Thursday, April 17, 2008

Inspired by the TCM channel

The General was on last night, followed by Our Hospitality, both silent films featuring the brilliant Buster Keaton. It had me looking up YouTube videos and I found a few fantastic ones set to more modern music.

This one's my favorite though I have yet to see Steamboat Jr. (I guess it's time for a trip to the library, they've got a really impressive collection of Buster Keaton flicks):



And ten points if you get the music. :D

P.S. Did you know that Buster Keaton did all of his own stunts? Engineered them, too! And that Jackie Chan cites Mr. Keaton as one of his biggest inspirations? It's easy to see, really.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

No good deed goes unpunished?

It's been quiet here as madness sets in. Sock Madness. Round 3 just finished with two strands of lace yarn held together (Knit Picks Shadow in Jewel and Lost Lake) and as I finished up at 3 in the morning, I took the frantic picture, sent it off to the lovely ladies and went to bed.



Then I got up in the morning, went for my run, got my brain moving. Something seemed wrong. I kept thinking of the toes of the pattern. You see, I couldn't figure out the toes properly, with my sleepless, befuddled mind. I thought it was some fancy incorporation to do with the slipped stitches and I wanted a normal patternless toe. But now I was awake, I had adrenaline running through me, and I realized that I had decreased improperly, making the toe shorter than the pattern specified.

Drat!

Now I know the rules and making the socks shorter than specified is definitely cheating. It took me a little time to make up my mind to notify the mods and I must admit, it was with a heavy heart, I didn't want to be disqualified. But I am a grown-up after all and just because I was out of the running, I could still knit along and cheer on the others.

Now, one might think that is the end of the story. Oh, the mods thanked me for my honesty and posted on the blog about how they would take the next person in the Tennessee Twisted Knitters division who was finished with their socks properly to take my spot. I must admit that the comments to that post made me blush but then something a bit unexpected happened.

About ten after 9 o'clock, I got an email from the mods. Apparently no one ever stepped up to take my spot. Either no one was finished OR...no one wanted to take my spot. I don't know which, I don't know why but tell you what--

I'm back in and I love my fellow competitors, all those still in and those cheering us all on.