I Made a Dress! and what I'm watching on TV

This is the Crepe pattern from Colette.  It's a wrap dress that wraps in the back, so no zippers.  I used some white quilting cotton that had on hand and then used scarlet RIT dye.

Then the first time I wore it, it tore at the underarm.  Not the seam, the actual fabric. Also, the bodice doesn't fit so well. I don't know that I'll wear it much or make it again.  If I do, next time I'll use a patterned fabric so any wonkiness and wrinkles will be camouflaged. 

Still, I'm encouraged to keep sewing.  I've ordered 2 Japanese sewing books (translated into English)

 

And in other topics, I'm really enjoying the show Continuum on Syfy.  I think it's the best science fiction show on US TV right now.  Here's a review in the New York Times that explains why.

I'm really digging Scandal.  Each episode is packed with twists and it's over the top. Here's an article about what makes it so watchable.  On the one hand, it's so soapy and over the top. On the other hand, US politics is so full of back office dealing and so gonzo nuts that the stuff on Scandal is believable.

And last but not least, The Walking Dead returns tonight!

Once Upon a Time, Grimm, Lost Girl and October Daye

What do these things have in common?  They're TV shows and a book series about monsters, the supernatural and fairies.  Or the Fae, as they call it in Lost Girl.  October Daye is a half-human, half-fairy private detective who works for both humans and fairies.

I started reading the October (Toby) Daye books because of this post by the author, Seanan McGuire, called Things I will not do to my characters. Ever. Basically, she swears that she will never subject her female characters to sexual assault. How revolutionary is that?

I've been buying her books and downloading them onto my e-reader, one right after the other, pretty much every 3 or 4 days.  Plenty of bad enough things (being turned into a fish, losing family, being beaten, being shot, losing their home and protector, dying, etc.) happen to Toby and other characters in the course of their investigations that sexual assault is not necessary to increase the drama and tension.

What prompted this post was me trying to think about Once Upon a Time. The set up is interesting, strong female characters abound, the central quests are dramatic.  Heck, Jane Espenson from the Whedon coterie (not sure if that's the right term) works on it! However, something prevents me from being as into it as I would like.

Then contrast OUAT with Grimm. Again, I like the set up (I like police procedures), the central quest is dramatic. However, there are very, very few female characters and many episodes will go by before 2 of the female characters will interact, let alone meet the Bechdel Test. And yet, I find myself enjoying Grimm more. Perhaps it's the police procedural thing. Or the Monster of the Week format.

It brings to mind Revenge vs. Scandal, 2 nighttime soaps I'm watching.  I like Scandal more because it's got the Client of the Week, plus it's got a political setting, which I like. Revenge used to have the Takedown of the Week, but since it's moved away from that, it's not as interesting for me anymore. Both have overarching conspiracies, but I'm enjoying Scandal's more.  Maybe, again, I enjoy politics more than business scheming, or whatever the Initiative on Revenge is doing.

Kind of on a schedule

Baby is one month old now and sleeping from 9pm to 4am, then back up at 7am.  If only I went to bed at 9am too.

I do try to take a nap during the day when she does, but so many other things call my attention.  Like quilting.  Finishing that 5, er 10, year quilt, then sewing those swaddling cloths made me really want to do more quilting.  Also, it's getting really hot in Atlanta and all my knitting projects are wool, so....cotton fabrics it is!

Baby likes to nap in the ring sling as I wear it, so I've been catching up on TV.  Thank goodness for the Internet and the pause button, since I hardly ever get to watch anything at the scheduled time.

So I've been watching:
Revenge -- soapy, soapy goodness
Scandal -- Love how take-charge Olivia Pope is and the unrequited love just gets to me.  And Mellie...what a smart piece of work she is.
Once Upon a Time -- love the Queen's outfits and outrageous hair
Grimm -- love Sgt. Wu
The Good Wife

I also started reading A Dance with Dragons, the latest book in the Game of Thrones series and have lost patience with the misogeny.

The haters will hate genre TV, Game of Thrones edition

So tonight is the premiere of the Game of Thrones, HBO's adaptation of George RR Martin's epic low-fantasy book. And so the haters have started hating. Apparently the New York Times reviewer showed only contempt for it, calling it "boy fiction" which threw in sex and rape to get women to watch. Yes, my fantasy-and-sci-fi-loving head exploded, because men hate sex and women love rape. What. The. Hell?!?!? The Slate.com reviewer hated it as well. I read the Slate review, but not the NYTimes review. And apparently both reviews were more about making fun of the fantasy genre, and less a review of what the show is about. Which I believe is what a review does, at its most basic. The interwebs exploded as well, with many responses, especially to the NYTimes' reviewer's assertion that women aren't also fans of fantasy genre, because apparently because she doesn't personally know any woman who is. The one response I like most is by Tightrope Walker, link here. Another good one is at Salon.com, link here. Personally, I do want to see the show, have read all the books and do not have HBO. So will have to wait for the DVD so I can watch them all in one marathon.

Finishing the 5 year quilt project

I was inspired to pull out this quilt project to finish while watching the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency this weekend.

I call this my 5-year quilt, and that I'm always in year 2. I started this more than 5 years ago. It's been in hibernation at least 2 years, if not more, and this is it's second emergence from a hibernation period.

The diamonds are all fussy-cut, that is, cut out by hand. I had a template and used a blue ballpoint pen to trace out the pieces, then cut with scissors. I've hand sewn all these diamonds together too, using the blue lines on the backsides as guides. There are at least 200 of the turquoise and lime diamonds, 42 dark blue diamonds and probably another 200 pink ones.

I've sewn together the diamonds into strips, and then sewn the strips together. I'm working sewing together the strips that go at the bottom, where the DVD case is. The strips are labeled and pinned together. They just need to be sewn together, then joined to the blue center field.

There will also be a green border around the pink. By the time I get to that part, I think I'll be ready to send it out for finishing. Not sure that I'd be up for basting it to a back, quilting, sewing on the binding, etc.

At the end of the month I'm going get more active again with the adoption process -- getting fingerprinted for the background check, the home study with the social worker -- things that take a couple of months to complete. We're thinking that we'll have all the money together for the adoption agency by summer. Once we get these things done, then the agency will start actively looking for a match for us.

I doubt that a match will be made for us right after we get all the above done. However, I would like to have the quilt ready for when a match is made.

Buffy, the Bionic Woman, and Ziva David -- Part two, now with Wonder Woman

So Entertainment Weekly has released the first pic of Adrienne Palicki in the Wonder Woman outfit, complete with bustier, skin tight pants, high heels, etc. Sigh. How is she supposed to move, all trussed up like that, let alone fight?

This brings me back to the New York Times article that talks about the trend of women being the bad-ass, kick-ass muscle in shows like NCIS. And how they dress sensibly while doing so.

I guess David E. Kelley, creator of this latest version of the Wonder Woman show, didn't get that message.

So, as a feminist, I love that there are more and more strong women on TV, being capable in many ways and still looking good, in a practical, sensible way. However, them being fighters means they also get beat on, something I do not enjoy watching. It bothers me that strength = physical violence. When I watched Buffy, I would fast forward through the fight scenes, where most of the time, Buffy wore sensible shoes, with the big chunky 90s heels.

I'll give the new Wonder Woman a try, because she's the premier female superhero and I watched the Lynda Carter show. However, she's got a lot more competition on TV and I hope the show's done right. However, apparently Kelley's got a reputation of not writing good female characters, which makes me worry.

And lastly, it's Spring! I've started a new blanket, in cotton. Husband's huge wool blanket will have to go into hibernation for a bit. I've got 4 of the 9 main strips done, so I don't feel bad about taking a break. I was in the mood for crochet and got it going during the Bionic Woman marathon.

Next up: The Number One Ladies' Detective Agency with Jill Scott.

Buffy, Bionic Woman, and Ziva David, part one

Work is taking off and I've actually got my first payment, so woohoo! And spring is here. The cherrry trees are blooming, as are the daffodils and tulips. Husband went to Whole Foods market to get some beef kabobs and other things to celebrate my first paycheck, and got me some daffodils too. As he wisely noted, in a choice between flowers and dessert, he chose flowers -- lasts longer and better for you in the long run.

In all the busyness of meeting with potential clients, writing proposals to do work for them, and then actually doing the work, I've watched the one and only season of the Bionic Woman remake, from 2008. There were only 8 episodes, which is too bad because I thought it was pretty good. I may do a Nikita marathon next via Hulu.

Recently, as well, the New York Times posted an article called Sugar and Spice and Vicious Beatings about how more women on cops shows, etc. are the bad ass, kick ass muscle. I have some thoughts about it that I'll write about next post.

Oh Caprica!

Sat on the couch for 5 hours last night to watch the last 5 episodes of Caprica. It was so good! Random thoughts, trying to avoid spoilers:

1. Many twists and turns -- so many characters were revealed to be different than presented in the past. Stand outs: Joseph and Willie Adama. So totally did not see those twists coming.
2. Compressed storytelling -- I usually like watching multiple episodes at once, but having 5 back to back, without time in between to digest each episode, kind of gave me whiplash. I feel like things moved too quickly, one after the other, that I missed details. And there are scenes I want to go back and see again. I am definitely getting the DVDs. Though I still balk at the price.
3. Good to see Amanda Greystone in action as the plastic surgeon she is. Makes perfect sense that she's that kind of doctor.
4. It felt rushed; I'm sure that's because the creators knew that they wouldn't be renewed and had to get all the storylines tied up. But it's such a rich world, it could have gone on for years. At least 3 if not the 5 that BSG got or Buffy's 8.

The stuff I want to know more about, still:
1. What was Lacy's story? So much about her character's arc was left out.
2. What happened to Tamara? Are we to assume that she traveled the same arc as Zoe?

All in all, a very satisfying prequel to BSG. Just sad it's over.

Finished BSG, Still miss Caprica

So I finished Battlestar Galactica on Sunday.

I knew there was controversy about angels, so when the revelation came, I wasn't outraged.

My favorite parts were:
1. Roslin and Adama. I got all teary-eyed at the end. Made me think of the ending of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. So close and yet one of them died. At least they had a measure of happiness at the end.
2. Athena, Helo, and Hera. Grace Park did an amazing job over the season playing at least 3 different variations on Eight: Boomer, who was actually 2 characters: the one who thought she was Sharon Valerii; and the one who knew she was a Cylon; and Athena. Tricial Helfer was good too, playing all those versions of Six.
3. Sam the Hybrid, going off into the night.
4. The Centurions being given their freedom
5. The settlement of Earth by the humans and Cylons with the human ancestors.
6. Gaius Baltar and Caprica Six settling down on a farm. Kind of hard to see it actually happening, since they're both so urbane. But sweet to see.

Question it left me: If the Hera, the mitochodrial Eve, was found 150,000 years later, what about all the technology and settlements the BSG humans left behind?

It made me really miss Caprica, though. I wanted to see how Tamara and Zoe in V-world became the Cylons. How did the V-world become Cylon projection? How did Tamara and Zoe or whoever create Ellen, Tory, Tigh, Sam, and Tyrol? How did the other Cylon models come about? Who made them? What happened to the Adamas? Amanda? Lacey? Clarice and her multi-family? The different threads in Caprica were just beginning to come together and then Syfy pulled the plug. Won't even show the last 5 episodes until sometime next year. Gah.

There's some talk in the blogosphere that Caprica should move to AMC, home of slow-building drama. That's something I've thought too. I wonder what it would take to make that happen.

So, now that my one show, Caprica, is gone I've turned the Walking Dead as my appointment TV. It helps that it's filmed around where I live. Last night, as part of our evening walk, Husband and I walked down to Fairlie Poplar (where the horse went down and the tank was located in ep 1), and the Southern Business District, where ep 2 takes place. Saw no zombies. Added bonus, it's appointment TV for both Husband and I. I think it's the first show we share since we stopped watching the Simpsons.

And for my sci-fi fix, I'm watching Season 3 of Fringe on Hulu. Not as into it as I was with Caprica and Leverage, but the 2 Earths idea is enough to keep me watching.

Walking Dead, Sherlock Holmes on PBS, and other thoughts on Caprica

I watched the Walking Dead on AMC this weekend, even though I'm not into zombies. However, it's set in Atlanta so I was very interested in seeing what I would recognize. Husband watched with me too. As has been noted everywhere, it's a very good show.

We didn't realize that it was a 90 minute episode so at the 60 minute mark turned off the TV. But it had a sense of closure at that point. I went to bed thinking, "well next ep is where Rick goes to Atlanta." I'm satisfied with what I saw, esp with Morgan and Duane's story arc. Can't wait to see next week's ep."

We'll have to catch up online later. I kind of like that better, because then I can pause to scrutinize the background.

I've been listening to the podcast Talking TV with Ryan and Ryan They mention that the success of The Walking Dead may lead to a slew of zombie shows next year but not as good.

Apparently Mo Ryan and Ryan McGee both like Rubicon, another show on AMC. I've watched one or two episodes but AMC is not one of my go-to channels. They loved Rubicon and do mention that each episode is slow but it delves into the work and lives of national security analysts who have to wade through massive amounts of information and make sense of it. They like that the eps have depth and some may seem unrelated to anything but by the end of the season, it all comes together really well. However, they don't like Caprica.

As I listened to the podcast, I was thinking, all the things they like about Rubicon, are the things I like about Caprica! My previous post was about this, so I won't go over it again. However, I'm thinking "You praise Rubicon for it, but complain about Caprica for it. And you're BSG fans. I don't get this."

Anyway, I don't know that I'll join the send an apple, save Caprica movement. I haven't decided.

And in other BSG news, I have only the last 2 eps of the series at home. Will watch it on Sunday afternoon. I know it's controversial because of some characters being revealed as angels, but I don't know anything else about it. Looking forward to it.

The other night as well, Husband and I watched the PBS series Sherlock Holmes instead of the baseball world series. That's pretty meaningful considering Husband's a baseball fan and had a bet riding on the outcome.

Anyone who thinks serial scripted TV shows are worthless needs to see The Walking Dead and Sherlock Holmes. They are really good shows, so good that this long post is the result. And especially the Walking Dead. The Holmes episodes, being 90 minutes long, are like self-contained mini-movies. The Walking Dead is definitely telling one big long story.

Kind of like Caprica! Yes, I'm still a bit bitter about it. This is the first show that I really liked that got the Firefly treatment. Now I know how the first Browncoats feel, speaking as a later convert.

I don't understand Dickens

Based on this suggestion: https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9380399&postID=849460249831069589 and my sister's ringing endorsement, I bought the DVD for Bleak House starring Gillian Anderson.

I like Jane Austen as much as anyone else though I've always had a hard time reading Dickens. But I thought, maybe watching it will be different, by which I mean better. After all, it's a series by Masterpiece Theater. It's got to be good, right? And I can crochet on my Babette blanket.

I watched the first half and I have to say I don't understand half of what's going on or why. Mostly the why. For example:

Why did John Jarndyce agree to take 3 complete strangers into his household at Bleak House?
Why did he make one of them his housekeeper out of the blue?
As much as I like Esther, said housekeeper, 3 different men have fallen in love with her within the first three hours.
Why are complete strangers confiding their innermost hopes and thoughts to one another soon after meeting?

What I do understand:
The case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce is dragging on forever because there are multiple wills and a large fortune (and Bleak House) at stake. Which John Jarndyce 's brother committed suicide over.
Secret love affairs, babies born out of wedlock, marriages for status, drugs. That's drama no matter what century.

I'm hoping watching the second half will make more sense. But if Masterpiece Theater can't make me like Dickens, then nothing will.

Speaking of TV drama, I've been watching the Great Food Truck Race on Food Network. So far there have been 2 episodes and both times Nom Nom truck has won. Has me totally craving banh mi sandwiches.

Yoga and Belly-Dancing, Buffy and Serenity.

As part of my staycation weekend, I discovered FitTV on cable. I followed along on a yoga show imported from Canada. I realized that my legs are strong, the rest of me is not, and I am very not flexible. Ouch.

Then I followed along on a belly-dancing show called "Shimmy" imported from the UK I think, based on the narrator's accent. Unbeknownst to me, I've been belly dancing all this time. The moves very easy for me.

I liked how the belly-dancers had little pooches of a belly and the clothes they wore, even the low-rise bell-bottom pants, celebrated a curvy body. :) The yoga women on the other hand were not curvy at all.
~~~
I have a friend who's trying to sell a TV series to either Syfy or Lifetime channels. She went out to LA for a few weeks and shopped around her show and got some feedback from someone who works on Eureka (not a show I've watched, tho I've tried). His advice was for my friend to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

She came back to the East Coast and mainlined Buffy Season 1. She's seen Angel but not Buffy. At my urging, she watched Firefly but decided she doesn't like it since it's a Western in space and she doesn't like Westerns. Even though Firefly has Zoe and Wash! I also caught Serenity on Syfy. Almost had to look away when the moment came...

Anyway, she called to say that Buffy was amazing. The other feedback she got was to give her characters more shades of grey, to have some mythology to the series, and to make one of the male characters more heroic, like Angel. And to make the best friend more of an audience-surrogate. I just hope there's someone in her Scooby Gang who does with the wisecrackings.

But then, my type is the "large, semi-muscular" guy who relies more on his wits and (cute and goofy) charm, rather than guns and intimidation. Ah, Wash, and Xander, and Topher, but not as much. And I hope she puts in someone like Willow and Zoe.

But most of all, I hope she gets her show made! I told her I know how to make a good cup of coffee if she ever needed an assistant. Though I think I'd like to help with the casting. Wouldn't that be fun! Seriously, though, I'd love to help with the writing but I don't think I have the skills.

The Kiss -- Adama and Roslin

Watched BSG season 2.5 disc 1. Don't remember what the episode's called, but it ends with the tiniest of kisses between Roslin and Adama. I'm really looking forward to seeing how that relationship develops.

Also, I plan on watching the disc again with the commentary. I love the look on Lee Adama's face when he realizes how ruthless President Roslin can be.

Work is full of emotional highs and lows. We have a national training we're conducting where I'm supposed to be modeling women's leadership. Simultaneously I find out the day the training begins that my own leadership is being called into question.

The training has been wonderful and it's been 12 hour days since Saturday. So I'm taking tomorrow off to rewatch this BSG disc for the commentary. I also bought Leverage seasons 1 and 2, so will be watching those commentary too. Plus there are eps I haven't seen yet. I will be drooling over Eliot's hair.

Battlestar Galactica: the Miniseries

Well, now that Caprica is on hiatus, I've started BSG. Yesterday I watched the miniseries and can I say: Hello, Apollo!

Because BSG is over, I'm doing the DVD marathons via Netflix. Amazon.com had a good sale on DVDs and I thought about getting BSG but then realized, hey, I haven't even watched any of it yet!

As I watched the miniseries, I tried not to compare it to Caprica or to anything about future episodes. On the one hand, it was easy not to, because the story itself is compelling and there's lots going on. On the other hand, as some things popped up, like Number Six and religion, I thought about the role of the Soldiers of the One on Caprica and the controversial last episode of BSG. I haven't seen any BSG until now, but as one who reads TV reviews and pop culture, I was aware of some of the things going on.

After watching the miniseries, I surfed the net for info on BSG, like at TVTropes.org and Wikipedia. Some of what I found was surprising, and of course all of it were spoilers. But there's several seasons of BSG and mini-series and between seasons movies, that there's so much that I doubt that any preknowledge I have about any particular plot point will diminish my enjoyment.
After all, the point of watching shows, like reading books, is seeing how things unfold, not just what happens in the end.

Caprica midseason assessment

So, last night was the last episode before the midseason break. Why is there a midseason break? Some one explain this to me please.

Any, my thoughts on the show so far.

Caprica is appointment TV for me. I don't mind the pacing. There are lots of things going on and the quiet moments give you time to get to know that characters and worlds better.

I haven't watched BSG and don't plan to until after Caprica.

There are people who don't like the Amanda and Joseph storylines but they make sense to me. They've lost dearly loved family members and that would make people lose their minds. Some people subsume their grief into work (Daniel), some turn it inwards -- Amanda into her own crazy past, Joseph into V-world.

Heck, I'm under a lot less stress than them and there are days when I would rather stay in bed and escape to a virtual world. Oh, wait, I already do that. It's called DVD marathons on the couch.

I like that Emmanuelle was Evelyn. Joseph told her to look up Heracles/Tad, so she did. He didn't tell her why, but it makes sense that once she found Tad, she'd ask him what's up. Then Joseph got Heracles kicked out of NCC so Evelyn stepped in to help Joseph. And believe me, if I had a chance to look like Emmanuelle and act like a hardened gangster, I would.

Another plus is Daniel's descent in his own way to madness. It looked like he has his act together but clearly he doesn't.

He lost Zoe, he decided to steal tech from a competitor, that theft's come to light. He's losing his company, his team, as well as his family, and soon, probably his mind too. In the preview for the next half we see Daniel unshaven on the couch, even as in this ep we see that Joseph finally gets off the couch.

Everyone has hard choices to make and has behaved in shades of grey. I like that about this show.

What I would like to see/looking forward to finding out:
1. More Sam Adama, with or without his shirt. And what happened to his husband Larry?
2. More Tamara. How does she build a life in NCC? Can she get out? Does she and Zoe ever interact again?
3. More Lacy. She's killed people now. Even if Clarice survived, that bomb surely has killed other people. What does that do to her relationship with Keon and Barnabus? Does she go crazy too?
4. I hope Amanda survives, but how?
5. More Cyrus. More Tsattie. More Tauron life.

I don't mind giving a show time to find it's legs. The collateral material really interests me too: the podcasts with the frank discussions about budget, time, storytelling; and the composer's blog about how he creates the music which is another layer of the show.

It all adds up to win for me.

Caprica

I've been watching Caprica and below are just some not so coherent thoughts about it. I seem to be having some difficulty with coherence lately. Anyway

1. I have not seen Battlestar Gallactica but know about it, about the Cylons and that it has something to do with divinity, humanity, creation, and evolution. I have decided not to watch BSG until Caprica is finished.

2. Everyone's a shade of grey and there is no clear cut good guys or bad guys. It seems that Daniel Graystone is the hero but he's using stolen technology to create the Cylons and he's presenting them to his board of directors as a robotic, never tiring, yet sentient slave race. How is enslavement of sentient beings good? It's not.

3. Loving that some of the biggest players are young women: Zoe, Tamara, and Lacy. Both Zoe or Tamara are forging new by being these sentient and independent avatars. Granted neither one of them wanted it and it happened purely by accident. Shades of Buffy. But still, they're are paving the way for some brave new future. Willie Adama grows up apparently to be bad ass Edward James Olmos, but so far he hasn't had much to do.

4. The issue of culture, race, and ethnicity is explored with the Adamas being Tauron and the 2 brothers, Joseph/Youseef and Sam, taking 2 different paths to dealing with being of a minority culture that's looked down on.

5. Multiple sexualities are accepted: people are gay, straight, monogamously married, multiplely married and it's all accepted. Jane Espenson, one of the producers, has spoken about this elsewhere.

6. The amount of collateral and support material is amazing. on the Syfy website there's behind the scenes videos andThe Caprican blog written as if it's a real on-line paper for Caprica City. That's a serious amount of work. It just fires up my imagination. And the producers are doing a podcast for each episode. You no long have to wait for the DVD to get all the commentary and extras.

7. The visual style and technology of Caprica is a mix of 1930s, 40s, and 50s as well as futuristic computers and it's easily accepted. When Firefly came out as a mix of western and sci fi, people had a hard time accepting it.

8. Like Firefly and Dollhouse, Caprica's in the Friday night death slot. But at least with Hulu and other technology, I don't have to wait for the DVDs to watch it.

drugged up

This is what I've ingested today, all before lunch.
1. caffeine, the elixir of life
2. amoxicillin, an antibiotic for the oral surgery I had last week
3. antihistimine (Claritin) to counteract the hives that started yesterday as a result of the antibiotic.

Yet no breakfast. I should get something to eat because after lunch I'm supposed to switch to Benadryl for the hives.

And it's cold and rainy.

On the other hand, USA network showed "Serenity" and it made me fall in love with the 'verse again. I noticed things I hadn't before, such as Jayne's quote "as noble as grapes" which is such great dialogue.

I'm looking forward to the Wash and Shepherd Book comics coming out later this year.

In other TV news, a friend of mine has developed a show for American TV but her agent is also shopping it around in the UK. She's not sure if she can convert some of the race and cultural references for a British setting but I would guess they'd bring in another writier to work with her.

She's also applied to a screenwriting program at the Univ of California and has to pitch a movie screenplay. She asked her friends who our favorite actors and actresses are and I had to think about it.

There are shows I really like, like Whedon's shows, esp Firefly, Burn Notice, Leverage, and now Caprica. But I realize that who I really follow are writers, like Whedon and Jane Espenson. I like the blog Kung Fu Monkey because John Rogers posts about the writing process of his show Leverage.

That said, I did come up with a list of actors/actresses for my friend:
Christian Kane, Alan Tudyk, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, John Cho, Janeane Garafalo, Lucy Liu, Gabrielle Union, America Ferrera, Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey, Laura Linney, Daniel Dae Kim, Rodrigo Santoro.

ETA: Now on Benadryl and feeling a bit out of it and overheating. Fun. not.

Knitting Olympics 2010 done!

final dimensions: 30.5 inches by 30.5 inches.

yarns: worsted weight cottons held double.

needle: size 10 US

garter stitch with a crochet border

started Feb 12, 2010, finished Feb 26, 2010, 2 days before the deadline, which is the closing ceremonies of the winter olympics.

The friend I made the blanket for is expecting her first baby, a boy, in March. Her baby shower was Thursday night but I was too sick to go. She is supposed to be at a party I'm going to tonight, so I'll give it to her then.

Things that helped me get this project done:

1. big needles

2. being sick and staying home for 2 days. lots of knitting time when not napping.

3. garter stitch. so mindless, it's easy knitting even when woozy.

4. lots of TV. I watched 9 the movie about the ragdolls who come to life after the apocalypse. I watched almost all the episodes of Caprica to date on Hulu. I did manage to catch one episode on SyFy.

I missed the Battlestar Galactica boat but it's next in my Netflix queue. So I wanted to be sure to catch the Caprica boat. My favorite characters so far are Zoe, Lacy, Tamara and Sam. It's very much a character-driven drama in a sci fi setting, which I think is my favorite kind of show. Maybe I should start watching Fringe.

I'm not so much into the fighting and explosions. When I watched Buffy and Angel, I would fast forward through the fights. But pause and rewind if I saw them stop to talk. Never know when there'd be a bon mot, which is part of the joy of watching a Whedon show, the dialogue.

Future TV

Here's a post at io9.com called http://io9.com/5476760/15-upcoming-tv-shows-that-could-save-small+screen-scifi

The ones that I'm looking forward to are:

1. La Femme Nikita remake. I missed the Alias boat and would like to see a show headlined by a kick ass woman. And in this case, an Asian American woman! That would be reason alone for me to watch. The only other show I can think of where the main character is an Asian American, woman or man, is "All American Girl" starring Margaret Cho.

2. Undercovers. Again another spy show, with a wife-and-husband team. Boris Kodjoe plays the husband and he's one of my co-worker's eye candy guys. Notably Kodjoe is black. Between this and La Femme Nikita, the diversity of sci fi TV certainly has improved since the 1990s. I'm thinking of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Sliders which ran 1995 to 2000s. Even though the shows are set in California (LA and San Fran respectively) they barely showed any Asian Americans or Latino/as. How can you set a show in those places and not have a significant character be Asian American or Latina? At least the police procedurals have always known to have characters of color but sci fi is behind the curve. Where was I? Oh yes, Undercovers which is created by J.J. Abrams.

3. American remake of Torchwood. Loved the British original but if they don't keep Captain Jack omnisexual, then it's just not Torchwood, and then what's the point?

4. The Walking Dead. But mainly because it's set in Georgia and Atlanta where I live. I'm not really a fan of the zombie genre.

5. The Star Wars Live Action Show. Because I was born in 1970 and Star Wars is the defining movie of my childhood. It's what turned me onto sci fi which remains my fave genre.

6. Whatever Joss Whedon makes next.

Boy or Girl?

Other than the opening ceremony, I haven't really made the Winter Olympics 2010 appointment watching.

Here's a gem from Jane Brocket's blog about the Olympics that I thought I'd share:

There are also some phenomenal thighs and gloriously weird outfits in the speedskating events - and the added entertainment of trying to guess from looking at the competitors whether we are watching a men's or a women's event.

The friend's baby blanket continues apace. Picture to come when I get onto to circular needles so it will lay flat. Otherwise you can't really tell what it looks like.

The friend's baby shower is Feb 25, one week away. At this pace, I think I'll make it. It's cotton yarn, so my arms, wrists, and elbows certainly are feeling it.

On Feb 25, I also have jury duty. I keep looking at the blue, green, yellow, and white yarn and think crochet blanket. I also think "crochet needle easier to get past courthouse security than pointy needles."

Actually, I took knitting needles into a courthouse on Monday with no problem. But still, I saw a crochet blanket in the background on Shades of Ray (watched it on Hulu.com) and have it in my head to crochet a blanket. Never mind that I have 6 unfinished projects, all hiding under the couch. I counted when I cleared out my knitting basket to make room for the Knitting Olympics baby blanket.

Shades of Ray was a cute movie, starring Zachary Levi (Chuck on "Chuck") as Ray, a half Pakistani-half white guy torn between his white girfriend Noelle and a new interest, Sana, a woman who's also Pakistani-half white. She's played by Sarah Shahi, who was on the L-Word.

It's a romantic comedy, with things to say about love, marriage (Ray's parents get a pretty good story line and Sana's parents to a lesser extent), family expectations, race, culture and self-awareness. Fran Kranz (Topher on "Dollhouse") plays Ray's best friend Sal. Sal was Topher as a clueless guy who doesn't understand women.

After I saw Shades of Ray and saw the connection to the L-Word, I was at the library and saw they had season one, discs 1 and 2 of the L-Word, so that came home with me. Have yet to watch it, or season 1 disc 1 of Mad Men.

In other TV watching news, I'm watching Sliders on Hulu. I understand that season 1 and 2 are good, and 3, 4, and 5 not so good. Lucky me that only seasons 1 and 2 are on Hulu. So far the sociologist in me is enjoying the different alternate Earths they go to. What if the USSR won the Cold War? What if penicillin and modern medicine was never invented? What if, what if, what if?

It's also funny to see the mid 1990s fashions and the total lack of cellphones.