Henry Rollins | Little Miss Drama Pants

February 28, 2010
by lilMDP 9 Comments

Henry Rollins Remembered Me!

OK. I did not take Henry anything knitted this time around. But I DID knit in the dark for a little while on the hat I’ve been working on. I guess kind of in homage to knitting him stuff? I don’t know. I just wanted to knit the hat.

ANYWAY.

Henry Rollins is always uber entertaining to watch and hear and this show was no exception. It was in a smaller venue than the last time he came through, so the atmosphere was much more intimate. Which was nice.

OK. Just a little side tangent about how fucking awesome my new camera is. The venue we were in had a main floor right in front of the stage, a slightly elevated area (about 3 steps up) surrounding the main floor and and upstairs. We were sitting upstairs and I took these pictures using the optical zoom and NO FLASH. And they turned out pretty damn good, all things considered. [/END CAMERA LOVE TANGENT]

I know Henry Rollins was in a couple of bands and his music was a HUGE influence on my husband through his teenage years. And I know he had a TV show for awhile interviewing people. But I only know him for his spoken word. And I find him highly entertaining and we see eye to eye about a lot of stuff. And I like that. But he totally won me over when he told me (well, all of us) he visited Riyadh, Saudi Arabia because that is a hop, skip and a jump from my home town of Jeddah.

After the show ended, we once again stood in line in the freezing cold to see him and I went with my camera and an 8×10 glossy of the picture I took of him eating the voodoo doll I made him the last time he came through. And you know what? Not only did he sign it, but he told me that they kept the voodoo doll on the bus forever and that his driver kept it above his head. HOW FUCKING COOL IS THAT?!?!?!!

So I think this means we’re best friends now. Well, at least it means he kind of remembered me. And I will totally take that. I even got up enough nerve to tell him how great I thought it was that he went to Riyadh because I grew up in Jeddah. We talked about Saudi for a little while, I suggested a book to him that I thought he might like to read and then got a shot of Henry and B. And dude, as cool as the guy is, he’s still scary.

See?

B is a HUGE fan and even HE’s a little scared of Henry.

February 24, 2010
by lilMDP 5 Comments

Henry’s Coming!

And last time Henry Rollins was in town I made him his very own voodoo doll. Of himself. But I kind of forgot he was coming this time around and, well, I haven’t knit him anything. Yet. And I’ve only got…what is today? Wednesday? I’ve got essentially 3 (if I stretch it) days to come up with something AND knit it. I’m a little tempted to knit him a cupcake, but B isn’t too keen on that as Henry is his rock star idol. So maybe I should just go with something kind of safe. Like a hat? Because really. How do you top a voodoo doll?

And I did say last time that I might just print out the picture of him eating his voodoo doll and see if he will sign it. I think I will definitely do that. Because, you know, if he does remember me, I want to make sure it’s as that kinda asiany crazy knitter chick from Alabama.

February 20, 2008
by lilMDP 19 Comments

At Least He Didn’t Call Security

I managed to finish HRD on the way to the show. I was filling in his hair with?the Sharpie in the car. B actually did the face and tattoos for me so I could change real quickly before we headed out. Nothing like waiting to the last minute to really get your adrenaline pumping.

The show was awesome, he entertained us for 3 solid hours and it was all fantastic. I completely understand why he has the fan base he does. He’s good at what he does. But you guys didn’t come here to read about that. You want to know what happened after the show.

Well, after the show we headed back to the car (I’M GETTING THERE, DON’T RUSH ME) so B could grab his stack of vinyl and the book he wanted to ask Henry to sign. Because he had so much stuff, we hung back and waited until the crowd had really thinned out before approaching him. I was glad for this because 1) I was nervous as hell and had butterflies in my stomach and 2) HE STILL TERRIFIES ME and 3) I WAS FREAKING OUT BECAUSE HE TERRIFIES ME.

Ahem.

We finally get our turn and B asks very politely if Henry wouldn’t mind signing all his stuff and he would understand if he didn’t want to and Henry was really cool about it and signed everything. I think it was something like 6 records and a book. There might have been more records than that. Maybe eight. Yes, I know I’m dithering over unimportant details. Anyway, this is the part where he turns to me and I am PRAYING that I don’t pee myself.

Me: Um, I don’t have anything for you to sign. I just have something to give you.? [Hand him the doll.]

Him: [Taking the doll.] A voodoo doll?

Me: No? [Totally dying on the inside, yet somewhat relieved that he recognizes that it's a doll of himself.]

Him: [Rolling his eyes which totally equals: YOU ARE A FREAK!] I’ll be sure to sleep with it every night. (At this point he’s stuffing HRD in his pocket and turning away.)

Me: Wait! I need a picture.

Him: With the doll?

Me: Yeah.

Him:

And I didn’t pee myself, so win-win! I’m printing this picture and framing it. Maybe if we go see him again, I’ll get him to sign it.

February 19, 2008
by lilMDP 9 Comments

Potential Fail

You know how best laid plans usually go awry? Well, that’s what happened to me this weekend. Instead of working on HRD all weekend like I had planned, I ended up spending the entire weekend moaning in bed. And no, not the winkwinknudgenudge kind of moaning either. More like, putmeoutofmymiseryplease moaning.

I went home Friday night feeling like my lungs were on fire. I figured that couldn’t be good. You know what? It wasn’t. It was awful. Saturday morning I had B take me to the doc in a box down the road from us. Turns out I didn’t have the flu, just all the symptoms that go with the flu.?According to her I had an upper respiratory virus, but not the?flu.?The doctor’s advice? Treat my symptoms, lay low, drink lots of fluid.

I did just that. What other options did I have?

Oh sure, I thought about HRD. But let’s face it, when blinking is a monumental task, the thought of knitting is laughable. And the insane kind of laughing at that.

Yesterday my fever finally broke and I managed to knit a little bit on HRD. This is how far I’ve gotten on him.

Freaky Headed, Popeye-Arms and Legless?HRD

And I never did block his legs. This is not the end of the world, but it?will make seaming them a little more?difficult. Still,? I can potentially finish HRD before I give him to Henry. Theoretically, I can work on him throughout the show if need be, but I also have 3 hours prior to the show to finish him.

Also? I am so cheating on HRD’s face, hair and tattoos. I don’t have time to sew all that shit on with embroidery floss, so I’m going with the next best thing. A Sharpie. B and I came up with that idea and I happen to think it’s a damn fine one.

I simply cannot believe anything other than HRD being done in time to give him to Henry after the show. Believing anything else is potential to fail, and I cannot fail at this. Cannot. Because then I would never be able to live down the shame of not following through on my word… and that is far more embarrassing to me than handing Henry his doppelganger. At least, right now it is.

January 14, 2008
by lilMDP 4 Comments

Knitter Beware

I worked on HRD (Henry Rollins Doppelganger) quite a bit Friday and Saturday and discovered something rather unpleasant. The pattern? It’s a little bit on the vague side. Like if you read the pattern for the arms, HRD either has really short arms or if you follow the pattern for Joey Ramone’s arms, then HRD has orangutan arms, which is equally unattractive. Also, the raglan decreases weren’t matching up at all.

Never fear! I am not afraid to tweak a pattern and so I have found a good compromise for the arms. I have a feeling I might have to do it for the legs too.

I really wonder what happened with the pattern. It’s like someone had a complete brain fart and just left some crucial parts out. There’s no errata sheet either. I googled every possible combination I could think of to find one. What I did find? Several other knitters who made the doll who ran into the exact same problem.

My solution for HRD’s arms:

CO 10 in flesh color yarn
knit 2 rows of St st
3rd row (RS) inc 1 st on each end of row (2 stitches added)
4th row p to end of row
5th row inc 1 on each end of row (2 stitches added)
6th row p to end of row
St st next two rows
9th row (RS) inc 1 on each end of row (2 stitches added)
repeat rows 6 – 9?two more times
knit 13 rows in St st pattern
switch to shirt colored yarn & knit 2 rows in St st
BO 1 stitch next two rows
repeat next 2 rows 5 x: (RS) k 1, psso, k to last 3 stitches, k2tog, k1; (WS) p
BO

This made for an arm that 1) looks to be of?human proportions compared to the torso and 2) matched the raglan decreases on the torso/shirt and 3) made me very happy.

I made the stupid and?predictable mistake of thinking that this would be a quick, fast and easy knit. I’m not sure why I thought that would be the case, because if?it can be done in a manner?that is difficult, can be drawn out for days on end and cause me to scream and cuss and/or possibly spill blood, I’m?going to take THAT road. Screw quick and easy.

Or maybe I’m just?starting to channel Henry.?

January 11, 2008
by lilMDP 11 Comments

In Which I Plan to Embarrass Myself Greatly

Henry Rollins is coming to Birmingham on his Spoken Word Tour?in February. As a matter of fact, we’re his first venue in the US on this tour. (He starts in Europe.) I wonder if it’s because we’ll get his work as much as the?Europeans so it will be an easy transition? “We” as in southerners as in the idiot southern stereotype. Or is it because he’s keeping all the strong dialects of language grouped together? Just curious.

ANYWAY.

B is a HUGE Henry Rollins fan. You might say HR is his hero. Though it’s a toss up between HR and Alton Brown. (We are diverse in our interests.) I have never seen Henry Rollins perform live either in Black Flag or doing spoken word. I’ve watched his show a few times and have always found him a little…scary. He’s really intense and on the show he doesn’t seem very comfortable with himself. For me, watching his show is like watching a small train wreck. It’s not that it’s necessarily a bad show, but it’s so obvious to me that he doesn’t enjoy it like he wants to and so it’s just awkward*.

Anyway, the venue where we’re seeing him do his spoken word is the Carver Theatre. It’s a small venue and will probably be fairly intimate. According to B, he ususally hangs out after his shows to sign stuff and meet and greet if you will.

This is where the part about me embarrassing myself greatly comes in.

I’ve decided that to support B in his hero worship of Rollins, I will do something too. Like make HR his own little knitted mini-me. I’m using the pattern from Stitch ‘n Bitch Nation, but I’m using stash yarns that?are leftover from other projects. The pattern calls for cotton, but I don’t knit with cotton. Henry Rollins’ doppleganger is going to be the softest doll in the world because I’m using alpaca yarn and?a cashmere/merino wool blend yarn. I almost want to keep it for myself. But I’m making this for HR, so HR will be the one who gets it.

However, I get really tongue tied when I’m trying to give someone something, especially when it’s something that I’ve made myself and I’ve never met them. Add the fact that he’s famous and is probably given stuff all the time that he probably likes better than a knitted doll of himself (regardless of how soft it is, because let’s face it: he’s a muggle), and well, we’ve got a really good recipe for embarrassment at the very least and grand disaster if we’re lucky.

I’m also hoping to get him to pose for a picture with the doll. Because that is not creepy at all.

But, I’ve already told the blog and a few other friends and my husband is fully aware of my intentions and does not want to be involved in the exchange in any way,?so I can’t back out. So, for the sake of the blog and my word (but most certainly not my dignity) on February 19, 2008 at the Carver Theatre in Birmingham, AL I will give Henry Rollins a doll that looks like him and ask him to pose for a picture with said doll.

If I’m lucky, this will be as bad as it gets:

Me: Um, hi. I made this for you. It’s your mini-me.

HR: Uh, thanks. I guess you’re a really big fan.

Me: No, not really. I just like to knit.

HR: Blank stare.

Me: Um, so would you mind if I took a picture of you with the doll? I need it for my knitting?blog because I told them I would.

HR: You told who?

Me: My blog. Do you mind?

HR: Blank Stare

Me: *click*

[These are my personal views on watching his show. I know nothing about the man so I am in no way judging his character or anything to that affect. So if you're a HUGE Rollins fan, like my husband, I am not dissing your hero. I'm just stating an observation.]

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