Interesting Images

I really liked this still life I encountered at my sister's house.

Holiday Cat Gifts

So I ambitiously thought I could get 5 of these done before gift-giving-time, but only managed to get 4 done. I can't say that I'm thrilled with them anyway. They are from  the Knit Your Own Cat book by Joanna Osborne and Sally Muir. I have to say the idea is grey and the authors did a lot of work on these, but I still found the directions a bit inconsistent. (Like is the left side of the cat from the cat's perspective or mine when looking at it?)

You may notice that one of the cats' heads looking back (or as my niece astutely noticed the head is on backwards. Of course I try to pretend it is intentional to give more realistic poses, but  one of the cat's heads is too small, one is (ahem) looking back, and the other cat I don't like the way the legs work on.

The last cat is gigantic and doesn't sit right. (It is as large as my Persian cat, other cats are smaller - as you can see the size is a bit inconsistent.)



Below is a preview of our holiday trip. We each had to make our own hat out of wrapping paper. This is what I ended up with.

Quick Knitting Project for a Gift

Here is a quick scarf I knit up for a friend. Spousal unit D loves this kind of scarf because of it's versatility. His grandmother made him one of these a million years ago and I have been reproducing them periodically over the years. Her's is still the best, but because they can be used to cover the face bandito-style or worn about  the neck and snugged up by putting one end through the other end's keyhole part, the are just great for Minnesota cold.

Random Autumn Photos from the last month or so

December is always a murderously busy month for me. As we near the end of the year and the miserably cold temperatures of central Minnesota, it seems like a good time to look back at some of the charming moments over the last few months and be thankful. Here without too much by way of explanation are some pictures that didn't make it into the blog, but which make me feel warm inside on a day when we have barely crept above zero.

People at the Film History Conference, Madison

Here are some shots of Madison. While we were there it got sunnier, but also colder. There was  a hitching post outside the hotel that was fascinating.

Here's what the town looks like in the sunshine.

Of course I didn't get out of there without buying jewelry - there was a terrific sale at this one store that was going out of business.

Unfortunately I still haven't gotten my new lens. (My old lens is not working properly - as you can see - since many of the shots are out of focus.) Nonetheless, here is a group of us that went out to dinner together at a Peruvian restaurant named Randall's.

 

 

All the paper presentations I went to were wonderful.

Many of us gathered in the bar afterwards for stimulating discussions.

The keynote speaker this year was David Bordwell. He gave us a review of the state of media from silents until the present, with some useful data on the current state of film and video projection.

After the keynote address, many of us went off to see the second Hunger Games film. (What else would film scholars want to do in their free time?)

 

And finally I give you the person who organized our panels and made the whole event a success for us.

Post-Thanksgiving Guests

I looked out the window this morning and noticed we had 14 guests.

I guess now that Thanksgiving is over the felt they could come out of hiding.  Two had already headed off to the left when I took that picture, but I was too lazy (and slow) to go outside and try to catch a better shot.

The light was bad because of the snow and I was shooting through the window screen, but you can still tell who they are.

This one has snow on her back. It was snowing fairly strongly at the time.  Tomorrow will be very cold. I hope they'll all be okay.

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Thanksgiving 2013

Here's the obligatory Thanksgiving pictures:

Everyone is excited about the turkey!

More Madison

Madison has some lovely new architecture. This library has gorgeous design elements. Including an amazing ceiling. It turns out it was designed by a Minneapolis firm Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle, Ltd. along with Potter Lawson, Inc. of Madison

I don't know if you can tell, but it says library up the side of the building (right in the middle.)

Look at the ceiling in the picture above. It is really pretty.
The art center was designed by Cesar Pelli and is absolutely stunning. They have a fountain of lights hanging down from the dome.

The staircase has a pair of jagged light bars down the stairwell.

In another part of the building is a gift shop, and the contemporary art museum. They were celebrating their triennial.  These stairs up to the gallery are glass.

 

Here's a shot through the window from the stairs.

 

From the outside, the arts center looks like this.

 

And here am I in a Hotel mirror.

A Trip to Madison

Here's the Concourse Hotel an independently owned hotel in Madison. I like it. My room is a little blemished and old. My vinyl chair has worn off-color spots, but the room is clean and nice.

 

I took a short walk to the Capitol. It is a lovely building.

It was built in the early 1900s and is the only Capitol building built on an isthmus. There is a statue on the top of a personified Wisconsin. The capitol is very lavish inside has a dome with halls leading off in each of hte directions of the compass and with round chambers.

 

There are 43 different kinds of stone used in the Capitol building. The center is under the cupola and is open all the way from the ground floor up to the cupola.

here is a large mural on the ceiling. The whole building is modeled on the Doge's palace in Venice.

 

There are four large mosaics personifying justice, government, liberty  and something else I've forgotten (maybe truth) under the cupola.

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