OGG and building artist websites
January 30, 2008
Live in the Northwestern US, particularly in Oregon? Glassist of any description? You probably oughta be in the Oregon Glass Guild, OGG. Nice organization of really nice folk, have interesting meetings and occasional group discounts on cool stuff.
They’re helping me coordinate volunteers for the 2008 Glass Art Society’s international glass conference, GAS, which will be held in Portland, OR. They also set up neat field trips.
Anyway, I’m bringing this up at the moment because my membership dues are, er, due, been thinking about it…and tonight I’m giving a talk about how glass artists can build websites on the cheap (use a blog). Here’s the presentation (careful–it’s a 2MB Flash file) and the handout. (a 193K PDF).
You’re welcome to look it over, and post any comments, questions, etc.
Lost in Castuary
January 29, 2008
So it’s back to Castuary, that odd period where life revolves around the kiln, or more specifically, around the molds I’m casting in the kiln.
The process of casting glass kinda reminds me of bringing kids in from recess: Controlled chaos that eventually–hopefully–marches exactly to where you want it. Glass casting is a gazillion tasks all culminating in Castuary and then, hopefully, in something breathtaking emerging from a crumbling plaster mess.
Look, Ma!! No infrastructure! (WeedsBasket)
January 28, 2008
Hypothesis: A glass framework stabilizes a tack-fused stringer construction, requiring fewer stringers (and likely fewer firings).
Background: I’m having a fair amount of success with tack-fused stringer projects that build on a glass support structure. Since the support framework is tedious to construct, I’m wondering if it’s really contributing enough to be worth doing.
Test: Make a stringer vessel without the framework, and keep adding stringer (and firings) until the vessel is full-sized and stable.
Using wax clay
January 27, 2008
Work in progress with wax clay, on victory brown
Door-to-door anything
January 26, 2008
So I’m on the phone with my nephew Morgan, and the doorbell rings (Morgan’s just hitting stride as a teenager, good guy, and we share a love of animation, computers, weird videos on youtube.com, and a couple of favorite authors).
“Hang on, Morgan, that’s the door.” I opened it, still on the phone, and see a stranger with a clipboard. “Good evening, ma’am…”
India Grill
January 25, 2008
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Location: NE Portland (Laurelhurst)
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Price to fill up two people: $50
India Grill is so far the best Indian food I’ve had in glassland (and I still haven’t had any as wondrous as that I encountered in DC, Manhattan and London). But this one’s pretty good, and it’s over in Laurelhurst, one of the funky, Craftsman-and-Tudor neighborhoods on the northeast side of town (which, BTW, hosts an incredible number of nifty little bistros).
Food’s good, prices are reasonable, service is swift and painless (once you’re actually seated in this little place, which takes some time).We had vegetable samosas, papadums, my favorite mint chutney, raita, and then classic chicken tikka, naan, and chicken korma. All good, if a bit skimpy on meat products.The waiter apparently assumed we were full at the end (probably from our bloated, glassy-eyed expressions), because he didn’t ask about dessert.
Tip: Allow some extra time to find parking, especially on a Saturday night, then go inside the house and walk up the stairs to the restaurant. If they seat you at the Christmas-light-festooned sunporch, you’ll command a nice view of Burnside and the Wild Oats across the street.
Life in the deadzone
January 23, 2008
For those of you who couldn’t find the blog, or worse, found it, tried to comment and couldn’t, my apologies.
Network Solutions, who holds the morganica.com domain registry (although it’s hosted elsewhere), apparently mis-entered some account information, decided my domain had expired, and shut it down on Sunday afternoon. There went blog, e-mail, and website.
Called them, they apologized and reset…but it’s amazing how much havoc a domain shutoff can wreak. I got my e-mail back in a couple of hours, but it’s only this morning that I can acess my blog tools again. There’s nothing like getting “server 500″ errors for raising the ol’ blood pressure.
BTW…if you’ve made (or tried to make) a comment since Saturday, it never arrived. Please repost, and my apologies once again.
–sigh–
Oh well
Andy Griffith and A Face in the Crowd
January 21, 2008
Back in 1957 Elia Kazan made a movie I’ve never heard of before, A Face in the Crowd, and I just saw it Sunday morning (while scraping away at a wax for my latest glass casting….)
Wow.
It’s partly because of the cast–how wrong can you get with Walter Matthau, Patricia Neal, Tony Franciosa and a young and adorable Lee Remick?–but mostly because of the writing…and Andy Griffith…and eerie parallels.
Andy Griffith is brilliant and a bit over the top in a role that combines his good-ole-boy “No Time for Sargeants” character with the demagoguery of Huey Long. It’s his first movie role, apparently, and one of his rare appearances as a bad guy.
The story’s about a charismatic hayseed from Arkansas, Lonesome Rhodes, with an uncanny lock on popular sentiment, and an unquenchable lust for sex and power. The woman who bails him out of jail, Patricia Neal, masterminds his evolution into the Will Rogers of television and, eventually, a dangerously effective kingmaker. Though addicted to the power they generate, she finally realizes what he’s become and destroys him.
Kinda makes you wonder whether a sequel would have had Patricia Neal running for President…
In any case, it makes some interesting points about politics and television (especially for 1957), with sad predictions for the future, and is well worth watching if only as a period piece. There are sly inferences throughout that are fun to catch (the positioning of the lecherous Rhodes in front of the sign above is one, and the elevator ride at the end is another).
Great movie marathon for journalists and marketeers: Clooney’s striking Good Night and Good Luck, the original Manchurian Candidate, Broadcast News, Network, Wag the Dog, The Insider, All the President’s Men…and now this movie.
Good grief. We’re going to be up all night! 
Restaurant update
January 20, 2008
BTW, I do keep adding to the lists at the upper right of this page, especially to the restaurant reviews. Cousin Robyn and I are determinedly investigating restaurants all over glassland (and having a heckuva good time doing it), and I’ve also enlisted some friends and colleagues in the hunt. Some of the latest updates:
- Nicholas, a really good Lebanese restaurant on the SE side of town
- Blue Nile, a friendly Ethiopian restaurant in NE
- Sanborns, where they serve really lovely brunches
- Nicola’s, a neighborhood Italian place in St. Johns
- Costello’s Travel Caffe, a very nice dinner-coffee-dessert house in NE
- Tilly’s Gelato, with exceptional “experimental” gelatos
Have a look, and if you have ideas for other places to investigate, let me know.
Nicholas (Lebanese)
January 20, 2008
- Nicholas website
- Area: OMSI/Industrial area
- Price to fill up two people minus booze: $40
Until tonight I don’t think I’d had a really good middle eastern meal in glassland. But Nicholas, on SE Grand, put an end to that. Excellent, well-flavored hummus served correctly, wheaty, chewy flatbreads, they know how to do yogurt drinks right and the tabbouleh was home-made exactly the way I like it. I had the lamb ghanam (marinated lamb on rice, good but not scintillating), Robyn had a house specialty, Stephan’s Chicken, which was delicious. $40 bought ‘way ‘way too much of all that for two people. so we left with a doggie carton.
This is a tiny place, about 10 tables, and on a Friday night THERE WILL BE A LINE outside because there’s no place to wait inside, so come early. By the time we finished our dinner, about 8:30, there were perhaps 35 people waiting outside in the cold.
Staring in at us.
Impatiently.
(we felt guilty and left)
Service was brisk–you get the impression these guys are in a hurry to get the table back–but still friendly. We had to wait a bit too long to get a menu, but once the food started coming it came in a rush and we were too busy eating to care. There’s also no place to hang your coat or stick parcels, so leave them in the car when you go. But do go–it’s definitely worth it.