What Am I DOING? No Apologies.

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Volatile Volscian

Welp. I made an awkward silence on the blog. A really long awkward silence. But, it’s too late to apologize! So let’s move on with things.

[Disclaimer: I can't get any more of my images to upload, so maybe those will come later.]

SO EXCITED

As you can see, I got the The Book of Jer3miah DVD! Yay! And it has deleted scenes! Yay! However, unless they are an easter egg (boo) or otherwise hidden (boo), there’s a bunch of web content that is NOT on the DVD (BOOOO). Like the character vlogs and the Davenport interview. I can’t even find those anymore on the site, but they are still on Vimeo as per the link above (I, of course, highly recommend Simon’s channel). More frustrating though, is that I keep finding more content! See, I didn’t really do the extra stuff when the series came out, so now it’s like I’m catching up. I have to chase everything down 3 years later. I hate chasing things down. Despite my love for this series, I hate trans-media experiences because I want everything to be all together so I don’t have to work to get the whole story.

Continue reading →

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Historically Hers: The Toga

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Volatile Volscian

I’ve recently come into the acquaintance of a young fellow who is possessed with a happy obsession with ancient Rome.

I know it seems odd, but I actually don’t care much for ancient Rome, even though my ‘nym is associated with it. Rome has a lot of awesome things about it, but in the end it’s too political for me. I just want to ride on my horse, spearing people in battle, not bother with elections and social status signifiers. But I certainly do have an interest in the garb of almost all historical eras.

Zappy, as we will call my young friend, furnished me with the interesting information that the proper size of a toga (which is, of course, constructed of a flat rectangle with curved corners, or sometimes diagonally-cut corners) is twice the height of the wearer by three times the height of the wearer. The true formula is more complicated than that, but I didn’t want to think that hard about it.

This seemed exceptionally huge to me–for a 6-foot man, the toga would be a rectangle 12 by 18 feet. I did the math and found that the smallest yardage you could use of 60″ wide fabric is 16 yards. Sixteen effing yards. Continue reading →

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What Am I DOING? Bustle, smock and sock.

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Volatile Volscian

This is going to be quick, because writing this post is interrupting my very important schedule today, of hiding under a pile of blankets with the comforting warmth of my dog next to me. So here we go:

This is a skirt. I found it in my summer wardrobe, which I recently began delving into. I got it at the very end of last summer, so I don’t think I ever wore it before it got put away for the season. The thing is, it’s one of those tiered broomstick skirts, which I somehow keep ending up with even though they look terrible on me. So I decided to add a pseudo-bustle thing in the back, hoping that would make it look better. This photo shows how I’ve pleated it up, but I’ve decided to abandon this design in favor of something much easier.

I know, this is the greatest photo ever taken.

This is a Viking smock which is almost completed. I need to sew the sides, sew the sleeves on, and hem it. Unfortunately, I will be hemming it by hand, so that will take a million years, but it should be done by next week.

This looks familiar...

And this is the next loom sock. The thing about socks is, you have to make two of them.

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Local Counter Culture: Roller Derby in Happy Valley

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Lizzie Boredom

We have a special guest post today from Lizzie Boredom. Enjoy!  —Dame Toadstool

HVDD getting ready for a home scrimmage - photo credit Ron Horton

Around this time last year two of my nieces (then 20 years old) informed me that they’d joined a local Roller Derby league.   I later found out that at the time the league was still in its infancy.  They were just starting out and it was pretty grass roots.  Somewhere along the way I heard they had dubbed themselves the Happy Valley Derby Darlins (HVDD)!  That name gets +10 Awesomeness in my book, for obvious reasons.  But hold onto your knee socks, girls, it gets better.

HVDD Logo

Yes, that's a skull encased in pink jello. Booyah!

Last Saturday I attended this season’s first real bout, the St. Patty’s Smack Down at UVU.  Since they were playing against another league they combined the best players from their two home teams (who normally play scrimmages against each other), to make the league’s competitive team, who call themselves…wait for it… the Molly Morbids!

My program from the St. Patty's bout

The St. Patty’s bout really sealed the deal for me in terms of Derby Love.  Never can I remember getting so caught up in the spirit of any sports event.  Ever.  Granted I care less than a little for most organized/team sports.  But roller derby is no “ordinary” team sport, my friends.   It’s beautiful, spontaneous chaos.  It’s raw and emotive.  It’s unpredictable.  It’s pure anarchy on wheels!

Sure there’s a list of rules as long as your Mormon ancestor’s undergarments.  Rules that require a certification process for referees and certainly prove difficult for my all-things-sports-inept mind to comprehend.  But let’s be honest, it’s a misfit sport at best; there ain’t no other that can touch it.   And for those a bit slow to catch on, I’m selling that as a good thing.  A healthy thing even, especially for our overly “organized” and (dare I say?) men dominated, sports saturated culture.  Not that there are no men derby leagues; how could they stay away?

In short, dear readers, I have been bitten by the Derby Bug.  Pricked by Derby Cupid, if you will.  And totally stoked to continue this love affair.

Black Eye Sky with teammates waiting to get their derby on.

My niece, Sky (known in the derby world as Black Eye Sky) who has since become captain of one of the leagues two home teams, Rollin’ Rebellion, was playing as a blocker Saturday with the Molly Morbids.

(Btw, the Morbids creamed their opponents, Nevada East Roller Girls, 183 to 87!)

I had a chance to talk with Black Eye Sky this past week (we’re close ;p) and ask her a few questions regarding Happy Valley Derby Darlins humble beginnings and how YOU can get yourself out to the derby.

LB: When and how did you first get into Roller Derby?

BES: Last January I was working at Joe’s Coffee Shop in Payson. Two of my coworkers invited me to a meeting held in a party room at Classic Skating in Orem. Their were like ten girls there. That was pretty much the beginning of our league. Of those first ten maybe half of us stuck around.

LB: How often do you practice and where?

BES: Three times a week at the old Food4Less building in Spanish Fork.  That’s also where our home scrimmages (domestic disputes) are held.

LB:  How often are said scrimmages?

BES:  We play two a month on Saturdays.  And we do “picnic scrimmages” for fun, which is basically getting together with other leagues during the off season (Sept-Feb) to keep in practice.

So there you have your basic info.  You can find out a bundle more and other derby details at HVDD’s website and their facebook.   Also, check out local derby photographer Ron Horton’s page for a plethora of great derby pics, including incredible action shots.

P.S. Sky and I chatted A LOT more the other day and I began to realize the Derby Hole is much deeper than I had initially imagined.  Which means, of course, that there will be more roller derby drivel to come.  Til then, peace & love (and Roller Derby)!

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What Am I DOING? Say Cheese!

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Volatile Volscian

Hey kids! It’s fun time at my house (which we call the Burrow).

I am making cheese for the premiere of The Hunger Games! Yes, true and verily fresh goat cheese wrapped in basil. Oh baby am I hardcore or what. I am so excited about making cheese!

I forgot to get the basil out for the photo.

I am also weaving some trim for my friend Derpenna. (Yeah, I just take my friends’ names and replace the first part with “Derp”.) The gold thread is so shiny, it was hard to photograph.

Tiny trim for a doll.

I’ve been attacking my home videos. It’s excruciating, everyone so desperate for attention, but I’m almost done with the first tape. It will be cut down to about 1 hour from 2 hours. I’ll try for 45 minutes. There is a lot of the camera staring at the baby for no reason. I don’t like babies, even though this one grew up to be my cool younger sister.

Adobe Premiere Pro: At least not as ghetto as iMovie or Windows Movie Maker.

Other film things: I have two on-call editing jobs, one with my cousin’s marketing company, Olive Tree, and one with the SPG (you don’t know what that is, and I don’t feel like telling you.) I’m working on some stuff right now for both of them. For Olive Tree I’ve been cutting an ad and tutorials for Bling Time. Pretty sure they’re local, because otherwise why would they go to my cousin’s company? I’m starting on the SPG project tomorrow, it will basically be a training video. (Any chance to edit, is a chance to edit.)

Another, much more exciting film thing: Local film WWJD is resuming production at the end of this month. I’ve never met the director, but I’ve seen him act in things (is that creepy?), including a film that I cut; and I know a bunch of people he knows, including several people working on this film. He asked on Facebook for production volunteers, and I, of course, applied. I see no reason why he wouldn’t accept me, except for my schedule. We’ll see. Actually, I have to admit that the thought of working on a set again kind of makes me nervous.

So, I think that’s it right now. What have you guys got going on?

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