Hell no, we won't hand-sew

There is really not much to the veil project. Take long rectangle, hem. Pin to band on head. Done. So it seems like a good place to go all period technique, doing that long hem by hand.

If there is something I have learned working on a smaller silk veil, it's that I don't especially like hand-sewing. Especially long, boring projects. Like an 8' long hem. I know that if this weren't a scored competition, I would not even think twice about zipping this through the sewing machine.

So, that's what I'm going to do. Whether or not it's hand-sewed is not important to me. (If it ever does become important, I can rip out the machine hem and do it over, too. It's not like I'm welding it in place.) So, I'm not going to spend precious hours working on something I don't care diddley-squat about, all to squeeze another point out of a competition.

And sarcasm isn't irony, either!

"In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, ideally with the intent to bring about improvement." Encyclopedia Britannica via Wikipedia.

I haven't seen the "Family Guy" episode that's all over the news today; I did watch the clip the LA Times is hosting, which features the "getting ready for the date" musical number. As near as I can tell, the episode is about one of the Family Guy's kids going on a date with a girl who has Down Syndrome. There have been objections to it (from the Palin family FWIW) and the creator's response is that the show's humor has always been based on "biting satire" and that it's an "equal opportunity offender."

What about dating someone - or being someone - with Down Syndrome is a vice, folly, abuse or shortcoming that needs to be held up to censure? Unless one is speaking of someone bent on exploitation and concealing it as romantic intent. The musical number seemed to imply that the young man was genuinely fond of his date.

Good satire can make people uncomfortable, but not everything that makes people uncomfortable is satire. Sometimes, it's just hateful or mean. I'm not willing to categorically state which this show is - I haven't seen it - but I admit I have my suspicions.