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Whew! May. 5th, 2008 @ 02:19 pm
Survived my fifth Rochester High Falls International Film Festival (that's a mouthful!) as a volunteer. This year marked its move from fall to spring, so it's actually been a year and a half since the last one. It was my fourth time as a volunteer team captain; we had a new volunteer co-ordinator this year, as well as a new executive director, which made things even more hectic than usual. I spent most of the weekend at the theater: worked 9:30-5 Saturday, 4-11:45 Sunday. Both shifts were crazy due to schedule issues (events with special guests not starting on time, projection problems, Q&A sessions running long, one incident of the actual running time of a film being 20 minutes longer than the submitter had originally indicated). We were in Little Back — the Little Theater has two parts, with one theater in front and four in 'back', which is a separate building around the corner — with two theaters showing festival films and two showing regular films. There were also a few panels being held in the Little Café, so there was a lot to keep track of at once. We got through it, though it was a bit tense at times, and there are always some patrons who can be quite rude — do they think we're asking them not to exit through the lobby just for our own amusement? Or perhaps it has something to do with the huge crowd of people out there who've been standing in line for half an hour because we can't seem to get people to leave the theater once their film is over!

There's more but I'll stop. I did manage to see a couple of films, and I got to see Rita Moreno and Estela Bravo and also talk to Gordy Hoffman (brother of Philip Seymour Hoffman).

What I saw:

"Sita Sings the Blues", an animated feature by Nina Paley. I think someone on LJ linked to some of the early clips for this (scenes from the Ramayana set to 1920's music sung by Annette Hanshaw) a year or so ago, so when I saw it in the program, there was no question that I needed to see it. Really fun to watch, a nice mix of animation styles, and some great music. Nina was supposed to attend, but had laryngitis; her parents did attend, along with the woman who did the narrative voice of Sita, and her husband, who composed some of the music.

"Conversations with My Gardener" (Dialogue avec mon Jardinier). A very lovely and poignant French film with Daniel Auteuil ("Jean de Florette", etc.) and Jean-Pierre Darroussin. There were two showings (one during my shift yesterday) and both were full or nearly so. It was definitely in the running for Audience Choice award, but was edged by Phoebe in Wonderland (local boy Bill Pullman was there for that screening). This film does not have a US distributor, sadly.

"Autism: The Musical". The Audience Choice award winning documentary. Actually came out last year, and is available on Netflix. I would recommend it, as a depiction of some of the many faces of autism, of the effects it has on families, and of the potential for joy in every child.

Sweet Game Apr. 25th, 2008 @ 08:45 am
My nephew turned 6 last week. He had a bowling alley birthday party with some of his friends Saturday morning, then a little party at ¢ and Vebrile's house in the evening. (¢ works with my sister.) There, the cake took the form of Boggle cupcakes!

( Behind the cut, a couple of photos. )

Among the words that can be formed are his name and my sister's. What a fantastic concoction by ¢!

More Coinkydinks Apr. 18th, 2008 @ 03:45 pm
Last night's A&L lecture, given by Kenneth Turan, movie critic for the L.A. Times and Morning Edition, included the answer to yesterday's Daily Post puzzle.

One of the four books I'm currently reading (slowly :-) is Player Piano, by Kurt Vonnegut. In the chapter I read last night, Paul Proteus is returning by train from a company retreat in upstate New York. The stations are called out over a loudspeaker: Carthage, Deer River, Castorland, Constableville. Constableville is the teeny tiny town where we were married (at the approximate place of the "B" on the map).

Apr. 14th, 2008 @ 04:54 pm
For the record, today is our wedding anniversary (7 years). No itch on either side.

It's also the anniversary of Lincoln's assassination and the Titanic's fatal encounter with the iceberg.

Make of that what you will :-)

Apr. 13th, 2008 @ 09:50 pm
Forgive me, but: NYT Sat 12:38 clean

( Minor spoilers )

Oh, and by the way, the Lily Chin dress is almost finished! Four rows to go...
Other entries
» Chip Kidd
Upon entering the venue (a lovely old Presbyterian church), we are presented with the following:

Clue,
19 Across,
A number of people

My first thoughts are "crowd", "population", "mass" (appropriate to the church setting). Straightforward.

Mr. Kidd enters, clad in gray blazer with narrow maroon horizontal-and-vertical stripes (call it a simple plaid), forest green vest, and pink button-down Oxford. At which point the words disappear from the screen. This is unexpected. As A/V folks scurry to fix the problem, he begins by giving the answer to the question he is most frequently asked by aspiring design students: "What advice do you have for an aspiring design student?" Answer: do crosswords. Specifically, New York Times crosswords, working up in difficulty from Monday to Saturday. Primarily because of the mind-twisting that must occur to get those tricky clues which aren't as they first seem to be. (At which point I'm on the right track with the clue, and have a couple of potential answers before he provides the additional information that it's 10 letters, and ( another hint that will likely be a sledgie for most readers ). I've got it now, but I suspect I'm in a minuscule minority in the audience.)

The A/V guys come through — apparently, turning out all the lights also turned off the outlet into which the projector was plugged — and the talk continues, focusing on several cover designs Chip has done. Very interesting to hear about the give and take between designer, publisher, and author that leads to what we eventually are drawn to in the bookstore. Oliver Sacks' latest book went through a couple of titles, ended up as 'Musicophilia', one word of a much longer previous try. The book cover had a relatively late modification after the author's book jacket pictures were taken and were so good that one got integrated into the cover (it's lovely). We're also shown various incarnations of the jackets for The Second Plane (Martin Amis), The thing about life is that one day you'll be dead (David Shields), The Road (Cormac McCarthy), Man and Camel (Mark Strand). On that last, it's Mr. Kidd himself on the cover (on the right :-). An earlier version of the cover played clever: a man smoking a cigarette (of unknown brand). The author didn't go for it.

He has also done some covers for David Sedaris, and is working on his next release (this summer, I think?). It's on its third title (and Mr. Kidd hinted that he hoped it wasn't the last). We'll see what it finally emerges as.

There's another reveal of the clue answer with all the vowels filled in, but I doubt you need that.

After a survey of rejected covers, the concluding slide of meaningful advice to live by is as follows:
Live your life as if you're dying of a contagious disease that turns other people into flesh-eating zombies when you bite them.
Amen.
Mar. 14th, 2008 @ 10:17 am
» Fun facts
From my Schott's Almanac calendar, I learned that:

  • the 11th longest river in the world is the Lena

  • the 11th largest island in the world is Sulawesi (AKA Celebes)

  • the adjective "myrmicine" refers to ants (doesn't appear to relate to the term for the order at all — see NYT 3/8 67A)

Now you know.

It appears that there were puzzle sets available after the finals on Sunday, but I completely missed it. Anyone willing to send me copies?
Mar. 9th, 2008 @ 11:47 am
» Multimedia Catch-up
Had a nice surprise in the mail Monday — more birthday presents from my sister! Two CDs: the new Joe Jackson one (yay!) and also Vampire Weekend, apparently the hot new up-and-comers (will be on SNL this Saturday). Listened to the first few songs of that during my morning commute; it sounds kind of TMBG-ish, or at least the vocalist does.

I haven't posted about reading lately, partly because I haven't been doing much, or at least I didn't think I had. But here's what I have finished since the beginning of the year.

Fallen Angels, Tracy Chevalier (author of Girl with a Pearl Earring): another period book, though very different period -- opening takes place the day after Queen Victoria's death, and book follows the relationship of two young girls, culminating in tragedy occurring at a suffragist rally (historical event).

The last five books of A Series of Unfortunate Events, by "Lemony Snicket". Mostly via audiobooks, read by Tim Curry, but physical book for The End, so as not to have to drag it out. Also Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography.

The Cheese Monkeys, Chip Kidd. The next A&L lecture, next week. He's better known as a book cover designer, and the book cover for his novel truly is a tour de force. The novel itself is fun, very clever, a little surreal, especially at the end. And I just found out yesterday that his second novel is just out, so I may have to check that out as well.

And in progress: Player Piano (Kurt Vonnegut), The Way to Paradise (Mario Vargas Llosa, fictional work about Paul Gauguin and his socialist feminist grandmother), and Not Coming to a Theater Near You (Kenneth Turan, LA Times and Morning Edition film reviewer, April's A&L).
Mar. 5th, 2008 @ 12:38 pm
» Represent!
I was pleased and surprised at the tournament this year to reconnect with a fellow Cornell CS grad student (Russell Brown, 2nd Foreign, 7th Rookies) and another grad school acquaintance (Marie desJardins — same field, different school). One of my high school friends recently joined the NPL and would have been at the tournament if a business trip hadn't interfered (he works with Wrybosh, who also wasn't there). So I guess maybe I should work on finding a college classmate to attend next year to achieve the trifecta. Given that I went to high school, college, and grad school in three different states (Kansas, California, New York), I'd say that would be some kind of feat.
Mar. 5th, 2008 @ 11:12 am
» Ceci n'est pas une Postmortem
Mistakes on two puzzles, and yet 32nd place and 1st Upstate New York?  I'll take it!  (Thanks again, Tyler, for moving to a different part of the country.)

I can't say it was completely rationalized at the time, but my decision to cut and run on puzzle 5 rather than sit and stare at it for a few minutes longer ended up being to my advantage, and to overcome whatever dumb mistake I made on puzzle 1 (I don't even want to know).

Did I just miss it, or did we not get copies of the puzzles yesterday?  There were some clever clues in a couple of them that I wanted to look back at.
Mar. 3rd, 2008 @ 02:53 pm
» Dress Update
After a bit of an odyssey obtaining yarn, I finally started the Lily Chin dress a week ago Thursday (Jan. 31st).  It's going very well.  There have been the occasional pull-it-out-do-it-again moments, naturally, and I'm very glad that crochet is so forgiving that way (especially in regards to working with cotton).  Since I'm having to adjust the size, I was most concerned about the fit of the bodice.  I don't know how the designer figured out how to put it together, but I'm happy to report that it fits perfectly and is very comfortable.

I decided to go with two colors rather than one, partly because I was having trouble obtaining sufficient yarn in the same dyelot, and partly because I thought a solid light blue dress would be a bit boring.  I'll probably try to find a light blue or very dark blue slip/chemise to wear under it; I'm hoping I don't have to make one, but I guess I could if I needed to.

I finished the bodice on Thursday (Feb. 6th) and just finished the first pattern on the skirt today.  Only 50 more rows to go!  It's going so well, and relatively quickly, that I think I'm going to put it aside and make another, smaller, item that I'd be able to wear at the crossword tournament.


Feb. 10th, 2008 @ 08:10 pm
» (No Subject)
Harry's dad and stepmom are vacationing in South Africa, and his mom left for the Galapagos today, meaning not only are both of his parents out of the country, they're both ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE EQUATOR!



Jan. 31st, 2008 @ 04:34 pm
» (No Subject)
Big Badenovs show tonight, after which we'll be on hiatus while Greg finishes his masters (while working 3 jobs). Although, given how much fun we had last night playing with Brandon, Ken, and Bruce, I predict there might be more of that in the interim.

We'll also be releasing CD #2 tonight, finally! Limited first edition of 50, get 'em while they're hot!

Notices of the show are here (with picture) and here.
Jan. 18th, 2008 @ 09:39 am
» (No Subject)
So I've been busy. Same old story. But wait, I have evidence!

For Christmas I made:

Hats for Xavier, Barry, Uncle Herb, Scott, Alex, Caleb and Jonah
A vest for Molly
A scarf for Lynn
Headbands for Rachel
Headbands and an iPod case for Shannon
Plus two Christmas ornaments (one to give away, one to keep)


That's 17 crocheted items total. The vest I started in August and finished in late September; all the other items were made since October. The headbands were fun because I sort of made up the methods for doing them. One pattern I found had you weaving elastic through spaces in the crochet, but I wasn't too keen on having icky white elastic showing through. So I bought some elastic headbands in multiple colors and devised a couple of ways to attach the crochet. For the two beaded ones, I did the crochet part and then loop-stitched it to the headband. For Rachel's purple one, I attached it to the band as I went along, by making stitches alternately in front of and behind the band. A nice technique as long as the yarn and band colors look nice together. For the other two, I made just the first loop of each double crochet around the band, so the band itself doesn't show. This works because I got skinny headbands to begin with.

So it's time for a crochet break, right? Well, my sneaky sister got me a gift certificate for my local yarn store, and I think I deserve to make something for myself now. So I'm planning to make this dress to wear to Lynn and Barry's wedding in May. For several reasons, including:
(a) this will be my most complex project to date
(b) I need to figure out how the pattern works and whether I can follow it
(c) I probably need to make size adjustments
(d) I need to make a yarn substitution
(e) I need to determine whether I could really finish it in time
a couple of days ago I started stitching the dress with the yarn left over from the skirt I made last year. We'll call it Frankendress due to the multiple colors; the nice thing about the colors is that it shows the parts of the construction. Here's the current state. I'll probably do just a little bit more before starting the real thing. It has been a very useful exercise. It is complex, but now I understand how the pattern fits together (I think the bodice really is the trickiest part -- the skirt part has several patterns, but they just go row after row). Frankendress is following the smallest size in the pattern, with a hook one size bigger than needed (because I don't have the right size on hand), and with yarn that's a little too thick, so not surprisingly, too big around for me. But with stitch/row count adjustments, correct hook size, and appropriate yarn thickness, I think it'll work out.

I promise this isn't going to turn into an "all crochet, all the time" blog, although I may post some progress pictures once the actual garment is underway.
Jan. 1st, 2008 @ 02:43 pm
» (No Subject)
Last night we had a thunder-and-lightning storm — with snow! It was of the wet-and-slushy variety, but snow all the same.

The lightning was pretty impressive. Even set the smoke detectors off briefly (at least I hope that was the fault of the lightning). Made one appreciate being inside a sturdy house with a wonderfully warm fire in the fireplace.
Nov. 16th, 2007 @ 09:10 am
» (No Subject)
Last week I heard Robert Hass speak (a very nice, conversational lecture including some poetry reading). This week he won the National Book Award for poetry.
Nov. 15th, 2007 @ 04:54 pm
» (No Subject)
As promised, pictures of crocheted Dalek.

( I Am Dalek Sek )
( Attack of the Giant Mutant Cat )

It (he?) could still use a button on the end of one or more of the appendages.
Oct. 29th, 2007 @ 07:11 pm
» EXTERMINATE!
Inspired by the link on [info]canadianpuzzler's blog the other day, I am crocheting a Dalek.  Started yesterday, got about 2/3 of the way through.  I promise to post a pic when I'm done.

Other events of the last few weeks:

10/4: Arts & Lectures, Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket).  He's very funny, not surprisingly, that very dry, semi-melancholic wit.  He has a physical habit (not sure whether it's Daniel's habit or Lemony's) of occasionally putting his hand to his brow, sometimes in combination with pinching the bridge of the nose with two fingers, sort of an "oh, life is just SO difficult" tic that really fits the persona.  He had managed, during the afternoon, a visit to the Eastman House, which is currently showing an exhibit of photos of Mexican masked wrestlers.  Naturally, this got worked into his presentation.  As did the high-pitched noise (probably someone's hearing aid) that occurred towards the beginning ("please tell me that you hear that annoying noise and that it's not just in my head...").

10/11: OnStage taping.  We were scheduled to be in the studio again Thursday, but our studio-mates The High-Risers were recording their appearance on OnStage (TV/radio program produced by Rochester's PBS/NPR station featuring local bands).  Dave (producer) wanted to go, so we decided to go too.  Adam used to work at the station, so he knew some of the staff folks, and as for the audience, it was a bit of a "Who's Who" of Rochester rock.  Stan, as usual, seemed to know everyone.  There was a pre-reception, followed by the taping, followed by a post-reception.  Sweet!  The High-Risers perform primarily originals, solidly in the classic rock'n'roll style (think Bill Haley).  They just finished recording their last album with Dave, and did a couple of songs from there, including one that the bass player came up with, as, he said, a combination trucker / love song.  Adam and I couldn't help but giggle every time the chorus came around: "Eighteen wheels of love..."

Back in the studio this week, and probably the next few, so we can get this puppy done!  The big dilemma right now is that, because we started recording this thing so long ago, we now have to choose the best 12 of the 23> tracks we've got to go on the actual album.  (The up side to that, of course, is that most of what doesn't go on it can be saved for the next one.  Maybe that one will take fewer than 4 years to get out...)

I decided to give up on Claire Messud's The Emperor's Children.  I'm reading The Last Life instead, and enjoying it.  And I'm just about to start Book the Eighth (The Hostile Hospital) of A Series of Unfortunate Events (on CD, read by Tim Curry).  I finished #5 just before the lecture last week, planning for that the be the last one I read; but if you've read them, you know that after #5 you can't NOT read #6...
Oct. 15th, 2007 @ 02:40 pm
» Hours Spent Reading
Sure, why not, it's Friday. I've read the bold-faced ones, starred ones have been read more than once. Underlined ones I intend to read (and in fact copies of each of those are sitting on my "to-be-read" shelf, no lie). I haven't crossed out any; although there are certainly some I liked less than others, I don't have an active dislike for any of them.
( big book list )
Oct. 5th, 2007 @ 01:21 pm
» Miscellany
So, work's been kinda busy, which at least partially explains the sparsity of my blog of late. Between summer vacations, I've done a couple of short-term, tight-deadline projects for particular clients. The one just completed had some unexpected technical challenges, and for a while, it looked very likely that we would not be able to deliver on time. I ended up putting in some weekend time that managed to get us past the technical roadblock. As a result, one of the managers agreed to wear a chicken suit on launch day if we made the date. We did (yesterday), and here's the result.
( Chicken Pics )

I've been reading A Series of Unfortunate Events books in advance of hearing Lemony Snicket (that is, Daniel Handler) tomorrow. They're very fun. I'm listening to Book the Fifth (The Austere Academy) in the car, read by the author. So it will be interesting to see whether he sounds the same when giving a talk to an adult audience.

I started The Emperor's Children, by December lecturer Claire Messud, and have gotten about 50 pages in, but I'm strongly considering not reading the rest. It seems overwritten, some of the characters a bit caricature-ish, and just hasn't grabbed me. Anyone want to argue for my pushing on? Or suggest another of her books I might like better?
Oct. 3rd, 2007 @ 08:46 am
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