We journeyed through the Impassible Wilderness on Friday and returned alive! Actually, the only threat was that we might enjoy ourselves, and "Wildwood" exceeded all our expectations!
We decided to watch it at McMenamins Old St. Francis School Theater, for a different venue. The seats were almost all taken when we arrived.
We were able to see well from the seats we found, though. We got a selfie, so we could document that we had been there, in case we didn't return home.
I have to admit to having been blown away by the film. The series of trailers put out by LAIKA had prepared us for the experience, but seeing it on the big screen and with all the scenes in sequence was almost overwhelming. The puppets used are easily distinguishable from real people, but by a few seconds into the film I forgot to be overwhelmed by the complexities of stop-motion film making and became immersed in the story. I laughed. I cried (there are some sad moments). I was frightened out of my wits at times (there is violence). It was only after the film was over that I really thought about––and was amazed by––what it must have taken to manage the complexities of "filming" a stop-motion cinematic masterpiece like this. I know how they did it, because there are YouTube videos (like this one) that explain how they made the puppets, how they give them different facial expressions, and how they managed to make them appear to move, but knowing this only made me more amazed. The facial expressions gave each character a personality of their own. The scenes that included multitudes of characters flowed with the turbulence typical of real situations where each "person" moves independently.
After it was over, I also started wondering what part Peter and the other visual effects technicians played. Nothing appeared to be computer-animated. I thought about this as we watched screen after screen of the visual effects credits. They went by so fast, I had to resort to taking photos of each one, hoping to find Peter's name somewhere. I went through the screens after we left the theater and found this one. Can you find Peter Stuart?
Here I zoomed in on it, if you can't read it.
Charlie stopped in the restroom as we were leaving on our way through the lobby. While I waited for him, a couple with a young man I assumed to be their son came out of the theater. I had seen them there and noticed them, because I recognized that the young man had Down Syndrome. We started chatting about the film, and I happened to (ahem) mention my connection to the film and was able to answer some of their questions about LAIKA. I showed them the photo of the screen where I had found Peter's name. The man wrote it down, and then they asked if they could take our photo with their son. Charlie had come out of the restroom by then. We posed for the photo. We all shook hands with each other and then left.
Saturday I mentioned the film on Spoutible and BlueSky. Someone on Spoutible said they really had to see the film now, because it's "Spoutible-adjacent." Last night that person told me they had seen the film, it was amazing, and they had applauded Peter. They also said others had stayed for the credits and applauded at other parts of the credits, so they suspected they likewise had a connection to the film.
Peter and his family went to see the film the same day we did (the first day it came out). Alexa wore her new sweater, made (presumably) just for the occasion, because crows play a rather important role in the film. The pattern is Ravenswood by Catherine Waterfield.
The boys went along to see the film. I wouldn't recommend taking very young children to this one. It's rated for age 11 and up. A baby would probably sleep through it, though.
I did get a little knitting in this past week and finished a few rounds. This photo was taken from the center back of the sweater, which is the beginning of the round, because that's where I left off when I took the photo. I really need a longer needle now. The stitches keep wanting to fall off the needle tips unless I extend them out of my work a lot when I put my knitting down.
My book comes out officially on Tuesday. Tomorrow! 😅 I hope it sells well, but I still have a lot of work to do to try to promote it, like adding it to lists on Goodreads. If you get a copy, please leave an honest review wherever you bought it or on Amazon. Many people resort to reviews when choosing books.
Speaking of reviews of sorts, I was browsing through the doll groups on Facebook, as I often do, and I came across a mention of a person sending a doll in to the doll hospital, so I mentioned that Emil and Holly enter the stories by way of the doll hospital; Emil because he couldn't see or hear, and Holly because she couldn't use her legs. Both were helped at the doll hospital by receiving a piece of special equipment: Emil's special glasses and Holly's wheelchair. I mentioned the fact that the two of them are pen pals, because Holly lives with a family far away from us. I got a rather exciting reply from the original poster.
Yes, I'm referred to in the stories as "The Writer." We never know where the ripples will end up when we throw a pebble into the water. We don't always hear about someone whose lives we have touched by some action we take, whether good or bad. When we do find out, it can be memorable.
So tomorrow the new book will begin being shipped to buyers. If you want to help the book, please look online and see if you can find it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Thriftbooks, Walmart or your local book store. If you want to read it but don't care to own it, you might ask your local library to get it for you. It's suitable for children, even very young ones because of all the pictures (photographs of the dolls in action) and can grow with the child, even providing topics of discussion with others as the reader grows older. My books also are appreciated by doll collectors, who secretly perhaps like to imagine their little charges coming to life and having adventures.
As if all that were not enough to keep me busy, it's election season. Election Day is next Tuesday! We have the usual signs in our newly redesigned front yard.
We filled out our ballots Monday and Tuesday (there were a lot of things to research and discuss) and I dropped them off at the drop box near the library. There was no line, but there was a steady stream of cars driving up to the box, stopping for a voter to deposit their ballot, and then moving on. I got out and took a selfie. Our ballots: more ripples in the water. We will find out who wins each of the races we voted on, but where will our impact go from there? Future generations will be affected by what we do and how we vote.
Saturday we went to the symphony. A violinist named John Fawcett played the solo violin part in the Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 26, by Max Bruch. He was amazing.
He received a standing ovation that went on for some time and consented to come back and do an encore. The encore blew us away. It seemed improvisational, striking chords of Dixieland jazz and Bluegrass. Somewhere in the middle, he worked in Amazing Grace, which I took to be a tribute to those killed at our Silver Rail Elementary School on October 15th.
Here's the program.
Fawcett discovered the violin as a toddler at a Bluegrass performance. Imagine if someone had taken it away from him and told him not to play with it! He might never have learned to play the violin. He started lessons at the age of five. Now he performs all over the country and teaches others to play. (Ripples again.)
On Sunday, we had the children with us during the church service, so the music was aimed at the young ones. Most of them had come in costume, and some of the adults were wearing costumes, too.
I had bought a transcribing app from the Apple App Store a few days before, so I could read the sermon as it was spoken, like closed captions on Television and in videos. However, I found out when I tried to use it that you have to have internet for it to work. I had turned off my internet, as I always do, because it interferes with the streaming transmission for the people at home. I'm going to have to return the app and try to find another one, one that doesn't require internet to function.
After church, we had our bell-choir rehearsal. I'm still struggling, but I think it's getting better. I will practice this week. It seems impossible, but hard work often makes the impossible possible, and sometimes things that are the most challenging turn out the best.
I have a lot of difficulty responding to comments to my blog posts because of technical issues beyond my control (my lack of understanding of how things work). Message me on Facebook, Ravelry, BlueSky or Spoutible if you need information.
What's in The Doll's Storybook: In this week's story from The Doll's Storybook, we find Mariah interviewing Emil about what it was like to start out with a disability and Billy perhaps finds a future vocation in All About the News.
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