Stephanie Briggs - Handmade Knitting My Way Through Chronic Pain

Knitting by hand, owned by three cats and a manbeast

“La Boheme”, with a Modern Twist

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La Boheme – “Che gelida manina”, “”Si Mi chiamano Mimi” and “O Soave fanciculla”…otherwise known as the scene in “Atonement” where Robbie (James McAvoy) writes the “c-u-n-t” letter, and as he’s writing, he’s playing a record with this music on it.   This is a DVD movie adaptation that I tracked down after seeing it […]

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The Works of Vincent Bugliosi

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Vincent Bugliosi is the American prosecutor who put Charles Manson, and three of his followers, behind bars for the murders of Sharon Tate, her houseguests, and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca on two broiling nights in August, 1969. The case was said to be so untenable that all the prosecution had was “two fingerprints and Vince […]

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Don’t Wear Pink for Breast Cancer this October

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It’s that time of year again. “Supporting awareness” of a cause (i.e. cancer research) by buying pink things is something from which profits most likely won’t end up going toward research.   Let’s face it – people don’t need to be made more aware of breast cancer:   Volunteer at your local hospital, or donate to […]

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How Israel Handles Airport Security – We Should Learn from These Mensches!

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DH and I were discussing recently the pros and cons of the TSA’s methods of handling airport security. I agree with him that Israeli security seems much, much better – with less inconvenience to travellers, but not at the expense of safety. I really wish more North American airports handled things this way. All I had […]

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Putting a New Book about Mahatma Gandhi on My Reading List

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I must admit, I haven’t heard this one said about Mahatma Gandhi before. I came across it in a Wikipedia article. Some people who have read this book, Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India by Joseph Lelyveld are claiming, or at least asking, whether he was gay, just because he had a close friendship […]

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“Holocaust Memorial Day – Black Triangle” by BendyGirl

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http://benefitscroungingscum.blogspot.com/2012/01/world-holocaust-memorial-day-black.html Today, Holocaust Memorial Day, this article by BendyGirl highlights something very important for me: that disabled people were the first to be targeted by the Nazis. Her eloquence is superior to mine today, but I will try and give a brief summary, and you can click on the link above to read the article. […]

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A Litany of Crazy Thoughts – NSFW

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This is going to sound nuts, but I’ve been under so much stress from the headaches that sometimes, the thought of smoking has entered my mind, Of course I’d never do it, but I envy the seeming tranquility of smokers. What is probably the true source of their calm is the deep breathing that smoking […]

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404: Intelligence Not Found

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It boggles the mind as to why some people think that learning a language or being enthralled with the history, literature or culture of a place automatically means I’m of a particular political persuasion, or that there’s something wrong with learning a given language because of objector’s personal feelings about the country’s history to which […]

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Etta James, “Rain Man” and Internet Meanderings

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It’s funny how things on the Internet meld into each other. I was talking on Facebook with Fabeku Fatunmise about the late Etta James, which led to a search of the soundtrack for Rain Man (in which she performs “At Last”). This led me to read about the late Kim Peek. That connected me to […]

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Books into Film: “The Other Boleyn Girl” and “Atonement”

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Watching The Other Boleyn Girl while tying product tags onto Shivanaut scarves. I have the book by Philippa Gregory, but couldn’t get into it. From what I have read of the book, it’s “supposed” to be good (but it rankles me that she rewrites history and takes far too long to say things that could be […]

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