Morning musings

OK, so maybe Lyle Lovett wasn't the best choice to sew to because he's making me think of Gaius. Who I think about a lot anyway.

Gaius got on an ol'timey music kick when "O Brother Where Art Thou" came out. He bought tons of CDs and even tried to teach himself a little clawhammer banjo. OBWAT was a "house favorite," meaning it was one of those movies we'd stop and watch if it turned up during a channel surf, no matter what, no matter how far along it was. 

Small wonder that I had to watch the final episode of 'Treme' twice before I recognized what was being played during Daymo's second line. 

The Allison Krauss/Gillian Welch version is cheery. THIS "I'll Fly Away" is friggin' jubilant. 

Now, back to those hakama....

CONTEXT EDIT for those unfamiliar with the story - and New Orleans jazz funerals. The band usually plays something dirgelike (e.g., "A Closer Walk With Thee) on the way to the cemetery. On the return, they do a cakewalk as in this scene.  The funeral is for a young man who was picked up by the police for running a light on the day of Hurricane Katrina, got lost in the correctional system in the aftermath of the storm, was convinced or coerced to exchange ID bracelets with another prisoner, died in custody under the wrong name and was missing for months before his family tracked him down. The woman with the razor blade cheek bones is the sister (played by Khandi Alexander) who'd been trying to find him for five months, the sandy haired blonde lady in line behind her is her lawyer (Melissa Leo), whose husband committed suicide mere days before this funeral.

I cannot say enough how powerful this series is. If you don't get HBO, look for it as a DVD rental in a few months.

In case anyone cares

http://inthewest.org/wiki/Jehanne_de_Wodeford

http://inthewest.org/wiki/Saionji_no_Hanae

http://inthewest.org/wiki/The_House_of_Cheerful_Monkeys

I've got nothing to write about Jehanne right now, seeing as "Jehanne" hasn't done anything of note in a very long time. I do like the photo moriven  took a couple Estrellas back, so I hope he doesn't mind that I used it - with credit, of course. And one of didjiman 's for Saionji, You guys can shoot me any time you like.

Put more time in on JAF's commission is coming along. I need to score some cardboard to slip inside things before I do the paint-work, because I don't need anything bleeding through, thank you.  Both hitatare are done except for slitting holes for the sodetsuyu (sleeve laces), the hakama re done except for pleating and sewing on the waist ties because I need to paint them while they're un-pleated. Oh, and sewing on the munahimo (front tie cords on the hitatare)  and kotsuyu (figure-8 seam reinforcement doodads). Here's a pic for anyone who's wondering what I'm nattering about, from a place that sells reproduction clothing in Japan. See those big white stitches along the center back seam? There's another figure-8 knot on the back of the garment. Little details, but they add to the look.