patio, photography/videography, etc.

Time for another snippety post, I think.

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Patio Update

(In the distance, faintly: "What? You mean to say that thing's still not finished?!")

Well, at least we're working on it again. This weekend we finished painting all the lumber we need to complete the top part. Now it's just a matter of putting them up there and attaching the shade cloth. Most of the rest of the project is for appearance's sake rather than functionality-- and after the shade cloth's up, we'll have a shadier spot to work on them. ;o)

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Stop-Motion Photography

You may have noticed from my Vimeo sidebar widget that I've taken an interest in stop-motion photography. In a moment of serendipity, last night I came across a link on a (seemingly unrelated) web page-- a suggestion that readers go watch the stop-motion videos at the "Home of the Twisted Films of PES". Apparently, one of his shorts won Honorable Mention at the Sundance Film Festival, and TIME Magazine voted it the #2 Viral Film of the Year-- but I'd never heard of him, so maybe some of you haven't, either.

A word of warning: I haven't watched all the films, but of those I have, a couple have been slightly "twisted", or at least maybe not quite the thing you want to watch with your children. So far, it seems that you can mostly tell which ones might be questionable by the titles-- "Pee-Nut" and the next one on the list of shorts-- but still, if you're concerned, you might want to preview them before sharing. Also the second "making of" film ends with a charming image of some guy using marijuana. I imagine Mr. PES thought it was very clever, but personally, I wasn't impressed. Yeah, I'm such a prude. (shrug)

Those things aside, some of these videos are very impressive, with their creative use of commonplace items for unexpected purposes. I definitely recommend watching the first three "shorts", if nothing else.

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Spy Lens

Hee hee. This "spy lens" thing looks like fun. It's a "lens" that attaches to the end of your regular lens. There's a cut-out in the side and a mirror so that you can point your camera at something harmless (a tree in the distance, for example) when you're actually taking a photo of someone to your left or right (or above or below you). Pretty neat! The only problem is that if people look at you (and your camera) very closely, I think they might begin to wonder why there's a hole in the lens. ;o) Still, at a distance that wouldn't be as much of an issue-- nor for kids or other people who aren't that familiar with lenses.

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Rag Quilting

I've been working on my second denim/flannel rag quilt for a while, now. I've worked on it for an hour here or there, then left it alone for a week at a time, which tends to make the process drag on forever. (I've read about people who whip up simple rag quilts in a day. Personally, I think that'd take all the enjoyment out of it, but it needn't take this long.) I thought I was finally getting close to finishing it, yesterday afternoon. Then I decided to give the back one more look before sewing the two halves together.

Hmph! Somehow I'd managed to mess things up, back there. I thought I'd finally gotten it all laid out perfectly, but no. I'd turned some things "wrong way 'round", and now I've had to rip out several seams. (The ripping of a seam is such an insulting sound...)

It's not the end of the world, of course. I could've even left it as it was-- the blanket would've worked just as well, and it probably wouldn't have been noticeable to most people-- but I decided it was worth a little more effort to get it just the way I'd originally intended.

I think this will be the only "on point" rag quilt I'll make, though, or at least the only one where I try to make the back patterned instead of random. For whatever reason, I've had a lot of trouble with this one.

Mean Bee, Cass-uh-row, and "What's on Tivvy?"

With the return of the warmer weather, we've also noted the return of those horrible wood-boring bees. I really hate those things. They're destructive and menacing. They're also territorial, and they stand their ground-- er, hover their air(?).

Anyway, I'm a little frightened of them, to tell the truth. For some reason, they seem to love the area around our kitchen door. (It makes sense, now, because of all the new wood in the area, thanks to our patio project-- but they've always seemed to concentrate in that spot.) Today, as I made several trips carrying groceries inside from the car, I was under close and disapproving surveillance by one or two of the irritating things. I tried spraying one with wasp spray, but I don't think I got enough on it to do any real damage. Apparently the only way to kill them is the hit them with a board, then immediately find where they fell and finish them off before they have a chance to recover. (shudder) Donald, get your 2x4 ready for this weekend, ok?

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I was making up my shopping list for the aforesaid groceries, when someone who shall remain nameless wondered why I hadn't made a particular "cass-uh-row" in such a long time.

(Pause for internal laughter) "Cass-uh-row? Did you just say 'cass-uh-row'?"

Yes, he had. "What. . .? Isn't that how you say it?" (Though by his expression it was clear that he now knew otherwise. (g))

Not quite-- but I guess it might sound a little like that. . .

Well, now we have the ingredients for that casserole that we haven't eaten in a year or two, even though the bee tried to prevent me from bringing them inside.

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I'm watching my way through "The House of Eliott" again, as "lunchtime entertainment". It's pretty soap opera-y in spots, and as always seems to be the case in these programs, the characters sometimes-- no, frequently deserve a good spanking (Ugh, don't get me started on Evie!)-- but somehow it's still addictive and watchable.

(I'm fairly sure I mentioned this after an earlier viewing, but) I find it very funny when an episode ends on a tragic/dramatic note, complete with suitably emotional music, only to be immediately followed by the jaunty theme song. It's like this: Oh no! Someone's just been killed in a car accident! Horror! Drama! Sadness! Woe! --Well, ok. Enough of that, now. Back to the party! La-di-da da-da-da daaa daaa! La-di-da da-da daa-daaaa! La-la di da da dun-dun-dun, La-di-da di-da di-daa-aa-aa! (Yes, that's exactly how the theme song goes. :oP)

It's a little thing, but it makes me laugh.

P.S. If you've seen the program, you might be amused by this French & Saunders spoof: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Random Bullet Points

Things, lately:

• As you'll know if you read my "tweets" on Twitter, our water pump stopped working last week. Thursday morning, I think it was. The repairman couldn't make it here until Friday morning, so we just had to make do until then. Fortunately, we had a little water stored, and my maternal grandparents live near enough that it was easy to go fill a few more containers. The repairman came early Friday, so we weren't without for long, but it was long enough to remind us of how much we take it for granted. I never realize how often I wash my hands until the water's off. It's so much more trouble when you can only use one hand at a time (because the other's busy pouring water).
  
• Trixie may have solved the horse chestnut dilemma for us. I knew that she'd broken a couple of the saplings, the day I got them. I'd put them in the wheelbarrow with some water, not thinking she could reach them in there-- but she did, and she'd messed with two or three before I realized it. It turns out that those just happened to be the Chinese horse chestnuts. One of them may still be ok, but otherwise, we'll just have to look into buying one.
• We're also thinking about getting a blueberry bush or two, and maybe another satsuma. We'll have to figure out where's the best place around here to shop for fruit trees/shrubs. . .
• We had some very windy weather, recently. Evidently it was windy enough to blow a scrubber (the "plastic steel wool" kind) off our grill, because yesterday afternoon I spied Trixie chewing on it. I got it from her easily enough, but I couldn't tell for certain if she'd eaten any of it. Crazy dog! If there is anything that she can possibly get into, she'll find a way. I really, really hope she calms down a little more with age.
  
• Over the weekend, we watched the Rifftrax version of "The Star Wars Holiday Special". I knew it would be odd, but the reality of it was far more bizarre than I'd ever imagined. Absolutely awful! I can't see how anyone could have thought it was a good idea. I'd try to explain how weird it is, but once I got started I wouldn't be able to stop, and it'd take too long. If you're really that interested, you'll just have to go find it to watch for yourself. (g)
  

Of course, one or two other things have happened, too, but I don't think any of it was much more interesting than what's listed above. At least there's something non-political at the top of my blog, now. ;o)

Political Ranting (Lite) & Suchlike

The big local news yesterday: Mardi Gras throws insult Pres. Obama. If you don't care to read or watch the story, here's the gist. A woman says that one Mardi Gras organization threw bumper stickers during a parade. The stickers are solid black, with a large "O" and a single profane word. (It's the "s-word", I think-- based on a similar sticker I found online-- but for some reason the news people decided to replace it with a cartoony "faux swear"-- $%?&-- instead of just blurring the offensive word.) The sticker's design resembles that "W" tag people were using a few years ago (in reference to George W. Bush), so it's obviously a political commentary aimed at Obama.

Apparently this goes against the policies of that particular parade-- and I have to agree that it wasn't the best time or place to distribute them. Also, I can understand people not wanting their kids to pick one of these up. I can hear it now. . . "S**t. . . S**t. . . Mommy, what's 's**t' mean?" (However, you know that many of those kids probably hear worse than that on TV or when Daddy gets cut off in traffic.) But still. I'm sorry, but I have to roll my eyes over this one! (Poor eyeballs. They're going to be completely worn out over the next few years.)

In related news. . .
I was minding my own business on some website or other, when I noticed this ad:


The "clever" tee-shirt asks: "Do you smell what Barack is cookin?"

Answer: Why, yes, in fact I do, and it smells to high heaven.

Tangent:
Ha ha. Ok, so this computer is presently infected with some annoying little bug (that I'm sure Donald can fix, but I'm not going to risk making the computer explode before he gets a chance to look at it) that, when you click a link, takes you one step past that website, to some type of advertisy/buy-this-now website-- usually with content related to whatever you were searching for in the first place. (It can be pretty irritating-- especially when the page refuses to let you use the "back" button.) Well, this time, when I clicked a link related to "Do you smell what Barack is cookin'?" it took me to an coupon for Glade air fresheners. LOL! (Well, it made me laugh. . .) The country may be going to Hades in a handbasket, but by golly, we're gonna smell good in the meantime!

Two More Trixie Videos

Trixie Kills Towels from Michael Johansson on Vimeo.


Trixie & the Evil Water Hose from Michael Johansson on Vimeo.