David & I watched it tonight - likely the last gay men in the US, if not the world, to do so. One of the techs at work inadvertently, but not inappropriately, referred to it last week as "Bareback Mountain". Perhaps it's because I knew what was going to happen or possibly because of all the hype that surrounded it, but I didn't cry the way I expected to.
I'm usually a bawler. Since Billy Elliot, just hearing Swan Lake is enough to set me off. The scene in Amélie where she imagines Nino running his hands across the bead curtain is guaranteed to get me going every time. But with this movie it didn't happen. It was a heartbreaking story and a very well-done movie, and my eyes did get damp a time or two. But no gushing fountains.
I will say one thing, though. That Jake Gyllenhall reminds me an awful lot of a real cowboy I worked with many summers ago when I was working as a farmhand. Gyllenhall's prettier; the real deal was more wiry and angular - but still the subject of much fantasy. And while I'm firmly ambivalent about the rodeo, it does give me, I think, a particular appreciation for Franklin's gay rodeo project.
Speaking of Franklin
The new series of Cast On has begun, and the one year anniversary episode has a hilarious take on Poe by none other than the Übermensch of Boystown himself. If you have not yet downloaded this podcast, then you must do so. Now.
While listening to this week's episode, I very appropriately cast on for a scarf with the big skein I got from Cast On sponsors Briar Rose Fibers at Rhinebeck. The pattern is a thin garter stitch border with the "Dragon Skin" pattern from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury. I narrowed it down to that or her "Tilting Ladder" pattern, which has small cables and openwork.
I asked David for his opinion and he said, "I don't like lace on men." I argued that the openwork isn't exactly lacy, but when one lives with a fashion designer and asks for their advice, it's usually best to pay heed to it. I'm thinking, though, that I may need to frog this and start over on larger needles to get a fabric with better drape.
7 comments:
My fashion sense is, well...impaired to say the least. But its Dragon Skin. Dragons are big and scary and not lacy at all! Except for the one in Shrek, most of the dragons I've seen in the movies were dudes. I think it could work as a man's scarf.
I think we can see where I go wrong in my fashion determinations at this point, though. Maybe you should go with the expert...
I'm usually a bawler too, I cried at that same place in Amelie! And all through Billy Elliot, from start to finish. Haven't seen Brokeback Mtn yet though.
It's funny--it's really only my straight friends who said they cried while watching the movie. I think gay people, myself included, are just more used to the kind of emotional pain that the movie depicts. Most of us lived in the closet for years, so while "Brokeback" resonates with us, it doesn't have the same impact. I did find the film very moving, but I didn't shed any tears.
Yup, moving story, and the photography was great (but we DO have the prettiest country around here), and the story was just too real for many. And yes, those real cowboys can be very wiry! hehe
I would suggest this pattern with a different colourway. With all the variations in the yarn, you lose much of intricacies of the knitting patterns. It may look better (more defined) with a more solid tone. And maybe looser, yes, for a scarf. Even for a man!
That Tolo!! Curiosity and all that. Those cartons of Silk reminded me that I had some leftover porridge re-heating on the stove! And yikes! has the price gone up for soymilk! Now $4.69 for 2 litres... when it was only $1.29 just a couple years ago. But now I hear it's not so great for men! Oy!
I used to think men couldn't wear lace until I knitted a scarf, Midwest Moonlight I think, in a multicoloured olive/wine wool. I liked it so much I kept it for myself, and once it is wrapped around my neck it is difficult to know it is lacy. A lot depends on the colour, and the colour you have chosen looks great. I'd wear it.
Hey Mel! it's Chris from Briar Rose Fibers, just taking a break from dyeing up a huge new batch of yarn for my "Open House" next week........I think the project you have going with the fourth of july is really wonderful! yay!
It was so nice to meet you at Rhinebeck!
I love Dragon Skin!
And yes, the Poe take-off is awfully brilliant. And if you can't guess, I'm a HUGE Poe fan....
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