SomaCow

 

 200: Refired [58:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

SomaCow Media is proud to present SomaCow, brought to you in this hour by Keila’s Glassworks, located here in sunny Orlando. Check out their awesome demo video, and get to blowin’!

In this, our 200th episode, we wrapped up our Trivia competition with Curtis Earth, we discussed our visit to Keila’s incredible studio, and we discussed the beauty of art for art’s sake.

I am still flabbergasted at the results of our Trivia fest. I do not doubt the answers given by Curtis, as I know he is steadfast and earnest. But I am a little distraught as to the fact that he was sitting NEXT to the person that won. Shenanigans? Certainly not Bennigan’s, they done closed up shop. Perhaps just Goings On. I am content to say that there may have been some fierce Goings On.

We bid a fond adieu (for now) to Mr. Earth, who gave us good radio and had to be at some massive party or sales meeting or anything more important than us, and Mickey and I filled J in (ew) on our Friday afternoon field trip. I may start making these a regular thing here on SomaCow, as they help widen my family’s view of the world, provide a nice escape after a week of slogging in the cubicle mines, and, well, they sure do help for show topics! If you have a weird, neat, cool, scary, or just plain interesting place I can visit on a Friday, drop me a line, won’t you please? Thanks.

So, this week was Keila’s Glassworks, a relatively new institution here in Orlando. Leasing space from the City Arts Factory here in The City Beautiful, Charles Keila and his family and staff have carved out a niche in our city quick-like. The purpose of the studio is blowing glass, for sale, for instructional purposes, and for entertainment. It gets a 10 out of 10 for all three in my opinion.

I first heard about Kelia’s while watching The Travel Channel. How’s that for lazy? Place is here in MY CITY, and I have to wait for Samantha Brown to come yapping across the screen before I am aware. No, I was not WATCHING Samantha Brown… I was, um, waiting for Anthony Bordain to come on and stuff. Yeah. We’ll get to her, just you wait.

We called up the place and set an appointment, and inquired as to prices. Depending on what you want, the prices vary as to how much time you will spend in studio, and what you will be making. I wanted the full hog, training, tumbler making, vase blowing, adding on extrys, so I opted for “The Experience“. I am glad I did, because when we emerged, three hours later, soaking with perspiration and creative juices (ew), we had a whole damn shelf-worth of beautiful works of art to show for it. Suffice it to say, it costs less than Disney, but then, so does everything.

We met Front Madame Meg, Journeyman Justin, and Shadow the Apprentice, as the owner was out during our visit, and I could not have been more impressed by their friendliness, competency, and hospitality. Meg got us set up in no time, explaining some of what we would be doing, and Justin and Shadow gave us a complete demo, pausing to explain the process in great detail, and no matter how many questions I shot off, they each responded with enthusiasm and intelligence.

It’s tough to remember all that we did, as its a blur of molten honey-lava, pole cracking, tong squeezing, and laughter, but I do remember these salient points from the whole experience:

1. You really, really have no idea how toasty 2400 degrees is. From the dual fired propane furnace, to the “Glory Hole” (ew), I know exactly where I am heading next time there is a cold snap here in Florida. Justin and I compared shirts afterwards, and, yeah… It’s hot in there. Bring anti-perspirant, and you’ll be fine.

2. You can screw up your creation. From over pressing with the caliper like squeezy things to over or under heating the glass, all the way to picking out a daft color arrangement, you CAN make the beautiful turn ugly, or, at the very least, wobbly. The difference here is that Justin and Shadow were there at all times to swoop in and fix it for you, if fixing is what you need. So nice to have a safety net, especially after 40 minutes toiling and turning a vase.

3. You are not going to create that incredible filigreed super awesome THING in the corner, but you will be amazed at the beauty and realness of what you have crafted. Given time, and opportunity, you will get better. I am thrilled to be learning the basics, and cannot wait to try some more.

 

 SomaCow 199: Sorry, Sir, but the Monkey has Spoken. [57:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

SomaCow Media is proud to present SomaCow, brought to you in this hour by EarthTrivia.com – Check ‘em out!

In this episode we reviewed some listener mail, discussed my love for Taco Salad at Tijuana Flats, and had in Curtis Earth for some innerviewin’ and trivianatin’!

We get a lot of listener mail, from diet advice to cash donations to cows (seriously, I love the cows, thank you to everyone that sends cows), to coffee to cds and more… But this week was a doozie, with books from Randolph LaLonde for review, dutch hats and shoes, and a special gift from our listener, Seadad, deployed somewhere in the middle east. SomaCow now proudly displays a flag that flew over his vessel in country, and we are honored beyond words. Tune in to our Ustream channel to check out the flag, and help us in sending your thoughts to the troops still stationed overseas.

Since my eyes are already watering, we might as well finish the taco salad recipe. These are the keys to happiness, and I am happy to give them to you. Head to Tijuana Flats, and opt for the taco salad chicken (blackened, if you like that sort of thing), hold the olives, keep the jalapenos (danger!) and add on some refried beans. It’s just soooooo good, people! I would also suggest making it “wet”, which is where the staff cover your dish in queso, but somehow, a salad dripping with spicy velveeta just does not FEEL healthy. It does, sorta, feel squishy.

We enjoyed a visit from a man I really respect here in Orlando, namely, Curtis Earth. If you are a fan of trivia, you cannot go wrong in attending one of his various trivia ventures, or just tuning in to his show here. We get some inside scoop on Curtis, including his sales fashion sense, why and how he got into the trivia hosting business, and we enjoy a quick 10 questions courtesy of his skilled cerebrum. Listeners are invited to participate in the questions in this hour, and we will post hour two with all the answers on July 30th.

We eschewed music in this hour, simply because it was too jam packed with good talk. Fear not, and maybe take this opportunity to visit our band page, familiarize yourselves with some of these great groups, and mail me some requests for the show!

Thanks, as always, for tuning in. See you guys on Wednesday!

“Yeah, uh-huh, that’s right…we bad…”

I’m referring, of course, to team SomaCow.net’s recent victory in the Gameshow Radio “Titans of Trivia” contest, hosted by Curtis Earth, a man who is to trivia what David White is to old TV sitcom bosses.

I don’t get out much in the mornings, so the drive to the radio station was exciting for me. I passed a strip club whose marquee advertised “Spring Blowout”. I don’t know what that means. I guess I don’t get out much in the evenings, either.

Joining me in delivering the trivia ass-kickery were our own producer Ross, and the flight-worthy Bill, a loyal, if distant, fan. Combined, we felt we outweighed the competition by as many pounds as IQ points.

Our opponents were a trio of punk-ass bitches young men preparing to graduate from Rollins College. Their team name was “Potty Trained” (or something like that), so you get an idea of the high academic standards of that fine educational edifice.

The youngsters chided us for our advanced age, suggesting that we might win if most of the questions were related to vaudeville, The Great Depression, or “tv and film star Kitty Carlisle”. We returned their good natured ribbing by replying that Potty Trained might win if the questions concerned how to pwn n00bz for phat lootz in World of Warcraft, having adults buy beer for you, or “getting your ass handed to you by hot, witty guys much older than you”.

We took our places at the microphones for the first round of questions, which was “mano a mano” (spanish for “mayo with mayo”). Ross did well, I didn’t totally suck, and Bill rocked, too. At the end of this first round, the score was tied at four, sending Potty Trained into fits of celebration “(”Dude!”, “Whoa, dude!”, “Dude!”) accompanied by much heartfelt dapping.

The second round consisted of five questions. Each team wrote down their answers, and were allowed to confer with their teammates. Bill surprised Ross and me with his vast aquatic knowledge, Ross surprised Bill and me with his intimate familiarity with rich guys’ wives, and I surprised everyone by remembering to spray the Renuzit after I used the studio restroom.

When the dust, and my Rooty-Tooty-Fresh-n-Fruity from IHOP, had settled, team SomaCow.net emerged victorious by the unbelievably manly score of 24-9. Twenty-four to nine. XXIV vs IX. Our score was nearly three times theirs. I told them I wouldn’t rub it in. Twenty-freaking-four to a measley, quite feminine, nine.

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and hope to go again someday when I am allowed time off from my day job again, which I estimate should occur sometime before the sun swells to engulf the Earth. In the meantime, we plan to send Mickey in to bat cleanup.

We hope to God they have some questions about hunky stud movie stars and Miley Cyrus.

<This is where the picture of us would have gone if Ross had sent it to me>

<Oh, no, wait, here it is…>