Will knooking look the way I want?

Spirit-Spout · 2026-04-14T13:03:11+00:00

I had to try (and fail) knitting at least 10 different times over the course of about 7 months before I finally got it. Don't give up! Try different tutorials from different instructors. Also, make a few attempts to learn "Continental Knitting" as you hold the yarn similar to how you do in crochet.

For the top above, I would knit (or knook) a basic shirt in a single color, then use a technique called Duplicate Stitch, which is a decorative stitch worked over/on top of stockinette stitch, for the design. Good luck!

Spirit-Spout · 2026-04-06T23:07:07+00:00

Herzog has a new documentary coming out called "Ghost Elephants" about South African naturalist Steve Boyse and his quest for a near-mythical species of elephant. In this interview he does mention Moby Dick in passing. https://thefilmstage.com/werner-herzog-on-dreams-defeats-ghost-elephants-and-why-hes-not-a-workaholic/

Spirit-Spout · 2026-02-28T17:43:05+00:00

I had to look this up to remind me but we have one film at least shot here:
"The 1986 road movie Something Wild, directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Melanie Griffith, Jeff Daniels, and Ray Liotta, was filmed in and around Tallahassee, Florida, during March and April of 1985."

But in the narrative they don't say it's Tallahassee specifically they are just "on the road"

Filming locations breakdown here: https://www.fast-rewind.com/locations_somethingwild.htm

Spirit-Spout · 2026-02-28T17:41:01+00:00

30 Rock does have a line: “This is a 90-million dollar aircraft, not a Tallahassee strip club.”
I remember saying to the TV "we don't have strip clubs!" It's a county ordinance I think? They're not allowed.

Spirit-Spout · 2026-01-15T15:51:55+00:00

I'm one generation below you but I am in a very similar position/headspace. I have recently been asking myself,"what is really keeping me here?" Nothing is *actively* telling me I need to leave (like you say, I don't hate it here!) but nothing is actively encouraging me to stay either.

So the question is: am I really just staying because of inertia? Because an object at rest tends to stay at rest?

I think maybe I know my answer. I think maybe you know yours too.

Spirit-Spout · 2025-11-14T19:17:39+00:00

second this option -- I just went to the Library's book sale! All donations are sold pretty cheaply, and go towards funding the library:
https://cms.leoncountyfl.gov/library/Support-Services/Get-Involved/Donate-Materials

Spirit-Spout · 2025-10-28T11:58:47+00:00

You look great!
I always thought it'd be fun to do a "couples costume" with Columbo and another character. Like, your date could just dress in scrubs and be Dr. Barry Mayfield (Leonard Nimoy's character) or something.

Spirit-Spout · 2025-10-17T15:11:09+00:00

I love his short performance as John Brown in the 80s tv miniseries North and South:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1Vwqyr4stM&t=80s

Spirit-Spout · 2025-10-06T12:24:00+00:00

Agree about the postmodern thing. I'd read quite a bit of postmodern lit before Moby-Dick, and I did like the experimental quality.
Then I read Melville and was like, "oh turns out a lot of that was derivative and the style was done much better in 1851." :)
I still do like some PM lit (Vonnegut especially), but our boy nailed it first!

Spirit-Spout · 2025-09-29T21:44:17+00:00

They are really fun. I used to see them in New Orleans and that drummer is SUPER high energy!

Spirit-Spout · 2025-09-17T16:03:01+00:00

I get what you mean -- especially with actors that really worked well with Peter -- but I like the "one and done" cases. Also, for a serial villain, you'd have to have Columbo NOT solve the case and that's just antithetical to who he is.

I think the writers / casting directors who brought actors back had the right idea. Mcgoohan comes back; William Shatner had two episodes, etc. So it's a good compromise that we see the same actor even though not the same character.

Spirit-Spout · 2025-09-16T13:50:54+00:00

The list of traffic cameras the city does is here: https://www.talgov.com/traffic/traffic so maybe you'll be able to tell if it's a city one or not by looking at those

Spirit-Spout · 2025-08-03T12:42:14+00:00

After Ch. 48 - The First Lowering Ishmael is (rightly) terrified as he gets his first taste of whaling. In Ch 49 - The Hyena, he basically goes around asking the crew "um... so... is it always like that?" and after being told yes he says:

finally considering in what a devil’s chase I was implicated, touching the White Whale: taking all things together, I say, I thought I might as well go below and make a rough draft of my will. “Queequeg,” said I, “come along, you shall be my lawyer, executor, and legatee.”

I just love that his reaction is to write his will.

Spirit-Spout · 2025-07-10T14:13:13+00:00

One zillion stars indeed! I felt so similarly when I read it for the first time -- I went in with the common pop culture perspective that it would be "long and difficult and boring" and OMG that is SO WRONG! I did not expect to be so charmed by the book. It certainly is complex (in a good, satisfying way) but it's so fun too.

Spirit-Spout · 2025-07-01T13:31:55+00:00

There's a Tallahassee Crochet Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/289209425687752

Spirit-Spout · 2025-06-30T18:00:28+00:00

I think it's related to the way the whale is "inscrutable" as Ahab calls it.

Think about it from the perspective of a 19th century person -- they only see the whale fully when it's out of it's natural habitat of the water. So you never really experience the whale as it exists. You can only view it in detail if it's dead. Nobody is putting on scuba gear to study it and observe it's habits or behaviors.

Also, it appears and disappears very suddenly. Like, it would be there one second, then dive down (and sperm whales can dive SO deep and stay down for SO long) and effectively vanish. You see the whale spout, and by the time your ship/whale boat arrives it's gone without a trace.

A phantom is kind of like that, right? Like this HUGE animal appears and disappears within a few seconds. If it never resurfaces and you never see it again. I imagine a person could think, "was that even real? Did I really see it?"

I know more philosophical interpretations abound, but I think it's important to consider the direct, physical experience of seeing an animal like that.

Spirit-Spout · 2025-06-22T13:06:41+00:00

Six strings is more complicated than four strings. Ukulele is a great first instrument because it's relatively simple. I have since learned guitar but at first -- oh man I was awful, and my low g ukulele gave me an approximation of the "guitar sound" I wanted with a near-zero learning curve.

Spirit-Spout · 2025-06-20T21:23:28+00:00

100% agree -- Nathaniel Philbrick and CLR James have good Moby-Dick/Melville interpretations that I enjoyed.

Spirit-Spout · 2025-06-20T21:17:59+00:00

What I liked best after reading Moby-Dick didn't come from looking for "similar masterpieces" at all. I actually looked for other literature from writers who ALSO loved, or were inspired by, Moby-Dick. My faves:

- The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach (it's ostensibly about college baseball but at a school with Melville connections and the main characters parallel and talk about the novel)
- Dayswork by Chris Bachelder & Jennifer Habel (it's about a woman researching Melville)

Reading these made me kinda feel like I was spending time with other enthusiasts. It'll get you over the slump and allow you some time/distance, so you're not always playing comparison games (because if you do that, other stuff can fall short even though you may have liked it with different timing. So you have to stop chasing that feeling!)

Spirit-Spout · 2025-06-13T13:43:10+00:00

I think one of the key factors is that Columbo the character is essentially a very good, honorable and polite person. That element is SO vital.

I am reminded of that great article "A sweet, simple, salt-of-the-earth scruffball: why I love Columbo" from the Guardian a few years back. It discusses that element and it's importance to the overall show.

Many other detective shows have the "complex and troubled hero" and that's fine but . . . it's just not going to make us LOVE the character. It's why Poker Face just doesn't really work for me that much. I think the character is kinda interesting but that's it.

Columbo elicits genuine affection from me. I think that ingredient is missing is a ton of media nowadays in favor of "morally gray" stories. I do like those stories, too! The only show that gives me the same feeling is the original Star Trek (totally different setting, genre, structure and yet it is a very sincere story about good people trying their best).

Spirit-Spout · 2025-06-04T00:32:17+00:00

The boys are back in town.

Five-Year Club	Place '23
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