Huang Yong Ping Retrospective at the Walker

To kick off our New Years Resolution of doing things other than aimlessly wandering around bookstores (shopping) for entertainment, the old man and I went to see this exhibit at the Walker last week. I loved it! What can I say, it was right up my alley, it flipped my wig. A real wig-flipper.


Huang Yong Ping at the Walker
See the link for more info about Mr. Ping, but I think it's only at the Walker for a few more days so I don't know how long this link will work...

Song of the Week: Come On

Come On
Remember this one, Sharbles? It's the one where Chuck's had a really bad day, his car's busted and he can't afford to check it and he wishes someone would come along and run into it and wreck it!
Just a good song about having a bad day. I am also posting it to quote Gob from Arrested Development, in protest of the show's cancellation. Gob's new favorite saying when in a difficult situation is "COME ON"!

PS-no comments about Chuck's rather unpleasant fetish will be tolerated! This is good clean fun, as Chuck Berry's music was meant to be! If you don't have any idea of what I'm talking about, count yourself among the fortunate.

Rare Pregosaurus Spotted!

Seen here some time after New Years Day 2006, the Pregosaurus has crawled out of her wintery den early this year to peep at her beloved Minnehaha Falls. Could it mean spring has already SPRUNG here in chilly-willy Minnesota?!

make like a crafty gnitter

My immortal beloved subscribes to MAKE Magazine and I have to say, it's pretty dang cool---chock full of fun oddball projects to try (how to make your own PEZ MP3 player, for example). He mentioned that there is actually quite a bit of knitting stuff on their website, so I checked it out and thought I'd share the link here with you all.
Note: this crafty list is not exclusively knit projects---there's other fun stuff too!

link to MAKE crafts

Song of the Week: When the Fool Becomes the King

The Polyphonic Spree. What's not to love?! I just like the fact that there's this many people in the "band" and that they wear these robes! Beyond that, the group's leader Tim DeLaughter can evoke such emotion with his sweet (albeit somewhat hokey) voice, I was sold from the first minute I heard these guys (thanks Johnny E). The best elements of The Beatles and of Queen come through now and again, so like I said, what's not to love?! This is sort of a random sampling, you REALLY need to hear the whole body of work to appreciate them (you can find out more at their site, linked below). You really get the feeling that the Polyphonic Spree is not a band, so much as a way of life. And even though they refer to themselves as a "Family", they are, according to themselves, less of a cult than a "Broadway Revival". The message is so full of love, it will bring a wee tear to your cynical eye...

Warning: this file is gi-normous, the selected "piece" is 10 minutes long.
when the fool becomes the king by The Polyphonic Spree.

New Years Raz-olutions

1. Knock off the aimless "shopping for entertainment"

2. Resist that almost overwhelming temptation to JUDGE

I would like to find my entertainment in things that are a little more fullfilling than wandering around Barnes and Noble pretending that because it's a bookstore, it's okay. So I'm going to try to attend some more inspiring events around town and maybe report back here on the blawg...

Re the JUDGIE-NESS---I can directly gauge my level of spiritual peace by how quick I am to harshly judge OTHERS. So that's actually a selfish move on my part, a wily trick to get myself some more spiritual peace. My friends may have to find a new nickname for me, as I am known in certain circles as "Judgie".

ADDENDUM: I still reserve the right to judge others' musical taste as much as I want. ;-)

Song of the week is back! The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead

I've grown more and more fond of XTC in the last few years, I think they get better with age. I think their last couple of records (CDs, downloadable releases, WHATEVER) have been great. I heard this song on the radio today and it made me really happy, even though it's a little sad. It made me think of Paul Wellstone a little: "but he made too many enemies of the people who would keep us on our knees". Is it really so much to expect someone who's a politician to just be a good person? Now I guess I'm the mayor of simpleton for saying something as ridiculous as that! Anyway, here it is, The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead

Back to the reason why this is a so-called "Knitting Blog"

This is what I've started for the boy, in a lovely dark blue so that it will look like a little pea coat! I have to admit, I always choke a bit over the price of these Debbie Bliss yarns, but I'll be danged if they aren't truly a pleasure to handle. This is from the Debbie Bliss Baby Knits Book. Here's another view:

I'm not going to make the pants---I just picture them all saggy, with a big old dirty diaper in them!

I'm All Verklempt...!

For our friends who read Gnitter...

I just can't help myself, here's a portrait of our little BOY! If it's hard to see at first, it's just his face, his nose is pretty much smack dab in the middle...

Now send him your LOVE!

Bear with me...

Sadly, pregnancy is really taking a toll on the blog. Oh well, the five friends who actually read this thing are likely to tough it out with the Gnitter. Look at it this way, would you prefer long gaps between posts or long posts about what it's like to go maternity clothes shopping for the first time? Uh-huh, I thought so...

Song of the Week: Mmmbop

Mmmbop...
What?! Don't you ever just want a big piece of Bubblicious? The Archies had one or two good songs, The Monkees had many...Granted, I have no idea what these young fellers are singin' about in this song, but I can tell that they FEEL it, maaan! Bottom Line: I have a weakness for Hanson, especially on a sunny day, blasting in my car. So sue me.

Friday Cat Blawg

It's Oni's world, we just try to brush our teeth in it.

Song of the Week: Get Him Back

Fiona Apple. As my dear partner says, she definitely seems to fall into the "In Praise of Difficult Women" category. One of those who is probably high-maintenance, but worth it. I have to admit that when she first popped up I lumped her in with the Tori Amos and Alannis Morisette crowd unfairly (if you love those guys, don't be offended, they just don't flip my wig). She's much more painfully honest and at the same time somewhat painfully mean like our beloved Chrissie Hynde but with some serious composing chops. Plus she has a beautiful voice. My husband stumbled upon her last winter when there was a real controversy surrounding a record that she had recorded but that Sony wouldn't release---"Free Fiona" websites and petitions were all over the place and one rabid fan had the unreleased album (named "Extraordinary Machine") in its entirety available for download, so we grabbed it to see what all the hoo-ha was about. Both of us got addicted to it very quickly and it has been in heavy rotation here since! It was hard to pick one song to put up here, and I wound up going with a lighter, poppy number, Get Him Back. The album has since been re-recorded and released by Sony. We bought it, and though it's a little hard to get used to after listening to the first recordings 900 times, I'm liking it more every time I hear it. This track is from the unreleased version. Anyhoo, take a bite of the Apple, if you wanna, we think she's worth it...

Song of the Week: Autumn Almanac

Oh, there will be many Kinks songs featured on the Song of the Week. There's a Kinks song for every occasion. The Song of the Week could be ALL Kinks songs, as far as I'm concerned, but my more sensible side says that it may be better to spread them out over time. Suffice it to say that I am a fan, a student, a disciple of Mr. Raymond Douglas Davies*, and that is an understatement.
So, anyway, I was thinking of what a perfect and beautiful Fall day it was here in Minne-scrapolis today, and what song I could post as the best theme for perfect Fall days, and, well, here it is...

Autumn Almanac

*Who else would pen this rhyme "Oh, my poor rheumatic back, yes yes yes, it's my autumn almanac"?

From Here to Maternity

Well, I've hemmed and I've hawed and I've wondered whether it would be really stupid to 'fess up to being knocked up on the blawg. Me and the old man just decided, what the foo?! Most of our closest friends already know and I don't mind our not-as-close friends knowing now and I guess it really doesn't matter if some strangers know. So there. This is why I've been feeling sick---when they say "nauseous" and "morning sickness", they really mean it. Months of it! I had also temporarily lost interest in several of my favorite things: coffee, good tea, and knitting, though I'm starting to feel better and thankfully my knitting muse seems to be back! My posting may be sporadic---especially around late March, if all goes well...

By the way, is that barefoot and pregnant doll not the scariest?!

Song of the Week: Everybody Knows

Mister Leonard Cohen













Everybody Knows
"Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died
Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows"

...and, well, it just goes on from there...Sound familiar?

Song of the Week: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

(FSA photo of a breadline during the Depression)

Bittersweet Bing. What a great song! Also eerily timely, when you see these news stories about soldiers coming back from Iraq to find their families living on canned food donations collected by the Boy Scouts.

Oh, we'll all be singing it again soon enough. We can't seem to stop these looters in the Whitehouse from completely bankrupting this country (both fiscally and ethically), so you may as well learn the words now!


Bing Crosby singing Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

Russian Mitten Patterns

I got this cool book earlier this summer. Here in Minnesooooota it's just starting to get coooooold. So I think it's time to make some of these mitties. More soon!

Jumping on the "Friday Cat Blogging" Bandwagon

My new favorite knitting blog

You Knit What???

So many times I've looked at a strange, ugly, uncomfortable looking knitting pattern and thought, "What were they thinking?!" Thanks to Joanna for sharing this one with me. These two gurls SET FIRE to anyone who DARES to air an ugly pattern!