Saturday night movie

We finally watched Night of the Living Dead. It is an amazing movie, not just because it's about zombies, but because it's a realistic portrayal of how people forced into a deadly situation act and react. I didn't much like many of the characters because I thought that they were acting irrationally and endangering themselves and others. Then again, those people were behaving as you might expect them to: the "big fish" becomes a coward when a "bigger fish" comes along; the woman who couldn't leave during the last major disaster overreacts; and the catatonic woman is catatonic with a textile fixation. These could all be real, annoying, random people you might get stuck with during an emergency.

We watched the non-colourized 30th anniversary edition which has a new score and some added scenes. I hadn't heard the original score so I don't know how the new one compares, but I thought it was ok. I didn't notice it most of the time which is the mark of a decent soundtrack to me.

The new scenes are at the very beginning and the very end and I really didn't like them. In fact, I think that these scenes detracted from the movie. One of the reasons that the movie is so good is that you start right in with the dead and finish with the cleanup in the end - the scenario goes from bad to worse as the movie progresses. The new scenes bracket the movie by adding a badly-acted religious component that references no other part of the movie. This new, unsupported message doesn't fit with the existing movie.

I'm doing some reading (that link is worth reading if you don't mind a little outrage and profanity), and it looks like other original footage has been taken out in addition to adding these terrible scenes. Apparently some of the important backstory is missing as are some zombies. What was John Russo thinking when he changed the movie?

Hmmm. I'm thinking that while I like the 30th anniversary edition of Night of the Living Dead, I'll love the original much, much more.

Lazy day at home

 Today I finished a couple of tasks and while I probably could have done a lot more, I count it as a reasonably successful day. That's really all of the "productive" things that I did today. So how did I spend the hours and hours I was awake today?

Watching movies, of course!

I started with Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer . It's a "documentary" about a serial killer over the span of just a few months (years?) in his life. You see what he sees through some awesome camera work. The violence is implied and not really overt but in some ways this makes his actions that much more believable. Even though this movie is from the mid-eighties, it's still very unsettling and creepy. I highly recommend it as it's well worth watching.

Later I watched The Hole (starring Thora Birch). It's about a group of teenagers who are trying to not go on a field trip or home to their parents and who decide to spend three days in an old bunker. They end up locked in the bunker and are missing for eighteen days. It turns out that things are not entirely as they seem. This is a really good psychological thriller; the end is sort of but not completely expected and there is an element of realism to the setting that drives home what happened. This is definitely a movie worth seeing, if you get a chance.

(Horror) movie of the day

I managed to finally watch A Nightmare on Elm Street today. It's a pretty good story and there are lots of things about about it that would be good and creepy... except for the music. A creepy movie situation is MUCH less creepy when the cheesy 80s synthesizer music announces how creepy the situation is. Sigh. I'd love to see this one remade - or at least re-scored - with better, creepier music.

I love horror movies so much! But I can't tell you how frustrating it is to be watching a horror movie that has a good story with decent enough acting ... and then to be shocked out of the creepy horror move by stupid, intrusive, loud, cheesy music! Scoring a movie isn't rocket science. Bad music makes a movie much worse while good music - which is unobtrusive and sets the scene without overpowering it - can make a mediocre move much, much better. You'd think that movie producers would understand that the music is such an integral part of a movie, and especially of a horror movie.

Almost too much shopping

We spent almost all day shopping and shopping and shopping in a (mostly) big circle. We started off at one big plaza by getting me a cushy microfiber fleece electric blanket for when I'm cold because, well, I'm tired of being cold and lots of baths aren't really a good option. It works so well, too - I gave it a try tonight and I love it! It heats up quickly and is cushy and warm and snuggly.

Anyways, after that we bought me a short-sleeved cotton argyle sweater. Yes! I found a sweater! I'd tried it on the other day but I wanted to be sure that it was ok, which it is, and we bought it. It looks really nice and will go with tons of stuff.

Moving on, we went to a sports store and I got some good-quality inner layers (like long johns but made for activities) to wear when curling. I'm sure it won't surprise you to know that I'm really, really cold when I'm curling, considering that the sport is played in an arena aka a refrigerator. So I got a top and some legging things both made with a textured polypropylene interior, which wicks sweat away, and a merino wool exterior, to catch the sweat and stay warm. I think they'll make a huuuuge difference in my ability to stay warm while in the curling refrigerator twice a week.

Normally, that would be plenty of shopping, but we weren't done yet. We went over to Best Buy and picked up some horror DVDs (only $9.99 - the cheapest we'll see all year) and Rock Band 2 . We looked for a DVD set of horror movies that had been released but it turns out that they only have some of the individual movies. The collection is available, though, so I expect we might buy that instead of buying each movie individually. I hope the movies are good; they *look* good and scary, and it's a Sam Raimi's production company, so how could they be bad? (I'd like to think that Sam Raimi won't put his name on total crap)

We continued on by going to more different stores in order to scope out and buy parts for Ian's Halloween costume. I won't tell you what it is or where we went, but we did end up going to four stores to get what we needed (and we visited one of those stores twice).

At this point, we were basically done with the shopping adventure so we got some lunch and picked up some Halloween candy over at Shopper's. They have a promotion where you get 20 times the points if you buy $20 or more of Halloween item. We need the candy (for the kids, of course!) anyways and getting the extra points is good.

Then, exhausted, we came home and I crashed into a big nap.

One of the movies we bought today was The Evil Dead. We'd heard that people said it was so bad it was funny, but it's actually a pretty good movie. Some of the effects are a little much, but the story and the things that happen are sort of creepy. And of course there are parts that aren't well-done, like some of the acting and whatnot. But that's ok. The basic story is that a bunch of people go up to a cabin where the manage to awaken some kind of demon which kills and takes over their bodies. If the story were done today in a slightly more technical way without a bunch of big-name stars, I think it would be even better. As it was, it was creepy and intense. Not bad for a 25-year-old movie. :)

Hold the presses! It looks like Sam Raimi (the original Evil Dead director) might be directing a remake of the movie! Wouldn't it be awesome if the movie makes it to the theatres?

Better today

Today was better than yesterday although I wasn't feeling up to curling tonight. The CT scan was uneventful but as I was on my way home the headache started to come back and I started feeling nauseous again. So I decided to stay home tonight and rest and watch tv.

I did manage to get some sewing done this morning, at least.

I wish I'd known earlier that Scream was having a month-long free preview this month! It's got a pretty good selection of scary/gory/interesting movies. I've been watching this channel all evening and I might be able to see myself watching others. Not everything is good - they have to maintain their Canadian content, and not every thriller/horror movie is good - but there are some interesting movies on the channel. I just wish that there were no commercials while showing movies because it spoils the suspense.

Thanksgiving weekend movie day

It's Saturday and we actually got to go out and see a movie in the theatre! Some of you might be able to guess what we saw, knowing our movie tastes.... and if you guessed Quarantine , you'd be right. It's a movie about  people in a building who are quarantined due to a fast-moving, aggressive illness. Which is trapped in the building with them, of course. The movie is shot by the cameraman from a two-person camera crew who were following the firefighters into the building before the quarantine went down.

It's sort of like Cloverfield in that it's a "shaky-cam" movie shot by one person - the cameraman. This makes the movie more realistic because it limits what we can see; there were several times that I found myself trying to look around something to see better. There are parts that I would have loved to see more clearly because they gave an explanation to what had happened. This kind of shooting-style is also more like a first-person video game, in a way, which is one of the reasons that I think this type of filming is gaining popularity.

We both really enjoyed the movie and would recommend it to people. There are a few very gory bits but not as many as in other movies. It's mostly a very suspenseful film.

This evening we went to a friend's place and watched 88 Minutes . It's sort of an interesting movie where after the first 15 minutes or so, the protagonist gets a phone call that says that he's got 88 minutes to live. The rest of the movie is all about the guy trying to figure out who's behind it and at the same time trying to fend off the police, who think he's committed a bunch of murders. It wasn't as great as it could have been - there were a couple of issues with the acting and dialogue - but it was entertaining. There's an alternate ending on the DVD that is a bit better than the actual movie, but it's longer, so I think that's why it was cut.

Yesterday I meant to write here but I ended up with a chill and had a hot bath to warm me up. I start sweating when I'm cold and I can get a chill afterwards, especially if my clothes get wet and it's breezy. Getting a chill isn't just shivering; my hands and feet get extra-cold and numb (I have Raynaud's Syndrome in my hands and feet so the circulation starts to dwindle in them) and my lips go blue.

Apparently what I'm experiencing are cold sweats and they're menopausal side effects. So I guess I'm getting these cold sweats instead of hot flashes .... but I'm not sure it's a fair trade. People understand hot flashes but not everyone has heard of cold sweats.

Anyways, if I can catch it before I get a chill, I dry off and change my clothes, which results in a lot of laundry. With the colder weather over the last few days the chills have been worse and I've found that a hot bath is just about the only thing I can do to get warm again. There have been days lately where I've had two hot baths just because I'm so cold and chilled.

If anyone knows of something I can do to make me warm after I get a chill *other* than a really hot bath, please let me know. I can't always stop the chills from happening, even if I change my clothes. It's like once the chill starts, I have to get overwarm for it to stop. And I'd like to not have to spend the entire winter in the bath, you know?

My favourite book into a movie

Thanks for your tips on finding argyle sweaters. I looked today and saw a few but they didn't fit right - some were too long and others were too boxy. I also did a search on eBay and there are a few there that I think I like. I'll keep looking.

I think I remember mentioning that Blindness is one of my favourite books ever. There is so much to the book that every time I read it, I get something new out of it. Now, I'm very excited because the book has been made into a movie (shot partly in Toronto)opening this weekend! The movie isn't getting great reviews but I still hope that it will be a movie worth seeing. From what I've seen, I think I'll like it.

I'm watching a show right now on the making of the movie and it seems like the director really worked to capture the anonymity and humanity (or lack thereof) in the book. Before shooting began, apparently all of the actors had to wear blindfolds and be led around, following the sound of a bell. There are special contacts that the actors wore that prevented them from seeing well during critical scenes so that they would act blind.

I am annoyed that the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is calling for a protest of this movie because they feel that the movie discriminates against blind people since it shows people becoming monsters after going blind and being unable to take care of themselves. WTF? It's a post-apocalyptic movie! It's not like newly-blind people automatically know how to take care of themselves, and it's likely that they'd make a mess. Think of the mess in the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina - those were sighted people in the dark, and the mess they made and things they did are equivalent to the mess and actions in the movie. And as for monsters - well, people do what they need to survive. If they weren't blind but were in the same sort of situation, they'd still be monsters. I'm thinking that this group hasn't got that much credibility, really, and their protest is a knee-jerk reaction without thinking things through.

Fortunately, no NFB people will be protesting here in Canada. I'm very much looking forward to seeing this movie even though I know that it can't possibly be as fundamentally moving and thought-provoking as the book. Still, I'm interested in seeing how closely the movie follows the book and what, if any, new things the movie brings to the already multi-leveled story.

A mostly regular day

When we rented the movie over the weekend, we also rented Storm Warning . It wasn't really all that scary or gory. It was one of those couple-gets-lost-and-find-themselves-among-lunatics movies. I very much liked the way the woman handled the lunatics - some things were very creative and had a definite "eewwww" factor. The first half of the movie was sort of boring and it would have been better without most of that bit.

I haven't been able to sew for the last couple of days. I realized that the dress I'm making should have been done with the plaid on the bias but I didn't do that. I looked briefly at one store to see if there were any good plaids there but there weren't. I might see if another store has any... or not. I think the dress will look great as-is, but I also think that another dress in a bias plaid would look awesome :)

I'm also looking for a decent argyle sweater. I tried one on today but it didn't have the right neckline - the V was too deep. There was a cardigan version that was ok (it was petite; the other sweater wasn't) but it was a cardigan and I want a sweater. And not one of those fake shirts under the sweater, either, or a vest. You'd think it would be simple to find a sweater in cotton or acrylic (not cashmere) with an argyle pattern on some part of the front. Well, I thought that - and I was wrong, as so far my search has proved futile.. but I'll keep hunting. There's got to be one somewhere. I don't know if I dare to hope for one in petite sizing, but wouldn't it be awesome to find that, too?

It's Saturday so it must be movie night

We rented The Cottage tonight; it's a funny English movie with kidnapping, a crazed psycho, and lots of improbable plot points. The first half is sort of funny with the botched kidnapping and then the second half is really gory and bloody. I can't remember the last movie we saw with that kind of gore and violence - it was definitely unusual, which was a nice surprise. If you like these kinds of movies, you'll like this one a lot.

You know, finding good horror/zombie/scary movies is really hard. Most of the ones that are made are direct-to-video because there isn't that much demand for these movies in the theatres. Not to mention the fact that the kind of gore and violence that we watch would get an 18+ rating which doesn't make as much money in the theatre. As well, these movies don't usually come with recommendations or ratings, so it's possible to end up watching some really awful movies.

Fortunately for us, there is a company that distributes a good subset of these movies: Dimension Extreme! Even better, our local video store carries them :) The best part is that we know we're getting a decent movie if it's distributed by this company.

Oh, and I guess I should make something clear: it's mostly me that picks these movies. I don't know what Ian would choose to rent if he was on his own but when we're there together, I push for the horror/zombie/gory movies. It's probably better that I don't think too hard about why I like these movies so much :) How about I stick with this: I've always had a fondness for the genre. I've been reading horror stories since I was quite young and it's not such a big jump from this kind of book to this kind of movie. How does that sound?

Another movie

We finally got around to watching Save the Green Planet, a movie we'd recorded ages ago. It's a South Korean movie with English subtitles. The subtitles were one reason that we hadn't watched it yet because they require more attention than a non-subtitled movie.

The movie is very, very good. The main characters' acting is amazing; they were able to convey their emotions and thoughts even though I couldn't actually understand a word they were saying. The movie references a number of different genres and incorporates them all seamlessly. The plot is believable and the dialogue well-written and there are twists in this movie that make it quite compelling. Some of the movie could be quite disturbing as while there is quite a bit of implied violence, but this violence is an intrinsic part of the movie. We highly recommend this movie.

BTW, in case you're interested, here's a picture of the beads that I bought yesterday. I didn't get a chance to brighten the picture or anything but the beads are still quite visible. You may notice that much of the picture is sparkly because all of the beads are faceted :)



From left to right, the beads are: faceted crystal coins (2), faceted rose quartz rounds (2), faceted pink amethyst hearts, faceted amethyst hearts, faceted amethyst rondells (2), faceted amethyst rounds (2), onion-cut iolite briolettes, onion-cut labradorite briolettes. Some of the strands have been doubled in this photo and these are noted with a (2) in the list of items. Aren't they gorgeous? Don't you just want to reach out and play with them and start making things?

Movie!

We watched Ratatouille tonight. One of the user comments on that imdb page says it's a "feel-good movie," which it is, but it's not as saccharine as those movies can be. It was a fine movie to watch but it's so much less of a Pixar movie than a Disney one. Pixar movies have a lot of depth: there are sad times and quiet times which balance the unrelenting ups, and the characters themselves are quite deep. In this movie, the sad times were less sad and more predictable and the characters are superficial - more like a standard Disney movie.

As well, Pixar movies usually create their own world where the movie exists and everything within that world is consistent and believable. But because Ratatouille is set in our world, it wasn't as believable. Overall, Ratatouille is a fun and enjoyable movie but not as good as, say, Wall-E or Cars or Monsters, Inc.

There's a short on the DVD off of the main menu describing the history of the rat and it's well-worth watching called Your Friend the Rat. It's description of Alberta's rat-free status (and how that came to be) is hilarious. Definitely watch this one. :)

More movies! (and a book)

With the remnants of Hurricane (now tropical depression) Ike on their way, bringing rain and wind, we spent a lot of the day inside. We got to watch more movies!

First up was Doom, which is based on the video game. It's not bad, although there are some silly fighting scenes in there. Still, it's an interesting story and there are zombie-like things in it. Who doesn't love zombies? :) We'd recorded this movie from tv and that's how I recommend you see it: for free. Unless you like action moves based on video games that star The Rock, of course, and then this movie is definitely for you.

Second was The Machine Girl, a Japanese movie about vengeance and loyalty. Our heroine loses her brother and his friend to a gang of scoundrels headed by the son of a Yakuza Ninja. She ends up with only one arm and teams up with her brother's friend's parents to give her a machine-gum arm. The two women end up seeking vengeance against the Yakuza. The movie is sort of silly and over the top in that Japanese movie sort of way. There's lots of fighting with many unusual instruments. There's lots of gore but it's made less real by the fountains (really. fountains - like something you'd see in a pool) of blood.

We actually bought The Machine Girl and I do think it was a worthwhile investment. If you get a chance, you should see it.We give it two big thumbs up.

Since I was speaking of zombies earlier, I thought I would recommend a book to you: World War Z by Max Brooks. It's written as an oral history of the war against zombies, ten years after the war was assumed to be over. Various accounts describe how things got started, how they escalated, where people finally took a stand, and what happened afterwards. The only suspension of disbelief really required to get into the book is the existence of a zombie; the bulk of the book is about the people who lived through the events.

One of the things I really liked about this book was that I thought it perfectly described government's and people's reactions to the threat (not often called zombies, more like zack or zed-heads). I felt like I was reading something that could have actually happened. The book isn't especially gory but it can be sort of scary. Not just because of the zombies - but think of what people can do to each other, especially when they're scared.

Early on, the book has hints about exactly what has transpired in various places, and later those hints are filled out in more detail. Sometimes that detail is a single line; when I ran across one of those I had to go back and re-read the earlier bit because I couldn't believe the earlier hint until it was confirmed. Some events are never explained in detail, probably because the events in which many people were killed had no survivors. By the end of the book, the reader is able to put together quite a bit of what happened.

I very much enjoyed reading this book and I can honestly say that I haven't loved a book this much since I read Blindness by Jose Saramago. I think I like World War Z for many of the reasons that I like Blindness - each assumes that a previously-unthinkable situation has occurred and then shows how people survive. It isn't always pretty, but it is real, and because of that, I'd highly recommend either of these books to you.

Movies and more movies

At our last game night we borrowed a movie from the host and last night we finally got a chance to watch it. The movie is Black Sheep and it's a New Zealand horror movie with were-sheep. There are funny bits and gory bits and ludicrous bits (sheep that eat meat is ludicrous all by itself!) and overall, I'd say it's a pretty good movie. It's got something for almost everyone: for those that like childish humour, there's lots of flatulence that's integral to the story. If you like this kind of film and you get a chance to see it, then you should sit down to watch it.

We also watched Suspiria, a classic 1977 horror movie by Dario Argento. The film itself would have been quite scary and gory back in the day, especially if you saw it on a movie screen, but with today's special effects advances it looks a little dated. The acting could probably have been better, and the fact that the movie was apparently shot in english and then re-dubbed doesn't help. In spite of all that, it's still a fairly compelling movie. The soundtrack creates a lot of suspense, but then so does the lighting and colours. All things considered, this is a very good horror movie and if you like them then you should definitely take the time to watch this one.

Suspiria is apparently going to be re-made in the next few years. If it actually is made and released, it could be very good. Or, like many other remakes, it could be awful. I'm hoping for the former.

Not your average movies

Last night we watched Triloquist, a movie about a woman, her mute brother, and a ventriloquist's dummy who can talk on his own. They go on a crazy killing spree as they make their way to Las Vegas. The characters - the woman especially - sort of reminded me of the characters in The Devil's Rejects; they're crazy and they do things that make no sense to anyone but them. We enjoyed this movie as it had an unusual premise and it is funny in places. If you like movies of this type, you'll probably like this one.

Today we watched Yo Yo Girl Cop, a Japanese movie about a girl who becomes a yo-yo bearing cop that infiltrates a local school to find out what's going on. We'd expected something sort of light and funny and instead got a darker movie. Still, the movie was pretty good. It seemed to be part of a larger franchise because some things that were said seemed like the audience was supposed to have recognized them. We were right: it's a long-running TV, movie, and manga series. If we had all of them here I'd watch them, so you can take that to mean that we liked it :)

When we weren't watching movies, I managed to get the hand-sewing finished on my dress. Now I just have to sew the hem. I can't believe I'm almost done! It's getting to the point that I'm sick of looking at the dress. I won't have a chance to wear it anytime soon as it's going to be quite cool for the next few days.

We also went for a big long walk today, to the market, then the mall, then the Chapters, and finally home. Of course I ended up with a bit of a sunburn - oops. The walk was great, though. The day was perfect: not too hot and not too cold, with a bit of a breeze.

Happy Labour Day

My two bottom center front teeth have moved. The right one has shifted slightly forward at the center and down (so it appears lower) and the left one has shifted slightly back at the center. I don't remember when it happened but I first noticed it last night. I had braces when I was in my teens and I think I remember that they told me that the front bottom teeth *might* move someday because they are pretty tightly packed there. I just didn't expect it to have happened in the last while. I'll call my dentist in the morning.

We watched the most awful movie this evening: Darkest Hour. We'd looked at it in the video store a couple of times and finally rented it tonight. It's about a group of people who put on a murder mystery weekend for people based on a serial killer in the area during the late '80s. During the game, someone starts really killing the players... in the same way the serial killer used to kill people! The plot isn't awful, but the acting, lines, lighting and camera-work, and sound are terrible. There's a part of the movie where we get to hear the sound mikes bumping against people's clothes. This was loudest when one guy took his shirt off: bump bump bump bumpity bump bump bump thump. Thump. Thump thump bump. Bumpbump.

Don't waste your time with this turkey - it's not even bad enough to be funny.... it's just sad.

The best part of the movie is not the movie at all - it's this article from the filmmaker. I liked this quote the best: "When you take [Government funding] they want to control your film's content. As far as I am concerned... that is unacceptable. The result is a pile of film's [sic] made with tax payer [sic] dollars that are less than spectacular." I guess that makes his movie less than less than spectacular :) Aside from the rampant inappropriate use of apostrophes, it's hilarious that he thinks that this film is good - I can't imagine what the film would have been like had he taken taxpayer money :)

Oh - Project Runway 5 is finally starting here in Canada!!!! Now that it's September, tv shows are coming back. Yay :)

Dare I say that I'm better?

I think I'm finally feeling better because I'm hardly coughing at all. I did manage to get some sewing done today - yay! The dress I've been working on for forever is really almost done. Really! :) I've actually sewn - and serged - the major seams! Now I just need to trace new facings and a new collar piece and put the buttons and buttonholes on and it'll be done. I'm very much looking forward to finishing this project so that I can start the next one.

I've bought a lovely selection of menwear-type plaids and fabric and I really want to make some more fall-type dresses in preparation for the cooler weather. Of course it's been a cool summer and so the dress I've been working on (which is sleeveless) might not even be worn for a while. Anyways, I looked over my patterns and fabrics and am trying to figure out what to make. Doesn't this sound like a fun way to spend a long weekend?

We just finished watching Damages in a marathon viewing of fourteen episodes over three days. We loved the show in part because there was a lot of puzzle-solving and whatnot; the story was multi-faceted and unfolded in pieces. The only trouble was that our recordings missed the last couple of minutes on every episode so some things weren't totally clear. And now we're arguing over who tried to kill Ellen - I remember one thing and Ian remembers another but we don't have the recordings anymore. We might just have to buy the DVD. And you should, too, because it is a great, suspenseful show. Apparently they've committed to two more seasons and I'm very much looking forward to watching it going forward.

Not quite better yet

I slept most of the day and thought I was feeling better so I went to the store. It's only a five minute walk away and I needed milk but really I thought I should get out of the house. By the time I got back I was panting and breathing heavily as though I'd just run a marathon. And then I started coughing and coughing and coughing.

So I'm not all better - but the coughing wasn't as bad as it has been, and I'm hoping that the cough will go away completely sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, I'll keep watching endless movies on TCM and reading magazines. It's Tony Curtis day today on TCM - Some Like it Hot was just on, and Marilyn Monroe was definitely sexy in it... but she might have been less sexy if she had been wearing different clothes. The clothes she wore in the movies, especially while performing in front of the band, would be scandalous today.

A new way of grading for me

We saw The Dark Knight today. It was quite good although I don't think I'd see it twice in the theater (as I've heard some people are doing). Heath Ledger does a fine, crazy Joker and the movie itself is compelling. I'd recommend that you see it if you haven't yet.

I have pretty well finished grading and altering this pattern and I'm going to be making it next. I have some bias-printed pink/red gingham and we found some red for the collar today. I think it's going to be awesome when it's done - at least, I hope so :)

When I finish this one, I have another pattern that I want to prepare because I've already decided which fabrics to use. The pattern is similar to the other one (which is fine, because I think that the silhouette is fairly flattering on me): it's a sheath dress with princess lines and flap pockets at the hips with a large collar. I'm going to use some black on cream alphabet fabric for the body and black for the collar, flaps, and on the princess seams. It'll also be awesome, I think.

I'm still learning how vintage patterns fit me and how to change them so each project is a bit of an experiment. I was just grading the patterns up but that doesn't really work. Even if the pattern is exactly my size - and some are - my proportions are quite different than bodies used to be. Yes, I'm short, but people were shorter back then. Also, ease amounts were quite different than they are today and I like a little bit less ease, except at the waist, where I like a bit more. So what ends up happening is that I can't just increase the pattern by x amount everywhere; another way of putting it is I can't just grade the pattern. Instead, I have a slightly different approach to making the pattern fit.

First, I have to measure the pattern bust, waist, and hips to see how much to add to each to get the measurements + ease that I want. The amount to add is usually different for each of these primary points. So I do that, and then I have to make the neck to the high bust area (or, the neck to the top of the shoulder blades in the back) narrower. I almost always re-position and shorten the bust darts a bit - I don't have the cone-shaped breasts that they had then, and their bust darts are almost always too far apart for my taste. That usually takes care of the circumference measurements, although if the pattern is very fitted through the waist and hip I'll make sure that I've increased the high hip area a bit.

With the circumference measurements done, I check the vertical measurements. First I measure the pattern bodice front and back and compare that to my measurements. I decrease the entire front bodice by the difference in measurements, if there is any - sometimes there isn't. Sometimes I even have to increase the measurements, if the original pattern is very different from my size. If the change is small, I make it between the underarm and waist, and if it's large I do 1/3 of it above the underarm and 2/3 below it. I remove about 1/2" at the center back bodice waist for my swayback and take the rest of the vertical difference out as for the front bodice.

After that I just have to change the skirt length. I've been shortening the patterns from their original mid-calf length (a singularly unflattering skirt length for almost everyone) to around the knee, so I've got to take out that as well as the usual amount to shorten for my height. To make these changes, I do a combination of just chopping off some of the length at the bottom and folding out the difference. Because I'm short, it's better if I chop at least part of a full skirt at the bottom so that the bottom skirt circumference isn't too big. If the bottom skirt circumference is anything over about 80" or so and I'm using cotton, the skirt will be too big. With straight skirts it doesn't matter where the length comes off, but I have to make sure that walking vents/pleats are long enough when I'm done.

By this time I'm usually tired of making pattern changes, but I'm not done yet: I actually pin-fit the pattern. Yes, I tape the darts shut (and clip them if I have to) and pin the seams together on the seam allowance. Then I tape the waist center front and back to my center front and back and try to tape the front and back neck to the appropriate places. This is by no means perfect but it shows when I've got WAY too much ease somewhere. It also shows if I've retained the original pattern proportions after all of my changes.

Then I get to sew!

BTW, I have done one version of the walk-away dress and I'm mostly happy with it but I didn't take enough out of the center front and back so I'm going to play with the pattern a bit. Also, I want to re-shape some curves. I have some great fabric and binding for this next attempt, too :)

Wall-E!

We saw Wall-E today. What an awesome movie!!!! I loved it very much (and may have laughed harder in some parts than anyone in the audience) and I highly recommend it for everyone. Even kids. There were a number of small children there, and even the 2-year-old that stood up grabbing the seat in front of him stayed (mostly) quiet throughout. It's a really good movie that can keep a child that young quiet, even though for the first bunch there's next to no dialogue! So go and see this one :)

I was highly entertained by this movie and at the same time, I felt that the movie really made a strong comment on the conspicuous consumption and disposability in our society. I don't want to give too much away but, as you probably know, in the movie the entire planet is covered in garbage and humans go into space so that the planet can be cleaned up. Think about that for a second: the entire planet is covered in garbage?!?!

Ok, so we're not quite covered in garbage but we do have a lot of it! Toronto is currently trucking garbage to a Michigan landfill - 74 truckloads a day, on average, in the first half of 2007. So, umm, how is this good? It gets the garbage out of Toronto but it increases pollution and it doesn't reduce the total amount of garbage on the planet. Unfortunately, as long as there is garbage, it has to be dealt with. And more unfortunately, it seems that we live in a consumerist age where we can just go out and buy things. Does consumerism lead to more garbage? I wish it didn't, but I think it does. After all, we have to get rid of the packaging of the items we purchase.... and if we're buying just to have new stuff, what happens to the old stuff? At least some of it will be thrown away.

I know that many people are working hard to recycle and compost and to reduce the garbage they produce. I wish that manufacturers were taking as much responsibility for reducing waste in the products they make. As an example, they could use less packaging. Why enclose a plastic bottle in a boxboard box? Why are DVDs that are already in plastic cases additionally completely enclosed in plastic wrap? Why do headphones come in that awful ginormous plastic packaging? All this extra packaging isn't needed, really, and is just garbage. I also wish retailers would help and re-use some of their display packaging. Just the other day, I bought some undergarments and they shoved the items including their plastic hangars into the plastic bags. Why would they do this instead of keeping and re-using the hangars?

I think I could go on like this for quite a long time, so I'll stop here. It's getting close to bedtime and if I keep on ranting like this I won't be able to get to sleep.

Braaaaaiiiiins

We watched Days of Darkness today. It's another zombie movie - in case you haven't noticed, we watch quite a number of zombie movies :) This one had an interesting idea as to the cause of the zombie infestation but unfortunately the movie itself wasn't all that well-made. There were a few things that were supposed to be scary but were more funny than scary. Still, it's worth a watch just to get a different perspective on zombies.

I've always sort of wondered how zombies could live once they'd exhausted the supply of people (and other animals) on the planet. Since they don't die, how would they live? Regardless of whetehr they need to eat, they sure like to - so what happens once there's no food for them? They don't eat each other because they're not cannibals. Would there come a point where the zombies deteriorate enough that people could kill them off?

None of the movies we've seen really address zombie life after the initial human settlements are overrun. Do they stay in packs or alone? I also think it's sort of funny how zombies are always shown to be wearing all of their clothes. They're not exactly careful about what they do so it seems to me that eventually the clothes would be little more than rags and not complete clothes. Also, since zombies eat they must have some sort of digestion system (unless of course it's a perfectly efficient, closed system), and we never see that.

Clearly there's a lot more to know about zombies than we've seen so far.

More movies

We saw Wanted today. We both liked it - it's an interesting story with not-quite-predictable twists. The hard part is suspending disbelief for the movie because you have to accept that people can, say, shoot curved bullets. Once you've done that, the rest of the movie is believable. There's lots of action and the movie is fast-paced; if you like that sort of thing then you'll probably like this. Sadly, Angelina Jolie is not as gorgeous as she used to be as she is getting kind of scrawny. Her arms are stick-like and her body is less curvy and more angular.

We also rented some zombie movies for the long weekend. Tonight we watched Automoton Transfusion. the zombies in this movie are not your traditional zombies; they think, they plan, they sleep, and they can run. No shambling about for these monsters. The reasons for that are explained in a twist sort of thing at the end. This movie ends with a cliff-hanger and they are shooting a sequel. This movie is very, very gory. There is lots of blood and we get to see the zombies eating away at people and also tearing organs out of people while the people are still alive. In some ways, it was so gross it was funny.

One weird thing about this zombie movie is that it looks like they had three cameras: a "normal" one, a slightly grainy one, and a very grainy one. It wasn't always clear why one camera view was chosen over another. Anyways, if you like gory zombie movies, you'll probably like this one.

Rainy movie Sunday

We saw Get Smart (the movie) this afternoon. It wasn't too bad, overall. It wasn't quite like the original tv series but there were definitely some funny bits in there. If you like comedies then you might like this one. I'm sort of watching Hackers as I'm writing this, and it appears to be a pretty funny movie. I didn't know that Penn was in it :) It makes computer tasks, memory, and processes look so cool.

My vintage pattern obsession appears to be running almost unchecked. I have bought some more patterns and hope to bid on another lot in the next few days. There comes a point where I start to wonder if I'm buying more patterns than I need ... especially if I add in all of the new patterns I have. There may come a day when I decide that I need to sell some of the patterns that I have. We'll see; there are only so many patterns I'll be able to sew.

Does this label fit?

We watched Snow Cake tonight, a movie that revolves around a highly verbal, high-functioning autistic woman whose daughter has just died. Sigourney Weaver is the autistic woman and she does a wonderful job. I highly recommend this movie because it's Canadian and it feels very realistic in its portrayal of the small town. Besides, it's a good story. :)

The movie is quite interesting. I'm not autistic and I don't have Asperger's but some of the things the autisitc character did and said were not so different from things that I say and do - or think about saying or doing. For example, the woman asks someone to leave because she didn't want him around. He asks if half an hour will be long enough and she tells him that she didn't know; all she knows is that right now she wants him out of there. That's so true!

I have also wanted to hide from people, as she does, and I dislike being touched, as she does. I have certainly felt inappropriate responses to situations even if I haven't behaved inappropriately. I have rituals (like reading before bed, or the way I currently eat breakfast) and I am upset when they are changed. I have behaviours that are not at all similar to hers as well (for example, I am not at all obsessive-compulsive), but I definitely have things in common with the autistic character.

This has left me wondering at what point a collection of thoughts and behaviours becomes a recognizable disorder. Does everyone have some of these thoughts or behaviours, and it's only when they're all or almost all present that the autistic spectrum label is affixed to that person? Are some behaviours more definitive or important when determining which label applies? Or am I just this side of autistic? I don't know. It's interesting to think about, though.

645 is .... not prime

Cube was on tonight on tv. I love that movie and it's been a while since I've seen it. The premise is that a group of characters find themselves in a maze of cubes, some of which are booby-trapped, and they try to find their way out. One of my favourite lines in the movie is "645 is .... not prime" because of course it's not prime; it ends in a 5 and so is divisible by 5. Anything divisible by 5 is not a prime number :) There are some other oddities in the details, and the acting isn't always perfect, but I find the the concept of the movie and some of the questions posed by it very interesting. It's worth a watch.

Edmonton is so gorgeous this time of year. The air is clean and crisp and it's light from about 5am to 11pm or so. Even though I'm tired and it's bedtime, it's hard for me to go to sleep when it's still light out. I remember going for walks in Edmonton around this time of night, or even a bit later, when I was younger - there's something about being out at dusk and during the nighttime and immersing myself in the stillness of the air that I love and miss. Tonight, though, I feel like a little kid who has to go to bed before the fun starts, even though the person sending me to bed is me and there's no fun being had by me later.

Annual scan-a-thon brought to you by Indiana Jones

We saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull today. We both enjoyed it very much. It was a good Indiana Jones action movie. Sure, there were some plot holes and some strange CGI things, but it was a satisfying story to watch and experience. I'd recommend it, if you haven't seen it already.

This is scan-a-palooza week for me. My oncologist is scanning me once per year so that we can keep track of how "things" (like, my cancer) are going. Tomorrow I have a bone scan and then on Tuesday we'll get my tumour markers and do a CT scan from my neck to my pelvis. I decided not to do a brain scan because it's highly unlikely that my cancer will head for my brain before it heads for anything else.

One of the things I don't like about scans is that they happen early in the morning. I get my bone scan injection tomorrow at 8:15(!!) am with the scan itself following at 11:15am. On Tuesday I have blood drawn for the tumour markers at 9:30 with the CT scan prep at 10am and the CT scan itself at 11am. And I can't eat after 6am that day. Yeesh. I wish I could sleep in a bit for these as I'm still not good at getting up quite that early.

I won't get the results from these scans until I see my oncologist on June 24 (or possibly on June 12, when I see my family doctor, if he has the scan results and I ask for them - which I may not do). I'm not going to worry about the results until much later because there's no point doing that - the results will come soon enough and no amount of fretting or worrying will change a thing. Well, I can say that until the night of the 23rd, at which point I can almost guarantee that I'll be cranky and nervous because I get my results then :)

How much is too much bellydancing?

Four hours of bellydance in one day might be a bit too much! I did two workshops today and I'll tell you, my belly is a bit tired :) My undulations were pretty pathetic by the end of the afternoon. I learned a lot and enjoyed the workshops very much; I'm looking forward to the next class in both series.

This evening, Ian and I watched Diary of the Dead, a zombie movie by George Romero. It's one of those first-person video movies, so it has a couple of people with a camera filming what happens when suddenly the dead rise. There are some flaws with the plot (would all the people really disappear in a day or so?), and the acting wasn't always the best, but I liked that the ending was left unresolved. Yes, there are zombies, but we don't know what happens to our people. There was a bit of humour in the movie, too, especially with regard to the zombies being killed.

I was looking at patterns for sale this evening (this is something I do - surf the internet looking for patterns or fabric) and I came across this one:


What I love best about it is that it's really only two pieces, each cut on the fold. I love the way it looks as shown in the stripe. The back is vertically striped and the front diagonally striped. I like this pattern although it would be a pain to grade and alter for my height; it's also most likely unprinted, and I've never used an uncut, unprinted pattern before. I might also want to shorten the sleeves a bit. I'll think about bidding on it.

Prepared for the next Indiana Jones movie

In preparation for next week's opening of the fourth Indiana Jones movie, we got together with some people at Ian's work to watch the first three Indiana Jones movies. I remembered the first movie pretty clearly, the second one a little bit, and it seems that I'd never seen the third one at all. I liked it quite a lot as it's more similar to the first one in plot and structure, and it was pretty funny. I think I'm ready for the next movie now.

I hear that Harrison Ford did all of his own stunts for the fourth movie, just as he did for the first three (except when he was injured, of course), and that somehow the 20-year time difference in his age is explained. He's not pretending to be a young guy. Although thinking now, if he is in his 60s, then he was in his 30s when he shot those movies. He was pretty darn hot for someone who was that age! I wish I looked so good :)

Just sitting around

We just finished watching the Across the River to Motor City mini-series. Yes, I know that it aired back around Christmas, but it takes a while for us to get around to watching things that we've recorded. Anyways, we both thought that it was quite good. There are several intertwining stories told in a series of flashbacks between the 60's and 2001, set in Detroit/Windsor. The first episode wasn't great but the series got a lot better with each episode.

I didn't want to do much today because tomorrow I've got my bellydance recital. It's sold out! I'm in one of the last choreographies, so I hope that people stick around to see me :)

Iron man

We saw Iron man this afternoon. It's awesome! Yes, it's a comic book movie, but you don't need to know much about the comic to really enjoy the movie. There is a profound subtext in the movie about the responsibilities and containment of weapons technology. Of course there's the requisite good versus evil elements, but there's much more to the movie than that, too. There are some elements of the movie that require some suspension of disbelief, but it's a movie well worth watching.

If you do see it, stay right until the end of the credits. I'm not telling you what's there, but it's more than just the song titles, thank yous, and MPAA number :)

BTW I was just looking at the imdb full credits page for this movie and I see that many of the effects people have pages. Interesting - they aren't just faceless tech employees anymore. Nice.

Movies and taxes

Both Ian and I are preparing our tax returns, since they are due tomorrow. We've been filing as common-law partners because we are living common-law and people tell us that it's better for us. I don't know whether I believe that. Last year I remember that I got less back than I would have if I'd applied as a single person, and it seems that the same is true this year. Sigh. I'm going to have to pay $364 :(

We watched a new version of Macbeth, where the characters were drug lords in Australia and their groups instead of rival kings. It was really good! So much was said through actions and not words that it meant that the words made more sense than they usually do to me. The actions explained the words, and the dialogue and monologues came naturally, which doesn't seem to happen with other renditions of this play. I felt that I really understood the story and I very much enjoyed it. Be forewarned, though: this version is quite bloody; there are a lot of killings in Macbeth and they've thrown in a few more for good measure. But if you get a chance, see this movie.

On my own for the weekend

Ian's off to Rochester to juggle for the weekend which means I'm on my own until Sunday afternoon. The only thing I have to do all weekend is the dishes and the rest of the time is my own. I actually got up early this morning to see Ian off and managed to stay awake all day. I entertained myself by sewing, surfing the internet, and watching tv.

I watched This is Spinal Tap while sewing this afternoon. Oh, that's a funny movie - how can you not laugh while watching the dwarves dance around the 18" high Stonehenge? :) Even thinking about that scene while writing this makes me giggle out loud, even when I'm by myself :)

I found this awesome site by Swarovski called Create Your Style. There are tons of user-uploaded design ideas using Swarovski products, and there are even instructions on how to do some of the basics in wire-work and beading. Even better, there's a place where you can design your own item using Swarovski products. The whole site is worth a look.

Almost semi-famous

The facilitator of last night's group took me aside today after my Spirituality and Healing group and told me that she was glad that I'd been there last night and had said the things I'd said to the person who was toxic. That person and I had two separate discussions where she had said something that offended me and I responded almost without thinking. I was touched and pleased that the facilitator recognized that it was hard for me and that being around that person was difficult. Therefore, I won't make a final decision about whether to go or not to the group until next month.

It turns out that my image is semi-famous here, too! At the Princess Twin, before movies start, they have slideshows. Apparently Hopespring has four slides that they are showing now and I'm in at least one of them. I think Ian might be in it, too. I'll have to go and see :)

Tonight we went out to see the Just for Laughs road show. I'm really glad I went because I've been feeling a bit down and I got to laugh a lot tonight. I don't know if laughter is the best medicine, but it certainly does help me feel better once I start laughing.

Movie day

We saw Be Kind, Rewind today. It was hilarious! The premise - the video tapes all get erased - is kind of ridiculous, but if you can get past that, the re-enactments of each of the movies is really, really funny. Ian and I both howled through most of them. There is a sad undertone to the movie, though, and the ending is definitely not an everything-works-out-for-the-best ending. It's more of an everything-falls-apart-anyways ending. I liked that.

Ian accuses me of liking Jack Black. I don't know whether it's him that I like or his movies - the movies that he's in always look really, really funny to me. There's something about them that makes me giggle. Knowing that I can laugh at his movies is a good thing.

My friend improved slightly today. I'm going to go and see her tomorrow as I think the weather is supposed to be worse on Tuesday (provided I miss the morning rush hour, which I will). I intend to have a nap while I'm there :)