Rapunzel's Felted Tower

The last stop for us on the tour of the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival was at the skein/garment/etc. competition.

There were some really impressive garments in the competition, but the thing that I will remember best is the felted tower for Rapunzel.

Here's an overall photo of the tower.

Followed by a close-up of Rapunzel, herself. Note the flowers growing on the tower near her.

Not only was the tower three dimensional, but parts of it extended past the base of the tower, including Rapunzel's hair, which was braided and hung freely from her window at the top of the tower and coiled itself at the base of the tower. She's even wearing a beaded necklace.

Some real towers have gargoyles or other decorative stonework protruding from the side, and this one was no exception, with decorative "stone" roses extended from the sides. Beautiful!

This photo shows a bit better how the roses extend from the side of the tower.

The side of the tower has a vine growing up the side of it. The roots of the vine also extend off the bottom of the tower onto the table, looking as if they are growing from the table.

The vine also has little, felted flowers growing from it.

There was a lot of detail that I can't really show here. The software didn't want to let me show this many photos. I was amazed!

*****************************

John has announced the release date for the newest Steve Canyon DVD! Check it out!

***************************

I am still having problems with my back. I am more and more convinced that I strained some muscles. So, of course, it hurts like the dickens, but I don't think it's done any permanent damage. I'm at a point where I can sit, stand, or walk without too much problem, but moving from one of those conditions to another is still very painful. For example: sitting is OK, but getting up hurts. Once I've stood up (and given it a few seconds) it's OK again, but if I start walking, it hurts for the first 10 seconds or so.

Which is giving me a lot of sympathy for Holly, who did something similar a bit more than a week ago, and didn't see the worst of the effects until after the Sheep and Wool Fest. She and Robin went to Annapolis and went canoeing (which she hasn't done in years). Apparently, she did something to some muscles that suddenly let her know they were unhappy by causing a lot of chest pain, to the point that she wound up in the emergency room wondering if she was having a heart attack.

I'm sorry for her that she's in pain, but if it has to hurt, I'm so glad it's a muscle problem rather than a heart problem.

That said, muscle problems hurt!!! I'm feeling sorry for both of us.

***********************

All this has made me post less than I would like to, and leave out stuff that I would have liked to mention, but missed out on because I was distracted by my backache.

Yesterday and this morning, I caught some really good movies on cable. Last night, I caught They Live not too long after the beginning. It's one of my favorite science fiction movies, and seems to have a lot to do with our current financial crisis. When it was over, I found Duck, You Sucker on another station, about half over. This is a good movie for the first viewing. It's a very offbeat cowboy movie set during the Mexican Revolution. I loved it in the theater. But it wears off quickly.

Today, I caught Enemy Mine by Barry Longyear. This is an excellent SF movie about two soldiers on opposing sides of an alien/human war. They crash land and are stranded on a planet together. I love this movie.

Check your local listings if you're interested, because these are stations that tend to show a movie several times over the course of a week. I think they were in the many Encore stations.

We have another new episode of Supernatural tonight (I think), and I know we're getting to the end. This may be the season finale.

Have a great evening!

So Much Is Happening!

There's so much going on today that I probably shouldn't take the time to post this, but there's so much to tell.

John is starting to get the photos from his trip to Reel Stuff back. Here's one of them:


There's also a friend of his, Matt Tauber, who put up a post with more photos in it, and you can see it here. The post has some great photos in it and an eyewitness account of his experience. Since I couldn't be there, it's much better than I could do. So, check it out.

From what I understand, there will be more photos here about it soon, but don't forget to check out his blog at Steve Canyon on DVD!

And here's a photo I stole from his blog.

What I should be doing right now is one last round of changes on the inside cover for the Steve Canyon on DVD Volume 2. It's the one page that John hasn't shown anybody, and he has one last option he wants to look at before he makes the final decision. I'm at that stage in the proceedings where I can't wait for it to be finalized and done with. Once that's over, I'll be waiting to get my copy in the mail. After that, it'll be waiting to get the information for the third volume. I'm sure you're getting the drift now. I'm always wanting the next thing.

It's so close to being done that I'm really excited! John is anxious to get it done, too!

*********************

Stephanie Pearl McPhee was interviewed (via phone) on the Graham Norton show. 

Greg Kinnear was on the show and they talked about the word that Steph invented with his name. You can see that section of the show on YouTube. They showed Steph's blog on the show, too. You can catch the announcement of the show on Twitter, too.

*********************

Vicki Howell is having another contest for a copy of her new book over on her blog. There is also a photo up of one of the designs in the book, and I have to say that even though I'm not big on crochet, I really love this one! If you're a crocheter, don't miss this one!

*******************

Well, I entertained myself yesterday (and wore myself out) by going over to the new JoAnn Fabrics here. When Holly and I were at AC Moore last weekend, there was some really pretty yarn that I liked a lot and I've been regretting not buying it ever since. I love the sock yarn that I bought instead, but I wish I had also bought the sparkly, shiny, blue sport yarn, too. The stuff I keep picturing in lace with blue, dark plum and/or white iridescent beads scattered around the bottom.

The first sock, by the way, is nearly done. I have less than an inch before I start the toe shaping. Photos soon.

Somehow, I thought that there might be a good chance that JoAnn would have it, too. I was sadly mistaken. I did find more of the yarn that I liked so much for the Mobius hood, which I really need to get back to knitting. I bought it, hoping that there will be enough to make a poncho with. Then I can wear the poncho with the hood over it. Of course, I can wear the poncho or hood separately should I wish to, always assuming that the hood actually turns out to be wearable. This is all very experimental.

But the hood has to be done by the end of this month for the Harry Potter House Cup KAL/CAL I'm involved in. Getting stuff done works better for me when I have a deadline.

If it does turn out well, you can expect a hood/poncho pattern for sale soon. And another pair of patterns for the book I haven't been working hard enough on.

********************

There's a new Supernatural on tonight, and not much more in science fiction (or, in this case, fantasy) TV news.

I caught Galaxy Quest and They Live right before they came on in the last couple of days and recorded them, but haven't watched them yet. They're both movies I've watched multiple times and still love.

********************

I just finished reading Twilight and enjoyed it immensely. There were a lot of strange reviews of this on Amazon, and some of the reviews are grossly misleading. 

One thing a lot of people went on about was the way it's written. The consensus seems to be that it's badly written, which wasn't what I found at all. Accusations were made that there are misspelling, grammatical errors, and more in this book. I found two typos, and that's all. And I was really looking for this after all the reviews. The writing is very clear and allows the story to move at a brisk, easy pace. It's a quick, easy read, and hard to put down. It portrays a teenagers first love very well, so if you'd like to go along for that rollercoaster ride again, here's your chance. 

One thing most of the reviewers missed is that this told as a first person narrative. That's why it's submerged in self-doubt, and dripping with nauseous detail about how beautiful/wonderful/smart/funny/you get the picture the object of her affection is. That's the perspective of this hormone bombarded teen, not necessarily the truth that someone else would see.

The book exaggerates the whole teen love experience by making the heroine's boyfriend a vampire. Making vampirism a metaphor for lust is something that's been done over and over, so there's nothing new in that, but it's done well here. And yes, it's very mellow dramatic! So is first love. Get over it! If you don't want to read gooey trash, skip this. But I found it fun and definitely worth a read.

I have the next two sequels for this on request at the library, but in the meantime, I'm getting back to The Dresden Files series by rereading my favorite from the series, Blood Rites. It's my favorite because Harry gets involved in making a movie. It's only when he shows up for work that he discovers the movie is porn. This leads to more humor than most of the Dresden books. Well, it may have something to do with the fact that I've worked on some low-budget films (science fiction, not porn) myself. I love all the Dresden books, but this is my favorite so far.

I have to get busy and finish the alternate view of the inside front cover for Steve Canyon, Volume 2. Before John has a meltdown. He's not pushing me or giving me a hard time, but I know he wants to.

Have a great day!

Still Here!

I am so much better than last week!

I still have a sore throat and earache, but I can breath (most of the time) with my mouth shut and without breaking into a string of coughing. The literature with the medicine kept talking about how I would feel OK almost immediately, and that I shouldn't stop taking the medicine because I feel OK. I think I'm going to get to the end of the medicine before the OK part. I'm supposed to go back to the doctor for a check-up, to make sure that it's really gone, but I can't afford that. I may try to see if I can get more of the prescription by calling the office, but I don't know how I'm going to buy it unless I skip paying the phone bill. Or eating.

They Live was on TV today, on one of the Encore channels. Check your local listings. If they run it once, that means it'll probably be on a few more times sometime soon. The movie applies more and more to what's happening in the United States these days. The economy is collapsing, and all the money is going to a group of rich elites who turn out to be aliens (come on, this is a science fiction movie!). Whereas in real life, it's just a bunch of humans who act like aliens. It's a great movie! Don't miss it!

There are at least five other great things coming up on TV that I wanted to tell you about, but I'm too muddled by this group of infections to remember them. I'll have to take notes for tomorrow.

I thought I'd get the instructions for the Horcrux Socks. They say you have to sign up with some group in order to get the pattern (which is free), but you have to give out all sorts of information about yourself, and also (it transpired) write an essay about your skills as a knitter, current projects, etc. Apparently they're very picky about who they give patterns to.

I like the basic design of the horcrux socks, but I can already see lots of stuff that I'd rather do differently, so I may just write my own pattern for them.

But the essay I wrote reminded me that I've made some scrunchy socks, and I haven't put up a pattern for them. I'll have to do that when my body stops trying to leak out of most orifices.

Holly and I went out yesterday so I could do some basic shopping. Then we went to Chilis restaurant. 

She was telling me about the Sex in the City movie, which she loved, loved, LOVED! She threw in lots of spoilers, which I won't repeat here.

She said her sister didn't like the new Indiana Jones movie. Apparently, the ending wasn't archeological enough for her.

Holly and I got into discussing the crystal skull mythology, and went on to discuss how recently some archeological discoveries have been made (notably, the iridium layer at the KT boundary), and how that has changed the way people view the world. We wandered through the show, Cosmos (because it was on TV yesterday, and was pertinent to the discussion of scientific censure, specifically in relation to Immanuel Velikovsky). Carl Sagan felt called upon to ridicule Velikovsky because his theories didn't catch on with the scientific community. When I first saw Cosmos, he felt it necessary to add this (without reason, in my opinion) to the show. I saw the show again later (after Sagan had been ridiculed for his nuclear winter theory) and the part that mentioned Velikovsky had Sagan saying how sad it was that closed-minded scientists had chosen to denigrate him.

I told her about two really wonderful and fascinating books by him (Worlds in Collision, and Ages in Chaos) that have garnered a lot of censure from the scientific community. I had forgotten at the time about his other book, Earth in Upheaval. I think I was actually thinking of Earth in Upheaval rather than Ages in Chaos, though. I read them when I was 12 or 13 years old, during the portion of the summer before Mom lost her temper, took away my library card, pointed at the front door and yelled "Go outside and play!"

We had a lot of fun!

The Weather Pixie is once more under the weather, and I hope to see her back here soon.

I keep promising to tell you more about photography, but this being sick thing is taking up all my time and brain-power at the moment. I haven't forgotten the photographers out there, but I'm really not up to writing about anything coherently at the moment, so I will do it ASAP. Sorry.

Have a great Monday!