Trudy the Tetrahymena has Left the Building
Wayyyyy back when (have you noticed I say this a lot) I conceived and started to implement a genius idea.
I was going to knit a Tetrahymena for my BFF's husband Chad.
The prototype was completed before the holidays. And then this big alien ship came down and possessed my body. Unfortunately this alien didn't know how to knit, but man did it ever know how to eat! Whew. It just ate and ate and ate...
Okay - so the alien did not come down and I did find appropriate yarns (Brown Sheep and some eyelashy crappy crap) for the job and I knit and knit and knit. I finished the project right around my Birthday and felted the sucker for good measure. Unfortunately I did not take any before pictures.
Picture me this: a deflated astro-turfy covered pear shaped foot ball sized sack.
Here she is all stuff up and ready to be sent.
Robby made a name tags for her. There would be nothing more embarrassing than Chad not being able to recognize the organism on which he expends the majority of his creative and scientific energy. I was worried the astro-turfy look would throw him off (note to self: choose another color next time.)
Chad seems to think Trudy the Tetrahymena sounds like a porn name. Hmm, what kind of porn is Chad watching? Juli you should keep a better eye on yer fella. ;)
The name was actually inspired by this character:
Truly Scrumptious in Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang (alright. so we have a long running argument in our house. I happen to think that Charlie and the Chocolate factory (the old one) is an incredibly scary horrible scary horrible movie. Rob laughs. However, he claims that Chitty-Chitty is a terrifying movie not suited for children.** We have serious debates here. Weigh in with your opinion. Your voice will be heard!)
We had just watched Truly sweeten her way into the hearts of Dick Van Dyke when we were faced with the naming task. Trudy fell right off of our lips and onto the tetrahymena.
Chad received his gift this week. Upon receipt he sent and email off to me. Get this - there is another knitted tetrahymena out there!!!
Chad sayzzz:
"The crazy thing is that this isn’t the only knitted Tetrahymena in the world. Two weeks ago I was at this meeting and this guy had one made for him….crazy huh? He has been traveling all around the world with it, taking pictures of it on mountain, tall buildings etc. Tetrahymena people are a little crazy."
Eh, big deal. Knitter's who knit them are crazier!
**ETA: For clarification, our debate is actually about which was/is scarier to us. Rob used to have nightmares about the child-stealer in CCBB. I have always thought Charlie and the CF was wayyy scarier. Neither of us has ever considered the appropriateness.
I was going to knit a Tetrahymena for my BFF's husband Chad.
The prototype was completed before the holidays. And then this big alien ship came down and possessed my body. Unfortunately this alien didn't know how to knit, but man did it ever know how to eat! Whew. It just ate and ate and ate...
Okay - so the alien did not come down and I did find appropriate yarns (Brown Sheep and some eyelashy crappy crap) for the job and I knit and knit and knit. I finished the project right around my Birthday and felted the sucker for good measure. Unfortunately I did not take any before pictures.
Picture me this: a deflated astro-turfy covered pear shaped foot ball sized sack.
Here she is all stuff up and ready to be sent.
Robby made a name tags for her. There would be nothing more embarrassing than Chad not being able to recognize the organism on which he expends the majority of his creative and scientific energy. I was worried the astro-turfy look would throw him off (note to self: choose another color next time.)
Chad seems to think Trudy the Tetrahymena sounds like a porn name. Hmm, what kind of porn is Chad watching? Juli you should keep a better eye on yer fella. ;)
The name was actually inspired by this character:
Truly Scrumptious in Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang (alright. so we have a long running argument in our house. I happen to think that Charlie and the Chocolate factory (the old one) is an incredibly scary horrible scary horrible movie. Rob laughs. However, he claims that Chitty-Chitty is a terrifying movie not suited for children.** We have serious debates here. Weigh in with your opinion. Your voice will be heard!)
We had just watched Truly sweeten her way into the hearts of Dick Van Dyke when we were faced with the naming task. Trudy fell right off of our lips and onto the tetrahymena.
Chad received his gift this week. Upon receipt he sent and email off to me. Get this - there is another knitted tetrahymena out there!!!
Chad sayzzz:
"The crazy thing is that this isn’t the only knitted Tetrahymena in the world. Two weeks ago I was at this meeting and this guy had one made for him….crazy huh? He has been traveling all around the world with it, taking pictures of it on mountain, tall buildings etc. Tetrahymena people are a little crazy."
Eh, big deal. Knitter's who knit them are crazier!
**ETA: For clarification, our debate is actually about which was/is scarier to us. Rob used to have nightmares about the child-stealer in CCBB. I have always thought Charlie and the CF was wayyy scarier. Neither of us has ever considered the appropriateness.
posted by Bookish Wendy at 5/17/2006
15 Comments:
m'kay, I'm gonna hafta look up that tetrawhachamathingy, coz I have no idea what it is. or was. or is supposed to be.
But, for the record, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has been one of my 5 year old son's absolute favourite films since we got it a year and a bit ago. He's never seemed bothered by it. Me, I'm a leetle concerned I'll try to get up from the dinner table one day and find my ankles tied together...
Well there may be another knitted tetrahymena out there, but it's not named Trudy. For sure.
My very very skittish six year old has watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and not declared it (as he did the book of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) "not right for children." And I just love to sing along with Truly
What do you see?
You people looking at me?
and so on. Two points to CCBB I think.
And it does kinda sound like a porn name.
Both of my kids have seen both of these- I would say that they're crazier about CCF, but Junior Pink also super super loves Return to Oz, which I think trumps both of the others. I don't really find either of them disturbing (although I've heard that CCBB is very different in book form). Which maybe makes me unfit to be a parent.
Is it unfit because of the whole child stealing thing? Or because the kids just run around willy-nilly? Or the land of Vulgaria in general?
That Ian Fleming does make up some fucked up names, though.
Well, I will totally date myself by telling you that I saw CCBB as a child in the movie theatre....on its first run. It was the first movie I ever saw in the theatre and as such it holds a place near and dear to my heart. But the child catcher is one scary dude for kids.
CCF came out when I was in grade school. We have CCF (Wilder version) on dvd, but looking back on it from an adult perspective, I would have to agree that it is not a child's movie. I think the plot is just over a kid's head and can be quite scary. I don't imagine that the Depp version is any better.
trudy is a thing of beauty. screw the other guys tetrahymena.
as for the ccbb vs. ccf debacle. i don't remember being frightened by ccbb but i was freaked out by ccf. but i was horrified by the flying monkeys in the wizard of oz and the bumble in rudolph. i was a sensitive child. clearly
you win this argument hands down. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is WAY scarier. Way.
Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang is about as scary as The Apple Dumpling Gang, yo.
Charlie and the Chocolate factory is terrifying. It gaver me nightmares for WEEKS when I was a kid!
i'm not sure i've seen CCBB. But I LOVE charlie and the choc. factory. I mean, that room of all edible things? MMM. and I really loved it when Veruca was deemed a 'bad egg.'
the tetrahymenathingamajigger is fab. I'm sure BFF's DH loves it and is displaying it proudly on his lab bench.
I watched CCBB when I was a kid and don't remember being scared by it. CCF I saw as an adult and it was pretty eerie, though I loved it. So unless I've blocked out CCBB nightmares and trauma, CCF gets my vote.
Dating myself as well, I was a child for CCBB and LOVED it. I never got scared from it or WW&CF (I am of the Willy Wonka age) and my all time very most favorite movie is Wizard of Oz (seen at age 3) However.....my son had the bejeezus scared out of him (scared for life if you ask him) by The Great Mouse Detective. What???? Clearly it is a personal thing.
Cool tetra... :)
Um, I don't remember thinking that either was scary...
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is terrifying and I am not just talking about Gene Wilder's hair either. This is some tone or quality about his Willy Wonka that makes him seem like there is evil lurking just under the surface.
Also, I maintain that Veruca Salt wasn't a bad egg as much as she was misunderstood.
As a kid I was terrified of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory because I thought Willy Wonka murdered all the "bad" kids by drowning them in Chocolate rivers and such. I had serious issues with that movie. :)
The Neverending Story was another one that scared me, though now I don't remember why.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory didn't freak me out as a kids, but when I saw it again in college I realized what a crazy, odd, surreal movie it is! I think the thing that disturbs me most about it is that all of the grandparents share a bed together!! FREAKY!
You're truly, truly scrumptious. Scrumptious as a cherry peach parfait...how fun to see references to random 1960s wannabe Mary Poppins musicals! And with knitting! Woo hoo! This site is a whole lot of fun. :)
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