07.29.09
Posted in Uncategorized, hobbies, knitting and crocheting at 5:38 pm by Administrator
Not long ago I was diving through my craft closet when I found an old unfinished cross stitch project that I had never finished. I realized that it is “almost” finished, so I might as well finish it. And then I remembered that there are more patterns by Mirabilia that I had wanted to make in addition to this one. So I checked out Nora Corbett’s website and found there are “more” new ones that I just “love!” Ack! So that has motivated me to finish this one up so that I can justify buying more of them. I’m eyeballing the “Circle of Friends” as well as more mermaid patterns as well as others. Just too lovely! Here’s my unfinished project as I found it.
As you can see, most of the cross stitching is done. It’s worked on 32 count Water Lily Linen by Wichelt Imports. There’s just the box in her hands left to cross stitch. I also still have some back stitching to do and then sew on all the beads, straighten out the fabric, and get it framed.
Here’s a closeup shot to show how nice Mirabilia’s designs are. I just love her designs!
The first Mirabilia design I stitched was Nora Corbett’s Midsummer Night’s Fairy. I actually worked on this when I was recovering from AA. I took this with me to many transfusion sessions since it took “hours” getting all those transfusions. Here it is finished and framed.
And for some reason I can’t seem to focus on just one thing these days. I started another gansey for Matty, but wanted to do it up really fast with some left over yarn I had. So, no fancy patterns or cabling with this one. Here’s a pic of it in progress. After I finished the first sleeve I started on the second sleeve only to find myself “short” of the cognac heather by 4 rows. . . grrrr. So I ordered another skein, so I can’t finish it until it comes. This is worked on 7 US circulars using Patons Classic Wool in colors cognac heather and blue denim.
In the meantime, I decided to start on another sweater for Matty with some other colors I have. This time I wanted to try a raglan working from the top down. Here’s what I have so far.
I will be folding down the color when it’s almost done. This is also worked on 7 US circulars in Paton’s Classic Wool in colors sage and wheat heather. This is some of the wool I went crazy buying when Joann’s had a nice sale with free shipping. . . dangerous to shop online when things are on sale and with free shipping!
Sadly, these are not the only projects I’ve been dabbling in. There are a few more like my yarn spinning that I’ve started up again and the miniature needle punch that I still haven’t gotten to. I’m still reading my stack of books as well, which I’m thinking of blogging about the Sudan section of Me Against My Brother. So don’t ask my why I can’t control myself, but I picked up another project that I just thought was too cute to pass up. I hunted for bargain deals for this book and the “doll.” I saw this book while browsing through the library and couldn’t check it out because it was a reference book. Imagine that. . . BUT, Amazon to the rescue, I was able to pick it up for about $10 used and also bought the cheapest doll I could find for my model ($6.30 ish). When they came in the mail my boys gave me some strange looks and said, “Aren’t you too old for that kind of thing?” I told them that, “I’m not to old to dream of being a grandma who likes to make things for her grand daughters!” And that shut them up! Tee hee hee!
After I bought this book, I found that there are “free” Barbie patterns online! But before I kicked myself, I thought that this book is nice because it also gives the patterns to matching outfits for little girls, which the patterns online didn’t have. If I get around to making any of these, I’ll likely post them up here. Until then, toodles for now!
Marlakins
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07.26.09
Posted in History, Movie commentary, Uncategorized at 12:28 am by Administrator
For anyone who likes stories of unsung heroes, I recommend the movie, The Children of Huang Shi. Many of us are all too familiar with the horrific results of war, but we should also know and remember the heroic actions of those who are or have been brave enough to preserve and value the lives of his fellow man in the face of eminent danger and even death. In the story of The Children of Huang Shi there are several unsung heroes who manage to save the lives of about 60 Chinese children during the Japanese occupation of China during the 1930s and 40s. While there were several heroes involved, the story focuses on one particular man, George Hogg.
Before I praise the movie too much, I do want to comment that like many other movies based on true stories, the “real” story was greatly altered. From reading an article at the Times Online titled, The Long March of a Forgotten English Hero, it is apparent that the movie embellished quite a lot while at the same time leaving out quite a lot. The main story, however, remained intact. And that story was of an Englishman named George Hogg who cared for about 60 Chinese school boys who, I gathered, were orphaned possibly as a result of the Japanese occupation of China. Hogg was able to develop discipline and order amongst the boys, and later, to keep them safe from the ravages of war (such as being recruited by the enemy), Hogg decided to move the whole school to a safer location about 700 miles away. He and his boys traveled 500 miles on foot and by carts, then were able to obtain a few old trucks to complete the next 200 miles to their new destination.
One of the interesting aspects of Hogg’s story is that according to the Scriptwriter, James MacManus, he discovered Hogg’s story just by accident. MacManus happened to be in a Beijing bar when he overheard a conversation wherein a man was complaining about a statue being errected of an Englishman in an remote town of Shandon on the Mongolian border. This statue was in memory of an Englishman who died in 1944. No one in the embassy had heard of George Hogg, but through a little research MacManus was finally able to locate someone who did know Hogg. From there Hogg’s story unfolded, and MacManus found that Hogg “was an outstanding Englishman who fell in love with a foreign people and devoted his life to their betterment. What he did made him deeply and widely loved.”
At the end of the movie is a segment wherein some of the real-life “Hogg’s boys” speak about him. These boys are now in their 80s, but remember Hogg very well and with much fondness. Two of the brothers said that they didn’t know when their birthdays were, so when Hogg died, they used the date of Hogg’s death as their birthday. This story reminds me of the documentary film I watch on Nanking because there were also a few other foreigners such as John Rabe, Robert O. Wilson, and Minnie Vautrin who risked their lives to help the Chinese. Through their bravery, they were able to save hundreds of lives. I still remember the readings from their diaries such as how they had to “bluff” their “braveness.” That is, when the soldiers would come, they would be so scared, but they had to “pretend” that they weren’t and would even shout down the soldiers to leave the premises. I can’t imagine doing that, but there are real live people who have done such things. I admire those who have the resolve to do what’s right in the face of danger. I am reminded of the Bible and how we are told to care for the helpless such as the orphans and widows and those in prison. I used to wonder about visiting “prisoners.” I’m seeing more and more that there are many who have been imprisoned for political or religious reasons, not because they were criminals or had committed any crimes. Just as John the Baptist, the Apostle Paul, and many others were imprisoned for their beliefs or just because they were foreigners, that type of thing still happens today. I am reminded of some of the stories I’ve read and heard from the Veterans Against the Iraq War. It shows me that even today there are still innocent prisoners who need comfort and brave people to help them out. And I am reminded of Matthew 25:34-40:
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
These heroes who helped these children and the hundreds of others have acted kindly towards God, as God said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” What an amazing thing. I’m sure God, who sees all, has not missed them.
Two thumbs up for The Children of Huang Shi. I know it’s quite embellished, however, artisticlly it blended the events of the day into the story to help give a feel of the climate of the time. Hogg and his boys lived during a very hard time in China where their people were being brutally massacred by the hundreds. To understand the situation in which Hogg lived and died helped to emphasize his devotion and the depth of his sacrifice.
Marlakins
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07.19.09
Posted in Uncategorized, gardening at 7:37 pm by Administrator
This year’s gardening endeavors have not gone as well as planned. We did get some string beans and squash, but between the water rationing and some animal that’ve taken residence in our backyard, our yield has been very modest. Instead, my attention has focused on mostly potted herbs. Today I was pleased to see that our potted herbs are thriving. I was especially glad to see that the cuttings and sprigs we obtained from the Venice Learning Garden have pretty much all taken root except one.
The Learning Garden is run completely on donations and volunteer time. The cool thing about this place is that they have a nice variety of plants from decorative plants to edible plants to medicinal plants, and even fruit trees.
Here’s a shot of their greenhouse.
And a view of one angle of their grounds.
The garden is a bit larger than what is shown here. Off to the left of this picture was the section for the cacti and succulents. I had to take a pic of this as it reminded me of a crab, heheh.
They had a variety of ornamental flowers. This is one tiny patch.
They had a nice variety of veggies like eggplant, tomatoes, squash, etc. Here’s a pic of some onions. I took this because I’m an onion lover and I’ve never grown these before so had no idea they looked like this as they grew.
For all I knew they grew like carrots, but these look like they’re clustered and half way out of the ground. I remember watching the movie “The Onion Field” years ago, and maybe this is what that field looked like.
They also had a section that grew herbs for teas.
I believe that plant that’s just behind the sign and the pole is white sage. When we sat in on the Chumash Indian herb meeting in Santa Monica we were told that white sage was the all-around herb for the Chumash. All of their herbal mixes includes white sage. So when we visited the Theodore Payne Foundation last month we picked up a white sage plant for our backyard. We figured it should be good because it’s both a native California plant which should grow well here in our drought-prone climate, and it is also a beneficial herbal.
There was also a section for Chinese medicinal herbs that is being cared for by students at the Emperor’s School of Herbs. Brian loves herbs and so he has a lot of books that speak of so many herbs used by the Chinese, the Indians, etc. so this was a treat to see the actual plants. For instance here’s a pic of the Chinese herb Niu Bang Zi.
While visiting garden we were lucky to have met a nice man and woman who were tending the garden. They were very knowledgeable, and fortunately for us, the woman thinned out some of the plants and allowed us to take some sprigs home! Here’s one that Brian is holding called Chinese Mugwort.
We really got lucky meeting her there because as she thinned out some of the plants, she gave us a nice little variety to take home such as comfrey, mugwort, ashwaganda, etc. We took them home in a cut out plastic water bottle and replanted them when we got home. Here’s what they looked like today.
The one pot on the far left doesn’t look like it’s gonna make it, but the others look pretty good! They’re already going on three weeks, so I think they’ve got a really good chance of surviving. I’m hoping we can get them nice and big like at the Learning Garden. Maybe in another month of so we can safely transplant these into the ground in the back. I really like the idea of growing our own fresh herbs. Aside from these I’ve also been nursing some other kitchen herbs (mint, basil, chives, etc.), some of which have surprised me a bit because they sprung up unexpectedly, ha! Maybe I’ll share that another time. Oh, and lastly, to round out the efficiency of the Learning Garden is their compost section. One can not only learn about gardening various plants, but also learn about vaious methods of composting.
I’m really glad to have visited the Venice Learning Garden. It’s great that there are some really knowledgeable people out there who are willing to share their knowledge and who are actively keeping all sorts of varieties of plants alive. Often we hear about the dangers of various animals going into extinction, but that can also happen to plant varities. So I’m always very happy to know of other gardeners who value the art of gardening. Plants help to clean up our environment, are pleasing to the eye, and important for the health our bodies.
Marlakins
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07.18.09
Posted in Book Reviews, Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, Uncategorized at 12:19 am by Administrator
Saving Grandma is the second part of the Calvin Becker trilogy by Frank Schaeffer. Knowing that the storyline is about a young boy growing up in a Reformed Protestant family, I assumed that the “saving” part referred to Calvin’s grandma’s need for salvation. While I was right about that, the story does take a little twist in that grandma did need another kind of saving. To avoid revealing a spoiler, I’ll leave it at that for those who may not have read the book, yet.
I’m not sure why, but this book had a different feel to it than the other two parts, Portofino and Zermatt. While Calvin’s character still remained true to his usual funny and mischievous self, in this book Calvin had a more serious side to him which was evident in how he eventually cared for his grandma, his love for Jennifer, and his concern for his spastic friend, Jean-Pierre. In the other two books Calvin seems more happy-go-lucky, while in Saving Grandma, he seems to have more of the cares of the world weighing on him. As a result, I thought it gave the book a slightly different feel. Calvin spent a lot more time day-dreaming about Jennifer than his usual imaginings of trying to figure out the mysteries of women in general. I think this gave the book a different feel by way of a different literary style.
Since a major aspect of Calvin Becker’s life is that his family is part of the Reformed Protestant religion, it’s impossible to escape the message Frank artfully weaves into the story of the down sides of organized religions, in particular, Calvinism. While the story is a bit extreme, the point is well-made how the best of intentions can result is wacky behavior. The “church split” was laughable, but before I could dismiss it as “out-of-the-ordinary,” I recalled a family feud wherein one of my own uncles climbed up on the roof of my other uncle’s house and cut down his TV antenna. Ha! And then consider the myriad of civil and domestic cases that require police and court intervention. The church split magnified the irony of how one of the main themes of the Bible is to love one another as Christ loved us, yet, we continue to find reasons for divisions in the name of the Bible. Instead of displaying love, we commonly display intolerance.
Another concept that stood out to me in Saving Grandma was regarding “real work.” Calvin’s grandmother had a major issue regarding Ralph and Elsa’s “work” in the ministry. Grandma didn’t think that missionary work was “real work.” She claimed that her husband, who worked the coal breakers, did real work. While I can kind of see her point, it’s also a bit confusing because what then does work mean? A desk job is not work? Only manual labor? How about someone who just stands in an elevator pushing the buttons for clients? And really work is relative in that work is work whether or not someone gets paid for it or not. I mean what’s the difference between washing your own dishes at home and washing the dishes as an employee at a pizza parlor? Both are work, although at home there’s no pay, while at the pizza parlor there is pay. I can give advice to a friend for free, but I can also give advice to a stranger for a fee under the guise of counselor. Likewise, I can share the gospel for free, but then we can pay missionaries to do that instead. And there’s the rub for me. I think the gospel should be free, so why do religions make a business out of their faith? There are so many “warnings” in the Bible how the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, yet, so often religions focus on accumulating more and more money and even imply that if a believer “gives” then they will also receive wealth in return. I think not enough focus is made regarding what are the blessings the Bible tells us we are to receive if we obey. Often church members are lead to believe blessings equals prosperity and prosperity equals more money. But didn’t God give prosperity to Joseph while he was in prison?
Genesis 39:21-23
“But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. 23 The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.”
How does one “prosper” in prison? Somehow I don’t think it was monetary, but that he was shown favor. Good health is also a form of prosperity. So this is where I think the rip-off comes in terms of various religions leading their followers to believe if they give to their church they will receive monetary blessings. It may happen that they do receive monetary blessings, but in light of the fact that the Bible teaches us not to strive for riches on earth, and that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, it seems contradictory that God would want to reward us with money as a primary blessing. So back to grandma and her concept of “real work,” the Bible tells us that there is profit is all labor. That profit my not be money, but rather in all work/labor, there is benefit/profit. In that respect, missionary work is work just like any other, thus missionary work is real work, but since I think the gospel should be free, I think it should also fall into the category of washing our own dishes. We do our own dishes for free just like we can share the gospel for free. Missionary work should not be work in the sense of work for monetary gain. Matthew 10:8 reads, “Freely you have received, freely give.”
Finally, the issue of Calvinism is complicated. Among the many issues is that of evangelism. I mean if the chosen are chosen, why bother with evangelism? I know it’s not that simple amongst Calvinists and they have their counter to that. Actually there’s so much written about Calvinism that while I’d like to comment more on it, for now I’m gonna leave that alone.
As with Portofino and Zermatt, I recommend Saving Grandma to mature readers who have a good sense of humor, are not offended by sexual content, and can take some religious criticism. All three books definitely have laugh-out-loud moments. I give the trilogy two thumbs up.
And that concludes my comments on the Calvin Becker Trilogy.
Marlakins
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07.16.09
Posted in Book Reviews, Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, History, Movie commentary, Uncategorized at 12:05 pm by Administrator
I’m currently in the middle of reading a book by Scott Peterson called, Me Against My Brother: At War in Somalia, Sudan, and Rwanda. I recently finished the first section, which is on Somalia. Peterson devotes nine chapters to Somalia and starts off describing for his readers what it’s like in Somalia and then explains a little about their history, which helps to explain why they are the way they are–warlike and suffering from hunger. Peterson documents how the rest of the world came to know of the mass starvation that Somalia was experiencing as a result of the feuds between the warlords. The subsequent UN and US “aid” to Somalia, then the misunderstandings, which later resulted in a “worsening” of the situation in Somalia, to finally the departure of both the US and the UN from Somalia. Talk about an eye opener. This helped me to understand a little more of Africa that has been hard for me to comprehend when seeing all the starvation in the media.
Like the Congo and other parts of Africa, there were attempts to colonize and subjugate the Somalis. But unlike much of Africa, the Somalis have never been fully colonized or subjugated due to their resolve to be independent. Their cultural and religious beliefs are so deeply ingrained in the Somali tribes, which includes extreme loyalty to their respective clans and an extreme resolve for “revenge” that much in-fighting amongst Somalis resulted in the starvation of their own people. I am reminded of the importance of the Bible scripture to “not let the sun go down on your anger.” This is a problem that the Somalis have and which they carry for years and through “generations.” Their lust for revenge will never end until they learn to “not let the sun go down with their anger.” This coupled with man’s tendency for greed perpetuates warfare amongst them. The misunderstanding of Somali culture and religion by the UN and the US, according to Peterson, escalated the already existing conflict in Somalia during the early 1990. The early attempts to colonize Somalia by the Italians introduced the more modern and lethal weaponry that today allows the warlords free reign over the masses.
There is no such thing as “gun control” in Somalia, and weapons are sold in their market places like vegetables with rounds dangling in strips along their “storefronts,” various weapons lined up like candy, and grenades showcased by the wheelbarrows. There are no restrictions or limitations to weapons “demonstrations,” as machines guns are randomly fired right in the market place, no doubt one of the causes of injury and even deaths from stray bullets. All families are believed to be “armed” and even as the injured civilians are admitted to the hospitals for wound treatments, they bring along their guns for protection. The “Wild West” still exists in Somalia, but from the descriptions given by Peterson, is much more lethal. He may be right in that I have never heard that the old wild west villains ever caused mass starvation and didn’t cruise along the streets in “technicals,” trucks with mounted machine guns and other weaponry.
The original intent of the UN and US intervention in Somalia during the early 1990s was said to be relief and was prompted by the graphic images of the starving women and children through the media. In an effort to give the Somalis relief, the UN and the US sent in tons of food and other supplies. Unfortunately, and to the dismay of the UN and the US, just giving aid was not as simple as expected. The food and supplies were being intercepted and stolen by the truck loads by the various warlords before it could reach the needy civilians. As the UN and the US realized this, they tried to negotiate with the warlords, but as Peterson asserts, the misunderstandings of the Somali culture only fueled the fire as the US took sides with “one” of their warlords. Mistake after mistake culminated into what we know today as Bloody Monday. Several grave mistakes were made, one was siding with one of the warlords, then turning on him. Another, although done with “seemingly” good reason was not “equally” disarming the competing warlords. The explanation was that the UN and the US didn’t want to disarm them because they did not want to come across as a mission to colonize, but just relief. Which is a good reason, but backfired when the miscalculation was made of taking sides, then turning on one of their most powerful warlords, Mohammed Farah Aidid. An example of how the US sided with the warlord was by attempting to disarm rival warlords while leaving Aidid’s weapons intact and thus it became evident to the rival warlords that Aidid was immune and thus untouchable. This greatly strengthened Aidid and raised more strife amongst the clans. So while at first the US was warmly welcomed in Somalia, later the US became the target enemy of Somalia not only by the Somalia militia, but also the Somali citizens as was evident on Bloody Monday in October 1993. All this because of “misunderstandings” between the UN, the US, and Somalia.
As I read Peterson’s account of the events that lead to Bloody Monday (one of the 1993 conflict in Mogadishu), I recalled watching years ago the movie, Black Hawk Down. I thought it was an incredible story, but didn’t quite understand why things in the movie were happening. It was just crazy fighting. But now that I’ve read Peterson’s explanations, it made a lot of things fall into place and so I rented the movie, Black Hawk Down, again to see if the movie really did make sense and I just didn’t get it at the time. It was claimed to be based on a true story, which always grabs my attention. I think the movie Black Hawk Down was made based on a book called Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War by Mark Bowden. I will have to eventually read that book to see what Bowden’s take was on the Somali conflicts. Anyway, as I re-watched the movie, I felt that it really was misleading because there was not adequate explanation of the Somali culture and history to understand why the Somalis, both militia and civilians, were going ballistic. The movie portrayed their strife as incomprehensible. In Peterson’s book, Me Against My Brother, he makes evident that the UN and the US really were carelessly stepping on the Somali toes, so to speak. They encouraged peace talks, then inexplicably fired at their elders’ assembly. The UN and the US did not work in harmony, and even within the US military there was discord. That combined with Somalia’s long history of revenge and propensity to fight to the death was dynamite. Dozens of US soldiers’ lives were lost and many injuries also were sustained. Amongst the Somalis, hundreds of lives were lost as well as more injuries. The result of that conflict was the evacuation of the US forces. The Somalis, as in times past, once again repelled the foreigners.
There are quite a few noteworthy aspects to discuss regarding Peterson’s nine chapters on Somalia. One such aspect is the role of the media. We all know that our media is censored. While it’s true that there are some good reasons to censor parts of our media, the down side is that we never get the full coverage. For instance many images of war never make it in print because they are just too graphic. The result is that we often don’t fully appreciate the horrors of war and the destruction it causes. The US military casualties are often hidden or the numbers purposefully obscured to avoid demoralization of the folks back home. Likewise, any US military defeat is downplayed. The 1993 Somalia conflict is an example of that as the military often would not admit defeat, but rather claimed that operations were successful, completed as planned and expected. Civilian casualties were grouped and classified as combatants. Blunders were justified as “routine” tactics and/or ignored. Another form of censorship that became evident to me while reading Peterson’s book was not from the media, but from the military and government themselves by their “prepared” speeches. The information relayed to the press often were sprinkled with inconsistencies, omissions, and outright lies. It’s no wonder that so much misinformation is spread when not only is the media censored, but when misinformation is purposefully released to make certain issues, missions, and events look under control or with a different purpose. Even the Somalis quickly picked up on this.
There was another matter of personal conflicts and non-cooperation within the the UN, the US, and within the US military. According to Peterson, there were issues with the unwillingness to share intelligence information. A good reason for that was to avoid leaks to the enemy, while bad reasons also existed that involved jealousies and arrogance. As a result, the mission carried out by the Delta Rangers called the Battle of the Black Sea, and what the Somalis call the Day of the Rangers was shrouded in secrecy. When the mission went awry, and the Delta Rangers needed help, the military back at base didn’t even know what was going on. This resulted in taking half an hour to assemble rescue teams to go out and retrieve their men. A mission that was supposed to only last one hour lasted over 15 hours of heavy artillery fire. By this time the Somalis were so angry at Americans that not only were the Somali militia after “any” Americans, so were the civilians who were armed and also itching to take a crack at the downed Americans. The scene reminded me of the movie, Escape from New York, but worse.
The mission and events were so complicated that it’s impossible to write all about it in one blog entry. I do realize that I should also read other books from other perspectives, but so far, I do recommend Scott Peterson’s book, Me Against My Brother: At War in Somalia, Sudan, and Rwanda. I’ve just barely started reading the portion on Sudan. . . oh my. . . It certainly gives me more food for thought and encourages me to be more considerate of others and situations that I’m not ordinarily familiar with. It also gives me more insight into the role of religion in our world, the differences and similarities of religions, and the benefits and the disadvantages of religions. It highlights for me the dangers of arrogance, and as usual, it magnifies to me the importance of Jesus’ teaching that we must love one another as He has loved us. Not as anyone loves, but as “Christ” loves.
Marlakins
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07.15.09
Posted in Uncategorized, knitting and crocheting at 12:01 am by Administrator
Earlier I was typing out a book comment/review. After completing the third paragraph I decided to “save” it just to be on the safe side. That’s when I lost it. Apparently, Wordpress was having some “difficulties,” so whatever I tried to upload wouldn’t upload. It would just disappear. . . grrr. . . And being that today in Los Angeles was pretty hot, I was bothered, and I decided to put the blogging aside for some watermelon to cool me down. Ahhhh, that was delicious and now that I’m nice and cooled down, I’m too lazy to think much, ha! So in place of my book review (I’ll try to get to that another time), I’ll just post a knitting update, which is actually more relaxing for me and requires much less thinking. Earlier I thought I was going to put the charity knitting aside, when I realized that knitting tiny preemie hats are really quick to whip up, so could do some in between my knitting projects. I found this cute pattern for free online at Lucybug Patterns. This hat is called “Striped Hat.” I did alter the pattern slightly in that I took the swirls right up to the top, and just made a small poke at the top instead of a pom pom because I don’t like making pom poms and because I tend to not like to put stuff that might fall off on baby items. After I made one of these hats I had to try another because it reminded me of one of those Russian buildings with spiraled domes or colorful hot air balloons. So I kept trying different color combos until I ended up with seven little hats. This actually inspired me to watch the movie, UP. So we did that last week, too. . .
Here’s a top view.
Then I remembered that there was another baby hat that I wanted to try. . . the Cupcake hat. There’s a free pattern online that can be viewed at the Naked Sheep. I altered the pattern a little to make it a smaller size. Instead of casting on 80, I cast on 60. I also didn’t make a pom pom for the top, but instead made a small I-cord and folded it down on itself, which I think is more secure. Here’s the result of my first cupcake hat.
I gave this to my sister’s roommate’s baby. Last week I visited my sister, and we had a nice time out. She treated me out to lunch at Kabuki’s (yum!) and then we headed off to an Asian market where I picked up noodles and a box of Manila mangoes. Aaron loved the mangoes and has already devoured them. Afterward she invited me over to her place to see how well the cupcake hat fit on little Banini. Here’s a pic with my sister and Banini with his cupcake hat.
Aren’t they cute!? I got a chance to hug him, too!
Poor Banini, I was a bit “sweaty” because it was so hot out, and so I must have been a bit stinky, ha ha! But fortunately, he didn’t seem to notice here.
Then finally, I knit up a few more hats. I found a cable pattern online at Sweaterbabe.com. Just click on pattern #57 for the pattern I used for the green and purple hats. The red hat is just a basic ribbed hat, so didn’t use a pattern for that one. Basically just casted on 60 stitches and did 2×2 ribbing for about 4 1/2 to 5 inches, then started to decrease to taper the top.
And that’s it. It’s late, so I’m off to bed. . .
Marlakins
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07.11.09
Posted in Book Reviews, History, Uncategorized at 1:12 am by Administrator
A couple weeks ago I finished reading Sven Lindqvist’s book, “Exterminate All the Brutes” One Man’s Odyssey into the Heart of Darkness and the Origins of European Genocide. I had stumbled across his book while looking for other books related to Africa. I had just finished reading Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, so seeing that Lindqvist found inspiration to write his book due in part to Conrad’s book, I decided to read it.
I found Lindqvist’s writing style interesting in that he actually traveled to Africa, retracing areas related to Conrad’s Heart of Darkness while at the same time writing and researching African and European history through historical records, scientific research of the day, and popular literature to get a feel of the social climate during the turn of the century. The primary focus was on European colonialization and how it was viewed and justified in society. At first Lindqvist focuses on colonialization of parts of Africa like the Congo and describes how the development of more powerful and efficient weapons resulted in the ability of Europeans to more fully subjugate and exploit the Africans. For centuries, the Europeans had been trying to exploit parts of Africa’s rich natural resources, but were unable to fully penetrate the interiors due to the harsh environment and the ability of the natives to fight back. As European weapons evolved, they were able to wipe out the natives at safe distances, where the natives wouldn’t even see the attack coming. The superior firepower of the Europeans allowed them to decimated the populations of the Africans such as the Congolese. As Lindqvist examines the colonialization of parts of Africa, he also takes into account the history of colonialization overall. The result of colonialization, whether in the Americas, Australia, India, or Africa, often amounts to mass killings and even genocide of the native inhabitants of the new colony. Examples cited were the Tazmanians, the Gaunches, and the Hereros who were completely exterminated, while other examples given were parts of Latin America: West Indies, Central America, Mexico, and the Andes. Lindqvist writes:
“In Mexico alone there may have been 25 million people when the Europeans arrived in 1519. Fifty years later, the number had fallen to 2.7 million. Fifty more years later there were 1.5 million Indians left. Over 90 percent of the original population had been wiped out in a hundred years.
“The great majority of those people did not die in battle. They died quite peacefully of disease, hunger, and inhuman labor conditions. The social organization of the Indians had been wrecked by the white conquerors, and in the new society only a small fraction of the Indians was as yet usable, for, as a labor force for the whites, the Indians were of low quality. And there were may more Indians than the few whites could exploit with existing methods.”
Lindqvist also comments on the history of the indigenous American population of the U.S. He writes:
“About five million of the indigenous American population lived in what is now the United States. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, half a million still remained. In 1891, at the time of Wounded Knee–the last great massacre of Indians in the United States–the native population reached rock bottom: a quarter of a million, or 5 percent of the original number of Indians.”
The pattern Lindqvist outlines is that genocide is a common component or result of colonialization. Yet, although that fact was known, the loss of lives were always justified by one explanation or another such as the greater good of “civilizing the savages.” Later, with the popularization of Darwin’s ideas of evolution and the survival of the fittest, the genocides resulting from colonizations were more easily rationalized that the natives were just inferior and thus inevitable that their inferior races would die out.
More recently there have been debates or assertions as presented by Ben Stein’s movie, “Expelled,” that the Darwinian theory of evolution promoted the extermination of the Jews during WWII by instilling the idea that there were inferior races. However, Lindqvist asserts that mass murders and genocides were already being committed throughout various parts of the world throughout history, and that Darwin’s theory of evolution did not cause those murders and genocides, but rather gave it a comfortable explanation which more easily justified them. As such, Lindqvist asserts that the Jewish Holocaust was actually a result of German colonialization and not really unique. Germany had joined the bandwagon of colonialization too late in the game, and there was less land to be “grabbed.” With their growing population, there was becoming less and less elbow room. In order to make more room for the Germans, the “unwanted” needed to be eliminated or cleared away. This is what was done in other colonies, but since they were far away from Europe, many atrocities could be commited unchecked. But since Hiltler’s expansion or “colonization” was in Europe, his actions were more easily seen and scrutinized and thus viewed more harshly. Lindqvists explanation does seem to answer my questions of why so many massacres can and have happened throughout many parts of the world, but we mostly only hear about the Jewish Holocaust. In the older days of colonialization there was more uncharted land to grab and those lands were thousands of miles away from public scrutiny. Any atrocity could be committed unchecked, unlike in the close scope in Europe. Lindqvist uses not only the current literature of the day, but also the scientific literature being promulgated to show the prevailing thoughts of the day. He quotes such works as Anthropoligie der Naturevolker, The Decent of Man, Origin of Species, Anthropogeographie, Politische Geographie, Volksdienst, Alldeutsche Blatter, etc. to show the rational that was becoming pervasive in their society and helped promote the idea of colonializtion as a “natural outcome” and even a necessity. To support this even further, I recall reading in “When Medicine Went Mad,” there were claims the Germans admired the United States and tried to emulate Americans by exterminating the weak (there was a movement in the U.S. at one point to exterminate the mentally retarded and some cases were followed through). The Germans also cited the black slavery and sequestration of the blacks in the U.S. and as a result, the United States of America was in a sense a roll model for them. When one looks at all these angles, what Lindqvist asserts makes a lot of sense.
But Lindqvist doesn’t stop there. He goes on to point out that much of all this is plain to see by anyone who is honest and willing to see. That is, there is so much documentation of all this that it really is quite plain. Lindqvist gives a story of Voulet and Chanoine as an example. Their bloody rampage across Chad, which resulted in the murder of innocent villagers and the French Lieutenant-Colonel Klobb, was very well documented with “boxes” of testimonies but was soon forgotten and left without justice. As are many of histories massacres, not because we do not have the facts, but rather because in has been profitable to deny and suppress such knowledge.
I’m sure there is much more that can be discussed from Lindqvist’s book. This is definitely an important contribution to our society and I highly recommend anyone to read this book. Definitely two thumbs up for “Exterminate All the Brutes” One Man’s Odyssey into the Heart of Darkness and the Origins of European Genocide by Sven Lindqvist. While it was originally written in Sweden, the English translation is quite good.
Marlakins
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07.08.09
Posted in Historical Trivia, Playing the Tourist, Uncategorized at 10:58 pm by Administrator
With all the commotion going on this past week, I forgot that I missed my 8th year anniversary of when I had my last blood transfusion. I got so caught up with 4th of July festivities (I was the designated cook), and then I got so distracted with watching all those Michael Jackson specials and reading all the other news, that I completely forgot my personal Independence Day anniversary. And now that I think about it, my personal Independence Day Anniversary, July 6, falls on the same anniversary day of when Sir Thomas More got beheaded for refusing to accept King Henry VIII’s switch to the Church of England. What a strange anniversary to share. . .
Anyway, I found some of the pictures Brian and I took during our visit last year of the Tower of London. Sir Thomas More was held prisoner at the Tower in 1535 and was subsequently beheaded. While we were there they had a skit of the story of Sir Thomas More’s imprisonment as a result of his refusal to sign the Act of Supremacy, which declared King Henry VIII supreme head of the Church of England. As the story goes, King Henry VIII was loyal to the Roman Catholic Church and brutally suppressed the Protestant Reformation. He even wrote the Defence of the Seven Sacraments with the aid of Thomas More in response to Martin Luther’s attacks on indulgences. However, later King Henry VIII wanted to get an annulment from his wife, Catherine, and appealed to the Holy See, who refused to allow the annulment. Actually, the details are quite complicated as Henry VIII had to make his appeal follow various channels and people. The end result was that he was not able to get an annulment, and so began his split with the Roman Catholic Church. Sir Thomas More refused to go along, and so he was imprisoned. The skit at the Tower of London began with a narrator.
I don’t remember who this guy is supposed to be, but he was part of the skit, heheh.
Sir Thomas More was played by the gentleman dressed in red. The woman off to the right played his daughter, and the one on the left played his wife. In this scene they are begging or try to convince More to just accept the King’s decision so that he could go back home with them.
But More refuses and continues to be held in prison until July 6, 1535 when he was beheaded. There was no re-enactment of that scene, heheheh.
Here’s a shot of Brian’s behind as he walked along the Tower grounds. He’s carrying my orange backpack.l
One of the buildings in the Tower is the Armoury House. Along with the old rifles and other weapons are housed the armour of men and horses. This particular armor belonged to King Henry VIII.
These belonged to the Earl of Worcester.
This armor is shown upon an armored horse. There was another room that had lots and lots of armor for both men and horses, including a Samurai outfit that was given as a gift.
Oh, and this reminds me. This armory house also houses the weapons and rifles that were used by the British soldiers to fight in America. The result of that war is celebrated here every 4th of July and is known as Independence Day. America had declared her independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain on July 4, 1776. Maybe some time if I’m not too lazy I’ll try to dig up some of the pictures of the rifles we took there as well. Pretty cool the way they store and display them.
Marlakins
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07.06.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:33 pm by Administrator
I’m not using my usual computer, so won’t spend much time with this post. I just wanted to pop in to say that I hope everyone had a nice 4th.
There certainly has been a lot on the news lately, which sucked me into to it this morning and I pretty much wasted my blogging time, heheh. The media is sure having a field day with news material from the Iranian election, to the deaths of Farrah and Michael, to the Sanford scandal, and now Palin again has graced the net. . . Oh, and McNamara passed. . . oye. Too much to comment on those. All I have the energy to say so far about those is that I plan to stay away from the Staples Center on Tues. I really don’t want to deal the with traffic that’s going to bring.
I did manage to finish reading another book, which I’m too lazy to blog about right now, ack! So why am I blogging? Maybe just to make sure I update every so often, I guess. I also recently watched a rented movie, Definance. It wasn’t the greatest movie, but I like the star, Daniel Craig, and I like to watch movies that are based on true stories. This story was situated in Russia during WWII as the Germans were hunting down and killing off the Jews. Three brothers escape and then manage to help many other Jews survive out in the forest. It’s amazing the things people can do and have done. I find it encouraging to learn about these kinds of people, and while I realize that I’m behind on my book reviews, I have another book by Lindqvist called The Skull Measurer’s Mistake, which seems to have that same flare of brave people who have the courage to go against the grain and speak up for what they believe in. Oh, and I’m still in the middle of reading Me Against My Brother, which I’m finding very enlightening because I had no idea what Somalis are like. It has really made me rethink my position about gun control and that it really depends upon each country as to what control needs to be enforced.
Anyway, that’s about it for now. I may get back to reading and watching more news to amuse myself, heheheh. Oh, I just remembered that I’ve been reading a little on the reformation, and today, July 6, is the anniversary of when Sir Tomas More got beheaded for refusing to sign the Act of Supremacy, which declared King Henry VIII the head of the Church of England. I mention this because being the anniversary of More’s death reminds me that I have pictures of a re-enactment of More’s refusal to accept the CoE while Brian and I visited the Tower of London last year. I have some pictures on my computer, which I’ll try to share when I get back on my old computer.
Marlakins
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