No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on June 11, 2012

Random Thoughts After the Coffee Kicks In

Because I have had my coffee and my breakfast and my lunch and am about to make dinner for my family.

I expected Madagascar to do better than Prometheus for one simple reason. Prometheus is R and should be an R. No way Prometheus was even close to a PG-13.

Of course there will be complaints about how certain things are portrayed in film. Apparently some people have taken umbrage to Stefano who is not the brightest Sea Lion on the planet and knows he has limitations. Let me say that again they object to what a fictional sea lion is saying and others are saying about him. It is a fictional character, not even remotely human and, considering what he does, is a valuable member of the circus. I swear people these days are looking for things to be upset about.

Apparently “just living in the moment” has become “mindfulness” while I wasn’t looking. I have had friends who are Buddhists most of my life. Some who have always been Buddhists and other that have converted. Considering all the things that have been minded from Buddhism and repackaged for general consumption, I don’t know why this one bothers me a lot. It might have to do with the reading I have done over time or the conversations I have had about Buddhism but it seems like they are taking one facet of something much larger and making it part of seminars that are costing people and companies a lot of money for something that is not only part of Buddhism but is practiced in many other religions as well.

Cherry picking from others religions and customs is something that Americans excel at and I don’t think that is a really good idea. But then that’s me.

Mets have been terrible since the no hitter so I guess that is the end of the season. It is a little topsy turvy in most of the leagues. Maybe we hit that balance point that was talking about a long time ago.

Heat vs. Thunder should be interesting. I think the shorten season hurt a number of teams but did make for an interesting playoff season.

I am surprised that the Devils made it as far as they have. Let’s see what they can do now.

Rewatched X-men First Class. Still holds together for me. And the more I watch it the more I appreciate what January Jones was doing with Emma Frost. Most people have lambasted the poor woman for what they saw as a poor performance. Which version of Emma Frost have you been reading? The almost disassociation to everything and every one around her is in the comics. How she treats just about everyone with total contempt? It is in the comic book. Remember she is the telepath that you don’t hear have any conversations with anyone else. She detaches because that is how she deals with the din of voices popping up in her head. And her contempt for everything and everyone is on the page and on the screen. As for the outfit, again look at the comics. They didn’t do anything radical from the drawing on the page.

I got my copy of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Haven’t had time to watch it but want to do so soon. Think I’ll download my digital copy onto my iPad and watch it while exercising the next couple of days.

No Crafty Tuesday unless my brain can come up with something clever. I am coming up dry. But then I might get a bright idea in my dreams.

I am grateful for Caroline’s rather busy social calendar.

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Posted By Kathleen David on June 10, 2012

Friday I saw two films Prometheus and Madagascar 3: European’s Most Wanted. It was a bit of a contrast between the two.

As usual spoilers are behind the cut and in the comments.

Prometheus is Ridley Scott’s foray back into the universe he played in back in 1979 and his first Science Fiction film since Blade Runner which was 30 years ago. He had been rather busy since then with numerous projects some known and some less known. I saw Alien when it came out in the theaters and thought it was a good haunted house film in the classic form of a Monster Movie.

It is interesting how he takes the elements from Alien like the Weyland Corporation and androids and mixes it with believe vs. proof. The casting is top notch and the direction is very fine. Yes, there are the jump out of your seat moments harking back to that haunted house kind of Monster movie but this movie is more than that.

I would not recommend this film for children or the faint of heart. There is another trigger subject I will discuss under the cut but I will say here that it has to do with women reproductive rights so take that as a warning.

The rest of my review of Prometheus is under the cut.

Madagascar 3

Honestly I like the first one, didn’t think much of the second one, and didn’t have much hope for the third. I was pleasantly surprised by the film. They managed to come up with a story that worked for me and honestly if this is where they leave it, I am fine with the end they give. In fact I am hoping that this is where we leave these characters because I left the theater with a smile on my face and a warm feeling in my heart. The cast has grown rather large but they give each character, or set of characters, a moment to shine and don’t over use anyone to the point where I hope the character gets eaten by another character.

They introduce some new characters to the series that fit well with the rest of the characters. Bryan Cranston does a good Russian Tiger. And Martin Short makes a great Sea Lion.

It is PG for cartoon violence which is not unusual for this series but younger children might be a little frightened of Captain DuBios. By younger I am talking under 5.

This is one of the few films I will recommend seeing in 3-D. It works with the film and gives it another dimension. It doesn’t feel layered on. Disney could learn a trick or two from Dreamworks in this regard.

(more…)

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Posted By Kathleen David on June 8, 2012

Yes, I have been quiet this week but if you read last weeks CT, you will know pretty much why.

At Caroline’s school in the last month of school, they hold a Field Day were the children are divided up into teams and compete for points with a nice shiny ribbon for the prize. For the past 4 years I have been helping out with the puppet show we do in the Library during Field Day. The puppet show is in the air conditioned Library giving the kids a break from the sun and heat of the field. We sit them down to rest for a set period of time and try to amuse them.

This year was a little different since our wonderful Librarian was working at more than one school due to budget cuts. So rather than being there all the time and working with the children and teachers to ensure that we had a group of children who feel invested in the Library and how to use it, they decided to make it hard for him to get anything done in a timely fashion because he has to run multiple libraries at the same time. (As you can tell, I am not happy about this at all.) Since we had so little time we decided to go the variety route and use puppets and songs that we could tailor for our audience. We looked at the puppets that we had and decided maybe a Sea Themed show was in order.

I made a couple of puppets for the show and redressed other puppets I have at hand so we would have the characters to tell a story through the music.

First off an octopus was a must because there are a number of songs that have octopi in them.

(For the VI: this is an orange 8 legged octopus with a yellow underbelly. It is on a stack of boxes and things to show off the legs sitting on my work table.)

So we used him for “Octopus’ Garden” and “Billy the Squid” among other things. This is a glove puppet. The fingers go into a glove under the Octopus to move the tentacles.

Then I made three little Fish for the song “Three Little Fishies” I still have the chorus suck in my head. We used the Andrew Sisters version of the song.

(For the VI: These are three fish puppets. They are on my worktable where you can see the paws of my cat Millie at the top right part of the frame and a blue clam in the top left part of the frame. The top fish has a blue body and green fins. The middle fish has a green body and blue fins. The bottom fish has a red body and yellow fins.)

These are finger puppets that I put rods into so we could manipulate them and pass them off from puppeteer to puppeteer.

Clams seemed a must have for chorus singing and “Billy the Squid”

(For the VI: These are two clam puppets on my worktable. They are blue with red mouths and ping pong balls on top for eyes.)

These were hand puppets and took the longest to make since I had to work the pattern through twice to get the look I was going for. But they got some of the biggest giggles from the kids.

We also used a number of toys and stuffed animals to round out the company included a Ken doll on a surfboard.

Overall I think the kids enjoyed it. We got through the 6 shows with minimal injury. I pulled a back muscle in the next to the last show and almost went out. That’s what I get for leaning at that angle for that period of time.

I am grateful that we had Peter as the MC of the show.

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Tags: Art, art work, Caroline, crafty tuesday, puppets

Posted By Kathleen David on June 6, 2012

Ray Bradbury is the author of one of my all time favorite books “Something Wicked This Way Comes”. He was one of my bridging authors between children’s literature and adult literature. I loved his short stories and his slightly longer fiction. I also had the good fortune to have met the man several times and worked with him professionally.

He was large than life in person. Always there with a quip or a turn of phrase that would cause you to crack a smile even when you were feeling down. I first met him at some convention in the Southeast where he was the guest of honor. I was introduced to him as a stage manager and puppeteer. We had a pleasant conversation about puppetry that continued at dinner.

He was everyone favorite “uncle” and it was a role he relished. He was the strange “uncle” with all kinds of interesting tales to tell. I can remember one dinner that we all had with a lot of authors and editors. The conversation was all over the place. Ray was holding court and amusing the hëll out of all of us then he said something that sent a chill over the room. It felt like a ghost had walked in and sat down with us. Which reminded us that Ray had the ability to change the mood with a few words. He did this with his stories. They would be going one way and they would turn another path that you didn’t see coming.

A number of years later Del Rey was releasing Fahrenheit 451 and we wanted to release it with the original cover which was pretty darn cool cover. We checked our book morgue to see if we still had a copy. No copy to be found. So Ray sent us his author copy of the book which we used, slightly torn cover and coffee ring and all. The cover made the paperback look like a well used book. I would talk to him and his wife by phone dealing with various details for the reprints. I was sorry to hear that his wife passed away back in 2003. She was a really pip.

So I plan to drag out my copy of Something Wicked and S is for Space and reread some of my favorite stories of a true wordsmith.

Rest in Peace Ray. You were a giant among men. My sympathies to his family and friends. His loss will be felt by many.

I am grateful for the time I spent with Ray Bradbury.

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Posted By Kathleen David on June 5, 2012

OK I am falling further behind on several things so I am writing this out in the open so that I can hold myself accountable for what I need to do over the next two weeks and beyond.

Here is what I owe people and am behind on

Two Victorian Paperdolls part of a ATC swap. I did these once and I got back half of the envelope in the mail with no dolls. Looks like it got caught in something and dragged all over the place. This is an evening project I can do while watching TV, I just need to get the pieces together and do it and send it off to the poor person who has been waiting about 2 months for this doll.

My part of a three way doll swap. Sorry Nan and Jeri, I have totally fallen down on this one. This is next after my show on Thursday. I will get things out to Jeri by Monday.

Also by Monday I want to finish my Chamber of Secrets Swap with Lisa. I have it more than half done.

It is a glow-in the dark Basilisk Tooth with a smaller tooth to be worn as a charm. It is on top of a chest that will house the tooth.
(For the VI: this is a picture of a large tooth that I made to look like the Basilisk Tooth from Harry Potter and the Chamber of secrets. It is an off white. Below it is a smaller “tooth” with a hole to run a chain through. These are on top of a chest that I have painted to look aged. It is a brown chest with bronze strapping.)

All I need to do is the interior of the chest and I am done and this can go off to its new owner who I hope likes it.

The BIG PROJECT is Field Day (Yes, it is that time of year)

We are doing an ocean themed variety show.

Here is what I have completed.

One Octopus in Orange and Yellow
(For the VI: this is an Orange and Yellow Octopus puppet set up on a bunch of boxes to show off the arms)

What I need to do is

3 little Fishies
2 Clams
Outfits for 5 puppets
2 more fish puppets
Scenery

Make sure I have my clip lights and bulbs in place and everything else I bring to the party.

After I catch up on all that, then I will be full tilt into DragonCon.

I am grateful for what we got done yesterday

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