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We had a visit from Ma and Pa Snook today, who are in town for the GreenX gardening expo. They also had some presents for us. Since Rodd’s grandma recently went to live in a nursing home, she was giving away a lot of her old craft stuff. I scored dozens of knitting needles along with a sweet denim needle roll, a stack of old craft magazines and pattern books, and a very large, very heavy framed needlepoint tapestry of a naked woman reclining on a rug with a whippet. I am not kidding. (We’re hoping to hang it on the wall facing CouchCam.) But anyway, I started flipping through the magazines… and my jaw just kept dropping. For a connoisseur of tacky knitting like myself, this is a friggin’ treasure trove. I could just post one a day for the rest of the month and be done with NaBloPoMo. But for now, I’ve picked the very best one to start with. It’s from the November 1, 1972 issue of the Australia Women’s Weekly, and it’s entitled “How to make DOLLS and Dolls’ Gear”. You aren’t going to be believe this.

Yes, that is an “Island Doll.” He’s made out of felt but his skirt and “necktie” are knitted out of raffia. (Yes, he has a grass skirt.) I like the way they’ve set him up to leer at the Aryan doll. And are those white bits on his face meant to be a bone in his nose? It’s crazy how racist some of this stuff was.

There’s an almost-equally shocking Golliwog doll on the back cover that I’m saving for another day.

Woohoo! Lara just e-mailed to let me know that the Nike + iPod kits are FINALLY here in Australia! She’s got one (plus a shiny new pink Nano) waiting for me. Let the half-marathon training begin!

WHAT A WAY TO WAKE UP! I knew that the Dems had the House locked up and were close on the Senate before I went to bed last night… but to get up this morning and discover that Rumsfeld quit? It’s like Christmas! This nearly makes up for that horrible morning two years ago. Well, not quite. But it’s good.

Edited to add: And how did I forget about Indiana? We picked up THREE Democratic seats and now have more Democrat representatives that Republicans. That is UNHEARD OF. Not to mention that my own District 2 managed to get rid of Count Chocula! (Rodd e-mailed me yesterday saying: “Looks like Grandma Veva’s campaigning paid off!” My Grandma is an old-school labor union Democrat who wants me to move back so we can help Hilary with her campaign in 2008.)

Movember Update
The Snook is now over a week into his Movember effort and I think we’ve officially entered “scruffy lookin’ nerfherder” territory. He’s waiting for a bit more coverage before he shapes it though. My own November challenge – NaBloPoMo – is going well and I haven’t missed a day yet!

Guess the Logo. I didn’t do too badly, actually! The only ones that really screwed me up were Netflix (because hello? Not in Australia!) and eBay. My final time was 4:06:10.

FANTASTIC. Kevin just alerted me to the fact that Sam Elliott (aka my favorite cowboy and the man with the best ‘tache ever) will be playing Lee Scoresby in the upcoming His Dark Materials movies. That is so, so perfect. (I was also interested to read the bit about Iorek Byrnison being completely CGI. I figured they’d use computers for a lot of it, but I’m surprised they didn’t go puppet or anything for the close shots.)

Andrew G has posted a wonderful rant about some of the racist crap people have been spouting to him about this year’s Final 3 Idol contenders. (Namely, that they’re not “Australian” because Dean is originally from South Africa, Damien is from Ireland, and Jess is part Indonesian.) There’s also a pretty amusing picture of James Mathison getting down on the dance floor.

My co-worker Devvy pointed me to Crochet Me today. It’s sorta like the crochet equivalent of Knitty. Rock on, hookers!

Idol Roundup: I have to say, the thrill of the show has really gone for me now that Bobby is out. There’s just very little chance of being surprised anymore. The Final Four show was a classic example of this. Jess trilled like Mariah and made it look easy; Chris rocked out and had a good time; Dean warbled some “alternative” tween songs; and Damien falsettoed his way through a ballad. I’m really not fussed about any of them. I agree that the contest is Damien’s to lose at this point, but does anybody think he’d become a superstar? (Other than TallulahBelle, that is, who could clearly push his first album to #1 all on her own.) I’m still rooting for Jess, just because I identify most with her. But really, I’m not bothered much anymore…