The KnitKnit Launch

It's been a week now and I'm just coming down from my trip to New York from the launch of Sabrina Gschwandtner's book, KnitKnit: Profiles and Project's from Knitting's New Wave. More commentary is coming but enjoy the photos of contributor Jim Drain's work in the meantime.

Communist Kitsch

In Milan Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being the character of Sabina, an Czech artist who emmigrates to Switzerland following the Prague Spring is celebrated for defying socialisim. Yet Sabina claims that her "enemy [as an artist] isn't communism, it's kitsch." After a week in Cuba I see what she means by kitsch--in particular communist kitsch. The public murals of Jose Marti, Che, Fidel and Raul really became overbearing after a while. (Not unlike the Chinese propaganda poster art of my Beijing excursion in the 1980s)

The ST however, discovered after a 10 hour walk through Habana

that there is real art to be found and it's everywhere!

"Kitsch? I thought you said 'cat.'"

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

To be real I didn't have one. Life sucked the summer of 2007. We did get away to Cuba, where no one ever goes in August and had a blast--except that I absolutely hated resort life in Varedero. I can't believe that there are people in the world who pay thousands of dollars to sit on a beach, drink rum and do nothing. After the first day I'd had enough. Fortunately Habana was two hours away. I've now been back 2 weeks and worked the last 10 days straight. But I'm not resentful or anything.

I knew something was wrong when I got to the resort and found towel art

Luckily there was rum...

and little tiny sea creatures for the IGT to play with

but it wasn't enough and we went looking for something more fun

"This is fun!"

In the U.S. "It's Pimp My Ride" But In Cuba It's Fix My Lada

The RAWD-D Mobile

After weeks and weeks of trying to knit a new door the Uber Volvo out of hideous acrylic yarn I finally threw in the towel. I didn't have the right gauge or a metal frame plus Blog Mistress Kat pointed out that the door would not be fire proof nor conform to Ministry of Transport Regs.

The B & C in the meantime, started watching that MTV reality series "Pimp My Ride" and got inspired.

Six weeks later I came home to a "tarted up" Volvo. Sure it still big, boxy and boring but it has a whole new sound system, tower brace, tinted windows, lowering springs, GPS, brushed steel trim and an air intake system that makes it go vroom, vroom even at low speeds. Apparently new rims with mag wheels are on the way. The B & C whose first name is Roddy, even (briefly) considered ordering vanity plates that say RAWD-D (the ST's idea). I hope this isn't the start of a midlife crisis or something. Maybe I should knit a red lace garter or pair of fuzzy dice to go on the rear window mirror or something.

Shortly after this transformation we went to Cuba where we got to watch a whole new reality series called "Fix My Lada" it's playing all over the country. On city streets, country roads and highways Ladas of every shape size and colour are being fixed. Some Cubans can even be spotted cannibalizing parts from their car to put into a comrade's as they putt -putt along.

The Communist Youth League in Habana has a whole fleet of Ladas in really loud psychedelic from the 1970s some with bumper stickers that read "The fast and the furious." (My long held belief that the leftists are without irony is now shattered.)


I don't know what this is but it is NOT a fixed Lada, it's likely some American Monstrosity from the 195os