After a good ol’ fashioned barn raising (that took a few months, a few new CSS/JavaScript tricks, and a few new hybrid curse words using “Microsoft,” the old standard curses, and some hyphens) the new Blobby Farm website is up and ready for business. The Blobby Farmer’s Market features all the frumpy plush your heart could desire.

Formerly known as “Maria Samuelson,” Blobby Farm is centered specifically on creating strange little toys for you. Shop around and visit often. There will be contests a-plenty, new Blobbies rolled out often, DIY how-to projects with the Hobby Blobby, movie reviews by François D., and a “Dear Blobby” section where you can seek the wisdom and sage advice of Señor Pooglins and the Baron of Beef von Espy.

Remember, the Blobbies love you.

Warning: this post is of a mildly techno-nerd nature. If you do not enjoy reading such material, read it anyway. It’s probably aimed at you.

I have generally been fairly neutral in the browser wars. If you want to use Opera, that’s your business. Camino? Go for it. Internet Explorer? No one is stopping you. It has just been over the last few months that I’ve started to take sides. I have been in the process of redesigning my my wife’s site (not quite done yet) as well as a new museum’s site. As a result I have learned to hate Internet Explorer with a white-hot hostility that is engulfing my entire life.

It’s not that Microsoft ceased development on IE for Macs. I was fine with that. Macs have Safari, PCs have IE. To each its own. It’s not that Microsoft is a soulless corporate giant that is cornering the market. That’s a tired (if not true) argument. It’s that Internet Explorer is the worst browser on the planet. Yes, I even place it under the feet of Opera. It’s that bad.

As I have worked on these two sites (while maintaining four others) every single problem I have encountered using CSS, XHTML, and JavaScript has been in Internet Explorer. My wife’s site would have launched over a month ago if it were’t for Explorer. It can’t handle absolutely positioned elements correctly, it has no idea what to do with basic CSS, and I think I saw it push a small, cooing baby in front of a moving bus. It’s bad to the bone.

At last there is someone putting money where their mouth is: Explorer Destroyer.

Google is paying $1 for each new Firefox user you refer.

This is pretty amazing. Now you can advance your ideals, save people from popups and spyware hell, and make some serious money. Millions of people have heard about Firefox and are ready to switch—all they need is a friendly push.

That’s where these scripts come in. They’re specially formulated to give just the right push, maximizing souls-saved and dollars-for-you.

Honestly, folks. I don’t expect you sign up for Google Ads so you can make a buck getting people to switch teams. My point is that the only reason Internet Explorer is so ubiquitous is becuase every PC on this big blue marble ships with it, not because it is a good program. Your grandmother uses Internet Explorer because she doesn’t know any better. You do! Go put something else on her computer, for Pete’s sake! Be a good Samaritan and show your friend how to install Firefox. Use something, anything, but Internet Explorer. I’m getting really tired of designing around Internet Explorer’s shortcomings, but I feel obligated to when over 50% of our sites visitors are using it. Why are you 50%+ doing this to us? Please switch browsers! Now! If you don’t do it for me, at least do it for the babies.

Thank you, and have a good day.

Other Browsers That Are Good Because Microsoft Does Not Make Them:

• Firefox
• Mozilla
• Opera
• Camino (Macs only)

That’s right. I’m back. I finally nailed myself down to a design (after about 30 that are sitting in the Layout Graveyard waiting for a proper burial), I followed it through, learned some new tricks along the way, and am ready to dish up some hot, steaming portions of regular posts… Just as soon as I get back from vacation.

That’s right. It’s time for our annual vacation to the north. We’re hitting Chicago and Milwaukee this week as part of the Lynn/Samuelson Annual Arctic Pilgrimage (LAAP (Lynn/Samuelson Annual Polar Pilgrimage (LAPP) works just as well)). We’re kicking off the dust of this small town, and going to the big city to visit restaurants that don’t serve us our “gourmet” pizza on a slab of cardboard torn to the size of the pizza because they “haven’t got around to buying pizza pans yet;” galleries where the artists don’t include their DNA in the paint; and shops that don’t have the word “Mart” in their name.

That’s right. Come back soon, because I have some things planned for the site, that I may actually see through for a while. Oh, and drop me a line if there seem to be some bugs in the way you are viewing this page (i.e. logos are askew, links aren’t working, you computer is broken, you’re still using Internet Explorer, etc.)

As I have been spending the majority of my time working on my wife’s website, and getting shows put up and taken down at work, this poor, sad, little site has been painfully adrift. I think I just got to the point that I wouldn’t post because there was too much pressure built up. The holiday break is coming up and my wife’s site is running smoothly (as far as I know), so I’m buckling down for a redesign and using the typical new-years-resolution to recommit myself to doing more thoughtful writing. Ah who am I kidding. I’ll just be happy to do some writing.

Lately I’ve been ODing on the glut of “art blogs” out there, and frankly, I can’t take much more. If art blogs were food, I’d be malnourished and diabetic. They all seem to feed on/circulate the same sugary politics and gossip while jealously worshipping anyone who got an Arts Journal blogging gig. Given, there are a few out there that are earnestly trying to talk about art and what that could mean, but they are few and far between. The saddest part is that the most stagnant art blogs are written by artists. I would expect that from trained art historians who worry themselves with identifying existing and established trends and styles, but not from artists.

The beauty of blogging is that it’s typically done for free. That lifts the restraints of writing about safe art, safe shows, and safe topics. It allows the writer to riff without a net. The writing can be more personal. Art can be a very personal thing, and art journalism can just be too academic. Musing is fully allowed because there is no sponsor or patron who has the final call on whether it prints or not. I would prefer to read art writing that tries something different and fails rather than simply failing because it takes the path-most-traveled.

Now that I’ve set up myself for a fall, I’ll disappear until I relaunch the site. Stay tuned. And thanks for reading. Both of you.

My wife, Maria, has been slaving tirelessly for the last few weeks to generate 50+ plush… things that she could take to the Wood Street Gallery’s Holiday Market in Chicago. She was biting her nails, hoping that the customers would be appreciative.

Entering the commercial market is never easy. There is always the fear that the supply will far outweigh the demand. There are worries about marketing, design, word-of-mouth, shipping, taxes, and a myriad of other things. This moat of commerce can get to be a bit of a downer, but its worth it when it orbits a little squishy, soft, painfully goofy looking, plush Blobby.

The Blobbies originated when Maria needed a baby shower gift, but didn’t want to give something that would likely end up a duplicate. So she took one of my little doodles from my Sunday sketchbook and fleshed it out in fleece and terry cloth. The Blobbies were born.

Since then, the response from friends, and friends-of-friends has been positive. But they’re friends. Friends are supposed to be positive. So going to a public market and launching an “official” site was a little daunting for Maria. But response at the market was positive and sales were brisk.

So this is my “unbiased” plug to go check out my wife’s website, let her know what you think, buy something if the notion strikes you (don’t be caught the day before Christmas Blobby-less), and tell your friends and family. They may like Blobbies too.

End plug.

About a week ago, my brother pointed out Plosz.com, a site that “borrowed” heavily from my wife’s site. Plosz’s designer gave credit to my brother’s site as an inspiration. Now, everything I learned about Movable Type and CSS, I learned from my brother, so that’s appropriate… sort of. As of today, Plosz has at least credited Maria’s site as a source. At the time, I was both bit miffed and flattered. I immediately posted something to this blog about copying others’ designs. I let it sit for a day, thought better of it, realizing I may have been a bit harsh and pulled the post.

Then an entry surfaced on Todd Dominey’s blog, What Do I Know, about a site that pirated his design. Typically, Dominey’s blog will garner around 20 comments per post. This post on design piracy harvested 52 (at the time I posted this). It seemed to have struck a nerve for a lot of designers — or at least provided a good platform to flame up and/or sound clever.

“Borrowing” code and layouts is a common practice. Yes, I too have cut and pasted code and been inspired by others when I slap together a site. But I hope that my sources aren’t so blatant that it looks like a complete rip-off. Maria’s site has a similar color scheme to Tiny Pineapple, but that’s what she wanted, and I don’t think it’s over the top. At least there are enough other differences that it stands on its own.

Initially, the color schemes, font choice, basic layout, CSS tag names on Plosz.com were all stolen from Maria’s site. the only differences were minor. At least the first graphic wasn’t completely pirated. What really got me was an entry in the Plosz blog:

“Yes, I’ve redesigned the site once again. I think I have found a structure and layout I’m happy with, so it will likely stay this way for awhile. The color choices and graphics still need some work, so there will be some aesthetic changes over the next while.”

I think “found a structure and layout” is appropriate phrasing. He “found” it and used it intact with miniscule adjustments.

However, Plosz still hasn’t fallen too far from the tree. I glanced back to the site a few times over the last week. The color scheme changed, but then the logo began to look more and more familiar. It now looks like a sepia toned version of Maria’s with a posterized wedding photo in place of Maria’s feet. Tonight, the last straw was that the background pattern can now be selected to be the exact same one on Maria’s site. And he once again misplaces the credit. The background pattern is from the mecca of all background patterns — SquidFingers (via Maria’s site, of course) not http://www.hot.ee/stripped as Plosz has credited. The URL and thumbanail images of Britney Spears were enough to keep me from further investigation.

I’m not really ticked enough to email Plosz and call him on it. Why should I? It’s not like he’s making any money off of it. Besides, maybe he’s just getting the hang of it all and needs a little time to find some footing and an original voice. He could have just used one of the many free layouts provided by Movable Type, but…well, I can’t really come up with a reason to counter that one. But if his site continues to mimic Maria’s, I hope he at least has the decency to mail us five dollars or a Krispy Kreme gift certificate, or something… anything. We’re poor, the Ploszs have some cash — you should see their wedding.

Bibliography:
Screen shot of Plosz.
Pirated-Sites.com
SitePoint article by Cameron Moll (a fellow Orem-ite)
Andy Budd - Sub:Lime Discussion

I’ve been doing a little tinkering [ahem], and I’ve created a separate blog for the items that have been relegated to the sidebar under Perusing. Yeah, over there to the right, below the browsers lower margin, there are things you’ve never seen; worlds you’ve never dreamed of…

Perusing has been a section created to house links to sites that I have found interesting, but see no reason to dedicate a full-blown blog entry to. For the time being, you can comment if you’d like. This is just a test run. However, Perusing may go the way of the Dodo in a month or so. Newsfeeds are also available in RSS 2.0 and Atom 0.3. If you’d like a newsfeed in RSS 1.0 just let me know, but right now, I’m a bit tired.

And lastly, Does Kentucky Fried Chicken really think that they’re fooling anyone by calling themselves KFC and then “slyly” trying to change the acronym’s meaning to Kitchen Fresh Chicken? The Colonel is still ominously looming in the background with his beady, little eyes and the chicken is still deep fried. It’s Kentucky Fried Chicken, for the love of Pete! It’s fast food! And have you been in a KFC lately? There is nothing “fresh” about KFC’s kitchens. Don’t buy the hype. Fight the power, brothers and sisters. Good day.

It’s about -25° F outside right now with wind-chill, and it’s about 60° F in my office at work (according to the building manager who came in and measured it with a laser - a laser?!). But I digress…

This is the official announcement/coming out party/debutante’s ball for Maria’s new website:

http://www.tinypineapple.com/maria/

Maria has now joined the Tiny Pineapple franchise and is expected to continue its legacy of quality web content. Peruse the nooks and crannies of Maria’s site, browse her portfolio, and check back often.

Rock over London. Rock over Chicago. Folgers, good to the last drop.

Just to let you know (both of you), the site now has all the features it was meant to have when I redesigned it last August. Here is just a little tour of the new junk:

• My portfolio - As I mentioned before, I have gone back and included many old paintings, installations, videos, and performances to the site which are now accessible from the menu at the left. And as of today, the portfolio also looks like the rest of the blog.
• Menus - Every section of the website now has a different menu, so now you don’t have to look at the recent comments on every page. As part of the new menus, I have included a “currently reading” and “currently listening to” section on the about page. So now you can see what I’m reading and what I’m listening to and say to yourself, “Boy, I thought I couldn’t have cared less, but as it turns out, I can!” I’ve included this stuff mainly to see if I could do it and to force myself to read more.
• RSS feed - Really, I had no clue what this was until about an hour ago. So for any of you who may have a news reader, here you go. You can keep track of every last entry I put on this site through the blog’s RSS syndication. I’ve also included RSS for the portfolio section so you can find out when I post a new art work. Once again, this is more for my benefit than yours.
• Perusing - On the main page you’ll notice a little section to the left called “perusing.” This is just a summary of some intersting sites and articles that I’ve come across on the web. Sometimes I don’t even agree with what is said, I just find the ideas interesting. These are just things I want to share.
• Categories - Each entry now has a category under which it is filed for easy reference. And if you are bored spitless with my ramblings on art, then you can just avoid that category all together.

I couldn’t help myself. Honestly I couldn’t. Everytime I looked at my old website, I felt like I was reading the ingredients panel on a box of generic grits. It was so plain. The logo was so… <shudder>. I prefer not to think about it. So this was an impulse redesign. I’ll be coming back and changing things here and there for the next few weeks, I’m sure.

So what do you think? Am I wrong? Is this better? Is this crap? Someone? Anyone? This is a cry for help.

I have a tendency to tinker. If I can try new options and features in a painting, video, or website in a risk-free environment, try I will. That would explain why this website redesign has been five months in the making. Behind the scenes I have generated a dozen different layouts, an admirably vast graveyard of logos, and my site maps are legion.

I am not saying that I am 100% happy with the results that you are looking at (or 50% for that matter), but when I have a deadline I stop tinkering. I have an exhibit opening in Miami on September 6th at the Dorsch Gallery and my wife and I will be moving immediately after that. So I don’t really have the time to rework the logo or change the background color for the umpteenth time.

Dorsch Gallery Show Announcement 60K

A few things are missing:

• My portfolio - It can still be accessed at the old address (note: as of 11.30.03 my portfolio has moved to its new location and can be accessed through the main menu) but as I get a better hang of CSS and Movable Type the portfolio will show up on the site with a slew of new paintings, skteches, and videos.


• SUBRAB - The Utah Valley Music Archive has gone into retirement due to lack of disk space on the server. If you have any requests for music, just let me know and I’ll get around to sending you a CD…eventually…maybe.


• The Guest Star - This was a miserable failure. I got two responses from the plethora of emails I sent out to fellow artists to have a little niche on my website. So it had to be let go. Don’t worry, I gave it two weeks notice, a decent severance pay, and some letters of recommendation. It should probably find employment before I do.


• Musaque - With the demise of Radio Free Tiny Pineapple and SUBRAB there seemed little reason to keep it going.


• Splash Screen - Splash screens are sooooo 1999.

So thanks to the unfailing help and patience of my ingenious brother, “Grettir,” I have a new look to the site and a blog. Why do I have a blog? Who knows? They really shouldn’t put tools like this in the hands of the general public.