Kickstart: Teen Wolf

Yes, you read that right, today I’m talking about MTV’s show Teen Wolf. I know. I know! At first I was like “What? A TV show based on that old ’80s movie?”

Think about this—about 10 years ago, I had a similar thought. “What? A movie based on a Disney theme park ride?” And then there was the magnificence of Pirates of the Caribbean. So, you know, these things can work out.

And they most certainly do work out in Teen Wolf. A friend of mine compared it to Buffy the Vampire Slayer in terms of a TV show exceeding the original movie, and I think that’s an apt comparison. Teen Wolf the show is darker in tone and broader in scope than the Michael J Fox movie, if you’ve ever seen that, and it’s really incredibly well-written. If you have Netflix, you can stream both the first and second seasons (twenty-four episodes in total). Give it at least through episode four—the first three are good, and Stiles is worth watching on his own, but the fourth episode is where it really took off for me.

And I can say that the episodes are perfect background noise for knitting time. I owe much of my Stonecutter’s Cardigan to Teen Wolf.

Kickstart: Mynabirds, Contest Winner, STEEKING, etc.

I re-discovered this song this weekend and am going to spend most of this morning listening to it on repeat.

Still waiting to hear from Suzanne, who won the Ghosts eBook and skein of Madelinetosh in the giveaway! If I don’t hear from her by the end of the day today, I’ll draw a new winner. (Note to self, make sure to ask for email addresses in future giveaways.)

I accomplished quite a bit over the weekend, including blocking a pair of socks, knitting a hat (in about three hours, no less), and cutting my very first steek! So much to blog about over the next couple of weeks.

And finally, November is typically reserved for NaBloPoMo, and once again I plan on participating. I thought it might be fun to have a Q&A feature, so I need your questions! They can be about anything—knitting, photography, cheese (though I will say I know more about knitting and photography than cheese)—whatever you want to ask, whether it’s completely impersonal (like “cake or pie?”) or personal, go ahead and ask, either as a comment on the blog, on the Facebook wall, via email (threadpanda + gmail). I do reserve the right to not answer questions for whatever reason, but I’m pretty open and willing to answer questions, so please, ask away!

Kickstart: Walk the Moon and Alphas

I’ve been lax about my Kickstarter posts recently, as there hasn’t been a whole lot that I really wanted to share (aside from knitted FOs!) but this week I have two things I want to encourage you to give a chance.

The first is the band Walk the Moon, and their self-titled debut album. It’s fun and upbeat and puts a smile on my face every time I listen to it (which is… often).

The rest of the album is just as much fun and you can stream it free on Spotify (or wherever you like to stream music, most likely).

The other is the TV show Alphas, which I know I’ve mentioned here before. It’s a “SyFy” show (sorry, it’s still SciFi to me) and airs Monday nights early in the TV season (season 2 stated at the end of July). Created by Michael Karnow and Zak Penn (who shares a story credit for Avengers with Joss Whedon), Alphas is a mash-up of the kinds of superheroes seen in Heroes and X-Men, without the former’s melodrama (I didn’t watch much of Heroes so take that with a grain of salt) and X-Men‘s over-the-top-ness (I love the movies, all of them, even Last Stand, but you know what I mean). David Straithairn is the “neuronormal” ringleader of a secret government group made up of Alphas—human beings with special abilities, such as mind control, hyperactive senses (Rachel is her own magnifying scope), and more. It’s really well-written, the regular cast actors are amazing, and they have awesome special guest stars such as Summer Glau (who I think is in tonight’s episode as well) and Callum Keith Rennie.

You can watch season 1 streaming on Netflix, and season 2 is available at Syfy.com for free, or on Hulu (though it looks like Hulu is a couple episodes behind).

Kickstart: Electro Swing

Recently I’ve discovered a genre of music called “electro swing” and it’s so fun and bouncy and really keeps me feeling peppy. It’s a fusion of old-time swing melodies over more contemporary electric rhythms. One of my favorite artists in the genre is Parov Stellar, and this is “Chambermaid Swing.”

Zarif’s “Box of Secrets” is a little less electronic but it is still super fun and groovy and makes a panda want to dance.

Happy Monday everyone!

Kickstart: Shakespeare

I have to admit, I’ve not felt very inspired of late. But a couple of friends and I went to see Twelfth Night on Saturday, and that’s the third play I’ve seen this year, in addition to Othello and Richard III. I’d never seen nor read any of those plays, so each time was a delightful descent into something new and charming (well, and tragic in two of the three cases, but you know what I mean).

I find Shakespeare to be generally quite inspiring, and since I don’t think I have to worry about any uncles murdering me for a crown, I guess things aren’t quite so bad for me, after all.