Thursday, June 12, 2008

Glass Art and Strangeness in Different Flavors

So… as luck would have it, I stumbled into a fascinating show on PBS last evening directly following The News Hour (which is a daily habit of mine). The show was ostensibly about glass and glass art, but focused primarily on Hans Godo Frabel, one of the world’s best glass artists, ever. And Mr. Frabel has a web site, which is just totally mesmerizing. Here’s the introduction from the splash page of said web site:

The Frabel Glass Art Studio was founded in 1968 by Hans Godo Frabel and is widely considered to be the first glass art studio completely focused on creating glass art sculptures out of boron crystal. Some of the world’s most outstanding glass artists are collectively creating the most incredible works of glass art in the Frabel Studio in Atlanta. The glass crystal sculptures of this internationally famous studio with its contemporary glass artists are in the hands of many museums, private collectors and corporations worldwide.

And that’s understatement of the highest order. It’s extremely difficult to capture glass art…with all its nuances and ability to capture and play with light… in static photography. Which is why the web site is mostly video. But, Boy Howdy!… is it ever good! The only reservation I’d have about urging you to go is if you’re on dial-up. I’ll take that back, actually. While the video might be problematic, the catalog of “for sale” pieces is not. But otherwise? What’s keeping you? Go!

In the meantime…God Love YouTube… here’s a two-minute segment on Frabel’s display at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, which was featured prominently in the show I watched last evening.

And finally… There was a brief segment in the PBS show concerning the source of the glass used exclusively by the Frabel Studio, which is produced just outside of Prague in the Czech Republic. I’d long known the Czech Republic was renowned for its glass art and I made it a point to visit several museums and galleries featuring glass art during The Great European Divorce Tour of 1999 (an earthier taste of said tour here). As a matter of fact, I bought all the members of my EDS team small objécts (blown glass globes, in the map sense, in various colors) and several larger pieces for myself during said tour. All those pieces are gone now…surrendered due to space limitations in El Casa Móvil De Pennington.

More’s the pity.

―:☺:―

A strange coincidence… Both of you Gentle Readers know my real name is Norman, not Buck. Someone stopped in to EIP yesterday after googling me by my real name vs. my nickname. As is my wont, I checked out the google query and was surprised to find this as the first entry:

Master Sgt. Norman Pennington, Retired U.S.A.F., 73, of 2011 Azalea Drive, died Thursday morning at his home.

Norman was born in White Top, Va., to the late Ed Pennington and Stella Riffey Pennington. He served his country in the U.S. Air Force for 22 years which included service during the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War.

Wow. The two of us are both Normans, both retired USAF, both MSgts, both with the same time-in-service. So very strange, eh? Looks like I’ve got ten years left if the coincidences continue apace.

―:☺:―

Gentle Reader Amy got tagged with an interesting meme Monday, a meme that got me to thinking. One of the questions in the meme was “places I’ve lived.” About which… My father and I worked for hours…literally… in the waaay back when I had to complete my first DD Form 398 (Personnel Security Questionnaire). One of the questions requires the person filling out the form to list all residences, complete with address, in chronological order. I ultimately submitted the form with several “address unknowns,” simply because my father couldn’t remember the address of various and sundry places we had lived. I didn’t worry a whole helluva lot about those “address unknowns” since my father, being career USAF, provided the ultimate “get out of jail free” card when it came to background investigations. None the less, I used every bit of allocated space for addresses on that Form 398 and one full page of typewritten addendums for same… and that was when I was a young pup of 18 or so. The list has grown considerably since.

So…just for grins and giggles, here’s a list of places I’ve lived in, from the beginning up until the present. I cite the metro area, with the actual suburb and/or other place I lived (like an air base or air station) in parentheses.

  • Atlanta, GA (birth to about age three)
  • Sacramento, CA (various AF bases… from 1949 - 1952)
  • London, England (age seven)
  • Paris, France (age eight – 11)
  • Ankara, Turkey (age 11 – 13)
  • Washington D.C. (Forrest Heights and Marlowe Heights, Maryland. Age 13 – 14)
  • San Jose, CA (age 14 -15)
  • Culver City, CA (age 15)
  • Torrance, CA (age 16 – 18)
  • Biloxi, MS (Keesler AFB… age 18-19)
  • Lompoc, CA (Vandenberg AFB… age 19 – 22)
  • Biloxi, MS (Keesler AFB again. A recurring nightmare.)
  • Wakkanai, Japan (Wakkanai AS. age 22 – 24)
  • Boron, CA (Boron AFS, near Edwards AFB. One year…we’ll dispense with the ages at this point)
  • Wakkanai, Japan (again…for way too short a period, i.e., six months. Or so.)
  • Sinop, Turkey (one miserable year… or so I thought at the time. It was quite good, in retrospect.)
  • Klamath Falls, Oregon (Keno AFS. three years)
  • Tokyo, Japan (Yokota AB… two-plus years)
  • Fortuna, ND (Fortuna AFS. one year, three days, eight hours and ten minutes)
  • North Bend/Coos Bay, OR (North Bend AFS. Two years)
  • London, England (RAF Uxbridge. Three years… my favorite place in all the world)
  • Oklahoma City, OK (Tinker AFB. Two years. I lived in Moore and Choctaw.)
  • Detroit, MI (Birmingham and Ferndale. Ten-plus years)
  • Rochester, NY (Perinton/Fairport. Three-plus (four?) years.)
  • One wonderful year (ten months) on the road in my RV… coast to coast and border to border.
  • Berkeley, CA (one year)
  • San Ramon, CA (one year)
  • Portales, NM (five years. And counting.)

And there you have it… my life history condensed into 28 bullet points. What made filling out that first DD Form 398 difficult was the fact that there were multiple addresses at each of the earliest locations. The same would hold true for the later locations, as well. I’d hate to have to fill one of those damned things out today. So… I won’t.

―:☺:―

Today’s Pics: The scanner has sat idle for way too long, and I really need to get my motivation back and scour the archives for suitable blog fodder. So… here’s a start: Two pics from the one and only time I’ve ever performed in public, karaoke aside (and we won't go there, Gentle Reader). The occasion was the Fourth of July picnic at Fortuna AFS, ND in 1977. That’s my Bud Chip at the keyboards, the wife of a co-worker on guitar (whose name I don't remember)…and me trying my very best to croak out Warren Zevon’s “Carmelita.” My friends humored me with “not bad” sorts of comments, but Mom was right: I couldn’t carry a tune…even if I had a bucket. Which I didn’t.

Never again.

13 comments:

  1. That's a pretty impressive list. I think I have had 7 or 8 different addresses all within the same metropolitan area.

    Did you enjoy moving like that or did you sometimes wish you could stay put for awhile?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Damn! You've lived your share of places, that's for sure.

    Quite a coincidence concerning the other Norman Pennington. With a name like mine (James Sullivan) you might expect something like that, but your name isn't as common.

    (MY WIFE says that Jim Sullivans are like dog poop - everywhere, and usually where you don't want it to be.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amy sez: Did you enjoy moving like that or did you sometimes wish you could stay put for awhile?

    For the most part, no... I didn't wish I could stay put, but that's speaking as an adult. It was very different as a child, tho. There was lotsa angst from about the third grade on. That said, I've always envied folks who grew up in the same place and still have friends they made in grade school.

    Jim sez: (MY WIFE says that Jim Sullivans are like dog poop - everywhere, and usually where you don't want it to be.)

    LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I was trying to remember that form the other day as I was talking to someone about having to fill out INS paperwork for his Canadian wife. I remember the TI screaming at people if you marked something wrong or didn't understand something on the form. "How can you expect to work on planes if you can't fill out a simple form"

    Lucky for me it wasn't too bad - I was 17 - one address, one telephone number and one set of parents to worry about.

    Ahh Lackland

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love glass art. I can remember as a child going to the State Fair and being totally fascinated by the glass blowers. One of the highlights of my time in Italy was visiting a glass place--I'm not sure what you would call it--in Venice. The tour was in Italian, of which I knew just enough to get the gist. There, we got to watch an artisan blow a plate. Then, to my horror, after the demonstration, the artisan simply lopped off the plate and threw it back into the fire to be melted again. I couldn't believe it! Somewhere around here, I have a glass squirrel. It's green.

    I love how you listed Biloxi as a recurring nightmare!

    ReplyDelete
  6. GS1 will be thrilled to see the list. He's always wondering about all the places you've been. Expect a hit from SC sometime soon!

    SN1

    ReplyDelete
  7. Norman!!! You're dead??? Oh thank goodness..it was another Norman ... well, I don't really mean "thank goodness" as I am sure his family is grieving...oh heck, I'm getting off this topic.

    In your list of places you have lived, I noticed that Portales comes in second for length of time, after Detroit. Are you starting to feel the wanderlust ... or are you still content there?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Amazing list, but it is nice you seem to be somewhatly content where your at,
    'cept for what? maybe the wind? :)

    How beautiful the glass art is! not the prices though!

    ReplyDelete
  9. i wanted to send you that meme just for that list! thanks for providing info for my inquisitive mind!

    here's a little read you might find interestin'

    http://groktheidiom.blogspot.com/2008/06/if-you-dont-know-i-cant-tell-you.html

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ooh the glass art is beautiful, but it makes me so nervous. The permanent exhibit of glass art at the OKC art museum is beautiful if you have never seen it.

    Your list of residences is impressive. I have lived in about eleven different towns, but in about three different homes per eleven towns. It makes house cleaning easier when you move every so often.

    We are thinking about spending our 4th of July this year at a Ft. Sill Lynard Skynard concert. You should join us.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I like glass art also. Very cool. You need to make a tape of your singing to put on You Tube for all to enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anon said: Lucky for me it wasn't too bad - I was 17 - one address, one telephone number and one set of parents to worry about.

    Ahh Lackland


    IIRC, my recruiter gave me the 398 to fill out well before I hit the recruit processing station in LA, before flying to Lackland. I definitely remember the Ol' Man and I laboring over the form, and my dad and mom arguing over whether it was "here" or "there" and at what point in time... Fun stuff.

    Buck sez: GS1 will be thrilled to see the list. He's always wondering about all the places you've been. Expect a hit from SC sometime soon!

    Well... where I've lived and where I've been are two entirely different subjects, eh?

    Sharon sez: In your list of places you have lived, I noticed that Portales comes in second for length of time, after Detroit. Are you starting to feel the wanderlust ... or are you still content there?

    Interesting observation and question, Sharon. I hadn't thought about the subject in quite this way. That said, I'm quite content here in P-Ville, which may or may not sound strange. I think my wanderlust wandered off on its own because I feel no urge to "move on." At least not at this moment. That could change...

    Dawn sez: How beautiful the glass art is! not the prices though!

    Agreed on the prices, Dawn. But world-class guys command world-class prices, no?

    Jay sez: i wanted to send you that meme just for that list! thanks for providing info for my inquisitive mind!

    You're welcome, and thanks for the link... that's a great read. I saw "High Noon" the first time as a first-run film (an Ol' Fart dead give-away, that) and thought it was the best Western I'd ever seen. I now appreciate the film in a deeper sense, as the author of the blog post does. Good stuff.

    Lou sez: Your list of residences is impressive. I have lived in about eleven different towns, but in about three different homes per eleven towns. It makes house cleaning easier when you move every so often.

    Well, moving frequently does make house cleaning easier, unless you take your house with you. And that's been my problem for a while now... ;-)

    Lemme think about the Ft. Sill thing.

    JD sez: You need to make a tape of your singing to put on You Tube for all to enjoy.

    Ooooh, Diva! Haven't you ever heard that ol' "Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it!" thingie? That certainly applies here!

    ReplyDelete
  13. As a Milbrat and Vet and afflicted with wanderlust, myself, I think I could give you a run for your money on the length of the list.

    unkawill

    ReplyDelete

Just be polite... that's all I ask.