kathy's blog

sometimes life turns one way, then stops for a breather, then turns the other way. sometimes things are in focus and other times not. my dryer as a metaphor for my life today..

16/12/2009

video page on blip.tv

today I've been watching interviews with Dennis Potter, a British playwright who's work was mostly broadcast on British televison in 1960s through to 1990s up until his death in 1994. Chris Case had sent an email to the TechGnosis mail list which put me onto them.

first I watched his last interview with Melvyn Bragg in 1994.

there are multiple parts to this interview
part1 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_tAK0pIuAQ
part2 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1gn7AmjP28
part3 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqucPVCwSe8

080620081165, originally uploaded by AliaK.

one of Squarey's arm - I finally worked out how to knit in the round using 3 double point needles. so Amelie's toy squarey is almost finished! one more arm + 2 legs + a face to go. whew, it's only been knitted in almost 2 years and 6 countries - Australia, New Zealand, UK, Israel, Turkey, India. I almost thought she'd be a teenager before I finished it..

I think this could be used to make fingers for gloves too

08/06/2008

080620081165

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this is what squarey looks like when he's finished - it's a Jess Hutchison (Jess Hutch) pattern from her book "Unusual Toys For You to Knit and Enjoy"
the below picture is Jess' squarey. the one I'm making has yellow instead of green (and there's a few more imperfections but I'm sure he'll still look cute) I'll post pictures when I've finished him

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesshutch/51386088

http://www.jesshutch.com/2005/10/booklette.html

http://www.flickr.com/groups/99032870@N00/pool is a Jess Hutch flickr pool which has other examples of her patterns that others have knitted

if only I wasn't allergic to wool - itchy!!

08/06/2008 update : ok I've finished all the pieces - just need to sew him up and add the stuffing and sew his face
I'll move his arms down to the stripes position like in the pattern - not like in the photo below

he's finished!

Amelie's knitted toy - Squarey - he's been knitted in 6 countries over 2 years. he's a Jess Hutch pattern
finished 04/10/2008

Amelie's knitted toy - Squarey - he's been knitted in 6 countries over 2 years - Australia, New Zealand, India, Israel, UK, Turkey. I almost thought he was going to be a 21st present for Amelie! Amelie is my friend's little girl - I found out she was pregnant whilst overseas, so started knitting a toy whilst my friend was pregnant - before I knew whether she was a girl or a boy. my friend chose the colours - she wouldn’t tell any of us whether she was having a girl or a boy. I finished Squarey just before meeting Amelie for the first time after I’d moved back home. she calls him “Mr Square”

he's a Jess Hutch pattern : Squarey from "Unusual Toys for You to Knit and Enjoy" - by Jess Hutchison
finished 04/10/2008

wow, Kristain Thomas' "Kristian Thomas inanace child" song is gorgeous - so lush and haunting. it's on his myspace page & is even downloadable

http://www.users.on.net/~mumfords is his website

http://www.users.on.net/~mumfords/industree/industree-indexv3_1.htm is the IndusTREE website
Kristian used to run events / projects under the PSP name.

zzz33333's video on Humanity is NOT a virus - complete with The Matrix (movie) references :)

and the links he posts in another video @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB0PNQlc5OU

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READ THIS!

Ishmael and others by Daniel Quinn

READ ISHMAEL

ISHMAEL BY DANIEL QUINN

EVERYONE READ ISHMAEL!

Endgame and others by Derrick Jensen
Against Civilization and others by John Zerzan
The Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tse
White Noise by Don Delillo
Demian by Hermann Hesse
In the Absence of the Sacred by Jerry Mander
WATCH THIS NOW:

http://www.archive.org/details/PhilosopherSeed-DerrickJensenEndgamePartO...

PART 2:

my quick review of Homesick - by Eshkol Nevo

I bought this book as I was looking for a book in English (as I can't read Hebrew) about every day people living in Israel since I've been visiting Israel. I wanted to get more of a feel for the people and their lives. plus I've been feeling homesick for my own country and home. many of the places and things mentioned in the book were very familiar to me since my stay here and the characters seem like friends now. at first I found it hard to work out who was speaking as all the characters say "I" - they are each telling their own story in first person throughout the book. once I got used to this the characters grew on me. I loved the simple details mentioned in the book about everyday life and I have a mental picture about them living their lives now. I'll be keeping an eye out for more books by the author as I really enjoyed this one and recommend it to anyone who would like to read about life in Israel (ie not the media-portrayed view of Israel)

there's been a small debate on Stealth boards about pioneering Australian hip hop band Def Wish Cast appearing on TV on Big Brother. here's my feelings on it.

yeah I think BB is cringeworthy. and DWC is giving *them* cred.
tv is the same - actually worse in some places - around the world - which would you rather watch? I think thinking DWC is cringeworthy for going on tv just shows how low our music-on-tv standards are. we should be pushing for a better class / std of music to be heard by the Aus masses. not bagging the bands for getting out there. is this the music glass-ceiling attitude that Australians seem to have? DWC *are* Aus hiphop - they couldn't change that if they tried - as Lo_D says I don't think their cred is in question at all. why can't we make the quality of Aus commercial music better by supporting the 'underground' bands/artists and giving them airplay in commercial arena. we can't escape the commercial music as it's played everywhere, so why not hear something good on airwaves/tv/shopping centres /wherever. I think it's win-win for everyone and helps lift the standards all-round. I'm ok with sharing underground bands with more people.

/edit maybe it's tall poppy not glass ceiling. I've forgotten my english phrases

a friend asked me how I like israel and if I keep up with the politics there. I haven't written much about my stay here apart from some notes & thoughts in my notepads, so this is just a quick reply to remember / trigger some memories. (scattered / stream of consciousness thoughts warning! some things might need fact checking too - I'd have to look up old notes)

and this is a link to 'most of the hebrew that I know list on live-vicariously-through-joni blog I came across whilst searching for the spelling of ta'im (tasty) the other night. this list is more words than I know, but I do know quite a few of them!

we went to the Gar Musichall during my last trip to Istanbul. they have bellydancers, Anatolian folk dancing and other traditional dances. this girl moved so fast yet stood still - I don't know how she did it. but my favourites were the men in black with their precise moves - one walked en pointe!!

23/05/2008

after the dancing a singer sang songs from different nations in their native language. and people from the audience danced on the stage. most danced their country's traditional dance. I wondered what Australia's national dance was. when he sang an Australian song it was Waltzing Matilda. this must be how we're seen overseas. the audience were mostly an older crowd - there were a lot of tour buses outside so I'm guessing most people were in tour groups. they all looked like they were having such a great time. I hope I can look that happy and enjoy dancing at their age! it was great to see them enjoying their dances & dancing. now.. I just need to discover what the Australian dance is..

more photos @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/aliak_com/tags/bellydance

today was Jerusalem day - it wasn't a holiday though but the newspapers said there were celebrations in the city and children walked / marched in the streets. I went to Ben Yehuda to the chemist & bank so it was a great excuse to go to Tito Bravo! for pizza night. this time I ate in - well half the pizza - other half is for tomorrow night so it was take-away. chatted to pizza guy a fair bit tonight - I mentioned I was only here for a few more weeks. it's amazing how people talk to you more when they know you're leaving! I said he should open a store in Sydney, I think it'd be a great success! I thought his name was Aaron for some reason (this is what I heard one of the guys say but it was probably another Hebrew word that I couldn't understand). but I think his name is actually Tito!! how did I miss that..