12 Days of Hell: Day Five: How Could Hell Be Any Work?

Wholly S-H-I-T! It was a busy day. I got almost no sleep and stitched the entire time I was not soothing a congested toddler who can't sleep.

The best news is that I finished page 9 of 9! The bad news is I was reading ahead. I still have a few more pages to do. I think that when I finished the usual column I was working on on page 9 the remainder of it looked like it could go by pretty fast and it did. 13 hours fast.

I think this is where things are going to start getting interesting! Actually things may have already reached maximum interest. This is where things will continue to be mediocre!

12 Days of Hell: Day Four

After blocking out that little section I would say I have made some pretty good headway!

I have been listening to the album this morning (as well as the latest, Dissent of Man) and I am pumped to stitch today.

I have also come up with an idea for a smaller version of this for folks who may not want to spend all year stitching it. Of course I will have to stitch it again to show you so you still may not see it for another year anyway (I keep ALL the good shit behind the counter)!

I would love to sit and keep telling you about it but this thing is not going to stitch itself. I tried. I left it in a drawer for, like, three months and I think it actually took a block of stitches out as it counted the days! It also shanked my pincushion.

12 Days of Hell: Day Three

...and we're back. Yes, I know it's Sunday but I already lost two days this week (it's not like it was MY birthday).

So with the holiday schedule there has not been a lot of time to stitch but I wanted to start getting a sense that I am getting closer to the end then I am currently feeling. Instead of the usual 10x10 grid I usually work in, the first section is 16 stitches across. This is just because of where the chart ended on the page.

With the little time I have had I went ahead and did the shorter 4-stitch-across section from the next page (completing the 10 started by the 6 stitches on the last page). I also took it all the way down to the project bottom (yet another new page) and I think I will complete the entire boxed portion before going back and doing the bottom to the previous pages!

Anyway I gotta get going. I have a tea party to be at!

12 Days of Hell: Day Two

12 Days: Day Two
Originally uploaded by whateverjames

I posted on the Facebook Fan Page that it has been crazy busy and that I probably would not have a whole lot done for today's entry. As you can see: I keep my promises, bitches!

The good news is that I am stitching while loading pics and typing this out. It's a little thing called multi-tasking and as you can see i am greet at i t@@@

Ok, ok. No more one-hand typing. At least I didn't screw up my stitching...awww, shit. See you tomorrow.

12 Days of Hell: Day One

12 Days: Day One
Originally uploaded by whateverjames

Well after one day of stitching here is where I am at! I have been listening to a lot of the album the last 24 hours. I know that may be a little silly but I needed the inspiration to start this push.

I am coming up on a very dense section. Not really since the band's name have I done so much black in one area with little or no breakage. Sigh. Now we will find out if working down in 10-stitch rows will pay off...

12 Days of Hell: Day Zero, The Begining of The End

12 Days of Hell: Day Zero
Originally uploaded by whateverjames

Ok, I am crazy obsessed with finishing this piece by the end of the year. I have been working on it the better part of forever and I wanted to finish it this year as it is the 30th Anniversary of Bad Religion. I already missed any possibility of taking it to one of the shows in or around California in the hopes of getting it signed but what's a guy to do?

But as I said, I am obsessing. Between Xmas, relatives, health, employment, etc it has been really hard the last week or so. That is why I am making a big push to finish this piece. So every day for the next 12 days I will be posting updates. This first picture is actually where I am starting this 12-Day business at in the project. Aside from the obvious section on the right, there is 25 more rows to go down across the whole thing (I'm making this look hard, right)?

I know the math is a little off but I don't actually know if I will finish before the end of the year...I just really hope I can, at the very least, get really close and have a lot of fun over the next 12 days. Stay tuned...or at least stay tuna.

But Can You Stitch To It?: Jonathan Coulton - Live in 2006

Due to a mixture of Red Bull and Vodka, I'm here growing up in a musical home and being a fan of Punk music I have always had a preference for live albums. I know they are not as great as going out to see a live band but unless you are offering to babysit and convince Windy that it would be better then dinner and a movie, shut your face! There have been a lot of great ones released by the record companies such as 7 Seconds and most of the Live In A Dive series. But my favorites are the bootlegs. No longer purchased from someone's trunk, there are a surprising number of good quality recordings available for free and some are even, at least sorta, semi-legal (my attorneys remind me to remind you to research the laws for music download and file sharing in your area...then disregard them Boo-Ya)!

I love a good singer-songwriter, too. Clever, simple songs are my favorite. And if they include zombies, robots, monkeys and even ninjas when things get personal, well all the better. So I don't know if this is some kind of time travel back to the Temple Bar in Santa Monica, 2006 or an incredible artifact from a simpler time. Either way, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage Jonathan Colton!

 I found a series of videos on YouTube of this performance and as I was getting ready to start ripping the audio it dawned on me that someone else probably already has and not surprisingly, I was right! The video was originally by Gle3nn and mp3 versions worked by spiffworld. The video and the audio are both very good and the set list is like a Greatest Hits record. Yeah, the kind that still somehow misses your favorite song you knew was gonna be there.

1. The Future Soon
2. Skullcrusher Mountain
3. First of May
4. Shop Vac
5. I Feel Fantastic
6. Baby Got Back
7. Creepy Doll
8. Big Bad World One
9. I Crush Everything
10. Code Monkey
11. You Ruined Everything
12. Tom Cruise Crazy
13. Re: Your Brains

It's a pretty awesome set with just enough banter and just the right pace. I have been stitching to it almost religiously since I got it and I have to say it really is a great listen. There are a couple other complete shows of JoCo available but this one is just the right length. Just like me. You didn't think I would just let that go, did you?

My personal favorites are "Big Bad World One" which has inspired a new sampler and "You Ruined Everything". Despite what the guy in the crowd would have you believe, it's a touching song NOT about ninjas. I honestly pictured Kadie and I dancing at her wedding to this song. If she grows up "getting" me enough that we would actually dance to Jonathan Coulton at her wedding, I can assure you, I will die a happy man. Now go download it and stitch something awesome before it's too late. After all, it's gonna be the future soon.