I hope this means that knitting will finally loose its granny status with the non-knitting community. They are sooo behind.
More anti-girly knitting: The ANTI Craft. Most macaber in its creations.
Saturday, 26 July 2008
Free Rebel Knitter patterns
After paying for my shopping today I passed the newspaper stand at my local Sainsbury's and spotted the Guardian with a big ball of wool and the word Knitter on it. I picked it up and... YES! A free 12 pattern supplement + interview etc etc from Rebel Knitter aka Mazzmatazz. She is sooo cool. Anyway you can now score these patterns online too. Just go to the Guardian Guides Rebel Knitter site. Love the Ocimum mits.
Ocimum
I hope this means that knitting will finally loose its granny status with the non-knitting community. They are sooo behind.
More anti-girly knitting: The ANTI Craft. Most macaber in its creations.
I hope this means that knitting will finally loose its granny status with the non-knitting community. They are sooo behind.
More anti-girly knitting: The ANTI Craft. Most macaber in its creations.
Plurk-mania
I blame Miss V from Lime & Violet. In her last three podcast she and co-host Carin didn't shut up about it and I finaly checked it out. And yes, yes it is as expected the black hole of no return. Once you take the plunge you won't ever see daylight again. Well, sort of.
What I'm talking about? Plurking ofcourse. Yes, for all you Dutch people out there, I know it sounds like a scold word, but it's all very decent. Decent and all consuming. Plurk is like one giant message board. You post a thought or sentence and people can reply. The more people you know the worse it gets. And again we have Miss V. to thank for an unlimited source of knitting friends.
So why should you Plurk? Well I've made about 10 friends from all over the globe in less than 1 day. Which is great. Most of them are, ofcourse, knitters.. which is great too as we share an interest. It's fantastic to see others thoughts, share tips, progress on socks and other general knitting related talk. It's like having a community that is spread all over the world.
Find me on Plurk!
Yarn! It ties people together or better it show the ties that are there without us knowing. :)
What I'm talking about? Plurking ofcourse. Yes, for all you Dutch people out there, I know it sounds like a scold word, but it's all very decent. Decent and all consuming. Plurk is like one giant message board. You post a thought or sentence and people can reply. The more people you know the worse it gets. And again we have Miss V. to thank for an unlimited source of knitting friends.
So why should you Plurk? Well I've made about 10 friends from all over the globe in less than 1 day. Which is great. Most of them are, ofcourse, knitters.. which is great too as we share an interest. It's fantastic to see others thoughts, share tips, progress on socks and other general knitting related talk. It's like having a community that is spread all over the world.
Find me on Plurk!
Yarn! It ties people together or better it show the ties that are there without us knowing. :)
Friday, 25 July 2008
Beautifull Iran
We all hear about that evil country Iran on the news every so often. And I'm not saying that the news channels are at at fault. I'm sure that what they are reporting is news. However I would like to point out that in Iran there are countless of people like you and me just living their lives. That besides the political view there is another that of our fellow human beings.
No one shows this better than Ali Madjfar. This extremely good photographer tells the story of his country in pictures. His beautifull landscapes makes me fall in love with his country even though I've never set one foot in it. If the pictures take your breath away, how magnificent must the real thing be? Ali also has the knack of capturing beautifull arab architecture. The colours and shapes are stagering and speak of a sparkling culture. And that is only his Throughout Iran gallery!! There are others on Persia: the ancient Iran, Caves, People, Nature, Insects, Birds, Skies and temples... and more!
So for a new perspective visit Ali's site and get inspired!
Saturday, 5 July 2008
Cheap Jane Austen TV Films on iTunes
Last year ITV had a Jane Austen Season and showed three new adaptations and one older one on the telly. One of them I didn't like at all, one was oke and two where very good indeed. See my review below for more info. For all of you who already know all about any and every Jane Austen Adaptation I shall come straight to the point.
On the English version of iTunes (I don't know if other county versions have the same) you can get Emma with Beckinsale and Nothanger Abbey with Felicity Jones for a mere £ 1.98!!!!
To find these by going to the iTunes Store. Click on 'TV Programmes', you can find this in the top left menu. A new menu appears below the one you just clicked with 'Studio/Channels'. Find 'ITV' in the list and click it. A new page loads with all that ITV offers including the two Jane Austen Films. Hooray!!!
To be clear. After you bought the films you can only download them once. So download them to your home computer (not work as I almost did). After they are downloaded you can watch them on screen and/or place them on your iPod. Watch them as often as you like! I've watched Nothanger Abbey on my screen and the image was pretty much what I expected for a tv movie: not great, but by no means bad. I thought it well worth the money and now I've seen how good the movie is I'll be looking out for the DVD as well as I wouldn't mind having one version on my iPod for when I travel and one for watching lazily from the sofa.
The Jane Austen ITV Adaptations
There was the horrible version of Mansfield Park with Billie Piper who really didn't pull off the role at all. I'm a very great fan of Jane Austen Adaptations off all kind and not very critical at all. If it remotely resembles the story and people wear pretty froks I'm half on my way of being pleased. But with this Mansfield Park I didn't get much futher than half way as indeed the best thing I can say about this tv movie is just that: it remotely follows the story line of Jane Austen and there are girls in pretty dresses. Although to be fair it seems hard to make into a good movie from the story. The 1999 version of Mansfield Park is alright, but by no means great. And although I liked actress Frances O'Conner, she was rather too old!
And older adaptation they showed again was Emma with Kate Beckinsale. This adaptation I liked, but for some reason I had trouble liking this Emma. When Gwyneth Paltrow plays her, Emma has a certain sweetness over her that I also see in the book. Kate somehow doesn't have that, which makes me feel that her Emma is a little bit more stuck up and less remorsefull of her own actions. Nevertheless I bought the DVD and it's part of my collection and long over due a view.
The last film I saw last year was the new adaptation of Persuasion. I always loved the book and the film version of Persuasion (1995) with Amanda Root. The story is very mature and the new adaptation had a very fresh feel without sacrificing the familiar story too much. Ofcourse a tv film has only a certain amount of minutes to tell the story so it has been cut, but all in all I really loved this version and it's on my 'to buy list'. Actress Sally Hawkins did a good job!
The only film I missed out on last year was Nothanger Abbey. I felt really sad as I would have like to see a different version that the horrible 1986 Northanger Abbey in my collection. So when I spotted it at iTunes for a very good price I grabbed my chance. And what a relief... it's great. It has that fresh feel to it. The actress playing Cathrine, Felicity Jones, is great she has that fresh faced young girl feel to it, with an overactive sensual imagination which young girl so often have. I loved it!!
On the English version of iTunes (I don't know if other county versions have the same) you can get Emma with Beckinsale and Nothanger Abbey with Felicity Jones for a mere £ 1.98!!!!
To find these by going to the iTunes Store. Click on 'TV Programmes', you can find this in the top left menu. A new menu appears below the one you just clicked with 'Studio/Channels'. Find 'ITV' in the list and click it. A new page loads with all that ITV offers including the two Jane Austen Films. Hooray!!!
To be clear. After you bought the films you can only download them once. So download them to your home computer (not work as I almost did). After they are downloaded you can watch them on screen and/or place them on your iPod. Watch them as often as you like! I've watched Nothanger Abbey on my screen and the image was pretty much what I expected for a tv movie: not great, but by no means bad. I thought it well worth the money and now I've seen how good the movie is I'll be looking out for the DVD as well as I wouldn't mind having one version on my iPod for when I travel and one for watching lazily from the sofa.
There was the horrible version of Mansfield Park with Billie Piper who really didn't pull off the role at all. I'm a very great fan of Jane Austen Adaptations off all kind and not very critical at all. If it remotely resembles the story and people wear pretty froks I'm half on my way of being pleased. But with this Mansfield Park I didn't get much futher than half way as indeed the best thing I can say about this tv movie is just that: it remotely follows the story line of Jane Austen and there are girls in pretty dresses. Although to be fair it seems hard to make into a good movie from the story. The 1999 version of Mansfield Park is alright, but by no means great. And although I liked actress Frances O'Conner, she was rather too old!
And older adaptation they showed again was Emma with Kate Beckinsale. This adaptation I liked, but for some reason I had trouble liking this Emma. When Gwyneth Paltrow plays her, Emma has a certain sweetness over her that I also see in the book. Kate somehow doesn't have that, which makes me feel that her Emma is a little bit more stuck up and less remorsefull of her own actions. Nevertheless I bought the DVD and it's part of my collection and long over due a view.
The last film I saw last year was the new adaptation of Persuasion. I always loved the book and the film version of Persuasion (1995) with Amanda Root. The story is very mature and the new adaptation had a very fresh feel without sacrificing the familiar story too much. Ofcourse a tv film has only a certain amount of minutes to tell the story so it has been cut, but all in all I really loved this version and it's on my 'to buy list'. Actress Sally Hawkins did a good job!
The only film I missed out on last year was Nothanger Abbey. I felt really sad as I would have like to see a different version that the horrible 1986 Northanger Abbey in my collection. So when I spotted it at iTunes for a very good price I grabbed my chance. And what a relief... it's great. It has that fresh feel to it. The actress playing Cathrine, Felicity Jones, is great she has that fresh faced young girl feel to it, with an overactive sensual imagination which young girl so often have. I loved it!!
Friday, 4 July 2008
Visit to Canterbury
Ever since I moved to the UK two years ago I wanted to go and see Canterbury. This because it's not to far from where I live and well because of the fact that:
Ever since I learned about Chaucer and his Canterbury Tales in English lesson at school.
So we decided to go during the Christmas break of 07, but we didn't because my boyfriend got ill. Then we decided to go during the May Bank Holiday in 07, but we didn't because I got ill. There where a couple more half formed plans after that, that never worked out due to unexpected (family) events. So when this May Bank holiday came up and my boyfriend mentioned going to Canterbury I decided not to get too excited about the idea. But the day came, we went and it was a superb day out indeed.
We left around ten as it's an hours drive. When we got there we parked at the station as it's easy to walk into town all you do is go to the roundabout where the tank/gas station is and turn left. You will then see the impressive city gate that STILL welcomes visitors from all over. How many people must have passed underneath that stone arch over the centuries?
Hidden treasures...
Behind the gate is the high street. Besides your usual British shops and some independent cute little stores there are hidden treasures here. Halfway down we found a great old church and a Elizabethan looking building. There was also a little stream and when I looked out I again thought: how many years has this view not chanced? The only difference is the clothes of the people futher along in the boat. That's all.
In the middle of the high street there is an alley going to the left. When you follow this at the end there is a huge gate, which is the entrance to the cathedral grounds. After you pay your way you gain access and low and behold the view opens up and the cathedral in all it's glory is before you. Quite impressive. I can see why.. when people still lived it huts and low buildings.. this building inspired awe.
The Cathedral, quite impressive.
On the inside the cathedral is massive and divided into various floors and parts. The hight of the building is dazzling and one wonders how they managed such a feat in the days before even the steam engine was invented. But then the Egyptians build the piramids.. still it's pretty amazing. One of the greatest beauties where the lead and coloured glass windows. Being more a spirtual person than religous I particulary liked the geometric ones which look modern and timeless at the same time. In fact I think these windows can be of great inspiration for modern design and crafts.
Beautiful windows all around
We followed one of the exits on the side of the building that lead into an enclosed section with out buildings. On one side there was a kitchen/herb garden with a great ruined wall with a huge tree next to it. I thought the scene quite pittoresque.
A peek at the back: ruins and tree..
After our visit to the Catherdral we had a very nice lunch and then proceeded to the gate again, but we didn't go through this time. Instead just before the gate we took a turn to the left and walked into the garden park that follows the river bank. It was a lovely warm, sunny may day and the park was full with people taking a stroll and enjoying the warm weather. It had little bridges over the stream that happily flowed along completing the picture of a lazy spring day.
On our way back we took small roads, instead of the motorway, to Ashford where there is a shopping outlet. The roads where lovely with overhanging trees and rolling country hills. Kent is absolutely beautiful. To complete the day we scored some bargains at the Ashford Designer Outlet. Which made a nice ending to a perfect day!
Link:
Read The Canterbury Tales online.
Ever since I learned about Chaucer and his Canterbury Tales in English lesson at school.
So we decided to go during the Christmas break of 07, but we didn't because my boyfriend got ill. Then we decided to go during the May Bank Holiday in 07, but we didn't because I got ill. There where a couple more half formed plans after that, that never worked out due to unexpected (family) events. So when this May Bank holiday came up and my boyfriend mentioned going to Canterbury I decided not to get too excited about the idea. But the day came, we went and it was a superb day out indeed.
We left around ten as it's an hours drive. When we got there we parked at the station as it's easy to walk into town all you do is go to the roundabout where the tank/gas station is and turn left. You will then see the impressive city gate that STILL welcomes visitors from all over. How many people must have passed underneath that stone arch over the centuries?
Behind the gate is the high street. Besides your usual British shops and some independent cute little stores there are hidden treasures here. Halfway down we found a great old church and a Elizabethan looking building. There was also a little stream and when I looked out I again thought: how many years has this view not chanced? The only difference is the clothes of the people futher along in the boat. That's all.
In the middle of the high street there is an alley going to the left. When you follow this at the end there is a huge gate, which is the entrance to the cathedral grounds. After you pay your way you gain access and low and behold the view opens up and the cathedral in all it's glory is before you. Quite impressive. I can see why.. when people still lived it huts and low buildings.. this building inspired awe.
On the inside the cathedral is massive and divided into various floors and parts. The hight of the building is dazzling and one wonders how they managed such a feat in the days before even the steam engine was invented. But then the Egyptians build the piramids.. still it's pretty amazing. One of the greatest beauties where the lead and coloured glass windows. Being more a spirtual person than religous I particulary liked the geometric ones which look modern and timeless at the same time. In fact I think these windows can be of great inspiration for modern design and crafts.
We followed one of the exits on the side of the building that lead into an enclosed section with out buildings. On one side there was a kitchen/herb garden with a great ruined wall with a huge tree next to it. I thought the scene quite pittoresque.
After our visit to the Catherdral we had a very nice lunch and then proceeded to the gate again, but we didn't go through this time. Instead just before the gate we took a turn to the left and walked into the garden park that follows the river bank. It was a lovely warm, sunny may day and the park was full with people taking a stroll and enjoying the warm weather. It had little bridges over the stream that happily flowed along completing the picture of a lazy spring day.
On our way back we took small roads, instead of the motorway, to Ashford where there is a shopping outlet. The roads where lovely with overhanging trees and rolling country hills. Kent is absolutely beautiful. To complete the day we scored some bargains at the Ashford Designer Outlet. Which made a nice ending to a perfect day!
Link:
Read The Canterbury Tales online.
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