I saw the Avengers last night.  I wasn't originally planning to, but there was so much buzz about it, from so many different types of people, that I decided I needed to see it. (Helped along by the fact that I am currently being archery obsessive)

I loved it.  I mean, it's a comic book movie, there is no earth-shattering insight, or major cultural significance here.  It is nothing really but big hollywood commercialized escapism.  Which it does very very well.  It has all the pieces, which is why I think it appeals so widely.  It has a story, the plot isn't complicated, and it shouldn't be in a movie with so much going on, but it is there.  It's got characters.  Helped here by have several other movies in which to develop them, but amazingly they manage to clearly include the major character points within the movie its self in a way that is clear to people who haven't seen the others (I hadn't).  It has full-bore dramatic heroic moments, plenty of light quips, action sequences you can actually follow without the benefit of years play computer games, and meaningful interaction both friendly and hostile between all the various characters.  It looked cool.  It made you feel good.  The actors/actresses were hot.

Here is a movie that earned its record breaking money, not by doing one bit of movie making better that it had ever been done before, but by doing all the bits to a very high standard.  I will pay it the highest compliment I am able.  I drove over 100miles round-trip and paid full-price for my ticket, and I don't regret doing so at all.  

 For those of my friends who haven't seen my costumes from this year's Gallifrey One Doctor Who convention, or who want to see more pictures than I posted elsewhere, here you are.



( Costume pics! )

A bit of luck and some nudging by others (you know who you are) had landed me in a pretty good position to do two of River Song's costumes for the GallifreyOne convention in February. (There will be Con pictures in a later post) By a few weeks into the new year I had finished a set of boot covers so that I could used the same boots for both, and my vortex manipuator of which I was pretty proud. Now I just needed to create her blaster, as River just wouldn't be River without it.



( Process Pics behind cut )

That all makes it sound like I knew what I was doing, or that it went smoothly, but I futzed about with what bits to take off and put on for nearly two months.  I had no idea what glue to use, and ended up using about 5 different ones.  The clay had to dry over night, so I could only do small bits at a time, and it had to be glued on after it dried, despite being sticky when wet.  I was convinced it was never going to come out at all, had no idea what I was doing, and began to be crunched for time.  I guess that is why I am so very happy with it in the end.

 Birka was this past weekend, and overall it went very well.  Not the best ever.  There were some interpersonal dramas that put various people (including myself at one point) in less than perfect moods, but nothing dire happened.  I spent money like I haven't in a while, and got to see a bunch of good people.

From a project standpoint it was a very satisfying day.  Three of my recently finished projects made an appearance, to generally good receptions.  I was very happy with that, so thanks to everyone who told me they liked something.

( A few pictures of my projects at Birka )

 

( More pictures, info, and a question. )

 The last ditch efforts at completing projects for the Gallifrey convention have begun.  The latest one I have successfully finished is my vortex manipulator.  (Well also my hair piece for Birka, but I can get better pictures of that next weekend)



( Take a look at some more pictures. )

 My sister and her two kids are visiting my mother for the long weekend.  This was posted to her Facebook page today, and I had to share.  My niece is five and lives in Virginia.

"Chloe's response when my mom's roommate was telling her about how she knew MLK and marched with him... "You're Black???"
Thank you Martin Luther King for creating a world where my little girl has no idea that she should notice."

I have also just realized that the first president she will remember is Barack Obama.

 Well, I did finish watching the first episode series 2 Sherlock, and it was better than I had feared.  I also watched the second ep, and it was very good.  More on that later.

This is a post about thread.  Over New Years I went down to visit my sister, and came back with a sewing machine.  This machine is a sears machine is a cabinet and was bought by my father's mother, and used by my mother.  I am still getting to know it, but I think I will love once it starts to feel familiar.

But this is a post about thread.

See, the drawers of the cabinet were filled with thread.  Most of it on wooden spools, some labeled as 15 cents.  There are also several different types of plastic spoons, and a few made of styrofoam.  A small history of thread.  Neat colors too.  I just had to set them all out and take a look while I cleaned the machine and cabinet up.

Then I needed to share.

 I just sat down a watched the first 1/4 of the new Sherlock.  Entertaining, but I am remembering the inherent problem in basing anything on the Irene Alder story.  See, I just had this conversation with my sister over the weekend, about how neither of us like the kind of story where you can see the train coming and know there is no way off the tracks.  Nearly every Sherlock Holmes story is the antithesis of this.  Sherlock as a character is competence porn in the extreme.  When first reading the stories this makes the few where something goes wrong very surprising and rather awesome.  However, if you know the canon, any rewrite of A Scandal in Bohemia is doomed to be an exercise in 'I can't look!'.

 I am disappointed that this in one of only three new episodes.  I may have to consume this one in small chunks, and hope the next is more to my personal tastes.  I'll let you know what I think when I finish watching it.

 Well, it has been way too long since I posted something here, and I really have no excuse.  I check this account every day.   I just didn't have anything to say.  And after a while, any thing you might say seems way to dumb to break a long silence with. I'm just not very good at this.  I hardly even call my mother!

Still, I have been working on my sewing skills, and since this few weeks are all the winter holidays, I have needed to finish off the projects that were intended as gifts.  Here are some pics for you guys.


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