Kittens!

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Weekend in Denver

I've been spending a lot of time in Denver lately. I like the city. Yesterday I went to another local bands concert with Mavi. This one was at the Bluebird on east Colfax. Today Ben and I went vintage clothes shopping at Buffalo Exchange, Boss, and American Vogue on Broadway. We also got pizza at a Famous Pizza, perused the Pacific Ocean Asian Market on Alameda, and got milkshakes at Grandpa's Burger Haven on Federal. Grandpa's is one of those crappy-looking burger stands in the bad part of town, where there's no place to sit and you probably wouldn't want to touch it if there was. But they have been repeatedly honored with the title of Best Burger in Town.

Other things to note are that I started ballet classes at the Arvada Center! I'm so happy to be dancing again. It feels so good to struggle into tights and put my hair in a bun. Best of all, the instructor just happens to be the best teacher I've ever had! I haven't seen her since 1995. We're both very excited to be in class together again.

Also, I've been voted by default to direct the next Movie Saturday. Stay tuned on the forum!

Ballet Revolution

Ballerinas have changed quite a bit over the last century. Compare the photos below. On the left is Margot Fonteyn of the Royal Ballet as Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, circa 1955. On the right is Tamara Rojo, also of the Royal Ballet, striking the same arabesque in the same role, but in recent years.

Ballerinas always look a bit chunkier in old pictures. Although I think we can attribute some of the bulk to bad lighting and costumes (yea for lycra!), we can clearly see that dancers are getting slimmer.

Lines are more defined. Note how square Rojo strikes her pose: her hips and shoulders in line with her torso. Fonteyn's pose is more "open." Rojo's turnout is more pronouced. Her arms and fingers are more refined in their placement.

The sillouhoute of the legs has changed over the yearsl. In particular, it has become fashionable for dancers to have a slight backward curve at their knee, such that their standing leg is subtlely S- shaped. The foot itself has curved more. Look at the dancers' standing foot and note how the arch as increased. Rojo looks much more stable on her pointe than Fonteyn. These curves make the legs generally more tapered and willowy (like a Willi!). Fonteyn was hailed as brilliant in her day but she would look sloppy next to modern ballerinas.

These minute definitions have evolved slowly. I think it is a testament to the athleticism of ballet. In their own way, ballerinas are continually setting new records for themselves. Instead of faster times or higher jumps, they set higher standards of placement. Just a thought :-)

The Economy

Yea! A new Movie Saturday! Check it out at:

http://luke.no-ip.org/moviesaturday/index.cgi?c=movie&s=2&m=7

(note the new website location)

Art Excerises

After some intense Boggling, Jeff L. started doodling a portait--the kind where you don't lift up your pencil and you don't look at your paper. His results were so hilarious, we all made pictures of each other.




Jeff and Mavi: Life imitating art.



Bruce and Brian: Uncanny resemblences.

Brian looks a bit like Kim Jong, eh?.

Incredibly Birthday Party

Last weekend was the annual Incredibly Birthday party! In celebration of Jeff and Ben's January birthdays, we played board games, ate chilie dogs and root beer floats, and played games at the Nickel-A-Play arcade.


Trev and Nate on the left, Jeff "birthday boy" on the right.

Bruce, Brian, Matt and Ryan enoy their dinner, then get down with Luke, Tom, and Nate for some serious Boggle action.

Purple Hair

I've been streaking my hair purple for a few years now. I went back again recently and was reminded why I don't keep it up for too long. First you separate strands. Then you mix and apply bleach, which can take up to an hour for application. Let it sit for 45 minutes or so, until most of the color is out. Wash and comb--no conditioner. This means combing can take another hour, because the hair is so brittle and tangled. Then separate back into strands (another 30 minutes), apply purple color and wait another 45. Finally, wash, condition, and comb. It takes a half a day to complete the process. Color touch-ups take only a couple hours, but whenever you want to redo the roots with bleach, it can take even longer than the initial treatment because you have to separate each strand precisely instead of just grabbing a chunk.

My favorite purple dye is being discontinued at my supply store. Their suggested replacement was terrible. It was only two days before it started fading to blue. In five days the blond was showing through at the tips as a sick green. I've got to find a new supplier.

Remixed art

Another fun contest on Worth1000.com. Link.

Fun with Friends

So far we've had a pretty nice weekend. Ben says the Aviator was a great movie. I'll take his word for it since I didn't go myself. Instead I made soup with Mavi and watched Mr. Show and music videos. She has a collection of Bjork videos. Bjork is pretty wild. Even for me.

Later last night we went to Bender's Tavern with friends from Denver to see Matson Jones. They're a good local band from Fort Collins. They have a really unique sound, but they need to diversify their music. Most of their songs have the same underlying rhythm and tone.

Tonight Trev's coming over to cook Hungarian food. It's a dish Brian wouldn't miss for anything: Rakott krumpli. Basically scalloped potatoes supreme. It's loaded with fat, but oh so tasty. I can't take more than a small bowlful. You can feel your stomach bloating. The pictures below are from the first time Trevor cooked it at my house last fall. Here's a link to an online recipe. Of course, Trevor is using authentic Hungarian sausage. He has a source in Las Vegas.

Back in the swing

Work work work. I try not to think about it when I get home. Instead I watch a lot of Seinfeld. And organize my digital music library. And do DDR. I love post-Christmas :-)

Recently I made a cat toy filled with nip. Because of it's shape, color, and the funny way my cat chews on it, we call it the pickle. Today I found a pattern for kitty.com for dim sum-shaped cat toys. Cute.

Movie Saturday should be starting up again soon. Our site got hacked, so communication has been weak. As far as I know, Shawn is set to direct and we'll probably do Bruce's script "Economy." Brian bought a new camera after his old one broke. We need to try it out!


Vail Pass on 12/30/04. Not a soul in sight.