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For some reason, in the culture world that is Geek, having a good looking Jayne hat is a mark of distinction. Being able to make them, also gives one a mark of distinction. I wanted to make my own and found a pattern that was simple and created a good looking hat (http://heyjulie.wordpress.com/2006/06/27/basic-earflap-hat/), though I altered it a bit because I didn't like how the ear-flaps turned out when I did them. So by doing the main body of the hat and then adding the ear-flaps on, I created something that I like.
Now, to be honest, this is not a "true" Jayne hat - his is more fluffy, not as head hugging, and comes to more of a point on top - but I like to look of these hats and so this is how I make them.
For "Regular" Size hat:
Using:
- Size 8 Needles (16" Circulars, Double-Points)
- Lion Brand Yarn "Jiffy" - Color: Gold (for "yellow")
- Lion Brand Yarn "Jiffy" - Color: Rust (for "orange")
- Lion Brand Yarn "Jiffy" - Color: Paprika (for "red")
Main Body of hat
- Cast on 77 stitches in "orange" color
- Do four rows of knit/pearl/knit/pearl/etc.
- Knit 13(ish) Rows of Orange (roughly 3.25-3.5")
- Knit in "yellow color"
- Knit 9(ish) rows of Yellow (roughly 1.5-1.75")
Start Decreases
- K9, K2tog, repeat
- Knit all (will have 70 stitches total)
- K8, K2tog, repeat
- Knit all (63 stitches)
- K7, K2tog, repeat
- Knit all (56 stitches)
- K6, K2tog, repeat
- Knit all (49 stitches)
- K5, K2tog, repeat
- Knit all (42 stitches)
- K4, K2tog, repeat
- K3, K2tog, repeat
- K2, K2tog, repeat
- K1, K2tog, repeat
- K2tog, repeat
- This finishes at 7 stitches - tie end through all.
Ear-Flaps - I do the ear-flaps from the underside because I like the "cleaner" look of them.
- Pick up 15 stitches in "red" color, 11 stitches from back center on both sides. Pick up stitches in the rows of knits ABOVE the 4 rows of ribbing on the inside of the hat.
- Do 16(ish) rows of Stockinette Stitch (roughly 3-3.25")
- K2tog, Knit 11, K2tog
- Pearl all (13)
- K2tog, Knit 9, K2tog
- Pearl all (11)
- K2tog, Knit 7, K2tog
- Pearl all (9)
- K2tog, Knit 5, K2tog
- Cast off.
Braids on Ear-Flaps:
- 3 strands about arm length, pull through above cast off in center of ear-flap and braid the strands together.
Poof:
- Make 2 paper circles: roughly 3.5" diameter with 5/8 to 3/4" center hole
- Pull 3 colors through center til can't fit anymore.
- Cut all strands along edge, tie around center between paper circle (I use 2 strands to tie).
- Using threads that tied center of poof to tack it to top of hat.
And that's my Jayne hat pattern. I think it's rather cunning.
So was just going to tweet this, but I couldn't adequately condense all my frustration (and fear of dying) into just 140 characters.
So I've lived a lot of places with bad drivers including Indiana road hogs, aggressive Texas drivers, insane LA traffic and even Columbia, MO where everyone I know has had some kind of car accident within 6 months of being there. And then I moved to St Louis and I have never seen people do the crazy no-brain stuff they do on the road here.
Used to, my go-to example story of bad St Louis drivers:
One day on a major thoroughfare, at a stoplight I watched as a person in the right-hand turn lane with their right turn signal on, turned LEFT across seven lanes of traffic.
That was my example of bad driving, at least until today.
So driving home from work, was nearly home and I was turning into the parking area for the condo. I have to turn left so had my left turn-signal on and I was stopped because there were cars coming the other way. The guy behind me decided waiting for 5 seconds was too long and decided to (illegally) pass me on the left directly into oncoming traffic. Much honking of horns and some swerving later, there was luckily no accident and when the road was clear of other cars I made my left turn.
But seriously, who in their right mind passes someone who is trying to turn left on the left side directly into oncoming traffic?
St Louis drivers that's who.
"Face it, girls, I'm older and I have more insurance." (Fried Green Tomatoes)
So went and watched Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief while visiting Mom; it's a kid's movie so Mom was interested in seeing it, and there's no talking animals in it so it's easier for me stomach. Mostly, though, I was curious as to how it handled Greek mythology. Overall, pretty good, but there were a few things I found a little annoying.
1: "Hercules"
Learning Greek myth in the museum Mr. Brunner talks of heroes in Greek myth including Hercules. Close, but Hercules was the Roman version of the Greek hero Herakles. I'm just going to attribute that one to not wanting to confuse ignorant Americans who only know Greek myth via the Disney animated movie.
2: Athena's daughter.
Athena was one of the three Virgin Goddesses of Greek myth, so no kids ever. Pretty self-explanatory my problem with that one.
3: A burning hell?
Greek mythology varies over time from author to author about the exact makeup of the Underworld (whether it's just one area or divided into three; whether it has one river or five rivers). But the one consensus is that there is not burning punishment; that is a Judeo-Christian belief. Not saying that some aren't punished in the afterlife, but those who are punished are sent to Tartarus, a deep, dark pit/abyss. Likewise the burning, winged and horned form that Hades himself uses, not present in any representation of Hades; this is much closer to the Judeo-Christian view of demons or Satan. Again, I think the fiery hell/demons are used to not confuse Americans who view the underworld as being solely a fiery hell.
4: Where's Cerberus?
While we're in the Underworld, where is Cerberus (the multi-headed dog that keeps souls from escaping). We get "hell hounds" but no Cerberus. This makes me sad 'cause I wanted to see how they would portray a multi-headed dog and how it would compare to the Harry Potter version. Alas, I feel that they avoided making Cerberus for fear that they would be accused of stealing it from Harry Potter.
5: Attributes?
In Greek imagery each God was given attributes because there was no other way to tell them apart visually. So when we're presented with the pantheon at the end of the movie we're presented with eleven (only eleven not twelve as Hades is not there) similar figures with no attributes. I assume that the only female who speaks would be Hera, since she interrupts and counters Zeus. Nope, it's Athena because there has to be a tie back to her daughter. Would it really kill them to have put some attributes in the costume design though?
Not saying that it got everything wrong, there were some things that I enjoyed.
1: The Lotus Eaters, an often overlooked/forgotten portion of Odysseus's return home, so nice to see it referenced.
2: The real lightning thief was the son of the trickster of Greek myth; very fitting.
3: The lecherous satyr.
Of course there are issues I had with the overall plot and reveals, but that is another list. And this just makes me more concerned about the Clash of the Titans remake scheduled to be out in April.
Anyone else find any disparities between Percy Jackson and Greek myth?
But for now, "I'm telling you, you're messing up the story, now get it right!" (The Princess Bride)
Finally saw Big Man Japan on DVD this week and it's a strange little, Japanese movie (which I know that's redundant as Japanese movies are often strange). I knew the basic premise of the movie before renting it, so knew that it was about a man who was a real-life giant super-hero working for the government saving the country from giant Godzilla-like monsters. What I didn't realize is that it was going to be mockumentary. This gave it an interesting twist as we got to see the life of this average man with problems like anyone else with ex-wife and a kid, who happened to be a super-hero saving the country; we also got to see how public sentiment had changed from when his grandfather was a super-hero to how it was for him in present day. It was an interesting take on Godzilla-like movies, and it only really worked because of the mockumentary aspect.
Seeing it reminded me of other movies that surprised me by being mockumentaries, and I think benefited from being told as a mockumentary rather than the usual narrative.
1) Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)
When I first heard of this movie about a beauty pageant, I had no interest in it. But I knew of the cast and had a friend who said it was pretty good and not what I would expect, so I gave it a shot. What I discovered was a great black comedy with death and explosions and wicked pettiness; and what works about the film is that it's told through the lens of the impartial outsider as events unfold. So the camera crew is just as surprised as the audience when competition at the beauty pageant turns deadly, and it always keeps you guessing who's really behind it.
2) Surf's Up (2007)
This came out less than a year after Happy Feet; I had already seen that animated penguin movie and was very disappointed in it's need to go all "save the planet" when that seemed to veer suddenly from the rest of the movie. So I wasn't sure I wanted to see Surf's Up; but there were pygmy penguins in the trailer and that was enough to convince me that it might be worth a look. Much to my surprise, the movie started with a documentary-style interview of the main character and after that I was happily bemused by this mockumentary about penguins and their obsession with surfing. Surfing penguins (and one chicken) is super-ridiculous but somehow becomes more believable as a mockumentary.
3) The Blair Witch Project (1999)
When this one came out I had seen the "making of" special on SciFi channel and the Blair Witch website; so heading into the theater for the sold-out opening night I was under the impression that this was a true story (or at least based on one). Thinking this sold the movie for me as I felt that I too was lost in the woods and frightened about stick figures appearing in the night. It was only after seeing it that I found out that it was totally fictional. If this movie had been filmed in the usual style of horror movie it would have been dull and seemed empty of dialogue and plot; but with the close-quarters camera views and full panic of the actors, their experience became the whole movie.
(500) Days of Summer which has received much critical acclaim since it's release at Sundance earlier this year, finally got release in St. Louis this weekend. Kurt and I went and saw and were much amused by this film that is not a love story, but a story about love. In this day and age where most movies are sterilized and idealized stories about 2 people falling madly in love against all reason, it's a nice change to see a movie which shows all the ups and downs and foibles of a real relationship that doesn't end well.
Before seeing the movie and afterward I thought of other indie movies of the past ten years that also have different views of love and life.
1) Garden State (2004)
Zach Braff's directorial debut which is mostly just a collection of stories and urban legends he heard growing up; but there is also the love story of two people adrift in the world. It's a contrived romance and very predictable, but it's still heart-warming and the various stories are entertaining, if nothing else.
2) Juno (2007)
Second movie from Jason Reitman and is quite charming. A story of pregnant teenager who falls in love with the father of her child through the course of the pregnancy. Some have said that it tries to be too Indie and is contrived; I find it witty and endearing as she discovers that life does not always work the way you expect it to.
3) Brick (2005)
The first from Rian Johnson and one I love to be able to include in a list because it's such a good movie. One could argue that it's not a movie about love, but at it's heart it is. Brendan loves Em and wants to know what happened to her and why; through the unfolding we find out that Em is not love with Brendan but in love with.... well, I won't ruin the surprise. But it's the relationships of who is involved with whom that is a major part of this noir detective story.
But for now, "Just because she's likes the same bizzaro crap you do doesn't mean she's your soul mate." ((500) Days of Summer)
I am a movie geek in that I can never seem to watch just one movie and I love to make connections between movies that don't seem to be otherwise connected. Starting in college, I liked pairing movies for "double feature" nights. Sometimes the pairings make sense, like Grosse Pointe Blank and The Big Hit (misunderstood & torn hit-men). Sometimes they're connected marginally, Fifth Element and Hannibal (Gary Oldman roles). Now that I've graduated (twice) and have a large and ever-growing movie collection, the movie pairings are starting to become trios. The themes can be anything and the only limitation is it has to be movies in the collection (though that's not too limiting with nearly 600 titles in our collection). So I feel like sharing these trios with others other than myself (though I know not many read this blog, so it won't be shared with many, but that's more than one).
With all the big block-buster movies this summer that are failures (not failure in their box-office takes, but as movies themselves) it makes me long for other summers and other movies, ones maybe not as marred by egos. So I have compiled a list of movies (not necessarily summer movies) that have actors from this summer before they were the heroes and in the spotlight.
1) Constantine (2005) - Shia LaBeouf as the comic-relief sidekick.
Between the failures of this summer's Transformers 2 and last summer's Indiana Jones 4, I am tired of seeing Shia cast as a hero only for him to be not-so-heroic. I long for when he was just a sidekick, because he works well as a sidekick. A hero has to carry a movie or the movie fails; a sidekick just has to follow the hero providing support where necessary, even if dying is considered part of that necessity. They can have witty dialogue and verbally point out plot-points that aren't always apparent to the audience; they appear on-screen just long enough to do their job and then disappear into the background. They do not have to carry the movie itself. So I longed for Shia in roles such as Chas from Constantine. This is the first movie I had seen him in, and he works in this role; he's a smart-mouth Jewish kid following around and supporting an emotional-less Keanu Reeves. This is how I like to remember Shia. Not as hair-obsessed Mutt or as image-obsessed Sam; but as the kid who really wants to emulate his hero and will follow him 'til the end. And luckily the whole movie itself ages well; it gets better with subsequent viewings as more details are noticed that aren't always caught in a first or fifth viewing.
Confession: There is a stinger after the credits; I had never seen it before re-watching the movie a couple weeks ago, and it actually adds a little bit to the movie.
2) The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) - Karl Urban as a warrior villain.
This summer's Star Trek is one of those few wins from this summer of bad movies. It's not great Oscar-worthiness, but it is a fun and enjoyable ensemble movie. Unlike many other good ensemble movies, though, it is a mostly unknown group of young actors and actresses pulled in to try to capture and portray characters that have been seen in TV and movies over the last 40+ years. And capture them they do. Anton Yelchin (who is Russian) is cute as Chekov; Simon Pegg does an interesting and hilarious variation on Scottie; and I think Zachery Quinto has that very essence that makes Spock, Spock. But more than anyone else, Karl Urban captures Bones perfectly. Even before he's said a line (let alone the line "All I've got left is my Bones"), once he appears on screen, you know that it is Bones. Looking up Urban to see what he had played in before, I discovered that he has done many action roles. The role I find most striking as a contrast to Bones is Vaako the villain in The Chronicles of Riddick; Vaako wasn't the high Lord Marshall ruling the vast empire, but was his most trusted lieutenant charged with hunting down Riddick. It is interesting to see Urban be able to have full command of two very different roles. Unfortunately this is not a movie that ages as well as Constantine; though, I somehow enjoy it every time we see it. It is one of my guilty pleasures.
Note: Kurt has pointed out that Urban played Eomer in the Lord of the Rings movies well before The Chronicles of Riddick, but I like the contrast that Vaako makes to Bones better.
3) Enemy Mine (1985) - Dennis Quaid as the human
As a contrast to the other movies, instead of before they were stars this is when he was a star. The yet to be released G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, which has not been rated well so far in the early test screenings, is a conglomeration of this summer's movies: an ensemble cast and robots (well, robotic suits). Among the ensemble cast which includes the likes of Christopher Eccleston and Joseph Gordon-Levitt leading the bad guys with pretty-boy Channing Tatum leading the good guys; also leading the good guys is Dennis Quaid as General Hawk. I grew up with Quaid as a household name; and in addition to Innerspace, Enemy Mine was a movie that was in the parent's collection. It is interesting now to watch a movie made before nearly all effects were computer-generated; to watch a big sci-fi movie with space battles and space ships that is concerned mostly with the interactions of two individuals who have been raised to hate the other. It is their story, and the movie depends on their performances and the characters themselves above special effects; something that most of these summer block-busters seem to have forgotten.
Interesting note: Channing Tatum is also playing Pretty Boy Floyd in Public Enemies this summer.
How about you? Any movies that you can think of of stars from this summer before they were stars?
But for now, "You're in Love. Have a Beer." (Hellboy II: The Golden Army)
Ok, so this is really more of a response posting as my husband already beat me to the mushy/glurgy blog posting on my b-day (that's what happens when my birthday is two days before his). But anyway, here goes the mushy stuff from me in celebration of his birthday today.
(**WARNING** The following not recommended for those prone to gagging at excessive sweetness or to tearing up at glurge. You have been warned).
I'm glad that you:
- put up with me tickling and hitting you. I'm sorry - aggressive female and that probably won't change, though I'm trying to cut down.
- let me play Super Mario Galaxy with you or just telling you what to do when you're playing whatever random game of the moment. I know it's hard to put up with a wife that likes video games (not).
- understand my love of reading and have figured out that reading myself to sleep is probably what I'll be doing until I'm a hundred and eight.
- share a love of movies. We might not always see eye to eye on all movies, but we both enjoy a well-crafted, cinema experience.
- are patient with all my various neuroses and compulsions, 'cause I know dealing with me takes lots of patience.
- trust me, even when driving your car when my driving scares the snot out of you.
- encourage me, whether it's in my random artsy projects or finishing my MA or even just going out with friends for a night.
- rub my feet when I've had a long day.
- take me out to a steak dinner every now and again, even though you're a vegetarian.
- get along with all my family and I yours so that we have no "dreaded in-laws". I'm especially amused that you're becoming friends with my brother.
And finally, I know I said that it was awkward being the only one at Megan's party who was in a happy/stable relationship because of all the male-bashing going on, but that was actually a good kind of awkward.
So yeah, we will have been together for five years this July and married for one and I can't imagine the next fifty years without you.
So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Okay, see you, love you, bye.
- Pick up 15 stitches in "red" color, 11 stitches from back center on both sides. Pick up stitches in the rows of knits ABOVE the 4 rows of ribbing on the inside of the hat.
