yet another riveting video
May 31, 2011
In which we take our new car (whose name is Keisuke! because it’s a Honda! get it?) through a car wash for the first time. This was shot with the Harinezumi digital in Atlanta, Georgia, February 2011.
If you crank up the sound you can hear Peter chatting in the front seat with The ESC about the joys of going through a car wash with a dog in the car. Also, please note the stickers on the wall on the way out of the car wash: Keep Christ in Christmas, and Alabama Crimson Tide. Can I get a hell yeah?
Posted by jodi on May 31, 2011 at 2.35pm
border town life
May 31, 2011
Here is a little illustration of how well we can hear the Detroit Movement electronic music festival from our front porch (for those not playing along, our front porch is in Canada). We’re fairly close to the river and the festival plaza, about 1.5km as the crow flies (if only there was a footbridge!). Being right across the river from Detroit, we tend to take it for granted and thus rarely visit, because it’s right there! and we can go any time! which always translates into some other time. We’ve never attended this festival but every Memorial Day weekend we love to sit out on our porch at night and soak up wave after wave of beats that the summer breeze carries over across the river.
On a related note, last night I noticed for the first time, thanks to the hideous bands of blue light newly installed around the tops of the buildings, that we can see the Renaissance Center* from our bedroom window. So, yes, I CAN see the United States from my house, which I will be sure to mention often during my campaign for Vice President of Canada.
*it seriously took me 5 tries to type the word “center” instead of “centre”. Because my fingers just kept doing what they do.
Posted by jodi on May 31, 2011 at 1.48pm
cleo, winding down
May 30, 2011
Our beloved Cleo has had a rough time of it, medically, the last little while. When we came home from our Georgia vacation in February, we found her in a crisis situation, listless and not eating, lying around with a glazed, miserable expression. The diagnosis was kidney failure, and with a new diet, renal care medicine and subcutaneous fluid injections (which we administer at home) she bounced back to her normal self in less than two weeks (after some very scary days where I had to hold her constantly to try and get her body temperature up and at times it seemed she was barely breathing). She gained a pound on the new regimen and began once again exhibiting her remarkable prowess at the “bite me” game.
Over the May Two Four weekend, I noticed her back legs, which have been stiffening for well over a year now, were giving out on her occasionally, causing her to slide to the floor while walking and then wobble like a drunkard after picking herself up. This time it’s arthritis in her spine, which is only going to get worse over time (her kidneys, on the other hand, are behaving like total rock stars). So she got a cortisone shot to manage any pain, and off we went home again to give her all the love and anything else she asks for and wait for her to give us The Sign.
She’s still getting around okay, just with a slightly smaller range (the photo above was taken through the dining room window screen while she slept on the concrete pad below; normally she’d be halfway across the yard sleeping atop the graves of her predecessors, or at the way back lying on the sun-warmed giant sheet of metal we’re too lazy to take to the dump). For a 20 year old cat she’s remarkably feisty, and while she’s still mostly happy (if somewhat frustrated with the mobility trouble) and taking pleasure in life we’re just going to enjoy her last days and help her up and down the stairs when we need to.
When I watch her drag herself away from her food dish where she’s been half-crouching, half-lying down to eat, Cleo reminds me a bit of this:
(Andrew Wyeth: Christina’s World, tempera on panel, 1948)
Posted by jodi on May 30, 2011 at 5.08pm
red on red
May 29, 2011
For Project Spectrum: cozy red legwarmers, completed just as the weather got warm, as is the custom around here (I haven’t even shown y’all the shawl I finished 3 weeks ago, because I’ve got all summer to block it, now). These are knit in a 2×2 rib with two different red sock yarns that change halfway down. So I can wear them two days in a row with my boots and nobody will know!
Probably they won’t actually be worn like this, but rather will be flipped the same way so as to be matchy.
Whoops, I didn’t mean to show off quite than much leg (but hey, check out my strong new thigh! Everybody loves a bonus bare thigh shot, like that time last fall when Sergio Ramos went out on the pitch in the wrong shorts and then had to change them on the sideline. . . oh, oh yeah).
This is finished object #2 in my ongoing project of getting rid of all the sock yarn with which I will never knit socks (and freeing up a whole lot of studio storage in the process); finished object #1 was that shawl you haven’t seen yet (soon!). The semi-solid dark red is something I bought from Mama E years ago, ball band is long disappeared but it feels like merino, soft and a bit pilly. The red/black is “newspaper” from Spritely Goods, which I think might be a discontinued colour. I’d originally planned knee socks with it, and had one sock completed before burning out on the second. These legwarmers, while goofy, will probably see more wear than the socks ever would have.
Come winter, depending on what sort of new home the Brawlers find for skate practices, the legwarmers may also be worn rather frequently like this:
Or rather, similar to this only with knee pads. Safety is sexy, yo.
Bonus bare thigh shot! Not quite as much bum as our broadcast showed, but still, I’ll take it.
Posted by jodi on May 29, 2011 at 4.12pm
weekend workout update
May 28, 2011
This week I started seeing the physiotherapist for my shoulder problem, and the workout schedule remained buggered up as a result.
Monday May 23 day off (gym closed for Victoria Day)
Tuesday May 24
Since I didn’t really complete week 8 of Couch to 5K last week, I decided to repeat it. On Monday I got to the gym only to find I’d misplaced my mp3 player, and without the encouraging words of Podcast Lady (and exhausted from a long weekend “off” from working out in which too much yard work was done instead), I managed only 24 minutes of running instead of 28, with a 14 minute run, a 4 minute walk and a 10 minute run. At the end of which one of the trainers walked up with my mp3 player, which is so old and outdated that nobody wants to steal it (even with the very sexy turquoise hair elastic which holds the broken battery case shut).
Wednesday May 25
Warm up: 20 minutes on the bike, random hill programme (my favourite), level 13. Then I went once through the circuit of weight machines:
-leg extension, 80lb (13 reps)
-leg press, 80lb (13 reps)
-lateral pull downs, 130lb (14 reps)
-chest fly, 80lb (12 reps)
-chest press, 80lb (12 reps)
-shoulder press, 40lb (14 reps)
Cool-down: 10 minutes brisk walk on the treadmill.
Wednesday evening: 2 hours roller derby practice avec les braillards de la ville frontière. I still can’t stop very well, or turn very well, or skate fast enough not to be a danger to everybody during group drills, but at the outside of the track away from the other skaters I can get up a lot more speed than I used to. Probably enough speed not to have to drop out of group drills, actually, except that I’m too nervous to go that fast with the other skaters around me and also, there’s the not being able to steer thing. But! Somebody bumped into me from behind and I didn’t fall; somebody kicked back into my skates and I didn’t fall. So avoidance might be something I’m less bad at. Of course, I also pretty much threw one of my chums right into a garbage drum in the corner (sorry Christine!).
I got my first derby bruise but it was just a sad little wristguard pinch on the inner arm. I’ve had a few little crashes but none have been the kind that leave spectacular marks behind.
Thursday May 26
Running without Podcast Lady again due to a dead battery: a 15 minute run, 5 minute walk, 10 minute run.
And that’s it. Friday was a day off. The physiotherapist slams the crap out of my shoulder and it hurts after. But he did say I can still work out, and even do push ups! So, next week it’s back to normal, I hope.
Posted by jodi on May 28, 2011 at 11.18am
your workout and garden update all rolled into one
May 24, 2011
Monday May 16
Couch to 5K week 8, day 1: should have been a 28 minute run but I was tired from taking a couple of days off so I did 14 minutes running, 4 minutes walking, 10 minutes running.
After repeating week 4 of the push ups programme I didn’t feel ready to go back and try week 5 again, so I planned a “week 4.5″ that was in between the two. So: 5 sets of push ups with 60s of rest in between, 15, 17, 13, 13, 20 (min. 18 for the last set) for a total of 78 push ups.
Tuesday May 17
Warm up: 20 minutes on the bike, random hill programme at level 13 (up from level 12 last week).
Free weights grab bag, should have been 3x through the following exercises but I was exhausted and only made it through 2 (I have pernicious anemia and my energy crashes when I’m due for a B12 shot, which I was getting later in the afternoon):
-10 wide front pull downs, 130lb
-10 lunges, front and back, with 2x 20lb dumbbells
-biceps 21s, 2x15lbs (had to go down from 20 to get through it today)
-12 barbell rows, 60lb
-15 squats with 2x 15lb weights (again, down from 20)
-10 hammer curls, 2x 15lb
10 military press, 2x 15lb
Cool-down: 10 minutes on the treadmill.
On Tuesday afternoon I saw the doctor, who’s sending me for x-rays and ultrasound even though he’s fairly certain the problem is rotator cuff tendinitis (not a big surprise, there) and not anything more serious like a tear. And he told me not to do any more push ups or upper body work until I see the physiotherapist (which means, in turn, dropping out of the push ups fundraiser). This pretty much threw off the workout plan completely, and since it was a long weekend and I had to stay home on Friday to wait for the tree people to cut down all of our trees, the rest of the week went like this:
Wednesday May 18
Couch to 5K week 8, day two: a 28 minute run. Which I got through no problem and even felt I could have done more, thanks to that vitamin B12 injection on Tuesday and the surge of energy that always follows.
Thursday May 19
20 minutes on the bike, random hill programme at level 13. Followed by a session with the massage therapist and my first ever acupuncture, which was weird.
The rest of the weekend was spent doing yard work that was far worse on the shoulder than the gym would have been, but that’s the way she goes, boys. On Friday, in the aftermath of total tree removal (the backyard is so naked now!) I scraped up the layer of tree droppings and compost and topsoil that, since before we bought the house, has covered 2/3 of our three-car parking space that comes off the alley at the back of the property (five inches deep in a few places, and chock full of excellent earthworms, too). Then after that dried up I raked and swept the rest, right down to the concrete which I had actually never laid eyes on in the 8 years we’ve owned this house. Seriously, y’all, I SWEPT the DRIVEWAY. And would have washed it with the hose afterwards but stopped myself because this driveway is crumbling concrete and comes in off an untended alley and will never be clean and besides, OCD much?
On Saturday I cleared sod off an area roughly 1 x 1.5 metres in order to put in a little garden bed to which I could move all of the herbs from various parts of the backyard so that they can finally be near to the kitchen door, as a proper kitchen garden should be. No pictures yet as I’m still waiting for the rhubarb (I know, not an herb but it’s there anyway, whatever) to perk up and look photogenic again. The placement and shape of the bed looks completely haphazard at the moment as it’s just sort of floating in the otherwise unkempt mess of a yard, but we’ve got a plan all laid out with string and stakes for patio, paths, a wall, new trees, garden shed and who knows what other wonders. Imagine the mitten shaped map of Michigan in the middle of a yard, wrist against house, with an elongated thumb going straight up, that’s the path to the gate and the space around Michigan (currently grass and Creeping Charlie) will all be garden and the space inside Michigan (currently plants, yep we got that totally backwards) will be flagstone and the new herb bed is nestled right in the crook of the thumb and extends about a third of the way down where the index finger would be. In the mitten. Confused? Yep, that’s pretty much what it looks like, utterly confused. Right now I’m just counting on the lady next door to continue not to mow her property, so that her solid patch of two-foot-high dandelions keeps us from being “those people”. Because y’all know how much I care about appearances.
Posted by jodi on May 24, 2011 at 7.58am
red blanket squares
May 23, 2011
Posted by jodi on May 23, 2011 at 3.19pm
open wide
May 22, 2011
This is a record I picked up at St Vinnie’s yesterday: a souvenir of the Christ’s Ambassadors Youth Convention 1973 in Scarborough, Ontario (spelled “Scarboro” on the sleeve). I’m sure that the music contained within is as terrible as you can imagine, but I wanted it for the amazing cover art. The deal was pretty much sealed when I opened it up to check out the quality of the disc and found a fold out poster, about 45 x 45cm (18 x 18″) square, that is an exact reproduction of that cover art. SCORE.
I haven’t decided yet if I want to hang it in the living room next to the sacred heart statue, or over my bed.
Posted by jodi on May 22, 2011 at 9.23am
if wishes were trees
May 21, 2011
8:30am Friday:
8:55am:
9:00am:
9:20am:
9:40am:
Goodbye and good riddance to you, mulberry, box elder and that tree that smells like garlic. The backyard feels naked without you, but we are looking to the future when there will be redbuds and dogwood in your place. And we are avoiding doing anything sexy in front of the dining room window, now that the people going down Lincoln Street on the #8 bus can see.
Posted by jodi on May 21, 2011 at 4.40pm
in which raquel welch’s nipples must be made of iron
May 20, 2011
(or, a continuation of our look at costume in Kansas City Bomber)
I know it was 1972 and all, but it made me cringe seeing the types of outfits that were worn bra-less in this movie. Sweaters. Shiny acrylic and/or wool ribbed sweater dresses! It was driving me crazy thinking about the possibility that she might not be wearing a bra during derby bouts, because getting hit in the boob is a thing of which I am terrified (in general, but especially while doing sports). After a thorough examination of the film I am relieved to report that a bra was worn beneath that skating uniform. THAT’S RIGHT: I went through this movie frame by frame so that you wouldn’t have to. That’s love, y’all.
So! Let’s talk about these amazing uniforms. Because I wasn’t kidding when I said I would wear this uniform every day.
Each team’s uniform has matching leggings, with a stripe running down the outside of the leg that is a smaller version of the stripe on the shorts. It’s more protection than it looks like, as dressing room scenes revealed that knee pads and butt pads are worn beneath the leggings. What I really love about these is the black protective pads on the knees and hips, particularly how the stripes continue right through the hip padding. As I no longer wear pants, I could easily see these leggings fitting into my everyday costume, especially in winter when I’m always looking for awesome leg coverage options under my skirts. Bonus for printmakers: there is padding located right at that spot that’s always getting bumped against the corner of a press bed.
I love that the numbers are huge (although for some reason it looks like the numbers on Welch’s jacket are printed up higher than everyone else’s; perhaps simply because her zipper is opened lower?). I wish that the numbers were printed on the shorts too, like footballers. Hell, I wish the numbers were printed on the leggings. I could totally rock some leggings with numbers on them. Hmm, I think a little screen printing project might be on the horizon.
I’m not sure why the women wear jackets and the men wear crew neck pullovers, unless it’s just a way to provide a view down the tops of the ladies. Besides the fact that the sideways-striped shoulder trim doesn’t make as much sense on the pullovers, where the form of the ornament doesn’t echo the cut of the garment, to me the jackets seem more masculine, as they call to mind that most manly of sports: NASCAR!
I wish the costume conventions of contemporary derby leaned more towards this look than the ripped fishnets look, because while I love me some ripped fishnets, tank tops and booty shorts, I love even more a woman who’s dressed like she’s about to pump gas or pop a rivet in your car. Tough is sexy and capable is sexier. And you clearly don’t want to mess with these broads right here (baubled pigtails notwithstanding).
They will break your wrist with the sheer power of their glares.
As for the depiction of the sport, well, derby was a whole different world back then, more focused on the spectacle and the pro-wrestling-style posturing and interpersonal dramas. I’m still learning how to skate and there’s a lot about the current rules of roller derby with which I’m not yet familiar. But I’m fairly certain that this move is a foul that would result in a penalty nowadays:
Although I do appreciate the fact that there is a massage table present during bouts.
Incidentally, you can tell which of the film’s skaters are actors and which are actual skaters by who laces their boots up all the way and who does not. Raquel Welch and Helena Kallianotes (who played Jackie, the rival skater): not skaters. In fact, you can easily tell when it’s Welch’s stunt double by the fact that she can actually skate well. Patti Cavin, who played Big Bertha Bogliani? Totally a real skater:
Posted by jodi on May 20, 2011 at 9.34am
