I support “Balls in Trees”
25-Jul-08
Want to own your own ball in a tree?
Bubble isn’t over yet…
24-Jul-08
Institute of Mosaic Art
23-Jul-08
The Institute of Mosaic Art has lots of cool classes. Here’s one I would’ve loved to take:
VISITING ARTIST SERIES: SHERRI WARNER HUNTER
Concrete Institute
Instructor: Sherri Warner Hunter
Sessions: 5
Times: Saturday – Wednesday: 9a.m. – 4p.m.
Level: Beginning/Intermediate
Cost: $650
Materials:$95
Institute of Mosaic art is proud to host Sherri Warner Hunter for this week long intensive. Hunter is the author of “Making Concrete Garden Ornaments” and “Creative Concrete Ornaments for the Garden.” This is a rare opportunity to learn from a concrete master.
Make your dreams concrete! This intensive course will cover a variety of concrete forming techniques including armature building, carving, modeling, and polymer fortified concrete systems. Participants will create three projects; a foam and polymer fortified concrete sculpture, a faux rock and a carved hypertufa planter. Each project utilizes a different concrete recipe and forming techniques. A variety of surface treatments will be demponstrated and discussed with plenty of opportunity for experimentation Bring sketches of concrete projects you’d like to realize for discussion. No previous experience with concrete is necessary.
Visual presentations, demonstrations and handouts will provide inspiration and information to take with you to utilize in your own studio.
PARTICIPANTS SHOULD BRING:
* Sketch or notebook
* Apron or wear work clothes
* Ruler, yardstick, carpenter’s square
* Sharpie Markers
* Scissors
* Angle cutters, lineman pliers, and needle nose pliers*
* Straight cut aviator shears*
(* These are good basic tools for participants to have for future sculpture and metal working projects. Instructor will bring some tools for student use if participants don’t have their own.)
* Small pointing trowel
* Steel trowel (flat rectangle)
* Plastic spray bottle
* Yellow (cleaning type) latex gloves
* Leather work gloves
(These items will be available for sale on site at Mosaic Studio Supply.)
Here’s how to add a user to the admin group using dscl:
dscl . append /Groups/admin GroupMembership crasch
Remove a user:
dscl . delete /Groups/admin GroupMembership crasch
Reading the membership of the admin group:
dscl . read /Groups/admin GroupMembership
Pictures on the way to work.
21-Jul-08
My boss’s new car. It’s surprisingly roomy on the inside — anyone under 6’2″ tall would probably feel comfortable driving it. The fit and finish seemed pretty good, although the door sounds somewhat tinny when you close it.
Some flowers in the neighbor’s hedge.
Linley’s birthday party
20-Jul-08
Held at Rockaway Beach, near Pacifica, CA. The beach was quite cold, so we retired to the Best Western Lighthouse hotel nearby.
Fire Arts Festival – July 12th, 2008
18-Jul-08
meredith was in town last weekend, so we went to the 8th Annual Fire Arts Festival in Oakland. (Note to self: when meeting a woman for the first time, don’t park in the empty underground parking garage.)
We arrived just as the gates opened, and the place was soon packed. The announcer said that over 2000 people were there that night.
My favorite exhibit was the Fire Vortex. Two guys dressed in silver flame retardant suits stood across from each other. Each held a long metal wand, from which they could shoot an aerosolized mist of fuel. Between them was a large ducted fan, which created a strong vortex of air. They would fire fuel from the wands into the vortex, and light the mist on fire, creating a tornado of fire.
Quite lovely to see.
My second favorite? The Omega Recoil, which consisted of a man dressed in a full body Faraday cage. He writhed underneath a giant inverted Tesla coil, which shot lighting bolts into his suit.
Meredith and I climbed up through the center of the Steampunk Treehouse. The Festival was held in view of the BART, and every time one passed, you could see the passengers looking out the window to watch the exhibits. It made quite a lovely tableau, with the crowds writhing around the burning fire exhibits, as a lighted train filled with passengers passed slowly along on the risers above.
Some pictures:
Pork and Beans by Weezer
18-Jul-08
I love Weezer’s Pork and Beans video. Via boffo.
Sean Tevis’s XKCD style campaign
17-Jul-08
I don’t agree with many of his political positions, but Sean Tevis has an awesome campaign website.
Via riotclitshave