I need your opinions. November 29, 2007

I’ve been playing around with Photoshop, which has got to be one of the coolest and most complicated programs ever, and I need you to critique something I did to a photo.  You may have seen this photo in a recent post about Temple Ambler:

I really liked the sculpture on top and wanted to make it into something funky and abstract so this is what I have come up with so far:

Are any of those the least bit interesting?  I don’t expect them to be good, or works of art, but I wanted to do something different with a photo I took.  Please post comments with ideas and criticisms.  Thanks!

Firkin November 29, 2007

I learned a new word.  A firkin is a small keg equivalent to one portion of a barrel.  I have conflicting information as to exactly how much–Wikipedia says it’s 1/4 of a barrel, the Metro says it’s 1/3–but I really like this word. 

According to Wikipedia, “A Firkin is an old English unit of volume. The name is derived from the Middle Dutch word vierdekijn, which means fourth, i.e. a fourth of a full-size barrel. The firkin (a firkin of water) is the base unit of mass in the FFF (Furlong/Firkin/Fortnight) System of units.”  I recommend going to this Wikipedia site and reading everything about the firkin because there’s a really cool table of measurements on it. 

Another online dictionary defines firkin as: “Any of several British units of capacity, usually equal to about ¹/₄ of a barrel or 9 gallons (34 liters).”

So I guess the Metro was wrong, surprise surprise.

So on to my next point, I found out about this word because Standard Tap, in Philadelphia, recently offered firkins of beer to their customers.  Which brings me to my next and final point, which is that Yards Brewing Company, whose brewery was formerly located on a hidden back alley in Fishtown and was a favorite destination of Matt’s and mine, is reopening at Delaware Ave. and Girard. The current brewery will be turned into a Philadelphia Brewing Company, the owners being the same as the Standard Tap’s.  (See how I am connecting this all together?  I wasn’t sure how I was going to so that when I started talking about firkins.)

I am really hoping that Yards continues its tradition of free tours and tastings on Saturdays at their new location.  Fun stuff. 

America actually got it right November 28, 2007

I’ll admit it.  I watched Dancing with the Stars for a second year in a row.  I was sucked in last year when Apolo Anton Ohno was one of the stars and thus the addiction began.  I became disheartened this year when a certain outspoken and disillusioned “entertainer” and doll-maker kept getting voted through and ended up getting enough votes for a slot in the top three couples.  Before the finale last night I had bouts of panic and my confidence rating in the intelligence of the American people kept dropping lower than it had ever been before. 

But America pulled through last night.  Julianne and Helio earned their well-deserved mirror-ball trophy, the doll-maker came in third, and all was right with the world.

Now let’s see if America can pull through again next year when it comes time to voting in the presidential election.  One can hope.

Julianne and Helio’s award-winning quickstep:

Emma Clarke, Voice of the Tube November 27, 2007

**Update** Emma’s site is now functional–enjoy! 

I couldn’t wait until Bizarre News Story Wednesday to post this hysterical news.  If you’ve ever been to London and ridden on the tube, you are familiar with the female recorded voice that announces “Mind the gap” or “Thank you for riding the tube.”

You would never stop to think about the woman behind the voice, would you?  At least, I never did.  Supposedly, she has an established fan base and has even recorded some “mock” announcements that aren’t so “helpful.”  She recently got fired for these jokes and you can read about it here.

Ironically (and disappointingly) Emma’s personal website, where you can listen to MP3s of her spoofs, is not currently working.  I’ll let you know if she ever has it up and running again.

Here is another article on Emma, and neither links in the text to hear the real and made-up announcements are working. 

You can read here about the history behind the “Mind the gap” announcement.

Wine Warehouse November 25, 2007

Matt made his first big sale to a wine distributor in North Carolina, so this weekend he had to go package it up and get it ready for the delivery truck.  I went to the warehouse with him to see what it was all about.  There are about 20 different Philadelphia-based distributors that use the space to store their products and this place was huge.  I had never seen so much wine and beer in one place.  I wandered around while Matt packaged the wine.  Here are some photos.

Matt showing off his section of the warehouse.

Cotes du Rhone!

Look at that–a 9 liter bottle of champagne!

Port from 1922.

I have got to try this stuff.

Salmon Run and Dr. Frank’s!

Beer!

Matt starting his packaging.

The finished product.

These are some of Matt’s wines and sakes, if you are ever looking for something to buy:

 

The very unassuming warehouse and pallets out front.

Thanksgiving(s) November 24, 2007

Matt and I (mostly Matt) cooked our first Thanksgiving dinner together this year!  It went fairly smoothly and in the end the food was delicious.  Of course, in my excitement, I forgot to take photos of anything. 

First, here are the appetizers of cheese, crackers, walnuts, dried cherries, salami, cornichons, and olives.  The white mixture in the middle bowl is a delicious mixture of goat cheese and honey that Matt made.

Our table setting:

I love salt and pepper shakers:

The turkey mid-doneness:

Matt feverishly cooking:

Then Matt’s mom and step-dad came over, we drank, we ate, we drank more, ate more, they left, and I have no pictures of any of it. 

On Friday night we went over to my parents’ house to have a leftovers Thanksgiving.  First of all, my Mom asked me to buy this tacky but adorable plastic snowman from Lowes for my dad.  We plugged it in at the front doorbell and ran away.  He thought it was hysterical:

Mmmm.   Thanksgiving leftovers buffet-style.  The best kind. 

Andrew in his natural habitat:

I don’t know what was wrong with these two but they were huddled in front of the space heater while the rest of us melted:

Chad was knitting the whole time.  He finished a beautiful scarf:

After playing two games of Scene it, our Thanksgiving hangovers were getting the best of us so we all stumbled home.  The snowman watched us leave.

The Rainbow Connection November 21, 2007

It seems like lately you can’t mention anything about rainbows or rainbow colors without someone making a gay comment.  Do you remember the Rainbow Connection?  Somewhere Over the Rainbow?  Now, these references certainly had their undertones, but there was once a time when rainbows simply meant that the sun had come out during the rain to form a miracle of nature. 

Yesterday I made some rainbow earrings because I thought they looked pretty.  Matt asked if it was going to be my Gay Pride piece of jewelry for the Craft Fair I am selling in and I honestly hadn’t thought about it like that, although it would be cool to create a line of rainbow jewelry that contributes to AIDs awareness or some other kind of charity of the sort.

At what point did rainbow=gay pride?  I think it’s wonderful that the gay community has such a recognizable symbol these days, but what if they don’t want to constantly be identified as such whenever a rainbow flag or sign of any type pops up just because it’s “pretty?”

This article got me thinking even more about the symbolism of the rainbow in the gay community and other symbols people use to express themselves.

Whose right is it to determine what each “symbol” stands for?  Is it up to the individual or the community?  Certain symbols mean entirely different things in different cultures around the world that cause misunderstanding and conflict, so how is the United States supposed to unite when people can’t tolerate their neighbors’ choices of expression?

It’s 3 am and I have insomnia so I’m sorry if this post came off as a rambling idiocy.  Let me know your thoughts on this matter, or if you just think I’m an idiot. 

(P.S. The article I linked to is my Bizarre News Wednesday story.)

Material Culture November 19, 2007

Yesterday, Matt and I went to an amazing furniture warehouse called Material Culture.  This gigantic warehouse is filled with exotic furniture from all over the world and also showcases some specialty work from artists and furniture makers.  We went in looking for a buffet for our dining room but instead bought a matching leather sofa and chair (Christmas gift from Matt’s mom) because everything was 25% off.  The prices are extremely reasonable, and it is just a cool place to spend and hour or two walking around.  I took a lot of photos!

Matt’s throne.

My throne (the chair swiveled all the way around!)

Shelf Boat!  We wanted this.

They served us hot tea as we were browsing.  I just noticed that there’s a creepy face in the corner of this photo.  I think it’s a painting but how spooky!

The copper pots (unusable–just for decoration) were $14 per pound.  Most of the smaller ones were only 1 pound so we bought a couple to decorate our kitchen.

I loved this.  But where would we put it??

This was a table top that I loved.  I can’t remember what they were made out of (I think copper). This is it made into an actual table, only in a greenish color:

Here’s a better photo from the website:

mosaic table tops.  So cool.

Flying Fish!  (Made out of bottle caps.)

This is a really bad picture of the chair we got.  The three-seater sofa matches.  It’s not as red in real-life.  It’s more of a darker brown.  It gets delivered on Dec. 2!!

The Good Girl November 18, 2007

Matt and I watched The Good Girl last night starring Jennifer Aniston and Jake Gyllenhall.  Even though it was dark, I did not feel sad at the end because I felt it was a dark comedy and was able to laugh and not take the tragic events too seriously.  Matt, on the other hand, was very upset by it and thought it was a really sad movie. 

We discussed character development throughout the film, obviously Jennifer Aniston’s character, Justine, playing the most important role.  To me, and I may be totally in the minority here, she didn’t actually change that much.  She acted in horrible ways because she was desperate for some kind of attention and thrill, but in the end, she ended up being the same person she was at the beginning of the film.

The lack of soundtrack was evident throughout–Black Eyed Dog by Nick Drake was a recurring theme but there wasn’t much else in terms of background music.  It was very “real life.”  But I love this song:

My favorite character was the girl who got demoted from PA duty/check out girl to the makeover counter, Zooey Deschanel.  I can’t find any videos but this photo is great.

My husband November 18, 2007

Matt is wonderful.  He isn’t perfect or superhuman or anything like that (except to me, sometimes), but he is kind and loving and unselfish and I usually don’t realize these things about him. 

 Take for example today:  He got up early and went to Genuardis and was back by the time I was ready to go furniture shopping.  When we got home, he went back out to get more food we need for Thanksgiving (both on Thursday and for leftover-Friday.  He was so excited–like a little kid–and I basically had to calm him down and tell him that he should sit and calmly right out a “game plan” for the next two days.

I am so lucky that my husband is excited about cooking Thanksgiving dinner and then also worried about leftovers Friday with my family.  He even bought gin and tonic water because he knows that’s what they like!

 I don’t often brag about my husband, but he deserves it sometimes, and I hope that he reads this and knows that I feel lucky to have him (even though he goes to bed way to early.)