Upstate is a different land

Growing up, I never understood why Democratic candidates would always win New York's senate seats, this despite the fact that my parents and everyone I knew voted Republican. I didn't understand about the New York City factor until I was older.

A recent trip upstate to visit my parents reminded me of my conservative roots, which I manage to repress most of the time here on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, which is pretty much the bleeding liberal heart of the western world. So yes, I am aware that I've been away from Kansas for a while, but even still, I couldn't help but find this envelope - here photographed in the wild, sitting on top of my parents' stack-o-mail - a little disturbing.























Is it me or does that Eagle's beak look a little longer and more predatory than is strictly necessary? Ready to peck out the eyes of filthy illegal immigrants, perhaps? To feast upon the steaming entrails of freshly disemboweled MoveOn members? To pick clean the bones of Obama's dead on arrival attempt to reform healthcare?























On the bright side, The Land of Upstate is home to some spectacular winter sunsets.

bottoms, tops, and a disturbing bustier

We haven't been so much with the blogging this past month here at knitcrit mission control, though there has been a fair amount of knitting and also a fair amount of criticism, the latter mainly taking the form of yelling at the TV whilst helplessly watching the public option die a slow, painful death. The former, a much more pleasant subject, involved knitting a soaker to go with Topaz out of the leftover light green - baby girls don't sit like ladies (the bulky diaper gets in the way, I suppose), so one way to help them pull off the dress is to provide a coordinated underlayer. In this case, the soaker I knit to go with Topaz also looks very cute with db's monkey onesie.

This was a freebie on Ravelry, searchable under the name "Fancy Pants." I had no idea what a soaker was before about three weeks ago and it turns out there's quite a range of soaker patterns out there, so I can't say that I had any reason for choosing this one - I can't even remember how I found it, actually.

For the past few winters, Todd has worn an embarrassingly ugly black knit hat emblazoned with the ASCAP logo (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers). In some ways, this is the type of hat that one can indeed get away with wearing on the northern fringes of the Upper West Side, but I finally got sick enough of looking at it to make him probably the millionth Koolhaas to be worn on the streets of New York City. No matter - it looks great, of course - it's really a bulletproof pattern.

Db wonders why her dad gets the cool hat.























And finally, as I begin to contemplate my return to work at the end of January, I find myself looking at this this lovely image and wondering what exactly I find to be profoundly wrong with it. Besides everything.

Obama's speech in Cairo

Other than evoking the golden rule in its final minutes (and what preceded the "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" made it less banal and useless than it otherwise might have been), this speech was truly masterful. Unbelievable, actually. And it truly sucks that it was blocked in Iran.

If he weren't my student, I would feel REALLY smug

Quizzes are a necessary evil - occasionally even the most dedicated student benefits from this most primitive of motivational tools. While I eschew the pop quiz, I do give most of my students a set number of quizzes over the course of the semester to - ahem - inspire them to make my class a priority.

So, grading a stack of quizzes this afternoon, I saw that an Obama-supporting student had used the 3 or 4 minutes he had to wait for his slower classmates to finish to decorate the back of his quiz with a big American flag anchored in Obama's name. Not to be outdone, his neighbor, a backwards-baseball-cap wearing type who, to his credit, had the courage to identify himself as a McCain supporter during our post-election class discussion of the candidates, decorated the back of his quiz with the following slogan:

[name of my college] LOVE'S MacKain

Yup.

A little bit of Bollywood makes the election ever so much more bearable

Knitcrit was horrified to see a below-average-even-for-youtube level of discourse in the youtube comments thread for this video; apparently for many viewers the Bollywood dancers superimposed on Obama’s mouth and body were taken to be some kind of meditation on his secret identity as a Muslim. This would be laughable if it weren’t so incredibly and dangerously stupid.

I came upon the below translation of the lyrics to the song while reading through the atrocious youtube comments; interestingly, the translator translates “gori” as “beautiful woman;” hindiwale know, of course, that “gori” literally means “whitey,” and is used to refer to the (desirable) fairness of a woman; more generally, the term and its masculine counterpart are sometimes used in a derogatory manner to refer to Caucasians. I suspect this was the point of the video – mocking Obama and his young white liberal lovers.

From the film Mela

Aaja Aaja Aaja Aaja Aaja Aaja Aa
Come...
Chori Chori Hum Gori Se Pyaar Karengey
In secret I'll love a beautiful woman
Chupke Chupke Dil Ki Baatein Yaar Karengey
Very softly I'll speak my heart
Aane Waali, Kab Aayegi Koi De Bataa
Can't someone tell me when will the one who's coming will arrive?
Dhoond Rahe Hain, Jaane Kabh Se, Hum Uska Pataa
God knows how long I've been searching for news of her
Aaja Aaja Aaja Aaja Aaja Aaja Aa


Mahiyaa, Mahiyaa
Beloved, beloved
Jaldi Se Aa Ja Sun Mahiyaa
Come quickly; listen, my love!
Mahiyaa, Mahiyaa
Beloved, beloved,
Doli Mein Le Ja Sun Mahiyaa...
Take me away in a wedding palanquin; lover, listen!

Obamamania is running wild, Mean Gene!!!

On the streets of the Upper West Side, just hours ago...

Obammie #1(wearing "Women for Obama" button): Vote Obama! Obama for Change! (waves stickers and tags)

Knitcrit: (in constructive dialogue-esqe tone that in no way reflects her true feelings of rage) Hey, are you aware of Obama's sponsorship of the Coal to Liquid Fuel Promotion Act of 2007?

Obammie #1 : uh. no. The what?

Knitcrit: It's not a very environmentally friendly process.

Obammie #1: uhhh. (attempting to sound sincere, but falling far short of Knitcrit's masterful performance) Thanks! I want to be informed!

Knitcrit: (walking away, still fully in character) no problem!

Two blocks later

Obammie #2: Obama! Vote Obama!

Knitcrit: (again with masterful display of sincerity) Hey, are you aware of Obama's sponsorship of the Coal to Liquid Fuel Promotion Act of 2007?

Obammie #2: Uh. no. (he continues, earnestness incarnate) But I want to be informed! What was that again?

Knitcrit: The Coal to Liquid Fuel Promotion Act of 2007.

Obammie #2: (fumbling for writing utensil) Could you say that bill again? I want to remember and...(tapers off)

Knitcrit: You can look it up on Project Vote Smart.

Obammie #2:

Knitcrit: The website. Have you heard of it?

Obammie #2: uh - no - but I will check it out! Thank you!

exit knitcrit, on her way to the local yarn store to buy a #2 crochet hook to finish edges of current knitting project.

Okay, honestly, Obama attempted to disassociate himself from this bill after enormous pressure from environmentalists, but the alternative amendment proposing carbon emissions standards he introduced was, according to Los Angeles Times, dismissed by cloture. The point remains, however, that he initially sponsored the legislation for bloody obvious political and shortsighted reasons.

I wasn't going to blog about the Upper West Side Obammies - I was just going to let it be because god knows activism is an endangered species in this country and it should be encouraged even if it's woefully underinformed. Obamamania has actually been grating on me for weeks - our downstairs neighbors are rabid Obammies; only just out of dorms and not totally acclimated to civilian life, they've gradually papered their door with newspaper pictures of Obama, one with a witty "I couldn't have done it without [neighbor's name]" cartoon word balloon pasted over Obama's head. Ha ha. I laugh every time I walk by it on my way up or down the stairs of our fabulous walkup apartment. Ha ha. ha ha.

But I really was going to keep it all in, let people have their inspiration, be glad for the activism, smile and repress, smile and repress, and then...

...I got home and this ecstatic email and attached video from MoveOn put me over the edge:

On Friday, MoveOnMembers voted to endorse Barack Obama. Then a friend sent me this video. It really says a lot about why people are moved by Obama. If you're supporting him, or still on the fence, please check it out. And if you like it as much as I did, send it on. Here it is:

click here

And, having watched the video, I can agree that it does say a lot about Obama supporters.

Come ON, MoveOn

Some of MoveOn's many members just voted overwhelmingly (70% to 30%) in favor of endorsing Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate for president. Just remove the knitting needles from my hands. Slowly. And hide them.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton seem to have nearly identical voting records (though Obama has opted out of voting an awful lot. It's almost as though he didn't want to leave too much of a paper trail as he pursues his bid for the Democratic nomination). And Obama has introduced little legislation, though he did co-sponsor the truly environmentally backward Coal to Liquid Fuel Promotion Act of 2007. Not good. Though maybe a good move for a senator from a coal producing state.

Obama's current status as the darling of free-range grass-fed progressive wanna-be liberals everywhere seems to derive from the fact that he opposed the war from the start. Perhaps. But unlike Clinton, he wasn't in congress at that point, and it's one thing to speak out against the war - waving fists from from the sidelines - and another thing to vote against it as a member of congress. Like Kucinich did.

This is our "change?"

I can accept the argument - made by some - that Obama is the better candidate because he is more likely to appeal to moderate conservative voters. He probably would, given the fact that, as far as image is concerned, Obama in no way breaks the fundamentally patriarchal family man mold that has been working for American presidential candidates for over 200 years.

Compare conversations in the press - or anywhere - about the two candidates. What do we hear about Hillary? We hear in-depth analysis of Hillary's laugh. Or we hear otherwise sane journalists - even mainstream liberal ones - ask: Hillary: too closed off? Hillary: too emotional? Hillary: sincere? Hillary: able to control her spouse? Hillary's ability to serve as president is being discussed - and questioned - on the basis of her gender and stereotypes surrounding it. There is no similar shitstorm of press questioning Barack Obama's abilities on the basis of race or stereotypes surrounding it.

Obama's much-touted charisma comes from being a young, good-looking father/husband with a knack for public speaking and a marked ability to look humble whenever he's compared to JFK. If that's the best that the Democrats can do, fine, but let's not be naive enough to think his nomination would be a symbol of fundamental change. That symbol would be a woman in the White House.

Okay. May I have my knitting needles back now?

Stalking the Clintons

Blizzard, lingering flu, and winding, unplowed New Hampshire roads: nothing kept us from making a seven-hour drive to Plymouth in order to see Bill Clinton in the pink, ex-presidential flesh. Crashing the New Hampshire pre-primary circus is a tradition of Todd's; in 2004 I was also sucked in, and this year two intrepid friends of ours managed to join us, wedging themselves into the very small back seat Todd's volkswagen (the back seat normally functions as trash can, to give you some sense of why, at the very least, we should call these friends intrepid).

At the entrance to the Bill event, I successfully lied to a secret service agent who, after a cursory paw though my bag, asked me if I was carrying anything sharp. No, nothing sharp.























Just the number five circular Addi needle I'm using to knit this basket-weave qiviut scarf. This is not the most fun knit in my rotation - it's laceweight and I have enough laceweight projects in my life right now because I'm still trying to finish what I started with the whole bridesmaid lace stole project, about which I can only say arrrrrrggggghhhhh. On the plus side, qiviut, aka muskox, is a fascinating fiber: freakishly lightweight, very soft, and extremely warm.
















Also fascinating and extremely warm, though not at all lightweight or soft: Bill. On the road for Hillary, the ex-President gave a rousing and lengthy speech extolling the virtues of the lady Senator from New York. We did learn a few things about Hillary, though mostly I learned that all the well-worn observations about Bill are true: he's a great public speaker; he seems totally sincere; he's very smart; he cares about you. I whorishly pressed through the crowd after the speech in order to shake his hand, and in the process of moving to the front of the pack, as I watched him converse with all manner of 80th generation crank from New Hampshire, I could see that he had the rarest and most powerful type of charisma: the kind that comes from appearing to be completely in the moment and completely interested in what is being said. It is not about Bill at all, and this egoless engagement, purely enacted, is ridiculously attractive and powerful.
















Hillary (with her daughter and mother in tow) did an event the following evening. Our senator impressed me, and the crowd seemed impressed, too. I did not make an effort to shake her hand, though in retrospect it might have been a good time to ask her why the voice mailbox at her office is always full whenever I call to protest whatever MoveOn tells me to.

Between Bill and Hillary, we stopped by an event for Republican candidate Ron Paul. This is a man who believes that all America's problems can be solved if we start using gold coins for our currency and cease government regulation of everything except women's uteruses. Is anyone surprised this man is from Texas?