Dyepot, Teapot

Like a lot of people I know, I tend to stockpile supplies for projects I’m working on (or think I might want to work on someday). What’s worse, I end up with a lot of half-completed projects lying around. So I’m trying to make use of the materials I have (and maybe clear some room to put the rest of it away).

Thus, we have:

a crocheted purse

a pair of Pretz fabric pouches–these are for sale in my Etsy shop

The Pretz fabric was created using inkjet printable cotton sheets. They’re marketed to quilters, but I’ve been trying to find ways to work them into clothing and accessories.

a sticker album with a simple sewn binding

Recycled manga envelopes (also for sale on Etsy)

What’s nice about all of these projects is that they were all fairly quick. I think the pouches took the longest. Not only did I have to purchase and eat the Pretz (such a terrible burden), but then cut the boxes apart, scan them into the computer, arrange the images in Photoshop, print the fabric, and then finally get down to sewing. I really like being able to put anything I want on fabric with just my home printer, though.

I definitely enjoyed it, and it was worth reading straight through for eight hours to get to the end, but ultimately I’m disappointed that it never really transcended its fluffy children’s entertainment roots. Seven books is a lot of words to put on the page without significantly improving as a writer. There were so many hints of complexity in the background that were glossed over to keep the focus on Harry’s experience. So it was an appropriate ending for the story, and it’s a more mature tale in the levels of violence (and snogging), but the storytelling didn’t really mature with it.

Also–I can think of so many other things I would have liked to hear about in that epilogue, rather than the completely predictable direction it took.

Also also–I’ve seen people complain that HP is not nearly as awesome as various other YA works (and by implication, is overrated relative to the complainer’s favorite books), particularly Phillip Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy, but I thought those suffered the same kind of disappointing hollowness at the end. Maybe more so, because the big important thing Pullman built up to seemed awfully cheesy and over-hyped once I got to it. Whereas the big important things discovered at the end of HP were about right.

Once again, the Portland Ruby Brigade has organized a fine evening of Ruby geekery to occur during OSCON. We’re having it next week, Tuesday July 24th, at Holocene. The event is free (but you have to be over 21 thanks to OLCC rules) and we’re serving pizza. Maybe someone will even offer to sponsor a round of drinks. There’s also still time to sign up to give a lightning talk, if you have an interesting Ruby project to show off. More details here: FOSCON III.

Today’s forecast high: 103 degrees F. I do not have air conditioning. Scary.

The summer issue of Yog’s Notebook is now on sale on our website. We’re even offering a package deal on issues 1 & 2: buy both and save $2.

We’re also having a coloring contest. Print it, do something to make it pretty, and send it back. Let me know if you have suggestions on prizes or know a publisher who might like to donate something.

And… I made another video. WordPress doesn’t let me embed these so you have to click the link: Yog’s Notebook promo

Cartoon Brew has a link to video of Don Hertzfeldt’s funny acceptance speech for “Best film made for under $5000″ at Platform. I was telling someone last night how laid-back (and geeky) the animation biz seems to be, compared to what you think film in general would be like. This speech is more evidence along those lines.

It’s hard to attend a whole week of something as amazing as the Platform Animation Festival and not walk away with a zillion ideas for things to try. So, even though I haven’t done anything of the sort since I helped Matt with The First Rule back in college, I spent my decompression time this weekend assembling a pair of stop-motion shorts from images I took earlier in the week.

Platform Picnic

Platform Cube

They’re not really finished pieces, just experiments or sketches. But I want to do more of this.

Some of the most interesting work I saw all week was created by Miwa Matreyek, a recent graduate of the experimental animation MFA program at Cal Arts. She had four pieces in the festival: Grater City, Digitopia, and the installation/performance works Subterranean Heart and Dreaming of Lucid Living. This last one won two prizes: a tie for the Student Grand Prix, and the Audience Choice Award for Best Installation.

I mentioned Digitopia and Subterranean Heart in earlier posts, but all of these are available to view at her website, semihemisphere.com. If you check out anything I’ve recommended, it should be this. The way she merges live action movement with animated components is fascinating, and I really enjoy the visual style as well as the science & engineering themes.

Friday I went to two princess movies, and a party.

Princess Iron Fan was made in China in 1941. It tells the story of a Buddhist teacher and three disciples who travel to the west to find some religious scriptures. Along the way, they encounter a range of firey mountains, and must convince the princess to give up her magic fan that will bring on a rain storm to quench the fires. It’s completely not a modern movie. The fight scenes (and there are several) are long, dragging on and on, the characters are opaque or unlikeable, and the animation quality seems about par for the era. Interesting historical document? Maybe. But most people won’t find this one particularly entertaining on its own.

On the other hand, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, which I don’t think I’ve seen in 20 years, holds up fantastically well on its 70th anniversary. It’s still very enjoyable to watch, as well as completely terrifying to the younger children who were in the audience (this one little boy behind me kept saying, “I’m scared. I’m scared.” while the Queen cooks up the poisoned brew and takes the apple to Snow White. I sympathize. I still remember feeling terrified by the evil book in the Care Bears movie at his age.)

We were also blessed to have Marge Champion, a dancer who provided all of the movement for Snow White, on hand to talk about her work with the animators. I was surprised to hear that her participation had been a closely-guarded secret for several years; at the premiere she had to sit at the back of the second balcony because Disney didn’t want anyone to know they’d filmed most of the movie scenes in live action to use as the basis for the characters’ movement. She said that her favorite character, of the three she modeled for at Disney, was not Snow White, or the blue fairy, but the hippo ballerina in Fantasia.

The most impressive thing about seeing Marge is just how healthy and graceful she still is (she’ll be 88 in the fall). She credited exercise, stretching, and having the right parents. Great example of the benefits of staying active.

As I mentioned above, I haven’t actually seen this movie since I was a kid. At the end, when Snow White wakes up to find her prince waiting there to take her away, I had the funny thought that from Snow White’s point of view, it’s a different story. A creepy old woman promises her that the apple will make her heart’s desire come true. So she takes a bite, and when she wakes up the prince is right there to take her away. As far as she knows, the peddler was telling the truth. I thought it was odd that she doesn’t ask “what happened?” when she wakes up, but it makes sense if she doesn’t realize she’s been living in a glass coffin for several months.

My last event of the night was a multi-venue party at Portland Art Center, Ground Kontrol, and Someday Lounge. Drinking, talking, and free video games. Yay. I had to leave in a hurry to catch a bus home, though. Tri-Met still gets no love from me for their really crappy nighttime bus service. If we’re a small city, shouldn’t I be able to stay out until the bars close?

One more post for Saturday’s events, and then we’re at the end of the festival. Sad sad sad. This has been such a great week.