, and it is small! Even if you don't watch the video at that link, you can see the woman's arms in the photo and get an idea of how small it is. It was intended not only to be small and a travel wheel, but also to be used to create art yarns, hence, the very slow speeds available, although it can spin pretty fast, too. I haven't tried it yet (it's just out), but it seems a little pricy.

There will be another wheel that was created just for spinning art yarns that will be unveiled at the Sheep and Wool Festival, too, and it's by Majacraft. They're not telling, or showing anybody anything about it before then, though. Somebody there is a Firefly fan, and they've named it Serenity, too! They have talked about some of the yarns you can spin on it, though, and showed them on their blog. I can't wait to see it!

Hope you're having a fabulous weekend!


Sunday, September 13, 2009

I'm Back

Where, you may ask, have I been? Well, I've been right here, but I haven't been feeling too well, and haven't been blogging as much, and you may have noticed that my posts aren't as interesting as usual.

I did, finally, get to see a doctor on Thursday. And she listens, and is at least trying to do something about the problems. As opposed to the previous 15 or more doctors I've seen in the past about this. Those previous doctors have learned that if they say the magic words "There's nothing wrong with you" that they won't have to bother to do anything, and you still have to pay them.

So, anyway, the strategy is this: we start off with some antibiotics in the hope that they're going to stop the post nasal waterfall and clear out my ear. Then we continue with an antihistamine/decongestant combination in an effort to keep the advantage we hope we'll gain from the antibiotics.

I felt pretty bad before I saw the doctor, and I think I'm starting to feel a bit better. With any luck, it will continue. We'll see.

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I hope you've been watching either The Lord of the Rings trilogy on TNT, or the Doctor Who marathon on BBC in America today. I'm recording LOTR, and watching the Doctor.

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I just finished reading The Host, by Stephanie Meyer, and let me tell you, it's fabulous! It's about an alien invasion of Earth where the invaders are tiny creatures who take over human bodies. The humans don't even realize it's underway at first. The story follows an alien named Wanderer who is inhabiting a body named Melanie, and it's an excellent story. I highly recommend it.

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The new issue of Spin Off is out, and so is the new issue of Knitty! Knitty also has two contests (scroll down)! Don't miss them!

I'll put up some better posts soon, when I feel better. In the meantime, I hope you've been having a great weekend!