Demon squirrels strike again!

So I've spent about a month eagerly getting seeds, planting them carefully in mini peat pots (the kind that start as pellets but grow when you add water), watching excitedly for the first sprouts to appear, carefully nurturing the seedlings, hardening them off on the back deck to get them used to being outside, then transplanting them to lovingly-prepared beds and planters.

Only to find the seedlings dug up the next day, or even hours later, tossed cruelly aside to bake in the hot sun. Sometimes the seedlings disappear altogether, with the occasional bit of peat pot or a few pitiful roots left behind as a taunting reminder of what I once had.

I suspected squirrels, but wasn't sure until I actually caught one of them climbing into one of my outdoor herb planters and starting to dig. Grrr. A couple of days ago, I found the same plants dug up THREE TIMES ON THE SAME DAY(a mint and a morning glory seedling). I replanted the seedling each time. The third time, the seedling disappeared for good.

I have sprinkled some chipotle pepper powder around those plants; I've heard that bloodmeal also works, but it also stinks. One of my friends helpfully suggested that if we lived in medieval times, it might have helped to chop off one of the squirrel's heads that I could stick on a pike as a message to others.

Hopefully the chipotle pepper will do the trick.

We'll see...

(insert sound of pike sticks being sharpened here)

Link O' The Day: Nerd Jewellry!

I don't wear make-up or have the usual obsession with clothing or shoes that many women share, but I do confess a weakness for earrings, especially nerdy ones like those above. The description on Etsy starts off "Make sure you don't walk around without a properly formatted Head."

:-D

Anyway, they're sadly sold out, probably because they were popular on Digg (which is how I found out about them). But what a GREAT idea for jewellry.






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Cora the Adventure Doll, Tom Smith & Babylon Five

Cora, for those of you who don't know, is a doll that came with a Happy Meal I ordered from MacDonald's ages ago. She's very homely. Her hair is lopsided with unsightly stubble in places, and she has plastic undies. As soon as I saw her, I was immediately torn between (1) cherishing her forever, and (2) tossing her in the nearest waste bin. I opted for the former because well, we all have a little Cora in us, don't we?





Cora has accompanied me on many adventures. At the cottage, she nearly ended up in a watery grave when I accidentally (it was an accident! I swear!) dropped her in the lake. Jeff heroically rescued her:





Anyway, here are the latest Cora pics, all taken during FilKONtario weekend:

Video O' The Day: "Five Years"

I tried watching Babylon Five when the pilot was aired but hated it and never came back. So many people have raved about the series, though, that I think I'm going to give it another shot. Maybe then I'll be able to understand the references in this video:



:-D

The song is a parody of "One Week," words by the world's fastest filker, Tom Smith. Video courtesy OzShadow in Australia. You can find more info about Tom in his Web site, including a link to his Song A Week project. Tom's next concert is at Duckon in Chicago (June 8-10th).





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Will Write For Chocolate and an interview with Tanya Huff

Will Write For Chocolate has been updated. I've also updated Inkygirl with my interview with the fabulous Tanya Huff, whose Blood novel series has been turned into a television show:



Click on the above image to see the interview and a video trailer. Blood Ties will be airing in Canada starting August on CITY-TV (yay!).



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The black art of letterpress

(Updated: Thanks to Ray for pointing me to this article which clarifies the use of "font" vs "typeface"; I've since corrected my use in this post! I think. :-))

I've updated Inkygirl with the cartoon above as well as a typeface survey. I've always been fascinated by how much a typeface can influence a reader/viewer, though I've never been as much of a typeface snob as my friends Justin and John.



My obsession with typefaces overlaps with other obsessions, like writing, office supplies, stationery, and printing processes. Which is why I was so interested in checking out Coach House Press during Doors Open weekend, where interesting buildings (often heritage sites) normally closed to the public open their doors to anyone interested.



Jeff, Ray and I visited quite a few buildings on Saturday, but I found that the most interesting was Coach House Press, near Spadina and Bloor. Publishing fiction and poetry since 1965, the literary press has published books by Michael Ondaatje, George Bowering, Nicole Brossard, Guy Maddin, and hundreds of others.



In 1991, Coach House was split into two separate companies: the printing house Coach House Printing and the book publisher Coach House Press. Sadly, the book publisher declared bankruptcy in 1996. Later the same year, the printing company was moved back into book publishing.



Printer and compositor, Nicholas Kennedy, was in the Type Room, giving demonstrations of a small hand press as well as answering any questions people might have. Nicholas normally works at Trip Print Press, whose site brilliantly describe themselves as "Practitioners of the black art, letterpress."

When I asked Nicholas which typeface he preferred, Courier or Courier New, he looked at me as if I was nuts. Courier, of course! (Yay)



I was curious about letterpress, a topic I have only microscopic knowledge about, so checked out this Wikipedia entry, which said that "letterpress" is a term for printing text with movable type, in which the raised surface of the type is inked and then pressed against a smooth substance to obtain an image in reverse. The term also sometimes refers to the process of making a direct impression of inked media such as zinc "cuts" (plates) or linoleum blocks onto a receptive surface. Johann Gutenberg was one of the first people to use movable type printing individually-cast, reusable letters set in a frame.


Keyboard of an old linotype machine.

Use of letterpress is pretty rare these days. Typesetting is computerised now, and offset printing is much more economical than using cast metal types. Happily, places like Coach House Press and Trip Print Press help keep the art alive. I found conflicting reports online about which process provides the higher quality image, but there's no denying the esthetic appeal of letterpress.

Sources and for more info:

Trip Print Press photos on Flickr

Trip Print Press

Coach House Press

Wikipedia entry on letterpress printing

Doors Open

Video O' The Day:

Veteran graphic design/typography and letterpress teacher David Dabner (London College of Printing) offers interesting insights into the principles of design, creative letterpress and why he thinks computers make students sloppy.






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Hey, J.K.!

Allison and Jodi came over yesterday afternoon, and we recorded Hey J.K.!

Each time we do some recording, I learn more about my home recording equipment. This time, I learned that I really need some soundproof headphones. And I still need to get at least one more microphone! We did the recording in Garageband; I'm still learning how to use Logic Express.

Anyway, I'll be uploading Hey J.K.!, Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jam (my new song for kids), and Walter to the FilkArchive once I get upload privileges from the site owner. Meanwhile, you can hear Hey J.K.! at the:

Urban Tapestry MySpace page

and the

Urban Tapestry iLike page

Please feel free to download and send this song to anyone you think might be interested, or send them to our MySpace page.

Since this song obviously has a limited shelf life (until the next Harry Potter comes out in a couple of months), I'd also appreciate suggestions about any venues you think would be willing to play the song. I've revised the lyrics from the version we performed at GAfilk to take out a spoiler for those who haven't yet read the books.

Here are the lyrics, which are basically exchanges between Allison, Jodi, and me, speculating about the next book....

Hey J.K.!

Lyrics by Urban Tapestry

Music by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Dec/2006

CHORUS:
Gm      F
Hey, J.K.!
Bb
Who ya gonna kill
F
Who ya gonna kill, who ya gonna
Gm      F
Hey, J.K.!
Bb            F
Won't you let us have a look
Gm      F
Hey, J.K.!
Bb
Who ya gonna kill
F
Who ya gonna kill, who ya gonna
Gm      F
Hey, J.K.!
Bb                 F            Gm
Who ya gonna kill in your next book?

Gm       F
J: I think Snape's a goner
Eb             F
Always with a scowl and a frown
Gm        F
I think Snape's a goner
Eb                F             G
with nowhere for him to go but down
Gm        F
A: No, no, Snape can't die
Eb
J&D: He's a bad apple
D
A: That's NOT a fact!
Gm         F
No, no, Snape won't die
Eb                 D
J&D: Allison, he wears only black! 

CHORUS

Gm       F         Eb
J: Ok, it has to be a Weasley
Gm
A: No, you're wrong
F            Eb
J: There are so many of them, one of them has to go
Gm                  Eb
A: Ok, it has to be a Weasley
Gm
J&D: Then it's Ron!
Gm           F
A: No, no, Ron can't die
Eb
J&D: But he's a sidekick
D
A: That can't be his end
Gm       F
No, no, Ron won't die
Eb                    D
J&D: Allison, but he's Harry's friend!  

CHORUS

Gm       F
J: I think Hagrid's a goner
Eb            F
Always into trouble, breaking rules
Gm       F
I think Hagrid's a goner
Bb                 F                  (G)
He'll be dead or maybe kicked out of school
Gm           F
A: No, no, Hagrid can't die
Eb
J&D: He'll die for Harry
D
A: He'll never fall
Gm         F
No, no, Hagrid won't die
Eb                  D
J&D: Allison, he's just way too tall!  

BRIDGE:

Gm        F                 Eb
J: Oh, J.K. Rowling, are the rumors true
Dm
Who will we have to bury
Eb                                F
Weasley, Hagrid, Snape, or Peter Pettigrew?
Gm       F
Oh J.K. Rowling, please just
Eb          F
J&D&A: DON'T KILL HARRY
G                 F        Eb              F
We promise not to come unglued. (Yet...)

CHORUS




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