relics of days past or, "you want my badge and gun?"

yesterday i pulled some stuff out of my storage bin destined for the recycling bin. one box was full of paperwork from the thesis films i edited in college, some random shot logs from when i script supervised for friends and the wrap paperwork from the one feature i've edited, "Down & Dirty." this is not a good movie, but it was a blast to work with Fred Williamson. i've got some fucking awesome stories of working with The Hammer. the binder of negative pull and cut lists i turned over to the negative cutter (negative? film negative? boy howdy, this was only nine years ago.) included this cover letter:



July 5, 2000

[Negative Cutter]
Mr. X and Mr. Y,

A few notes regarding the lists:

I was unable to generate cut lists with accurate keys for shots that occur within dissolves. We've annotated the lists with the keys from the telecine tapes. Also, I've drawn charts that resemble marked workprints for all the dissolves.

There are many small discrepancies in the cutlists. We've marked offages of more than one frame in the margin. There are a few that are off by 5 or 6 frames.

The black space at the head of Reel 01 will be occupied by either an animation or the Po' Boy logo, or still cards. The head credits and end crawl will be done at the lab. I will get you their name and number.

The beta tapes of the reels are provided for you to make 3/4" dubs "just the way you like." There is no reel window burn on them, so you can place it on your dubs. Please return these to Golden Lion Studios (phone number here) when you've made your dubs.

You can reach me at: defunct phone number. Page me or leave a brief voice mail.

We had particular difficulty with the EDL generator on this project. Although we went through each edit to check the accuracy of the numbers, the adjustments that the cutlist generator made continue to be a mystery. I am pleased to know that your family is looking after our negative.

Thank you in advance,

[Ms. Y.],
Editor, "Down & Dirty"

that trio of actors includes: Fred Willliamson, Gary Busey and David Carridine. yep.

knit 2, purl 2, cable 2 forward...

since no one in my family reads this i can safely post pix of the gloves that i knit them for xmas.
i used the cabled handwarmer pattern from julie at little knittery in los angeles. i knit a pair of these for myself a couple years ago and love them, so i wanted to share the love.

i knit 5 pairs of these: 2 for my nieces, 1 each for my brother and sister and 1 pair for my pal, eli.
here are a slew of pix: please pardon the "hand modeling" hilarity and lack of backdrop variety















fun facts: the white mug i am holding was a wrap gift i rec'd when i worked on the show, "Cane." they were gifts to the crew from jimmy smits.
the orange and yellow gloves were knit in brown sheep worsted weight yarn.



these variagated mitts were knit using Di.Vé autunno merino wool. ooooh, sooo soft and warm.
this pair was knit in cascade alpaca. again with the fantastic:
i also knit a pair in black for my brother, but forgot to take a pic before putting them in the mail.

in the midst of knitting all these gloves i lost one of my own. looks like it's time for a new pair for me. :)

continuing with the craft stuff:

i've been working on a couple 50's style shirt dresses. the first dress is in this great michael miller colorful fish fabric. (all that remains to be done on this one are putting in the button holes, buttons, and hemming. so close!) my plan for this dress pattern was to make a few of them using the MANY fabrics in my closet of which i have at least 4 yards of each... (that was a fucking awful sentence, but you get the idea.)

anywhoo. dress 1: fish fabric
dress 2: tractor fabric! i combined the tractors with some dark sage green that i bought at a yard sale some time ago. here are some "work in progress" shots of the fabric combo:
this is part of the skirt. it will be pleated at the waist. the green will end up being a 3" band around the bottom once the hem is finished.






here i've pinned the collar to the bodice. still need to baste it then attach the facing. this bit requires some concentration and focus, so the bodice has been sitting in this state for at least two weeks.
am hoping to log in some serious long days/nights sewing over the winter break. (note to self: no wine during the complex construction)


here are some pix of the fish dress. the details are really nice. i have since re-shaped the collar and it looks MUCH better. i'd pressed it too wide.

this pattern is one modified by Shaeri at Sew-LA. she usually teaches this dress as a 6 week class, but i could never commit to anything for 6 weeks in a row and i didn't need that much detailed instruction. she and i booked 3 private classes to cover fitting and pattern modification. the pleated skirt is her pattern. the way the last pleat lines up with the bottom bodice dart is a good example of her attention to detail.






ok. all this typing about sewing while i am sitting at my desk at work (when i could be heading home) is a bit thick. i'm gonna head home and do some pinning on the patchwork quilt i've got cooking. this quilt was meant to be a good "pick up for 15 min at a time while working a nutty schedule" project and it's turning out to be just the thing.

eventful: while i was typing up this entry i got a call from my pal eli, the recipient of the orange mitts. she called to tell me she loves them and has been wearing them all day! hooray!! one often wonders what becomes of the handmade items they give away. i think of all the much-love slippers, and un-worn hats my grandma crocheted for me when i was a kid.

still to come: the story of amelita! this is really good. perhaps i can cover it while OFF FOR THE HOLIDAYS!! HELL. YES.

**note: while i am typing this up the formatting looks COMPLETELY different. how is one to achieve a nice presentation when the formatting is unpredictable. how? i ask.

this piano filled with souls

today i've got a brain full of things. i will just say this: when you've got people close to you spending a considerable amount of time in and around hospitals, working on a television medical drama is a loaded enterprise.

i have the itunes shuffle hooked up to the mixing board in the edit bay. wilco's "when you wake up feeling old" just played. not to put too fine a point on it, but i do love this song. a dozen warm memories flitted thru my head while it was on. the last was this: last year at jeff tweedy's letters to santa show at hotel s&s it was the song i requested. jeff told a funny anecdote about how they were mixing the album they strode to get the bird sounds in key with the song.

summerteeth was released in 1998, but it feels like it's been a part of things for much longer than that.

big love to charlie, mike and roberta!