Tuesday 29 July 2008

Conclusive proof that the past exists

As an avid avoider of Timeteam I approached BBC's new archaeological drama series "Bonekickers" with some trepidation. Whoever thought the title up deserves a good kicking for a start.

It has always amused me when tv series appear that are based on a subject I (or others) know fairly well. The most recent example being ITV's Primeval, where animals from past eras pop through anomalies and cause mayhem (mostly in London though - so the majority of us are ok!). My other half being a palaeontologist took great delight in pointing out factual errors ("ooh they've scaled up that arthropod about 120%!"), and even I had a baulk at some of the dialogue - my favourite line being where Cutter (the Palaeo Prof) describes the appearance of cretaceous reptiles as "conclusive proof that the past exists". The boy L ended up writing a rather good review of it in the Palaeontological Newsletter (see page 56) which I would heartily recommend. He suggested I do the same for Bonekickers but, as I pointed out to him, I'd be too embarrassed as it was more likely to show up my lack of knowledge in certain areas...

Anyway, I've only seen episodes 1 & 2 so far but it does amuse me how random archaeological facts are crowbarred into the dialogue. "Stand in or away from the trench, not on!") shouted at a postgraduate (soon to be full time team member) who really should have known that in her first year undergraduate. Wafflings of Pitt Rivers' classification systems and, my particular favourite and very close to my own heart: 'Dolly' (the loveable drunken old pervy prof) waving a magnetometer at some female students and demanding they remove their underwired bras. This is something I have done on a few occasions but sadly with less panache. You've got to love it! It's utterly ridiculous, is kicking up a storm on the Britarch mailing lists, and is clearly attempting to appeal to the Da Vinci generation, but I have to admit I'm kind of enjoying it. Just as a guilty pleasure you understand... I may try out the Bonekickers Drinking game for episode 3.



Tuesday 8 July 2008

Designing my own crochet

Well, it was only a matter of time! I've been inspired by a knitted cardie I've seen to attempt to turn it into a crochet version with some amendments...

The fabulous original pattern is the February lady sweater (which itself is a grown up version of a baby-pattern).

As I can't do gull stitch in crochet I'm going to go old school and attempt crochet CABLES!! I've never done it before so am very keen indeed. Trouble is that I still have two UFOs (unfinished objects to any of you non-wool fiends), but I've also seen the perfect yarn for it in Flabberdeen in "Wool for Ewe" in Rosemount. Cue a very poor sketch...



I'm off work for a while so I'm going to use the time to a) finish the UFOs and b) start this little number. If it's successful I'll post the pattern on here and on Ravelry. I might even attempt a version in crochet symbols. I'm a glutton for punishment clearly, as well as a huge geek ;o)

Monday 7 July 2008

From sack to shirt...

Just another quick revamp. This time it's an oversized dress/shirt I got from a charity shop for about £2. All I did was shorten it and take in the sides to make a really comfy casual shirt. I'm really pleased with it, particularly as it took less than an hour on Sunday afternoon in front of the tellybox.


BEFORE:

Shirtbefore


AFTER:

Shirtafter


It's not exactly a smart outfit but dead good for lazing around and pairing with jeans, etc. Also, I have a large enough piece of the fabric left over to do something with - maybe a bag or something else small... Any suggestions? :o)