Hobbies

First I don't post for months, then I can't stop posting. My excuse is that this is really my first properly bloggy post in the sense it is about links.

First, a link of Teresa Nielsen Hayden's post about geek knitting. A Pi Shawl, DNA double-helix scarf... New mantra: finish the sweater before beginning anything new. And Anna is glad to know she is not the only yarn junkie in the world ;-) Teresa's post also has a link to a picture of Jukka's birthday-present. He blogged about it in Finnish, but just to reiterate, 44 people in Finnish SF fandom knitted, crocheted and felted (is that a word?) squares for a huge beadspred which says Live Long and Prosper on it. We are all quite embarassingly proud of the end result; it is just the most amazing and wonderful thing and I am still sneaking to bedroom just to look at it sometimes. Some of the squares are truly wonderful works of art and imagination - my favourite is propably Leena's alien who apparently quotes Dave Langford in Tolkien's runes - and others are just as wonderful just because someone who has not picked up knitting needles for ages did so in order to contribute.

And not only is the end-result maybe the coolest thing ever - and probably the thing I'd save from fire aside my USB stick - making of it was also fun. We wove a web of deceit and lies in order to have the meetings to crochet the quilt together. We invented sessions where one of us was supposedly teaching to the rest of us the secrets of thai-kitchen, contrived to arrive in small groups to regular fandom meatings so as not to appear suspicious, some people snuck to side rooms in bars to be re-taught how to purl and my real project to knit blankets needy children in Russian Carelia came in real handy as a cover story (pun unfortunately intended, you'll be glad to know it works also in Finnish and was already used by Jukka). And he never suspected a thing! Even though there was one close shave which was due to strong pain medication ;-) So again thanks for all of the participants, and especially to Jossu who came up with the idea. All of you guys have visitation rights to the quilt, just give us a bell and come to admire how incredibly talented we all are :-)

My other link is to Time Team drinking game. Yes, yes I know every show and its sister has a drinking game nowdays, but it is the Time Team!. We are just watching old episodes and I was feeling nostalgic: Here we are on Salisbury plains, only three days time to locate ancient Roman villa. Carenza's trench is yelding only iron age pottery, John and geophys unit are not finding much, Stuart has gone walkabout and mutters about something about banjos, and Phil just wants to dig some more or maybe make a stone age tool. Is Discovery channel still running the series in Finland? I might be tempted to get cable just to get to see Time Team again. Apparently Channel 4 has not seen fit to release the series on Video or DVD grrrr...

Sari

Comments

[Jaquub]

Sori, mutta mun on AIVAN PAKKO päästä joskus myös katsomaan Time Teamia (ja ryyppäämään pelin varjolla, jos se todella kuuluu katsomiskokemukseen,) kanssanne. Samalla voisin päästä pätemään kaivausjargonilla ja jatkaa ikuisuusvirttä Suomen määrärahojen puutteesta jne. Mut olis kiva.

[Mekku]

Kannatan ehdottomasti Time Team -teemailtaa!!! Stuart is a god!

[Tarja]

Haluan ehdottomasti mukaan, jos kyseinen teema-ilta järjestetään - minähän niitä jaksoja Sarille aikoinaan nauhoittelinkin :).

[fionna]

I might be wrong (shock! no! it couldn't happen!) but I have a feeling that I saw an episode or two of Time Team on BBCWorld.

And the drinking game is great. I must spread the news.

[jukkahoo]

Well spread!

I haven't seen Time Team on BBCW, but they have this _almost_ as good a program called Rough Science, where a team of pro-fussional science-people construct all these gizmos and devices on this tropical-looking island, with pretty much nothing else except a piece of string and some baubles. Intriguing stuff.

Ja luulisin että Time Team (tai taimitiim, kuten meillä Casa Taimistossa sanotaan) ilkamat voisivat olla ihan hauska keksintö. Ehkäpä tässä parin seuraavan kuukauden aikana, ennen kuin maa sulaa ja herra Laatikko katoaa taas maaseudulle salaojia kaivamaan. Ööliä ja taimitiimiä, hyvä idea.

[Hil]

What an absolutely wonderful quilt, Sari! The only thing wrong with the new mantra is if, like me, you still haven't finished the sweater 8 years later, and 2 years ago started idly thinking about incorporating it into a quilt...

Hope the new medicine is kicking in.

[Mekku]

Voimme nyt todeta, että taimitiimi (Sapling Team - oliko nyt varma, ettei tämä ollut puutarhaohjelma?) on saanut virallisen hyväksynnän Helsingin yliopiston arkeologian laitoksen edustajalta Jaakkima "minä-en-tajua-taitoluistelua" Laatikolta. Huraa! Nyt vain kaikki ensimmäisen vuoden opiskelijat korvaamaan metodologiaopintonsa TT-maratoneilla...