So, I'm down at the toy library with Viva, helping her get the toys back into the storage area, and I pick up this girls bike.
It's VERY much a girl bike. It was a vivid, almost violent, pink colour. There were spangly bits. There were star designs on it. There was a rainbow or two. I even think there was a unicorn.
Then I notice the name of the bike.
"Apollo".
What ?
The ultimate girly bike is named after one of the most quintessentially MALE gods ever ? God of the sun and medicine ?? Does that make any sense ? Shouldn't it have been called the Artemis, or the Diana ?
Or am I being too cerebral here ?
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Things I Made #4 - Year 12 Play set
Yeah yeah - I know. I've been busy. It's the standard answer I know - but here's evidence of something that's been taking up my time.
It's the set for the Y12 play I've been directing - "A Place in the Present". It takes place in a train station waiting room.
The tricky things were getting the stencil style writing done ( found a font on 'DaFont' - penciled it on, painted over ). It didn't totally look like I wanted it to - but it was okay enough I guess. Getting the door on was a pain. We tried to fit it into a flat, but that was a disaster, so I just bolted it into the sides of two flats in the end. It worked fine.
The graffiti tagging was mostly done by me. I took some shots of some real tags at the local train station and then copied them. That's probably breaking some code of 'the street' - but screw 'em ! You show me a copyright for your optically offensive vandalism and I'll give a monkeys.
So, all in all I was pretty happy with the set. The production wasn't half bad either !
It's the set for the Y12 play I've been directing - "A Place in the Present". It takes place in a train station waiting room.
The tricky things were getting the stencil style writing done ( found a font on 'DaFont' - penciled it on, painted over ). It didn't totally look like I wanted it to - but it was okay enough I guess. Getting the door on was a pain. We tried to fit it into a flat, but that was a disaster, so I just bolted it into the sides of two flats in the end. It worked fine.
The graffiti tagging was mostly done by me. I took some shots of some real tags at the local train station and then copied them. That's probably breaking some code of 'the street' - but screw 'em ! You show me a copyright for your optically offensive vandalism and I'll give a monkeys.
So, all in all I was pretty happy with the set. The production wasn't half bad either !
Monday, August 17, 2009
The humming-ning
Poor Viva. She's not feeling well. She's got at a attack of the hay-fever, a cold and an ear ache.
And the humming has returned.
Oh no.
Viva can hear this humming. It comes and goes - but every now and then she'll accost me and start demanding to know if I can hear it.
"Can you hear that ? That humming ! DON'T look at me like that ! I can HEAR it ! Are you seriously telling me you can't hear that ? Listen ! Can you hear it ?"
And so on.
I've told her that I can't hear it and she's never quite believed me. She also has trouble accepting that I DON'T want to even TRY to hear it - in case I DO and then I can't NOT hear it again.
I suggested tonight that maybe it was like those people who can pick up radio signals with their teeth fillings. That seemed to spark her to look for symptoms on-line. Low and behold - there are quite a few people who suffer from this. Apparently it sounds a bit like hearing a light-saber from about 50-100 meters away. A bunch of people in Auckland were driven to almost madness by it.
Hmmm.
Time to hide the sharp objects, program the emergency services number into the phone and sleep on the couch maybe.
And the humming has returned.
Oh no.
Viva can hear this humming. It comes and goes - but every now and then she'll accost me and start demanding to know if I can hear it.
"Can you hear that ? That humming ! DON'T look at me like that ! I can HEAR it ! Are you seriously telling me you can't hear that ? Listen ! Can you hear it ?"
And so on.
I've told her that I can't hear it and she's never quite believed me. She also has trouble accepting that I DON'T want to even TRY to hear it - in case I DO and then I can't NOT hear it again.
I suggested tonight that maybe it was like those people who can pick up radio signals with their teeth fillings. That seemed to spark her to look for symptoms on-line. Low and behold - there are quite a few people who suffer from this. Apparently it sounds a bit like hearing a light-saber from about 50-100 meters away. A bunch of people in Auckland were driven to almost madness by it.
Hmmm.
Time to hide the sharp objects, program the emergency services number into the phone and sleep on the couch maybe.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Things I found posted out the cat-door by Angelo this morning
1. My blue and red beanie.
2. His striped blue and green hat.
3. The pig piece from his farmyard jigsaw puzzle.
4. A pair of his socks.
5. A large multicolured duster.
6. A 'glad' plastic box container.
7. His 'That's Not My Dragon!" book.
8. A plastic part of something I couldn't readily identify. But it was quite big.
9. The 'Panic Button' novelty toy that Angelo has claimed from me.
But not the jar full of fish-oil tablets that he's taken from the pantry and hidden somewhere ...
*UPDATE*
The fish-oil tablets turned up the next day in the lounge floor. I still have no idea where he had hidden them. I sense trouble developing here...
2. His striped blue and green hat.
3. The pig piece from his farmyard jigsaw puzzle.
4. A pair of his socks.
5. A large multicolured duster.
6. A 'glad' plastic box container.
7. His 'That's Not My Dragon!" book.
8. A plastic part of something I couldn't readily identify. But it was quite big.
9. The 'Panic Button' novelty toy that Angelo has claimed from me.
But not the jar full of fish-oil tablets that he's taken from the pantry and hidden somewhere ...
*UPDATE*
The fish-oil tablets turned up the next day in the lounge floor. I still have no idea where he had hidden them. I sense trouble developing here...
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Thing I made #2 - Production 'animation' video
Woah - mega long since an update.
Anyway - I've been meaning to add this for a while, I just haven't been able to find the copy with the cool music in the background ( which I would love to say I created as well - but which would be a total lie. Magnificent music HOD composed that ).
This was a wee expositional poem right at the start of the play, and I had the brillo idea of making a set of pictures to go along with it that we could turn into a wee film to play ( y'know - get that whole multi-media feel coming in nice and strong ).
Man - it took WAY longer than I thought it would ! It was the photoshopping of the drawings which took the time - the actual conversion into the film wasn't so bad, particularly when I found that you could save the files in photoshop to a format which uses transparency - but that's getting needlessly complicated.
Anyway - hope you like it.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Can I share this with you ?
In lieu of anything interesting to say ( too tired to talk about the ordeal that was the production. Just thinking about it makes me sweat blood ... ) here is a song that I love. It's Death Cab for Cutie again - an amazing song and equally cool video.
Your assessment task is to discuss the deeper meanings present in the text. How are 'grapevine fires' a metaphor ? For what ? What is the significance of the graveyard and the picnic? Remember to use specific detail from the text to support your ideas. ( 2 credits )
Your assessment task is to discuss the deeper meanings present in the text. How are 'grapevine fires' a metaphor ? For what ? What is the significance of the graveyard and the picnic? Remember to use specific detail from the text to support your ideas. ( 2 credits )
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
The family is back ! Horay !
After three long weeks Viv and Angelo have returned from merry olde England - jubilation ! It's so nice to have them back ! In some ways it was good that they were away during that time - I was getting killed with the school production, and was at school a LOT - so they wouldn't have seen much of me anyway. Thankfully that's over too - but maybe a little more on the production later.
Skype was a godsend for that time - I was able to see Viva and my little boy a fair bit while they were away, as well as seeing my nephews and niece as well ! They had a good time and did some fun things, so that's alright !
It's amazing to see how much Angelo grew in just that small amount of time. He's made some good developments over those 21 days :
1. He's beginning to climb on things now. He can quite easily scale the couches - which gave the cat a hell of a fright ! Poor Shadow was curled up in her usual position on a cushion stack on the larger of the two couches - a position that was before quite safe from baby raids. Angelo bowls in, is up on the couch in a couple of seconds flat - and has tackled the cat in the next one !
He really needs to be more gentle with Shadow. Viva told me that he got hold of her and was yanking on her tail - and she screamed / hissed at him. That gave Angelo a bit of a fright - but not as much as a decent swipe with the ole claws would give him ( I think that might be very soon if he doesn't start behaving ).
2. He's babbling even more now. It looks like he's trying to communicate more deliberately. During dinner the last couple of nights he's pointed at the living room light and said "Gah ! " quite a few times. He's also seen the cat walk/run by and said "kiki", and I'm pretty sure he something which sounded very much like "hello dada" - though I might be imagining things.
3. He waves now ! He waved goodbye to me this morning as I was going to work ( after a bit of coaxing ) and he waved goodbye to his grandparents on Sunday ( far more readily ).
4. Four of his bottom molars have come through. He's able to eat things a little more readily - but the teething process is causing him a little distress ( I was up applying Bongela from 3 to 5 this morning ... ).
In all it's great to have them back. No more coming home to an empty house ! Things are good.
Skype was a godsend for that time - I was able to see Viva and my little boy a fair bit while they were away, as well as seeing my nephews and niece as well ! They had a good time and did some fun things, so that's alright !
It's amazing to see how much Angelo grew in just that small amount of time. He's made some good developments over those 21 days :
1. He's beginning to climb on things now. He can quite easily scale the couches - which gave the cat a hell of a fright ! Poor Shadow was curled up in her usual position on a cushion stack on the larger of the two couches - a position that was before quite safe from baby raids. Angelo bowls in, is up on the couch in a couple of seconds flat - and has tackled the cat in the next one !
He really needs to be more gentle with Shadow. Viva told me that he got hold of her and was yanking on her tail - and she screamed / hissed at him. That gave Angelo a bit of a fright - but not as much as a decent swipe with the ole claws would give him ( I think that might be very soon if he doesn't start behaving ).
2. He's babbling even more now. It looks like he's trying to communicate more deliberately. During dinner the last couple of nights he's pointed at the living room light and said "Gah ! " quite a few times. He's also seen the cat walk/run by and said "kiki", and I'm pretty sure he something which sounded very much like "hello dada" - though I might be imagining things.
3. He waves now ! He waved goodbye to me this morning as I was going to work ( after a bit of coaxing ) and he waved goodbye to his grandparents on Sunday ( far more readily ).
4. Four of his bottom molars have come through. He's able to eat things a little more readily - but the teething process is causing him a little distress ( I was up applying Bongela from 3 to 5 this morning ... ).
In all it's great to have them back. No more coming home to an empty house ! Things are good.
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