Homemade Samoas! Those look soooo good. And seeing as how we don’t have Girl Scout Cookies over here, those are pretty much the only way I’m gonna get any. I may have to try this. (Link courtesy of not martha.)
Month: January 2008 (page 1 of 8)
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
Okay, you* HAVE to go see The King of Kong. The Snook and I just got back from a special preview showing in Newtown. (I won some free tickets from Kinokuniya.) The movie is a documentary about a rivalry between world champion Donkey Kong players. I know, I know – supreme geekiness, right? And the movie doesn’t stint on showing you just how nerdy some of these guys are. We all had some good laughs at the start. (My favorite was the guy who plays Centipede with his FEET.) But then somehow in the middle, we really started to care about Steve Wiebe breaking the odious Billy Mitchell’s record. When he played the game at Fun Spot, people actually started applauding. And then to see the bitchiness with which it was taken away with him, and to see how his much his family and friends supported him and how much everybody wanted to see him succeed… It was just awesome. I even felt a bit teary at the end, and there was enthusiastic applause during the film’s coda. (Be sure to sit through the credits, which are pretty funny.) It’s like we all went in just expecting to laugh at the dorks – and ourselves – but instead it really did become much bigger than that. I’d recommend this film to just about anybody. It’s that good.
Quote of the night, from the Snook: “When they start playing Nick Cave when you appear in the movie, you know you’re the villain.”
Someone on AskMetaFilter is looking for stories of kids with superpowers. Man, there are some GREAT suggestions in there. I totally remember reading The Girl with the Silver Eyes in grade school. (She was telekinetic, right? And she ended up that way because her parents did some kooky LSD experiment in college? Or am I getting it mixed up with Firestarter?)
Ask a Korean. He’s Korean. He lives in America. He answers questions!
It’s time to start the Sixth Annual web-goddess Oscar Contest, folks! Here’s how it works: Just go the entry form and make your picks for the dozen award categories (and tie-breaker!). Whoever gets the most right wins a fabulous, one-of-a-kind sock monkey creation. After much deliberation, there really was only one choice this year: a Striking Writer Monkey. He’s union and proud, dammit! (And he’ll probably get the Oscar ceremony cancelled anyway.) He’s also kind of a hipster, for some reason. He features hand-knitted Converse All-Stars (which also function as baby booties, if you have a baby) and chunky black glasses (made out of Fimo). He’ll also come with his very own picket sign, as soon as I get some more ink for my printer. (If you want an idea of how big he is, check out this Flickr photo.) So go on, get enterin’! More pics after the jump.
Toe-Up Jaywalkers
These are my fourth completed pair for the Southern Summer of Socks (previously: Whitby, Retro Rib, Widdershins). The original Jaywalker pattern took the knitting world by storm a few years back, so I’m a little late to the party. I’d previously made a start on these a few months back but frogged them when I realized they were never going to fit over my ankle. (The pattern is notorious for its lack of stretch.) I later decided to use the toe-up mod instead, so I could better judge the fit and length as I went along. The yarn is Vesper Sock Yarn in the “Tartan” colourway, which I thought would suit the zig-zagginess of the pattern nicely. I knitted them two-at-a-time on two 2.75mm circs, and I used Judy’s Magic Cast-On to start the toe. (Note to self: Next time either use more than twenty stitches or space out your increases better to avoid toe pointiness.) The zig-zag pattern is actually really easy to do and takes two seconds to memorize, but it does make for some odd pooching where you switch from zig-zag to straight stockinette. The worst part of the construction was trying to figure out where to start the gusset increases; the pattern doesn’t really tell you so I had to guess and I ended up reknitting it three times. The reverse turned heel is very nice though, and it seems to be a good fit. I’ll give these an 8 out of 10! (Cross-posted to Ravelry and Southern Summer of Socks.)
The New Yankee Workshop drinking game. I haven’t seen that show in over ten years but this list is still funny to me. Man, I wish it was on here! The Snook has never had the exquisite joy of watching Norm Abrams make a Quaker rocking chair using $100,000 of laser-guided woodworking equipment… (Full credit to Patrick for the idea!)
An Angry Demonstration over this very website. (The little guy carrying the “Meat House” sign made me laugh.)
Comic Book Urban Legends. Fun! There are LOTS of them.
I read this “Last Man on Earth” Metafilter thread before bed last night, and then had post-apocalyptic dreams for eight hours. Let that be a warning.