Momosapiens First Round

Here are some pictures of the Momosapiens parodista group in their first round competition in Teatro Verano a week ago.  The light blue, yellow and white are the Uruguayan national colors.  Some of the performance was the same as what they showed us at the Marine House, but they had to do a full, nonstop seventy minutes for the competition.

Twenty Parts Done

I finally finished the part of the kaleidoscope mandala I was working on.  It took a lot longer than usual.  I don't know if it was because it was so much more stitching or if it was because I was busy with Carnaval.  Anyway, twenty squares done and a lot more to go.

Starting the Zigzag

I started the zigs and zags to make the rectangles of the piece this week.  I decided to do this to make sure the counting's correct before I go any farther.

One World One Heart Winners

I drew the winners for my One World One Heart giveaway on Monday morning, Uruguay time.  All have been notified and two of the prizes are already in the mail.  Congratulations to mitz_zee (Wishing Ewe ornament), Susan (birds at the shore print) and craftytokyomomma (bargello ornament).

Thursday's Murgas

Murgas are a capella-ish singing groups that perform during Carnaval.  They consist of between twenty and thirty singers, a leader, two drummers and a cymbalist.  We saw two murga groups perform last Thursday.  This first one - I'm not sure if their costumes were supposed to be borg or homeless people or what.  They sang well, though.

This is a better picture of those costumes.

And this picture and the next are during the same group performing a song about showering in less than four minutes.  Really.

Here's a picture of the second group of Thursday evening.  They were, I believe, the better performers.  They also had a woman singing in there!  I'm not at all sure why the troupe leader is dressed as a Yanomamo, though.  At least it was a body stocking!

Just Peachy

I did peaches this week.  The building has a lot of them.  It looks like next time is starting another green shutter.

Biscornu Stitched

I finished stitching the two biscornu this week!  I'm going to let someone else put them together so I don't mess up on my first time.  Anyway, here are the pictures.

Teatro Verano - Tronar de Tambores

The Teatro Verano is host, during all of Carnaval, to the official performance competitions.  We went to see some on Thursday and again last night.  All these pictures are from Thursday, and there are four acts. 

First group up was a lubolos group.  That meant drums and a full hour on stage.

Here's a good-ish picture of the drummers behind the central figure of the story.  If the constumes look familiar, this group marched in the parade I did pictures of last week.

Political correctness hasn't found its way to Uruguay's Carnaval.  All through the parade and in some of the performances we saw these Mammy and Pappy couples dancing.  They just seem to mill around.

This is a picture of the female dancer from a really badly danced sex scene in this group.  She wasn't the problem - it was the guy.  He was old, had to suck in his gut, and had the emotional range of a stick of wood.  Anyway, the photo's pretty.

Lots of jiggle wiggle dancing on the stage.  It seems to be the one step all Uruguayan women know how to do.  It was also the only step exhibited by the women of  this group.  Well, they exhibited a lot of their bodies, too.

More jiggle wiggle and lots of feathers.

More of the panoply.

Still Striping

Only one more color to go on the second stripe.  I got the turquoise finished this week and worked more on the rectangle underneath.  I think that one's looking pretty neat, myself, even though the colors aren't what I would normally like.

I Think I Can...

Still on the fourth egg, but a lot of progress on it.  I also completed the stitching on the bottom leg of the last line around.  Once I'm done with these cross stitches, its on to the specialty stitches in the lines and under them.

Reddened

More red added to the overall picture this week; it's a lot of background, but then next time I'll be able to do more of the critter.

Second Side, First House

Yes, it's a small one, but it's done.  I still feel good about the progress I'm making on this.

Paint It Brown

More brown this week - on the flounce on the right and the very light brown on the middle.  The ribbon on the right also got a bit longer. 

A Long Scope

There were five squares in this part of the mandala, so it's taking me a long time to complete it.  I think this is the longest, so far, I've taken on any part of the stitchalongs with Marquoir.  Even though this picture was taken last Saturday, I am still working on it today.  Granted, I've made a lot of progress, but still.  I hope to have this part finished by the time pictures are taken Friday night or Saturday.

Back to the Belly

It's still going pretty easy, and I've added more to the bell of the third jellyfish.  I have a lot more to cover with this stitch, though.

Parade Videos

Some of our video from the parade is processed, so now you can hear the parade on top of see it.  These are all from last Saturday night.



This second video is some famous TV? star in Uruguay dancing with someone from the crowd.  This guy in the black shirt repeatedly came out and danced with people.  The TV star was the only person who got her own float.

Green Temari

This temari ended up with a little extra in one of the shots.  Missy the cat so wanted to pounce on it....

This is the first of three normal temari shots.  It was a pretty easy pattern to do; I think the variegated threads are so fun to work with.

Two Biscornu

Well, I ended up deciding to make two biscornu, since the top and bottom were mismatched sizewise.  So, the second bottom is started next to the top.

More Parade Pictures

Since I had people asking for them, here's a post of more pictures from Saturday night.  Some of the costumes were a bit ... fanciful.  I think he's supposed to me a Mardi Gras Zulu warrior.  

These dancers were with the all-woman candombe group.  It might be why their constumes are less skimpy than the others.

And here are the women again, La Melaza.  They stopped and played right in front of us.  Of course, they had to wait for the fireworks to stop.  Did you know you can set off pretty much any firework in the middle of town without consequences here?   Okay, legal consequences.  If you don't do it right, you might injure yourself.

I'm not sure if these guys were meant to be drum majors or baton twirlers, but nearly every group had at least two.

More skimpy outfits.  These ones had really flouncy skirts that the women used in their dances.

And the last picture of this set - some of the stars and moons.  These were in front of each group too, but each decorated differently.  Not sure why.

Finished Ornamentally

As you know if you read my One World One Heart post, this ornament is going to go somewhere after I draw the name on the fifteenth.  Trying to be prepared, I finished the ornament this past week.  The canvas and directions had come with a "Flying Needles Finishing Form" from Dallas, Texas.  I had never used one before, and it was not what I was expecting.  The package said it was easier to use than doing it yourself.  I found it harder, actually, following their instructions.  The only step it saved was cutting out the round forms from mat board.  The rest was the same, and a bit harder because of the hollow of the forms.  On top of that, they were not exactly the same size, so they were harder to stitch together. 

This wasn't a product I'd buy on my own.  I'd never heard of it before using it this time.  I wonder if anyone's had any better experience with it.

Still on the Second Row

I've still got some work to do on the second row, but I should be able to finish it up next week, I hope.  Then it'll be all rectangles!

Desfiles des Llamadas - All Drums, No Pipes

 Crowds gathered for the Parade of the Calls Saturday night near downtown Montevideo.  The parade was supposed to take place on Friday, but was rained out.  We were lucky enough to be on a rooftop on the parade route - food and drink included.  This parade has been split up into two nights because there are so many drumming groups that want to take part.  We went to the second half.  It was awesome.

The group from Maldonado, near Punta del Este, had a representation of a famous piece of architecture in Uruguay.  An artist has a work in progress on the coast.  It's an all white house with no right angles and is constantly being added to. 

La Melaza is the only all woman candombe (drumming) group in Uruguay.  This is a picture of them.  Most of the groups have no women whatsoever.  You can also see the crowds encroaching on the street.  There are no real barricades and policing, yet the parade goes through.

Like Brazil, Uruguay has its share of scantily-clad dancers in its parades.

Sponsors for the groups and the groups themselves have huge flags that they wave over the crowds lining the streets.

Yet more dancers.  Even though this is technically an Uruguayan black history parade, most of the participants aren't.  On the other hand, they all have a good time.

And here you see the very first group we saw.  Yes, their hats are sunflowers.  The sound from these candombe groups can be heard blocks away as they march up the street.  When they're right in front of you, it's a wall of sound.

If y'all want to see more pictures of this, comment.  I have more that I'd love to use, but I don't want to overwhelm you!  Oh, and we're going to at least two more Carnaval events this week, so expect more pictures...

Still Crossing Down

I've resisted doing aught but cross stitches again, and I am getting a bit farther along.  Now to find more time to stitch.

Twirling About

The last thing I added to my rotation was a UFO, as I try to alternate between new and old to clear out started but not finished things.  So, I came across this small one - Pirouette in Purple from The Sweetheart Tree.  It'd been started quite a while back and not much else, so I worked it into the rotation.  It shouldn't take too long.

Kaleiding Again

I've started working on the Kaleidoscope Mandala again from Tracey Horner with Marquoir.  This time I have five squares to complete, so it's going to take a while.  It's still looking pretty good, I think, and people who see it in person really admire it.