Or..... What day is it?
We got in yesterday so we could ease into the convention. Not really happening. We have been busy since word go. I got my stuff in the art show on time (barely) and I feel pretty good about the critters I have put in there. Pictures soon I promise. Then we did have a pause since Caroline was quite happy in Childcare Peter, Ariel and I went to lunch and just sat down for a meal together. Since then I have been talking to folks, doing panels, and getting my Snape costume back in to shape for the Harry Potter Costuming panel I am on tonight.
I feel like I have been running a Marathon and it is only Friday (See I know what day it is). So I am taking a few moments for myself to regroup barring Caroline needing something from me.
But I am having a blast right now. I am catching up with old Friends and making new ones as well. So it's all good in the long run. Speaking of running, I now have to get to my next function.
I am grateful for elevators that work.
Or what is rapidly becoming DragonCon.
We drove and we are here.
More later.
I am grateful that we arrived safely.
Well I am behind further than I would like to be and still have a ton to do today to get myself reasonably caught up. Doesn't matter how hard I try to expand time, I know when we are leaving.
For those of you who have my cell phone number which is the same number I have had since 2000, it is still my cell phone number if you need to get in touch with me. We'll be down Thursday afternoon and leaving early Tuesday Morning. For those of you who need that number, e-mail me at either e-mail address and I will send it along to you.
If you are at Dragoncon and read this regularly, please say "Hi". I like to meet the people that read my web log. I posted my schedule a couple of days ago. I am still encouraging people to come to the puppet demo on Saturday (5:30 in Hanover F). I think it is going to be fun and I did put my VGA cable in my bag so I can use my computer on the nifty screen.
So now I have to find some stuff for the puppet demo, wash and pack clothing, find all the pieces to my Snape costume and finish up the dollies for DragonCon. Wish me luck because I'm going to need it.
I am grateful that I did get this far in my prep.
Happy Birthday Sean!
Well Mom now has two kids in their forties and two in their thirties. It is nice to have another sibling in my age group again. Now we wait for the rest of them to get here.
I was four when you were born. I don't remember much about the day you were born but I bet that Mom and Dad do. I do remember you as a little baby once they brought you home. We lived in Baltimore for a bit before we moved to Boston. I remember trying to teach you how to crawl and was so proud when you did. I though I had taught you something but in retrospect it was all you kiddo.
You were a great playmate. I know at times I was the bossy bigger sister but you went along with things. Remember our junk games? I'm living that all over with Caroline but this time rather than making the elaborate play place I'm picking it up. But it is fun to watch her create things like her animal picnic and trains.
You have always been creative since you were young. I love the fact that you remain so. Your brain works in funny ways and you can see solutions to creative problems really quick. You also have a great eye for how things go together and the potential for things going together. Your portable bar is a prime example for this. I would never thought of that trick to make my life easier. The stuff you did with J &A was pretty amazing too.
You went along with the TV shows and movies that I liked. Most of my friends were yours too even though there was 4 years between us. I brought you with me to functions with the science fiction club and just when the gang was hanging out. There were times I thought that they thought you were cooler than I was. I took you to Science Fiction conventions. There we both met people who are still our friends today (Wave Mike). Do you remember going to meetings of the Atlanta Science Fiction Club? I took you down a nerdy path and you geeked along with me. Which worked out for me since you learned to drive first so you drove us to conventions outside of Atlanta.
If you are into sports, I really don't know. You didn't play any in school other than gym and the softball games we played at Donnie's house. I can't remember if you sat down to watch football with Dad and me. I do know that you watched baseball with us. It is sort of nice that there are things about you that I don't know.
You have a brain the size of a planet and you know how to use it. You have never been embarrassed to admit to being smart. It's probably our parents' influence that taught us at an early age that we should always be proud of being smart. Brains were prized over brawn in our household.
You are a handsome lad. I never thought of you that way but both my straight and gay friends have told me so on more than one occasion. You have a lovely wife. Not a knock on anyone else you dated, but honestly I always liked her best. The two of you still make a really cute couple together. She gets the O'Shea Clan which I think is a prime requisite for joining the clan. We are a bit on the odd side of the fence.
So Happy 40th Birthday and many more to come.
I look forward to seeing you at DragonCon (hey I even posted my schedule the other day).
I love you Sean.
I am grateful that I got to watch Sean grow up.
This is where the season, for me, kicked into high gear. This episode just rocked for me on so many levels. I am so sorry that the conclusion is not going to be shown until I believe September 7th. It was kind of a sucky time to break the series.
Human Nature is based on the book by Paul Cornell which I read when it came out from Virgin Books. I thought it was one of the best Doctor Who Novels in the Virgin run of the series and it is one of my favorites of all the Doctor Who novels. This episode takes the book to the next level and what is nice it that Paul Cornell got to write this and the next episode.
Here we get to see David Tennant stretch his acting muscles as does Freema Agyeman. This is a very different episode of Doctor Who than we have seen up to this point. More of a character study with a menace lurking in the dark to up the stakes to a rather fever pitch before the episode ends. Of course spoilers behind the cut but I really ask to not discuss "Family of Blood" in the comments (Yeah I know it is hard to do).
I am grateful that I can finally talk about this episode.
I sort of had an unfair advantage going in since I read the book. I though that David Tennant did a wonderful job of making John Smith so human (a proper British Man and School Teacher) and he makes the Doctor so alien. I think you forget that watching him as the Doctor because the alien nature is really such good acting that it is in the back of your head but nothing calls it out into the stories unless it is in the script (like the first time Sarah Jane sees the TARDIS and then him). Freema Agyeman had, in some ways, the harder role. She had to play Martha fitting in with the society of the time which didn't treat servants the best.
I loved the instructions the Doctor left Martha with to make sure that he doesn't do anything he shouldn't. I also love her saying that he didn't cover all the bases and what should she do now. She knows that she had to do something.
I also like that we don't really find out what happened until later in the show. John Smith has a bad dream but until we see Martha's point of view, we only have the dream to try to figure out what is going on with the Doctor. I love the idea of the Doctor being in the watch. And that John Smith is a very real human.
Thomas Sangster gives a brilliant performance as Tim Latimer. The bright kid who plays dumb because he is picked on by his upper class mates. The way the older boys were treating him was not out of line for what happened to the younger kids at these sorts of schools. Harry Lloyd did a great job as Baines. Both as the human bully and as the alien inhabiting him. I didn't see Robin Hood until after I saw this so the Will Scarlet connection when backwards for me. I see a great future for both of these young actors.
Overall I almost screamed at the end of the episode knowing I would have to wait a week until the next one. Unfortunately the American audience has to wait a little longer.
We are back in our home. I was so glad to sleep on our bed last night. Peter and Ariel went to the Ducks game last night. We watched "Masters of Science Fiction." I missed Harlan's cameo but it was pointed out to me later.
Today I could have gone to Foxwoods for the day. But due to a long sit my back is not in the best of conditions, I didn't feel like sitting for about 5 hours total. So instead I am going to take care of some things that need to be taken care of.
I am starting to get ready for DragonCon. I am packing up the stuff I need for my panel on Puppetry. But for those who want to know what I am doing panel-wise I have my schedule. (Which I am putting behind the cut to save those of you who really don't care)
I have a lot to do but I think I can get it done in time but it is gonna be a close thing.
I am grateful for extra time.
Friday, 4:00 PM (YA)
Villains and Bad Boys of YA
You love to hate them...and you can’t get enough of them. From Severus Snape to the wizard Howl...they’re devious, they’re outrageous...and despite being monsters, they’re often all too human. Let’s discover why they’re so bad that they’re good.
Friday 8:30 PM (YA)
HP Costuming
Ever wanted a costume like you see in the movies? Ever wanted to see original costume creations from the books? Join us as we show you how to create the simplest to the most detailed costumes from the Harry Potter books and movies
Sat 5:30 PM (ART)
Fur, Fleece and Foam a Puppet-Making Demonstration
Puppetry is a renaissance on the American scene. From Julie Taymore’s the Lion King and Grendel to Avenue Q puppets are finding new audiences of all ages. Join Kathleen David as she demonstrates how various forms of basic puppets are created
Sat 7:00 PM (MOTF)
Star Wars: The Cultural Phenomenon
Why has the movie became such a phenomenon and so ingrained in pop culture? What socio/political factors contributed to the popularity of the movie and led to the creation of the most popular movie franchise?
Sunday 11:30 AM (YA)
From Page to Screen
Many YA fantasy and science fiction books have been turned into movies. We’ll discuss the process of how books become movies, what we liked or disliked about them, and those currently in development.
Sunday 2:30 PM (YA)
The Power of the Old Stories- Folklore and Fairytales in YA
Something old, something new, something borrowed and something Greek? Are there bits of Lord of the Rings in Harry Potter? Is the Bible in Narnia? Are there bits of mythology, folklore, and fairy tales in the popular stories of today
Mon 10:00 AM (MOTF)
Star Wars Kid’s Hour
Storybook Reading, Puppet Making, Lightsaber lessons, and flying disks
Drive wasn't bad. We spent a couple of hours at the Mystic Aquarium where Caroline fell in love with the Beluga Whales.
I am grateful to be home (for a couple of days)
Today is the last day of the conference. It has been a good time for all of us. Peter is having a blast teaching. Ariel is enjoying both her classes and spending time with her classmates. Caroline has been grooving on sitting outside and painting or sculpting with clay or playing with her toys on our porch. And I have been having a great time just being here. It is nice to slow down the noise for a while. I am starting to get antsy so I know that it is time for me to go back to the world I normally dwell in. But that is not a bad thing either.
Yesterday I took a seminar on the art of Translation from Cynthia Hogue and Sylvain Gallais. It was incredibly interesting and I will never look at a translated text the same again. We discussed the difficulties both text and culture that come into play when you are either translating or adapting a literal translation. I was grooving on pushing my intellectual muscles again. It was like dusting off a forgotten skill and bringing it back into play. At heart I am an academic. I was raised by academics and that is how my brain works best. This sort of conference is a great place for me to play and think.
Today Paul Levitz is coming to talk to Peter's class about comic book publishing and being published in comic books. It will be a nice capper to the week for the students. Caroline and I have a whole lot of crafty stuff planned and at some point she want to go to the playground and play (it just has to dry out from the massive fog we had this morning). Ariel has one more class and then I think is going to spend the afternoon with her friends playing games at the picnic tables. She sort of got the experience of a sleep-away camp with her family. Heck, they even have bug-juice in the dining hall.
I am so grateful to Jackie and her crew for having us at this conference. Y'all are great!
I never met her. I know a number of people who where good friends with her. I know a lot of people who took her classes or attended doll shows she was at. Susie O, as she was known, was probably the biggest influent to bringing art dolls to the attention of the main stream. Her books on doll making are what set me on a path that has been very interesting indeed. If I had not picked up "Anatomy of a Doll" in a book store back in 1997 there is so much in my life I would not have done. I wouldn't have taken the Wendy Froud doll course. I wouldn't have joined various doll groups on the internet that I now belong to. Something that is very dear to me would not be part of me if Susie O hadn't written that book and showed me the possibilities and potential in dolls.
She had been suffering from cancer for a while. This was not unexpected but still sad.
My sympathies go to Tom, her husband, and the rest of both her immediate and extended family and all those that her work touched. I know I am one of them.
I got more work done on the elemental pixies. I have all the clay work done. Today I think I am going to sculpt a Fairy Grandmother or two. If I have the time since it is going to be pretty busy today. I have a class that I want to take on translation this morning and we are talking about going to see something outside the compound today.
Last night I took Ariel out for Sushi at the hot local Sushi place. It was OK but the variety was very limited to basic rolls that everyone knows. Ariel and I prefer such places as Ru Sans where there are new tastes and textures and combinations to try. We then went to the local mall and finally scored a copy of "Lady and the Tramp" for Caroline. We poked around the Barnes and Noble for a bit and then came back. We were waiting for people to be done with the Master Class on "How to Market your book" to be done since parking was at a premium while they were there. I came back and had to parallel park which I had not done in a while.
Weather has been right nice the past couple of days. I think we may have rain today which will eliminate the garden tour we were possibly going on. If we do something like this again, I plan to do a little more research about the area rather than figuring out as we go along.
I am grateful for clean air and clean skies (little to no light pollution). Seeing the Milky Way again was a beautiful thing.
We finally got Caroline to the beach. Walking out to the water brought back a flood of memories including the feeling of the sharp shells beneath my feet and in the water which was rather cold. I remember going to these New England beaches and how amazed I was at how soft the sand was down in Florida. I had forgotten that until now. Caroline had a blast swimming in the ocean. Peter and I kept her safe but let her plunge in and out of the water like a seal. She then built sand mounds until it was time to come back to have lunch.
I have met lots of interesting people here. The faculty is rather diverse in many ways. What kinds of things that they write. What forms of publishing they have been involved in. Small press to large is all represented here. The participants are the same. We have housewives, CEO of companies, grad students, ex-Marines and Navy Seals among many other types of people. The connecting passion is writing and the written word.
Last night Peter gave a talk on first amendment issues and before him Charles Coe, the poet, talked about why writing matters. It was fascinating hear both men talk with the passion of a writer about writing and the responsibilities of writers to their readers. Also Charles has one heck of a singing voice. Peter and I spent a good part of the rest of the evening with a group of writers talking about whatever topic came to mind. It was fun and stimulating.
I am still very happy with the quiet and the opportunities that are being given to me. I have the clay done on 2 1/2 of the elemental pixies which are turning out a bit different than I imagined originally but I find them very cool. Now I want to finish the other 1 1/2 today and move onto the Fairy Grandmothers tomorrow. It has been a very productive week so far.
I am grateful for the people I have met up here.
Or rather my reflections on yesterday.
It is interesting spending a couple of days away from the constant stream of news that I tap into normally. I don't get the newspaper. I don't stay long on the internet. Mostly I post this and pick up my e-mail. So I haven't a clue what is going on in the world right now. And frankly right now in this moment, I don't care. I have birds and critters to watch. I have a cool breeze which makes it very comfortable to walk outside. I have lovely scenery and some beautiful gardens to look at. Still waiting to go to the beach since Caroline is digging her heels in something fierce about going to the beach. She likes the "hotel room" and the meadow around it a lot.
Yesterday Caroline and I sat out on our porch. I sculpted dolls and she played with watercolors and other crafty items. I got quite a bit done. It was a very pleasant morning for both of us. In the afternoon, I sat in on Peter's class while Ariel kept an eye on a very sleeping Caroline. Then she took Caroline to the playground and we all met up at dinner.
Peter had a signing at Newbury Comics in Hyannis, MA. He had 30 people for the signing and he signed a lot of store stock. It was an interesting group of people. I love the store. If I owned a comic book store that is so the way I would set it up. I got some "Scissor Sisters" CDs there too. No "Rogue Trader" so I am thinking I am looking at iTunes for that. We got back to find Caroline playing with her dollies and Ariel writing poetry which is the course she is taking up here. Peter and I settled in to re-read Watchman since he will be discussing it with his class on Friday.
Today is more of the same but we hope to add the beach to the list today. All in all, a very relaxing time indeed. There is also a small painted labyrinth that I want to walk today. I did a bigger one in Europe years ago and found it very enlightening. There are some gardens I haven't seen but have been informed that they are worth the short walk. So another day disconnected from the world at large and I don't think that is such a bad thing.
I am grateful for such peaceful and lovely surroundings.
I will be the first to admit that this was not my best packing job. Various things distracted me and a few vital things did not make it with us up to Cape Cod. Fortunately we are in Cape Cod not outer Mongolia so a quick trip to a couple of chain stores and we had what we need for the week.
The people running the writers conference are really nice. They have put together an impressive group of professionals to teach various topics that all have to do with writing. Peter is teaching a course on writing comics. He has his class stuff ready to go. Ariel is doing a poetry workshop with other kids around her age. I am going to get cracking on the dollies I want to make. Caroline is going to do what Caroline does best, enjoy the world and her place in it.
The word rustic comes to mind when I try to describe this place. It reminds me of various summer camps and a couple of retreats I have been on. There is no TV and the internet connection is in only one of the buildings. So my distractions have decreased quite a bit. Today I got some of the materials that I forgot for my dolls. Tomorrow I plan to spend some time constructing them. I have a couple of great quiet places to go and sculpt for the next couple of days.
This place also reminds me a lot of my grandmother's farm that I probably have the strongest memories of out of all my siblings. It was nowhere near the sea but there is still a smell in the air that harkens me back to the farm. The place we are staying has a certain smell that also reminds me of the farm. There is also a clock in our kitchen that I can hear the tick of when I lay down in my bed. I could always wake up on the farm and listen for the sound of a clock ticking.
Also the glasses we have are just like the ones up on the farm. Every time I take a sip of water, I remember the rules for water at Grandma's that I learned at a young age. Never drink the tap water. The drinking water comes from the well and you have to have an adult use a specific ladle to pour a glass for you. The water bucket always had a towel over it to keep the bugs out of it. I can remember when I finally was strong enough to pump water from the well. That was a personal triumph for me.
Caroline is having a blast. There is this foldout chair that turns into a bed that she is using for her bed. (Like the blue chair you had/have Sheila.) She has figured out that she could put it into quite a few configurations and which of the configurations are practical.
We couldn't convince her to go to the beach today but considering all the traveling she was doing, I can't really blame her for wanting to stay in one place for a bit. I think we are going to convince her to go with us tomorrow. We have a private beach to use which is a really nice set up. Between that and the meals, this feels like summer camp for adults but in a good way.
I am grateful for my found memories of my time on the farm.
We're here. It is very nice. Kind of throw back in time. No TV and limited internet.
It is just nice right now. More on this later. I need to unpack now.
I am grateful that we made it in good time.
This is going to be rather short since I have to finish packing for Cape Cod and have some errands to run before we leave this afternoon. The cats need food and the cat sitter needs litter and some food.
This is a ticking clock episode. 42 minutes to save the ship and figure out the mystery. For the most part it worked for me. Peter did see the problem coming a mile away but then he is a professional writer. There are some interesting phone conversations between Martha and her Mom. I can almost see why Martha's Dad left considering the pressure that her Mother tried to put on her. Good acting all the way around. And Mr. Tennant gets an award in the tall, thin and tortured category (I am figuring there are going to be about 8 of you who know what I am talking about). So good one off. I did think that the commercials broke the tension that was being created.
However next week is when it gets kicked up to the next level with a delightful script by Paul Cornell called "Human Nature."
Remember that there will be spoilers in the comments and but only to 42 no discussion of the next episode please.
Also I haven't any idea how good my internet connection is going to be for the next week so if I go quiet, it's not anything dire.
I am grateful for packing quickly.
I have been a fan for most of my life and involved in fandom since about the time I was 12. That's a lot of time spent with other fen. I have been involved in a number of fandoms over the years. I am even still involved in some. Others have become either less interesting or more frustrating over time.
Now the Internet has given the fan access to a lot that we did not have when I was a young fan. One can communicate with people who share your interest all over the world. You can talk about the latest episode/book/movie almost instantly. In some cases discussions are being run while the TV episode is being aired. The Rumor mill is much more prolific than it was when I was starting out. You can get stills and little videos instantly. You can feed your need for fandom in more ways than there are hours in a day.
I have seen fan folk do some pretty amazing things over the years. I have seen massive amounts of money raised for charities. I have seen a group of like mind folks come together and support one of their own even if the only reason they knew the person was through fandom. I have even seen fans band together and work to get legislation enacted which helps the community. I have also watch fans bring their shows back from the mostly dead/all dead. Fan energy is an amazing thing to see.
Fan energy can be rather destructive too. I have seen people leave the internet except for business purposes because of some fans. I have seen professionals decided that dealing with their fans at conventions is OK and kinda fun but every day is a little much to handle. I have also seen professionals having to deal with fans who set up their fan clubs for them and then use those fan clubs for their own gain not the professionals. I have seen fans just savage other fans because they don't agree with their version of fandom. I have seen people who did something stupid just torn a new one by fans to the point of absurdity crossing into their personal lives and even professional lives.
There are also those who become well known in fandom for being a fan or Big Name Fans (BNFs). Some of these BNF became professionals and therefore are no longer BNFs. Others revel in their status and title and hang onto the reason that they are a BNF with every ounce of strength that they have. Some aspire to be a BNF. (I was probably heading that direction when, through a rather nice twist of fate, I went professional.) Others claim the title only to find that it is one that is given not taken. In some circles of fandom BNF doesn't carry such a nice connotation. It is almost a swear word. Some fandoms hold their BNFs in holy reverence. That's almost as scary as the swearing group. When a BNF does something stupid, the reverberations through their form of fandom can be amazing to watch. I have watching entire groups dissolve over this sort of thing. Flame wars and trolling seem to run rampant when this sort of thing happens. Once the smoke clears, it seems a little absurd that this much energy was spent on this.
But then to many the amount of energy that fans spend on their fandom(s) is rather absurd. They don't "get" fandom in the science fiction/fantasy forms but ask them about their favorite sports team or their special breed of dog/cat/ferret and they are off into the races with their favorite things to talk about. I think everyone is a fan of something. And for the most part that is a good thing.
I am grateful for various forms of fandom.
If I get up before the rest of the household, I have a little bit of time to myself. I take the time to take care of those things that are best done without interruption. I also clean a lot since I have a shot of doing it without protest from someone.
It also gives me sometime to think. This morning my mind went to a puppet problem that I have now solved and once I can use the sewing machine I can execute the solution. This one had been bother me most of last evening in trying to get something to work right and I had to make a couple of parts over since I tore up the first set by having to use my seam ripper too much. I went to bed rather frustrated but this morning I figured out what I need to do to get the puppet to work.
I also think about the day ahead. What needs to get done and what would be nifty if it did get done but the world is not going to end if it doesn't. Today we have a few obligations but not a ton. Tomorrow is when the world cranks back into high gear as we get ready for the Cape Cod Writers conference. I am thinking of today as a finishing day for about 5 objects for DragonCon. I know what I want to do for some others and hope to have a majority done by the end of next week.
And here comes Caroline which means my day starts to crank to the next level.
I am grateful for quiet moments.
I have some puppet patterns I have sorted out for me and used for years. I have made alterations to the basic patterns to make different kind of puppets. On occasion I will freehand something that I have no idea how to make and out of that I will sometimes get a whole new pattern. I don't sell my patterns because to explain how I put them together is a workshop in itself. I tried writing up the pattern for one of my puppets but there were a couple of things that I just couldn't figure out how to tell someone else the tricks. I then thought about maybe taking pictures of the puppet building so there would be a visual. I might get around to this but not anytime soon.
I also notice some bad habits I find myself in. Patterns that are detrimental to my wellbeing as it were. Some of it I swear is self-sabotage but that would be too simple an answer. Some of these are old patterns that I recognize and can correct pretty fast. Others are new or new versions of old bad habits that I try to stop as soon as I recognize the pattern. It took me many years to be able to do this and there are times I would like to go back and tell my younger self how to avoid some of these pitfalls but then without those learning experiences I probably wouldn't be me as I am today.
Then there are the good habits that I try to instill in myself and my child. I figure what I can teach Caroline now will last her a lifetime. She is getting better about cleaning up after she makes a mess. She brushes her teeth after she eats. She washes her hands after going potty. She also has learned creative habits from me. She likes crafting things and will spend time making it right. We recently got her non-drying clay (don't work we don't have rugs in the living room) and she has been experimenting with making figures with the clay. She takes her Diego animals (We checked they are not on the recall list) and puts them in front of her and looks at them intensely. Then she uses the clay to create the animal. She is not doing a bad job of it either.
I am grateful for the patterns in my life.
Woke up this morning after some really weird dreams including one that Peter and I think I can get at least a short story out of to find that the humidity that had been so oppressive yesterday seems to have passed through. It is quite comfortable outside right now. I may go out to work on stuff this morning just for a change of scenery.
There are new Muppet related action figures coming out over the next year including Master Replicas, which did the excellent Kermit. They are doing Animal this fall and then the Great Gonzo and Fozzie Bear. There is going to be a second Jareth figure this time with a Hoggle if you get the deluxe edition. There are also Dark Crystal figures in the works. You could buy a Jen on a landstrider and a Urac there maybe. There seems to be some confusing on that point. Then there are the Star Wars Muppet action figures that are only going to be available at the parks later this year.
In DVD news, Muppet Show Season two is out as is Dark Crystal and Labyrinth which I have talked about before. However Fraggle Rock season 3 will be out in September which I didn't know until this weekend. No news on the Muppet Show season 3 which I am betting is as tied up in knots as season 2 due to getting all the music rights cut lose.
Caroline is getting better about swimming. She is finally learning to breath so she is not just able to go on just one breath. She still needs to work on keeping her legs up while she is swimming. Right now she is setting up today's toy adventure. Diego and the animals are going to go on a trip with the dinosaurs on the pirate ship to visit the princesses. It is so much fun just sitting here and listening to her running dialogue. My child amuses me greatly.
DragonCon is shaping up for me. I will be doing the puppet lecture/demo as well as programming for Star Wars and Young Adult. So far I don't think I have anything that conflicts with anything else. So if you are going, that is where I will be found. With the construction in the Mariotte, they have had to shuffle some of the rooms around which should make for some interesting times in finding where programming is. I am looking forward to the convention.
I am grateful for lovely summer mornings.
For this one we are back on Earth and we learn a little more about Martha and Martha's family. This is one of those Doctor Who mysteries which also has repercussions into the end of the season. The quest for eternal youth is one that has been used in our mythology and literature since probably the beginning of storytelling. This time it is told with technology as the catalyst and of course something goes wrong because something always goes wrong in these sorts of stories.
Again we are not in my favorite episode territory but after the Daleks last week, I found this much improved. The monster is pretty well done with CGI. I would almost be scared to see what they would have come up with if this had been shot in the Tom Baker era. It is also nice to have another glimpse of Martha's family and the dynamics within the family. Her sister seems upwardly mobile but a bit clueless. She reminds me of other pretty young things that get promoted and then panic on whether they can do the job they were hired for.
I am grateful for sleeping cats.
Mr. Saxon is mentioned and just keep that in the back of your head. It becomes more important later (remember no spoilers past this episode). Martha's mother is quite a pistol. She is very protective of her children and you can tell that she is also proud of them. The casting of Martha's family is just brilliant. I could see this set of people being a family.
The transformation into Monster is an old theme in Doctor Who. In this case it is again human's meddling with forces that are beyond them. And the Doctor is there yet again to tell the humans how stupid they are being. And we have the mad scientist not seeing the harm in what he is doing. This is kind of a by the numbers episode of Doctor Who with a few twists along the way.
The dialogue is strong especially some of the exchanges between the Doctor and Martha. I will give this season two thumbs up for good dialogue even in so-so episodes.
Next week the Doctor has 42 minutes to save Martha and then we are onto the really good stuff.
I found out that this series of programs I have been seeing are collectively called "Muppets, Music & Magic: Jim Henson's Legacy" and this is a touring show. You might not get the same people I saw, but you do get people involved in the Henson Foundation and the Jim Henson Legacy doing panels and commentary on these films and shorts. Also out of the Smithsonian comes a touring show that is opening in Little Rock Arkansas in September and then appearing all over the United States for the next couple of years called "Jim Henson's Fantastic World". You can find out more about it on the Smithsonian Website, Jim Henson Puppet Tour So there are a lot of chances to participate in Muppety goodness.
A piece of luck for me that the Muppet Historian was someone that Peter and I have known for a while so I had an in to meet some of the people I hadn't formally met before. I got to talk to Dave Goelz and Kevin Clash about puppetry and improve. I talked to Jane Henson about puppet preservation and what is potential going on at the Center for Puppetry Arts which, if it goes through, will be the largest permanent collection of Jim Henson's work ever seen. It was also nice to talk to fellow puppeteer that had nothing to do with the Muppets other than having known the Henson clan for years. A very pleasant day over all.
One of the highlights had to be during the Henson Legacy Panel, Gonzo trying to get Elmo not to talk in third person. Elmo explained to Gonzo that Elmo was contractually obligated to talk this way to the point that Elmo gets paid by the "Elmo". Dave and Kevin just played off of each other beautifully and Fran got Zoe into the thick of it too. Gonzo wanted Zoe's phone number so he could call her later. The audience loved it and you could tell that the puppeteers were having fun.
Today I need to get rid of this lousy headache I have probably from the perfume that the woman two rows in front of me was wearing during Labyrinth that caused my allergies to go into overdrive. My sinuses are still upset with me. Then it is onto doll and puppet making for me.
I am grateful I went to this function and more grateful that my husband convinced me I should do to.
The Muppet Fest in Huntington is very nice. I have met some of my fellow puppeteers there. Fran Brill (Zoe) introduced "Dog City" and took questions afterward. I think she was happy to get a couple of puppet questions in terms of operation and how she got into the business. David Goelz (The Great Gonzo/Dr. Bunsen Honeydew) introduced Dark Crystal and took question afterwards. He commented that he hadn't seen the film in a while and didn't really know when he was doing it how much Fizzgig was in the film. He thought of it as a throw away character but now having seen the film again he realized how central that little fur ball was. He also told us about the puppets. These were before radio controlled servos so everything was done with cables. It took 6 puppeteers to operate one Skesis, two inside the puppet and 4 outside the puppet to get all the expressions and "life" of the puppet. It was doggone interesting. The only spoiler of the evening had to be a fan that said he wrote a sequel to Labyrinth and wanted to discuss it with David. I give big kudos to the staff at the cinema for shutting this guy down quick considering how belligerent he was getting.
Today there is a discussion with various Muppet folk, a showing of commercials and Jim's really early work, and Labyrinth. Should be fun.
I am grateful that I went yesterday even with the weather.
First, Caroline is doing much better this morning. Her hand is almost back to normal and she says that it doesn't hurt anymore but it does still itch.
I am going to go do what I can at the Muppet thing in Huntington. Who knows who I might run into and it sounds like fun. Most of what I want to see is in the evening anyway. So if things work out I'll be seeing Dark Crystal tonight and Labyrinth tomorrow night.
The Muppet Show season two is finally out. It is not a spiffy as the first set. For one thing the pop-up Muppet facts is gone on this one. But it does have some interesting stuff that I have not seen before including a Valentine's Day special that was sort of the start of the structure of the Muppet Show.
Speaking of "Labyrinth" and "Dark Crystal", I have seen the newest DVDs with commentary by Brian Froud are out in some places. There are a couple of other bonuses as well including some new footage of film tests and concept sketches and the like.
It's cooler today but it is also raining and probably will be for most of the rest of the day into tomorrow. Not that big a deal if I didn't have to go out and do stuff in it. I have a doctor's appointment today where I hope to discover why my sinuses hate me. Then I need to get over to Huntington and pick up my tickets for the events I want to see and see if anything is left for the gala. I need to reconnect with my inner-Muppet.
I am grateful that Caroline's hand looks so much better.
We saw her Doctor.
Looks like a spider bite (two puncture wounds) so we are giving her Benadryl to counteract the reaction and we'll see where we are tomorrow. It hasn't gotten any worse than it was this morning so that is a good sign.
Thanks for all your good thoughts. I appreciate them.
I am grateful that this is no more than it is.
Last night Caroline came to me because her hand hurt. It looked like she jammed her finger and I had her dip it in cool water and gave her some pain meds. This morning her whole left hand is swollen and I can now see a puncture wound just below the lower joint of her finger. So this morning is going to be about a visit to the Doctor to find out what we need to do for her.
More as I know more.
I am grateful that Caroline showed me her hand last night so I have a better idea when it happened.
This weekend the Huntington Cinema Arts Center is having a Muppet weekend with lots of interesting guests and various showings of all things Muppety. There is even a special gala on Saturday night which includes a showing of Labyrinth which I haven't seen on the big screen in quite some time. There are a couple of things I would like to do on both Friday and Saturday and I may go.
Now the other shoe is the stuff I need to have done for DragonCon which the list is not getting any smaller at this point and I am going to lose a week to the Cape Cod Writer's Conference or rather I am going to not be able to do as much during that week. I also need to work on my presentation for DragonCon since I want it to rock more than it did last year. I did get some basic bodies done for the pixies yesterday but today I want to break out the polymer clay over and get some heads, hands, and feet done. If I can get the basics on the bodies done before we go to Cape Cod, I can stitch the costumes for the dolls while at the Cape.
A side note on the DragonCon Panel for the Art show. It looks like I am Saturday at 5:30 in Hanover F pending TPTB approval of the schedule. This also means that I have my full schedule for DragonCon as soon as I put the pieces together. I think that is a record.
I am grateful for getting things done in a timely fashion.
Before I get into one of my rants, a bit of other news. Yesterday I did something I hadn't done in a while. I auditioned for a puppetry gig for a company that makes videos to help speech teachers. If I can get the voice where they like it, I have the gig. It was interesting since I did the auditions with several of the potential human lead for the series. It was a very well built puppet and fun to operate. I hadn't operated a puppet that long in a while. Fortunately my shoulder doesn't hurt this morning. It was fun. If I get the gig, I'll be shooting the first part of it in September.
Now the rant, which comes out of a couple of discussions on various boards on a variety of subjects (puppet building; doll patterns; costuming mostly). It started on a doll board with a women who makes incredible dolls and also teaches doll making at various venues. I have admired her work before I knew she was part of this group. She had ordered some patterns and instruction books from some other doll artists that she admired to try to learn some more about doll making. Now this woman created patterns so if anyone is going to be able to work through directions, it is going to be her. She is rather disappointed that the information that she needed to create a doll that looked like the ones the pattern was suppose to make was no where to be found with in the instructions. Now if you buy a pattern (and theses patterns aren't cheap) don't you expect to be able to make the doll that is pictured?
Some puppeteers I know are very giving of information on how they did things and some will tear you a new one if you touch their puppets and try to figure out how they did something (this even if they handed you the puppet to operate for them). How I make my puppets is no secret. In fact I am doing my puppetry demo/lecture at DragonCon again this year but I am expanding on what I did last year based on some feedback and questions I got from the group. But if I buy a puppet pattern from someone, I expect to have all the information I need to create or recreate the puppet that I am buying the pattern for. Again these aren't cheap but I am willing to pay for the R&D that went into the pattern if I can make puppets with it. I do have a slight problem with having to pay for two patterns. One for the foam and the other for the fleece considering how much I am paying for one pattern is a bit excessive (like $100 for one puppet pattern when all is said and done) and it is still missing a technique to complete the puppet that I already know because I have been doing this for as long as I have but someone just starting out is going to be in a real bind.
There was a complaint on a costuming board about a corset course she was taking. She paid the money and expected to be able to make a corset by the end but apparently this was the first of two classes she needed to purchase to complete the project. Now I went back and read the information on the class and I would have to say that unless you read between the lines, it seemed to me that you should be able to make a full corset after finishing this course. The person teaching the course did agree that what was written was not clear and blamed the parties who set up the course for writing the copy. She did give the woman the second half of the course for cost to the designer so that turned out OK. But it still annoyed me that this was not one course.
If you agree to teach something to a group, then just teach it. I consider it bait and switch if the participants aren't given the information needed to create the example given for what the class is for. Super secret techniques are fine to have if you say up front that you aren't teaching how you do that and it does not affect the final product. Besides you are probably not the first to figure out how to doing something that way and you won't be the last.
I am grateful that I took Wendy's doll-making course first since she is perfectly willing to explain how she does things and she explains things well too.
The last time I saw the Police was back in 1983/4 during their Synchronicity tour. With a few exceptions, that was the last time a lot of people saw them on tour. They had an energy and a sound that just clicked with me at the time and I found out last night that it still does. I remember why I like the band so much and rediscovered songs that I had thought I had forgotten the lyrics to.
Getting to the show was a bit of a pain. I missed out on tickets for Madison Square Garden but Best Buy was doing a lottery kind of thing if you were a best rewards member for tickets to the show at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. I managed to luck into one ticket. For the record I HATE driving in Manhattan. I can do it but it is so not my favorite thing to do. I got stuck for about 30 minutes trying to get to the Lincoln Tunnel as I watched the lights cycle and no one going nowhere. I ended up getting out of that situation and allowing the GARMIN and some blind luck lead me to the only lane that was moving at a reasonable rate into the tunnel. Back was not as bad except for the double-parked cars/taxis/trucks.
Once at the show, I started having a better time of it. I had a great seat on the floor about 20 rows back from the Stage and pretty much center. I got dinner and sat back and listen to the two bands that preceded The Police. Fiction Plane was pretty good. They had a sound that I would like to hear again. I didn't find out until about half way through their set that the lead singer and bass guitarist, Joe Sumner, is Sting's son. I should have known but it was probably a good thing I was judging them on their own merit rather than by their parentage. The Fratellis did a pretty good job as well and again their sound was pretty good too. They did play "Flathead" which is probably the song they are known best for in the US.
Then the Police took the stage and the crowd went wild. Of the three, Andy Summers looks the worst for wear. I am starting to think that the rumors that Sting is a vampire are true. Stewart Copeland's hair color changed but he still is one of the best drummers in the business. They played both the well known and the bit obscure of their play list. I got to hear all the things I wanted to hear on my list so I am happy. Sting had the audience sing along with him on various songs especially the call and response ones. They put on one heck of a show.
The audience was a real mix of young and old and just about every age in between. You had grandparents bringing their grandkids to the show. You had people who where fans of the Police back in the 70s ad 80s and people who discovered them after they had split up.
To the poor woman who was there with her overly friendly friend who was probably too drunk/drugged to remember much this morning, I give you lots of props keeping him under control considering how out of control he was. My personal favorite was when you "accidently" spilled his drink and made sure he downed a bottle of water instead. I hope you made it home safely.
To the lovely couple to my left who drove up from Philadelphia, it was nice to meet you. You are a really cute couple and it was nice that she came up with her man to see a group that he loved so much as a lad. You both looked like you were having fun.
To the couple to my right rather the male half of the group. Dude, I am sorry that Lurch decided to buy the seat right in front of you which did make it hard to see the stage for you but his girlfriend was shorter than your wife and I paid quite a bit of money for the seat and the little area in front of me so I can see the show two. Pushing into my space does not endear you to me at all. You were lucky that there were two empty seats next to me (which kinda sucked because I would have LOVED to bring Ariel to see this concert) that gave me a little room to breath. Also your perfume (I refuse to call anything that flowery cologne) was rather over powering in an open-air stadium.
To all the people who lit up to get lit up during the concert. I really don't remember that happening back in 1984 but then there had been a big crack down on pot smoking at concerts back in the late 70s. My eyes are so not thanking you this morning. I have hard enough time with cigarette smoke but this just sent my smoke allergies into overdrive given me one of the worst sinus headaches I have had in a long time which made the drive home interesting to say the least. I could barely connect two thoughts by the time I got home. Thank goodness for Advil which took care of the pain so when I woke up this morning I was down to a dull ache rather than the skull-ripper I went to bed with last night.
To everyone at the concert that behaved themselves especially in the lines for the toilets, I thank you! Considering the condition of some the people there, it could have gotten ugly but there was a hive mind going about not being pushy so people kept their tempers in check. Many of those who had partied too hardy seem to have handlers who were keeping them out of trouble. And for those who just didn't get it, the security and state troopers made sure that they were not too disruptive to everyone else.
I am grateful that I saw this concert.
Well that can't all be gems and this episode isn't even a diamond in the rough. But you have to get through this episode to get to the good stuff. I had some concerns about the season but I was blown away by the latter half of the season. So hang on, this will become a wild ride.
I will give the casting director props for trying to get people who can fake or have an American accent. The Daleks continuity is good and fits in with the other episodes. And yes the Doctor does seem to be dropping his sonic screwdriver at the drop of a hat. I almost started a "how many sonic screwdrivers does the Doctor go through" count but it does sort itself out later.
This has a Caroline fear factor of not much. She likes the Daleks so she doesn't really find them scary. She was not too sure about the pig-men and hid behind Peter once or twice with them.
So not my favorite nor is next weeks show but next week is better and gets back to some basic Doctor Who tropes.
I am grateful for two working laptops.
So Martha has to yet again see if the Doctor is alive or if she has to do something about his being almost dead. (I see Miracle Max in the background by this point.) And the Doctor does do a good tall, thin, and tortured but every week? I swear his body is taking a greater beating than 1-4 ever took (OK 4 did take a lot of abuse so 1-3).
I think if the dalek/human hybrid had looked better I would accept the episode more but I just couldn't get over the make-up/design. What they were trying to do with the idea of morality and whose morality is the right kind of morality was interesting and does come into play later in the season. But I really couldn't make it the make-up.
That and the constant reset button that is the Daleks. Basically they have not changed since they first appeared in the 1960s. There is no growth or change for them. The stories show the possibilities that exist for change but like most Star Trek novels, there can be no true change. By the end of the episode a Dalek is a Dalek with the exception of the episode entitled "Dalek" but then he/she/it dies by the end of the episode so there is no change to the Dalek race as a whole. Cult of Skaro sounds interesting but when you get right down to it, they are no different than the Emperor Dalek.
Again Martha and the Doctor have an interesting dynamic. You can tell that Martha has one heck of a crush on the Doctor and the Doctor is still hung up on Rose. First time the Doctor has been this hung up on a companion who didn't die and for me it is getting a little old. Rose was a good companion but she was no Ace.
Which is causing inner ear imbalance and a couple of other problems. This time my doctor gave me a good ENT doctor to go see. I just need to make the appointments and go now. I should first, however, figure out our next couple of months for travel so I don't schedule an appointment the same time we are out of town. I am hoping that this course of action will finally sort this out because I am tired of having to deal with this every couple of months.
Peter and I went to see "Live Free or Die Hard" which we both wanted to see in the theater because those sorts of films lose something when they go to a smaller screen. It was a lot of fun. Made up for Die Hard 3 and any mistakes in 2 too. Great cast and wonderful absurd situations that you just have to turn off the logic circuit in your brain and not over think it. Justin Long (Mac from the Mac/PC commercials and Brandon from "Galaxy Quest") is getting type cast as a super computer nerd who is also cute.
Not much else got done. Today I want to start on the pixies first. I have to find some of my tools to get the bodies done and then I am onto sculpting. If I can get these and the Fairy Godmothers started this weekend, I'll be happy.
I will be doing the puppetry show and tell at DragonCon this year. Not sure of the time or the day but it is in the larger of the two rooms since I packed them out last year. Hope to see some of you there. Other tracks I will be doing panels for are Young Adult and Star Wars.
I am grateful for any day without waking up with a sinus headache.
My sympathies and good wishes go out to all effected by the bridge collapse. So far everyone I know from my various groups who live in the area have chimed in with the exception of one couple and I am pretty sure they were off on vacation camping this week so I am not worrying about them until I don't hear from either one next week since they are both obsessive web loggers. You know how you hear it could be worse? I really don't see how it could have been in terms of number of cars that were on the bridge since it was rush hour and this is/was a major artery. I am glad to hear about the school bus that DIDN'T plunge into the river and the other stories of people who made it out by the skin of their teeth. I think over the next couple days/weeks we are going to hear about those who didn't make it. They are still looking for cars and people in the river.
I had a good time with my friend Mary Aileen yesterday. We talked about a variety of subjects and shopped for fabric. I needed some stretchy stuff for the pixies' bodies so we went out to another fabric store that is a bit further away from me. Mary is a maker of Teddy Bears and other stuffed animals. She is really clever in her designs and she has done a number of science fiction based bears over the years. Currently she is working on a very clever Farscape set. Fur is something that makers of stuff animals tend to collect to the point where they swear they aren't going to buy anymore until they have used a majority of what they have collected except when they find a really cool fur that just sings to them. Mary Aileen found some two toned fur that really sang to her including one that she is going to turn into a teddy bear skin rug. Sometimes I feel like such an enabler. *Grin*
Peter and I went to see "Hairspray" last night. It is kind of funny going to see a movie that is a remake of a movie I saw in the movie theater about 20 years ago and on Broadway a couple of years go. Overall I thought it was really fun. The casting was amazing. I figured out why John Travolta sounded so odd to me. It had to do with the make-up and trying not to cause creases. It was nice to see Christopher Walken go back to his show-biz roots. He can still dance up a storm. Queen Latifa was wonderful as usual. And the kids were all good. I did have to reset my brain to stop thinking "Why is Cyclops (from the X-Men) playing a TV show dance host".
Today I want to get cracking on some stuff. Peter and I are talking about going to see "Live Free or Die Hard" since that has been on our list for while. We also want to see "The Simpsons" movie.
I am grateful for time spent with old friends.
One of the advantages of living in a smaller town where most of the businesses are not chains, especially the restaurants, is that you get to know the owners. One of our favorite places to get burgers is a couple of towns over but we have gotten to know the owners very well over the years. So much so that we are in line for tickets to the Long Island Ducks from them. They have season tickets right behind home plate and one row back. It is a great place to watch the dame from. The tickets they don't use or their kids don't use, they give to their customers so the tickets don't go to waste.
Last night was our night for the seats. Peter was running on just a little sleep and a bit of a nap but he made it through the game. Caroline got antsy around the 2nd inning and then again in the bottom of the 8th but she made it through the whole game. It is amazing what a single cup of chocolate ice cream can do to occupy a four year old.
The Ducks won by a score of 2 to 0. It was a pitcher's duel all the way. Good game to watch.
Today I am getting together with my oldest friend for lunch and probably some more fabric shopping. Tomorrow is another one of our running around days with the kids but we hope to get a movie in.
It is nice to be home again.
I am grateful for my local fabric stores.