It’s not often that a day goes by where I am not struck by the incredible smarts and amazing talents of our Balloon Juice commenters. John and I talked, probably a year ago. about featuring some of that talent in a way that goes beyond the Balloon Juice Artists list that’s in the site footer.
So I thought we might start with a trio of photographers: Albatrossity, BillinGlendale, and Steve from Mendocino. I’ll do a guest from each of those three, and then if there’s interest, we could move on to another area besides photography.
Glasswork, jewelry, fiber arts, drawing, painting, watercolors, comics, whatever. Check out all the categories in Our Artists in the footer for some more ideas.
I’m thinking that Sunday afternoons might be a good fit for these?
We’ll plan on one a week for each of the 3 photographers who have graciously agreed to participate, and then figure out how/whether to go from there.
What do you guys think? Anyone interested?
Totally open thread, right from the get-go, but if you have any thoughts or opinions about this, please share.
raven
Hmmm
Villago Delenda Est
I would say that every Sunday should have a thread or two that features the work of these talented members of the Juicitariat. Let one talent have his or her own thread to share their wares, because I know in the case of the photographers they’ll have lots to share!
Dagaetch
Would love this! As an (amateur) photographer I always enjoy seeing others work, and it would be great to be able to support the creative efforts of everyone here.
WaterGirl
If anyone is interested in having their talent featured, chime in here or send me an email.
WaterGirl
@Villago Delenda Est: Group like things in a series (after the 3 photography posts are done) or no theme and just put up an eclectic mix?
(week after week, not putting more than one person together in a post)
Yutsano
I like this idea. I like this idea a lot.
In other fun news, looks like late-stage capitalism is going just fine.
WaterGirl
@Yutsano: Wow, let’s nip that in the bud, Hobby Lobby. Separation of church and state.
bbleh
Or, as an alternative, we could do as so many other blogs have done so successfully, and eschew the generous sharing of talent and knowledge for bitter exchanges of angry and inflexible opinion that quickly devolve into personal insults and even outright bigotry! It is a proven business model, and I’m sure the revenues from clickbait and personal-enhancement ads bear it out. Plus think of the traffic boost from trolls both domestic and offshore! I mean, there are those quarterly profit figures to think about…
WaterGirl
@bbleh: Excellent idea. //
Villago Delenda Est
@WaterGirl:
I suggest eclectic mix, just because it would be nice to string everyone along for maximum exposure of each!
Baud
@Yutsano:
I’d prefer to be led by people who follow the teachings of Christ.
cope
I must register my disappointment at this demonstration of ableism against those of us with half-assed (or less) talents.
Gin & Tonic
@bbleh: Fuck off, asshole.
Villago Delenda Est
@Yutsano:
In conflict with Article VI of the Constitution, but that doesn’t bother dominionist slime. Which is why they need to be forced back under the rock they oozed from in the first place.
Baud
@bbleh:
Figures someone like you would suggest that.
Villago Delenda Est
@Baud: That excludes the Mammon worshiping owners of Hobby Lobby.
Baud
@cope:
Right. Why isn’t procrastination considered a talent?
Baud
@Villago Delenda Est:
I know.
Gin & Tonic
@Yutsano: Some of that is too small for these old eyes, but I note that none of the included quotations (that I could read) are from after the Civil War. I’m sure that’s just an odd coincidence.
Baud
Why can’t
athletescraft stores stick tosportsarts and crafts.WaterGirl
@Gin & Tonic: I thought that was snark?
Gin & Tonic
@Baud: I’ll get back to you on that.
WaterGirl
@cope: I don’t have a single talent I could display here, so perhaps in putting up this post, i am engaging in the equivalent of self-deportation.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Oh, well in that case, I do have a talent after all!
Another Scott
@Yutsano: Note that Michaels has had issues in the past…
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: At least Michael’s isn’t going to court to deny women birth control like Hobby Lobby did.
HumboldtBlue
@WaterGirl:
I’m pretty sure no one here wants me to display my talent.
On a more positive note, I can’t stop watching the talent from the Muppet Show and this perfect skit for the 4th of July.
Another Scott
Well done.
(FFRF == Freedom From Religion Foundation)
Cheers,
Scott.
Cheryl Rofer
That full page ad by Hobby Lobby is probably to cover up this.
gwangung
Well, I’ve had a display of my play writing ability before, but this one’s more of my display of my producing capabilities. End of the month, my group is doing a reading of a trilingual play (English, Spanish and ASL). Captioned, as well, too…
Catherine D.
@Yutsano: Hobby Lobby made the mistake of opening a store in the People’s Republic of Ithaca (NY). I believe the space is now a Trader Joe’s. We do have a Michael’s and JoAnn’s ?
Oh, I’m a spinner/weaver/knitter. Haven’t updated my blog and patterns in a long while because rescue dog used to jump up and pull hundreds of lace stitches off the needles, oy!
Amir Khalid
@Baud:
I’ll explain later.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
I think it’s a great idea although I have absolutely no artistic talents at all. I love to see other people’s work!
apropos of nothing, and pardon if it has already been mentioned. David Geffen gifted 150 million dollars to the Yale Drama school. This effectively means the tuition for current and future drama students will be free. A gift several years ago of 100 million to the Yale School of Music by Stephen and Denise Adams made tuition at the Music school free as well.
Delk
Trolling Hobby Lobby
Cameron
@WaterGirl: Sort of a virtual farmers market, except for the arts?
Ruckus
@Catherine D.:
My grandmother used to do that, had lace everywhere around the house. Nothing would ever sit naked upon anything made of wood, no cup, lamp, picture. Amazingly beautiful.
That picture of the rose trellis shawl on your website is amazing. I’ve seen this type of work being done and I can’t imagine the amount of work that would take. And I’ve worked with my hands my for decades, making things out of metal, welding, hand polishing. Once worked for 3 months, with another person, polishing the mold for a cover for a stereo system. It was made out of hardened steel, about 30 inches long, 20 inches wide and 5 inches deep and had to be flat to less than .001 and diamond polished to clear image mirror level. By hand. Nothing else ever took that much hand work. That shawl looks like it took a lot more.
Ruckus
@Amir Khalid:
I can’t comment, I’m laughing too much.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
you’re welcome, ‘Muerca
terraformer
Fantastic idea! Something good and distracting to leaven the horror of the continuing political fight. Can’t contribute, but totally here to see these posts.
debbie
@Gin & Tonic:
Ironic, considering none of those marshmallows would be able to survive the very difficult living conditions.
Catherine D.
@Ruckus: How kind! The shawl in the photos was actually the second time I’d made it, so it took less time. It did take me more than three months to weave the huppah for dear friends’ wedding. It was in two lengths, and I marked adding machine tape to make sure the pieces matched.
bbleh
@WaterGirl: I thought his reply was snark too.
eddie blake
i’m for it. my brain won’t really let me do my own art anymore, it’s my own worst enemy, but i can do other people’s stuff. i have a review of the new mobile suit gundam movie (on netflix) i’m grinding at the moment.
yeah, let’s have a jackals portfolio page for pics and clips and art and images.
krackenJack
I agree with mixing it up. What about the non-visual artists or things not in the public domain, though? An excerpt, plus some discussion by the creator?
Spanky
No talent here, I’m bad at everything I do. But thank fsm I’m a white cis male Christian-looking middle-aged guy! People look up to me!
HRA
I definitely vote yes for this idea Water Girl.
Yutsano
@Cheryl Rofer: I’m certain releasing the ad today was no coincidence. We do have the Dominionists out and out declaring their intentions, which is important. I bet they’re tying all this to TFG and the Big Lie.
WaterGirl
@Cameron: I guess so!
WaterGirl
@bbleh: Oh, now that I think of it, it probably was Gin & Tonic giving you just what we suggested.
Jeffery
@Cheryl Rofer: I don’t want to think about where that artifact has been.
dexwood
Good idea. Sunday afternoons. Mix it up.
WaterGirl
@krackenJack: I’m totally open to ideas. Can you say more about what you’re thinking?
Miss Bianca
@EmbraceYourInnerCrone: Damn, too bad I’m almost 30 years past trying to get my DFA (Doctor of Fine Arts). Although…
NotMax
@Baud
It’s on the list. Just haven’t gotten around to it yet.
zhena gogolia
Sounds great. I’m on BillinGlendale’s Patreon. He is a real artist.
WaterGirl
Looks like there is interest in this. First up, next Saturday or Sunday, will be:
Guest Post: Steve from Mendocino – A Brief Photo History
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@Miss Bianca: @Miss Bianca:
I am happy for the kids who might have the talent but don’t feel they could afford an Ivy so don’t even apply. I know there’s still housing and books and fees but it’s a start. You should think about it
Elizabelle
I like the idea of spotlighting BJ’s creatives, but Sunday?
That would be the third programmed post for that day. Garden thread in the morning. Medium Cool in the evening, once back in August.
What happens if we have a busy news day or something people might want to discuss, and we are tiptoeing around a third programmed thread?
You just do not see a rousing open discussion with a variety of topics in an OTR thread, or a sports thread. This did start out as a politics and current events blog, and sometimes it seems like hours before a thread one can grab onto for discussion goes up.
My two cents.
Happy fourth, peeps.
Kattails
Love to show some of my paintings. I was thinking about showing some local areas I’ve photographed next to a couple of paintings of same.
REALLY gotta get a website up and running… but for now I need a walk.
NotMax
@Elizabelle
Yeah, Saturdays (say around happy hour) seem more suitable.
Gin & Tonic
@Elizabelle: Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a busy news day on a Sunday, but I started out thinking Saturday late afternoon or Sunday, so it makes no difference to me.
Looks like 2 votes so far for Sunday, 2 for Saturday. So if anyone has a preference for either day, chime in, otherwise I’ll decide before next weekend.
eddie blake
@Kattails:
please keep us posted as to how that goes
eta- the website, not the walk.
krackenJack
@WaterGirl: I just thought that the poets, playwrights, writers, musicians and others who have income / ownership considerations should have a way to participate. I’m sure they themselves have the best ideas on how to do that.
All posts should come with a way to support the creator, of course.
Elizabelle
@WaterGirl: Maybe it could move around?? “Weekend” sounds plenty informative.
Elizabelle
@Gin & Tonic: Not sure how to take that. Danke.
piratedan
As a suggestion maybe create a guest post feature called The Soapbox… where a jackal has offered an article regarding a passion project be it the awesomeness of Carl Yaztremski or a review of someone”s lesser known favorite artist, author, musician… or depth like disussion like climate change, interesting civic engineering concepts to be adopted, urban farming, etc call it niche blogging if you will…. we all have passion projects and interests and this might be a way to help us contribute to the content demands and give the front pagers a respite
WaterGirl
@krackenJack: I would swear I had put music in the list – I was certainly thinking of it as I was putting the post together – but i just checked and I did not! It’s definitely a category in the Our Artists link in the footer.
Yes, I absolutely think that all those folks should be included.
I agree with this, too: “All posts should come with a way to support the creator, of course.” That’s what links and Pateons are for. :-)
Are you a musician or a poet?
satby
@Elizabelle: I agree. No such thing as serendipity around here. So much scheduling.
eddie blake
@piratedan:
i like this plan.
satby
deleted, blog is acting up again.
frosty
@WaterGirl:
My preference is Saturday.
WaterGirl
@piratedan: Interesting idea!
We are going to have a guest post series related to criminal “justice” reform and policing,
If Cole ever gets off hisI mean, whenever John gets the introductory post written. :-)Gin & Tonic
@Elizabelle: It is the final proposition of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Seemed apropos.
piratedan
@WaterGirl: well, you could collect as many as you wish and trot them out as needed on slow days or when the front pagers need a break. Maybe it will help the blog from eating itself or allow a respite when a change of pace is needed.
Another Scott
Giving the creative folks a regular platform is a great idea. I don’t have any thoughts about the day.
I echo the comments that it’s important to have a reasonably fresh open thread always available. Freshness wouldn’t matter so much if the most-recent comments widget always worked, or if one had something like “Last Comment – 20:18” with each thread title. Something to quickly indicate that a thread isn’t dead. Cheryl and TaMara have expressed sensible annoyance when their threads are muddied. BG hasn’t that I’ve noticed, but I know I’ve felt guilty about not staying on topic in his threads…
Maybe (for the next update) there could be 3 columns instead of two. Really fresh topics in one, something highlighted for the day / week in the next, and the current second in the final column. Of course, a layout like that wouldn’t work on phones…, so it likely would have to be something else.
Dunno.
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@piratedan: The tricky part is that the person being featured will need to know in advance when the post is going up. :-) And it has to be when they are available.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: Until the ad situation is worked out, my hands are kinda tied. I can’t go to the developers and say “please fix this problem, that may be related to the ads, so I don’t even know if it’s something you can fix”.
I know John is working on the ad situation, but in the meantime, I feel really stuck.
edit: Recent comments works perfectly for me, so I don’t have a good feel for how often it’s an issue, and what browsers are involved.
Another Scott
@WaterGirl: Recent Comments only work properly (reliably correctly) on the Front Page. It’s about 30 minutes off looking at this thread (before I posted this). Incorrect information is often less useful than no information.
I agree with Steep that it shows all the signs of being a caching issue. But it makes little sense to many of us for that information to be cached as opposed to a list of entries that adds the newest and drops the oldest. But I’m not a coder, so…
Chrome Win10.
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
SkyBluePink
Great idea!
And also like piratedan’s thought.
There is such a wealth of knowledge and talent here.
WaterGirl
@krackenJack: You wrote:
Yes, anyone who falls in a non-visual category is still welcome to participate. Sending me an email message is the best way to get that started.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@zhena gogolia: I shot last night, there are pictures.
Ms. Deranged in AZ
@WaterGirl: I would like to participate! I make jewelry using glass beads, polymer clay, resin and wood. I also make handmade books and journals. Whenever you get a free slot.
The Oracle of Solace
@WaterGirl:
I think once I’ve built up a little more credibility as a Balloon Juice commentor, I’d love to participate in your creatives’ show. In the short term I need to train myself to check the blog rather more often… -.-;
WaterGirl
@Ms. Deranged in AZ: I am asking folks to use the form we use for On the Road for submitting your photos and everything you want to tell us about your craft.
These will be published as guest posts – we won’t be publishing these as part of the On the Road feature – but using the form will really simplify things.
You can include up to 10 photos, and please tell us everything you want to know about your art
And be sure to send me an email message when you have submitted your work so I can be sure to take note that it isn’t for publishing in the morning for On the Road.
WaterGirl
@The Oracle of Solace: Okay. You are absolutely welcome to do so! Whenever you are ready please follow the instructions in my comment #85.
Regine Touchon
@WaterGirl: I just submitted some photos of my encaustic artwork. Encaustic is an ancient medium that uses melted hot wax and pigments that is applied to a prepared surface.
WaterGirl
@Regine Touchon: Thank you!
I followed up with an email asking you to tell us more about that medium, and more. I hope you got the message?
Jazzman
Totally agree about the talents of the commenters here. They’re what make Balloon Juice such a great and long-lasting blog.
I suspect many of us lurkers (I am one) don’t post much because we’re all back in our high school cafeterias, wishing we got to sit at the Cool Kids’ table.
WaterGirl
@Jazzman: Lurk less, comment more. :-)
WaterGirl
If anyone is late seeing this thread, and you are interested in submitting something, please see my comment at #85, and feel free to contact me by email if you have any questions.
I am closing this tab, so I won’t see further comments.