Category Archives: Weather, Seasons, & Celebrations

Nooooooo!

AAAAUUUUGH!

I just had to turn down advance premiere tickets for Harry Potter! I already have tickets for opening night on June 4th with good friends, and that was my first obstacle; then it was suggested to me that another double pass could be obtained so that all four of us could go to the 10.30 AM advance screening. I was on the verge of saying yes when I remembered that HRH IS WORKING ON SATURDAY.

Argh!

Damn planting season! Damn this lousy weather! Damn, damn, damn!

Speaking of Prisoner of Azkaban, I picked up the soundtrack yesterday (because The Den of Evil didn’t have the Hellboy soundtrack) and when t! paid a surprise visit last night we opened it and listened to it. It�s the best soundtrack of all three films. Lots of nice medieval consort settings of the themes, some nice manipulation and key changes of themes we already know, and a surprise appearance by the Cantina Band from Star Wars. Definitely top-notch John Williams work.

It Should Have Been Better Than It Was: A Van Helsing Review

You know, I’d really been looking forward to this film, mostly for the shlock factor. I walked out of the theatre completely neutral towards it. Story threads were clumsily handled; I never reached a point where I sympathised with any of the characters, heroic or villainous; and the pacing seemed off somehow. I didn’t care about anyone during the final fight scene, but then, CG beating the tar out of CG usually doesn’t grab me.

Two hours of Kate Beckinsale’s costumes, and Hugh Jackman in a long coat and hat with flowing hair did a lot to offset my lack of involvement, though. Mmm.

I’ve heard a friend described the film as everyone being in a campy B movie except for Hugh Jackman who was in an action flick, but I disagree. Van Helsing seemed bemused by pretty much everything, and relied on his skills as a mercenary for the Church to get him through every situation. He was as one-dimensional as Dracula was, sticking to what he knew without exploring any alternatives.

It wasn’t as good as Sommer’s The Mummy Returns, and that’s what I was really hoping for. The banter just wasn’t there, nor were the charming characters. The awkward set-up for further exploration of the story was just that – an awkward set-up, as opposed to a mystery. And where the heck do they go from here? They’re already eliminated Hyde, Dracula, Dr Frankenstein, and the Wolfman. Van Helsing versus Lestat, now there’s an interesting pairing. Especially Lestat after all his theological evolution. It will never happen, of course.

Overall, it was a diversion on a rainy Tuesday, but I’ve forgotten most of it already. With Van Helsing out of the way, though, I can focus on getting excited about Troy.

Air

I really, really ought to remember to open the windows in here more often. I discovered a warm, fresh-smelling world when I went out to pick up laundry detergent at the corner. Now that they’re open, the place feels more awake and relaxed. And the entire caboodle of kittens are now squished into the open windows, pressing as close to the fascinating new smells of the Great Outdoors as they possibly can.

Rick And Evy Go To Sleepy Hollow

Oh look – it’s HRH and Autumn’s next Hallowe’en costumes:

“Are you kidding?” said t!, who brought over the soundtrack today (and who called it “Rick and Evy go to Sleepy Hollow”). “You guys dress like that every day. Where’s the fun in that?”

(Hey, wow – it’s rated PG-13 for “non-stop creature action violence and frightening images, and for sensuality.” How’s that for a night out?)

OOAK Work of Art no. 1

Since people seem to think my odd hobby has some coolness to it, I’m about to throw caution and my shyness to the wind and share my first project. Here’s a couple of pics of the Yule gift I gave to our local cougar:

The OOAK Morrighan Barbie wears a hand-made black linen skirt with two full-length slits in the front, laced shut at the front of the hips with copper floss. Her hand-dyed black halter top with mesh sleeves ties at the back. Woven into her left front braid is a pewter feather; another pewter feather is laced with copper floss to her hand-painted spear, along with a black crow feather. On her right hand lands a hand-made raven, wings held wide. Around her waist is tied a hand-tinted miniature of the recipient’s Craft tradition third-degree cords.

And a decent look at the feather cloak which rests on the Morrighan’s shoulders, designed to look like two folded raven wings:

I was really pleased with how the whole doll presents an air of alert motion and activity. For any OOAK fans who stumble across this post as a result of a search engine and who need to know, the Morrighan was created from a Kayla Secret Spells doll, and her face was not repainted: I managed to find one off the shelf who had a perfect disdainful yet amused I-can-see-into-your-soul look on her face that I wanted, without any touch-ups required.

The next doll I’m customising is very different from the active and alert Morrighan, however; I’m trying for a softer, dreamier look. And then there are the three dolls I have sitting to the left of my desk, who are destined to become a shadowbox scene of the three aspects of the goddess Brid: muse, smith, and healer. None of them require repainting, thank goodness, only creating original costumes from the sketches and colour notes I have in my notebook. (Yes, yes, fine: the dolls are Batik Princess, TRU Charity Ball 1997, and Grand Entrance 2 respectively. Happy, fellow OOAKers?)

There. More than I ever thought I’d let anyone know about this hobby. Hey, it’s costuming in miniature: saves money, saves time, and the result isn’t just worn once then hung in a closet.