List Mania

Is it just me, or does 2005 have a sort of blase feel to it? I'm not getting very good vibes here.
It's the time of year for a very special event: "Nemo's 2004 in Review," a.k.a: "My Look Back at 2004 is better and shorter than all those craptabulous ones on the telly."
Top 5 Music Albums This Year
1) Franz Ferdinand - [self-titled]. Fun, quirky Scottish retro-Brit-sounding rockers in argyle jumpers. I adore this album to pieces. This passion has become slightly tainted since the band's announcement that they are re-releasing the album with eight new tracks. Those of us who bought the first release are, presumably, fuck out of luck.
2) The Killers - "Hot Fuss." Though the second half of the album is mediocre, the first half is so awesome that you won't much care.
3) Muse - "Absolution." Deliciously dark and brooding, this album is excellent from beginning to end.
4) Erasure - "Hits: The Very Best of Erasure." Okay, I think this came out in 2003, but I got it this year so it makes the list. Erasure kicks the snot out of all other 80's bands. They have sythesizers and they're not afraid to use them!
5) I don't think there's a #5. I lied.
6) Green Day - "American Idiot." Can't believe I almost forgot these guys, but they're too awesome to leave off the list.
Worst news of 2004: Bush is back for a second attack.
Best news: The next HP book is done and will be relesed in July 2005. Also, Mars Volta is coming out with a new CD in February 2005. Did anything else happen? My life is so sad.
Most amusing news: Martha Stupid got put in the slammer. Maybe she'll shut up for awhile.
Best DVD release: "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Platnium extended edition."
I can't remember anything else.
Ya know, I usually don't make new year's resolutions, but this year I've got a whole slew of 'em:
1) Learn to crochet
2) Finish all abandoned knitting projects (I have at least 5 going right now).
3) Drink more water, and cut back further on soda.
4) Start experimenting with dying yarn at home.
5) Work on my sewing skills (they're really pathetic as of now, so this one won't be too difficult).
6) Eat more fruits and veggies (obligatory health-related resolution).
7) Acquire permanent job.
Let's see how well I keep these, yeah?

Enjoy the new year, folks!

Phantasmic Holiday

Okay, I made that word up.
The point is, I recently saw the film version of the "Phantom of the Opera" musical, and though I wasn't going to review it here, an article by a certain ignorant journalist in the local paper angered me into action. Said journalist had never seen the theatrical performance or read the original book, which are not crimes, but turn into such when he blindly critiqued a movie without any sort of background knowledge and graded it a C-.
I can, however, see how the movie might be puzzling to Phantom virgins. The musical is all singing with no dialogue, and the movie follows the musical almost exactly with a couple of spoken lines thrown in here and there. The singing tactic works well in a theatre setting, where the songs draw you down to the stage and into the action, but it seems to distance the audience in a movie theater. More spoken dialogue would have created intimacy, added personality to the characters, and could have been used to provide more background information.
The critic also abused "Phantom" as being a lavish, overblown production. Well, sonny jim, that's how the play is. That's why we like it.
The actress playing Christine (I'm too lazy to look up her name) played an excellent dewy, dreamy innocent. Her soprano was strong and sweet, and though nowhere near as powerful as Sarah B. (the play's original Christine), I liked her voice better (I'm not a big fan of Ms. Brightman, who always sounds like she's trying too hard).
Michael Crawford could have blown this Phantom out of the water singing hogtied with an apple in his mouth, but I think the fellow did a decent job. His voice couldn't compare to the power and sensuality of his predecessor, but ya gotta give him props for a good effort.
The scenery was absolutely gorgeous in every scene, and they used a few really awesome special effects (especially the 'blending' effect in the opening). The outside of the operahouse was all CG, though, and looked rather fake and disproportional. It would have been more at home in "Moulin Rouge."
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I give it a solid B as a film, and based on keeping true to the play, an A-.
So there.
Happy Christmas!


He can molest me any day.

Yarn Connoisseur

When I first started knitting, there was nothing more annoying to me than yarn snobbery. I couldn't stand to hear the 'old folk' bitch and moan about how they could only knit with wool from a bucktoothed Siberian mountain sheep raised in Polynesia and shorn on a moonless night, and hand-dyed by blind eunuch Buddhist scribes in Norway yadda yadda yadda. I swore that I would love all yarns and never discriminate based on fiber content (excluding really, really poorly made crap that breaks when you look at it). At least half of this determination was fueled by my finances, or perhaps I should say the lack thereof. I simply could not afford to buy good yarn for every project, and reckoned that the stuff at the local craft store was fine, as long as it was pretty. If I wanted to be fancy, I went for an acrylic/wool blend (we're talking about 10% wool in most cases). Either way, I would eat my hat before I became such a stuck-up yarn elitist.
But for the past several months I've been working almost exclusively with very nice wool, alpaca, or wool blended with cotton or mohair. And it's spoiled me. The last time I was in a craft store I couldn't help sounding like a baby chick:

I have now, officially, become a yarn snob.
This last month or two, I've been ruthlessly ploughing through my stash and using up or getting rid of old leftover yarn (to make room for more, of course). I made a skinny scarf a couple weeks ago to get rid of some surplus yarn from a Christmas gift I made last year, and the whole time I was knitting, I was cringing, bitching, and moaning. I've only worn it around the house about half a dozen times, and it's already started to get that nasty acrylic fuzz all over it. Definitely not long-lasting material.
Now I can see where those damned yarn snobs were coming from; it's totally worth the extra money you pay for high-quality goods simply for the pleasure of working with, say, lusciously soft baby alpaca. And it's worth that extra twice over when you think about how much the person you're knitting for will (hopefully) love it, and how they'll feel so pampered every time they wear your gift.
Please pass the salt. It might make my hat a bit more palatable.

"Why bother spending time, blood, sweat, tears, and love on a project if you use crappy yarn?"

Turkey Day

Ok, so the post date is a blatant lie! It's actually the 30th, but I'm in end-of-Thanksgiving denial, so indulge me.
Holidays are crazy. Mum was cleaning the house like mad; everything got cleaned, even rooms the guests wouldn't be using, and items the guests wouldn't be seeing. Then the traditional Ugly Brown Dishes (hideous heavy pottery plates from the seventies - and boy, do they look it) had to be taken out of confinement and thoroughly washed. I really dislike those dishes. We use them every year, but they never feel 'familiar,' if you know what I mean. Every year they're like these foreign invaders sitting at our table. What was really funny was that the guests called to say they were sick and couldn't come - an hour before dinner.
Anywhoo, on we go. Christmas is coming. Only three more projects and my gifts will be done! I keep feeling twinges of guilt for foisting crappy homemade presents on all my poor, defenseless friends and family. But then I get so into the project that I have to believe it will be liked.

Food for thought: If your car is low on gas, is it hungry?

Lemon Drop goes to Sacto!

Yup, been touring ye olde state capitol for my "distance study" class. It's been pretty fun, but I still have one or two days to complete up there, and I really want to get them done before my job gets into full swing.
I'm in a good mood. My 'potential cold' that's been plauging me for weeks is gone (knock on wood). And today, as a birthday special, I made a mascot for the site! It's Knitting Nezumi, of course, but you can call her Nez. (Okay, so the pic is rather on the childish side of cute, but what else can you expect with my poor art skills + Microsoft Paint??) Ooh, inspiration! Wouldn't it be awesome to post guest submissions of Nez? Meaning I make you, my artistically talented friends, do work for my benefit. I like this idea. Send me your artwork, people! heheh.
Since this is ostensibly a knitting blog, I suppose a knitting update is in order. Right now I'm working on Christmas presents (!), so of course I can't post pictures until after the holidays. With about 10 projects to finish, I won't be working on any of my stuff for at least a month (fahrizzle!).
Oh yeah, and since I'm another year closer to prune juice and bocchie ball, let's have some fun age statistics! Laura was worrying recently about becoming an old maid, and after that conversation I could practically hear my biological clock ticking. So I checked out a few reputable websites and guess what? The average age for a woman to get married is about 28-30. But the average divorce age is 32-36, and nearly half of all marriages in America end in divorce. So here's my thought: why not wait to get married until you're 32-36, and just do it right the first time? Ah, logic. So out of place in our modern world.

"Laura, just be the best darn spinster you can be!" - Encouraging words from Laura's mom.