Skeindalous

Life On Mars

Friday, November 07, 2008

I loved the original Life On Mars from BBC. It was one of my favorite series of all time, with the second best series ending (Six Feet Under had the best). It's about Sam Tyler, who was hit by a car while searching for a serial killer in 2006, he wakes up from the accident in 1973. Life On Mars is referencing the David Bowie song Sam is listening to when he's hit. Gene Hunt is a brutal cop, who absolutely stole the show. The mystery of what is actually happening to Sam Tyler was original and facinating. Is he dead, hallucinating in his coma or did he really time travel?

When I heard they were going to do an American version of the show I was appalled, I thought there was no way I would watch it. They announced that Harvey Keitel would play Gene Hunt, so I decided to watch. The basic story is the same, except it's 2008 instead of 2006. I have been pleasantly surprised by the show. The original is way better and they are still recreating episodes. But the recreations are very American, just like the original was very British. If you never saw the original I would think this would be the most original show and concept you will see. The cast is good, Harvey Keitel is a bit old for Gene Hunt, but he's Harvey Keitel and brilliant. Michael Imperioli even better than the British guy who played the same part, of a politically incorrect ruthless yet loyal cop. I highly recommend checking out this show (and renting the British version if you can).

Here's to Hope

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

I am absolutely thrilled about last night's election. This country stood together and said we need things to change. It seems that the last 8 years of insanity are finally coming to an end. I thought the John McCain that spoke last night was the one we all originally liked. He became someone else through this campaign.

It's funny how important this election was to people outside the US. Daren's dad in England stayed up until 3 am to watch the results. One of Daren's friends in England congratulated me on "my man winning".

Swaps

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

I'm am seriously annoyed with Swap Bot. I am getting flaked on a lot of the swaps, even the one I created myself. I must be masochistic though, I'm thinking of starting another swap.

Ruth is such an enabler. She convinced me to join Secret Pal 13. Hopefully the bloggers are better then the Swap bot users.

Putin's Dog

Saturday, October 18, 2008

I wrote about this on my business blog, but I thought I'd go into more detail here. Daren felt sorry for one of his Russian colleagues, Vlad from his company's Moscow office and invited him to our house party. Vlad fell in love with my black lab, Jezebel. He kept calling her Putin's dog and a good KGB dog.

Vlad was a hard core communist and just had all of our guests in stitches. He's a short pudgy guy, and was wearing a short workout type sweatshirt that said Superfit. His big gut would hang out a bit when he moved his arms. He kept making snarky comments about America and how we had ruined Russia with capitalism.

Part way through the night there was a big commotion and Daren had to break up a fight between Vlad and our friend Leny. Leny was getting married the following week and Vlad told Leny a real man would have better control over their wife. Leny's wife kept her maiden name and Vlad didn't approve. Vlad didn't help himself earlier in the night when he was bad mouthing the Polish, which he knew Leny's dad was.

I really wish I had pictures of Vlad from that night. It was surreal. Daren and I still occasionally call Jezebel Putin's dog.

6 Random Things About Me

Friday, October 17, 2008

Sam tagged me with the '6 Random Things About Me' Meme. Sorry Sam, but I just noticed a month later that people were actually commenting on the blog. I'm a bit slow.

Here are the rules:

Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Write six random things about yourself.
Tag six people at the end of your post.
Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Let the tagger know your entry is up.

1. I am terrified of heights, despite the fact I use to skydive and am a licensed pilot.

2. I've moved 21 times in my life, 7 times before I graduated high school. I have lived in 6 states; California, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Florida, and Colorado.

3. My dream in high school was to be a war zone photo journalist, I went to college as an English major, and I ended up working in the aviation industry for 10 years.

4. My parents knew each other for a total of 7 days, and were on thier 3rd date when they drove to Las Vegas and got married. They have been married for 38 years.

5. I have a terrible sweet tooth, that I'm trying to get under control. Candy and chocolate everyday is not good for the weight or health.

6. This coming Monday, Oct 20 is me and Daren's 1st wedding anniversary.

I'll tag other bloggers once I figure out if I actually know 6 bloggers.

I Knit London

Monday, October 06, 2008

Wensleydale Yarn
Originally uploaded by surfdonna

While in London I had to visit I Knit London. It wasn't quite what I expected. They "pub" part of the store is a cold case with bottles of beer. I guess I expected beer on tap and more of a pub feel. It was nice enough. I would hang out there if i lived in London. What they did have is a great selection of local English wool. I bought 2 skeins of Wensleydale (Like the cheese) Longwool. It's really pretty and a lot softer than some of the other British wools they had. There is a lot of yardage in 1 skein, 257 yards. On ravelry the only people working with it are in England, so I don't think it's available in the US. If I still like once I've worked with it I may have my mother-in-law pick up some more.

England Trip

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Our trip to England this year wasn't as eventful as last year. We spent more time with Daren's family then traveling. I did see more of London this time since we spent 3 nights there. The first night in London we went to see Daren's soccer team Fulham play. It was fun, but he said I couldn't bring my knitting because of security and I think he was right. I have never seen so much security at a sporting event. I only took a couple of pictures, because they will kick you out for taking pictures. We didn't take many pictures. I check out the few pictures I have on Flickr.

I did make an amazing yarn related discovery while in England. There is a department store called John Lewis, that has a large selection of yarn. It's like going to Macy's and finding a yarn store inside. They carry nice yarn as well, Rowan and Sublime. The british based companies were about 20-25% cheaper then in the US. Noro and Mirasol were double the price. I ended up buying a Rowan pattern book that I couldn't find around here and some Organic Merino from Sublime. I may get my mother-in-law to bring me more Sublime when she visits in December.

My First Swap

Friday, September 05, 2008

I started a swap on Swap Bot. It's not craft related. I want new running music, so it's for a running mix cd. Hopefully there are other runners on Swap Bot.

Here's the link: http://www.swap-bot.com/swap/show/21285

McCain's Running Mate

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

I'm a bit of a political and news junkie. I don't want this to be a political blog. However, I have to say, I am happy with McCain's choice for a running mate. I'm hoping this is a major screw up for McCain. He has been questioning Obama's experience, but he places this women just steps from the presidency. At his age, there's a really good chance she could end up having to lead the country.

I received the following email from MoveOn.org.

August 29 was John McCain's 72nd birthday. If elected, he'd be the oldest president ever inaugurated. And after months of slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people.

Huh?

Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:

She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.
Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.
She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000.
Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.
She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.
She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.
How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.

Friendship Afghan Swap

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

I'm getting concerned about an afghan square swap on swapbot I'm participating in. I was told by my first partner that my squares are the best ones she has received. I want the square I get to be like the ones I've sent! If I'm sending the best ones, what does that say about what I'll be getting back?

An Eventful Sunday

Monday, August 25, 2008

I actually finished a sweater for the ravelympics. I started Snow White at 6:15 am on Aug 8 and finished her Aug 24 at 8:45 am. It was just in time as the cutoff time was 9:59 am. This is the quickest I have knitted a sweater.

There was a tornado here in Parker near the Pinery. Daren took pictures from our back deck. It was about 5 miles from the house. I never wanted to see a tornado that close.