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firing on new year's eve

updated thu 9 dec 99

 

Chris Campbell on mon 22 nov 99

Hi all -

Could we have a show of hands for everyone who will be wood firing at
midnight on New Years Eve?? Is it possible that we could be firing all over
the world at midnight?

The idea that we could spend the evening working at the same job that
some potters must have been doing at the turn of the last millenium ( and
possibly the ones before that ) is awe inspiring.

If you would like to e-mail me I would be pleased to report back to the
list. Wood firings or other primitive firings only.

Chris - in Carolina

Merrie Boerner on tue 23 nov 99

GREAT MINDS !!!!
I'm firing Mother for about 57 hours to come to cone around midnight Dec.
31,1999...We are having 4 potters from Boston to participate....driving all
the way down to Hog Chain Mississippi !!! Imagine that !!! The 30th we
will have a blues band, and the 31st a rock band...my college age kids and
there friends will be here to enjoy the flame and visiting potters....I'll
be stokin and dancin ; ) Can't think of a better way to bring in the New
Millennium !
HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!!
Merrie in Mississippi

Sylvia See on tue 23 nov 99

What a Great Idea!!!!! I just phoned a potter friend who is going to make a
Millennium mask and my brain cells are running overtime thinking of what I
will make. You bet up here in the cold north, Claresholm, is jumping at the
chance to steal this great idea. It took only one minute with a quick phone
call to get this idea rolling here. God must have been looking after me,
while I made bricks for 2 years only to find out I certainly did not want to
gas fire in the kiln I had made. However, it will make an excellent
primitive firing kiln, and big enough for alot of pots. I already have the
wood and sawdust collected, just have to get busy with the pots. The snacks
and food are planned, and the party is on. Yahoo!!!!
Sylvia See Claresholm, Alberta Canada sylviac@telusplanet.net
Sometimes I think I understand everything,
Then I regain consciousness.
----- Original Message -----
From: Chris Campbell
To:
Sent: Monday, November 22, 1999 8:52 AM
Subject: Firing on New Year's Eve


> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Hi all -
>
> Could we have a show of hands for everyone who will be wood firing at
> midnight on New Years Eve?? Is it possible that we could be firing all
over
> the world at midnight?
>
> The idea that we could spend the evening working at the same job that
> some potters must have been doing at the turn of the last millenium ( and
> possibly the ones before that ) is awe inspiring.
>
> If you would like to e-mail me I would be pleased to report back to
the
> list. Wood firings or other primitive firings only.
>
> Chris - in Carolina
>

Earl Brunner on tue 23 nov 99

For anyone who *is not* one of the exclusive wood firing types (I hasten to add
that I'm sure not *all* wood firers are so exclusive) and would still like to:
"spend the evening working at the same job that some potters must have been
doing at the turn of the last millenium ( and possibly the ones before that
)...."
I like the idea, I think I'll plan on doing it with my gas kiln, anyone else
out there like the idea? Heck I'll even let electric kilns in on the game. We
should be ok as long as Y2K doesn't shaft us.
(are we sure that the potters at the end of the last millenium weren't more
interested in getting un-sober than they were interested in firing their
kilns?)

Chris Campbell wrote:

> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Hi all -
>
> Could we have a show of hands for everyone who will be wood firing at
> midnight on New Years Eve?? Is it possible that we could be firing all over
> the world at midnight?
>
> The idea that we could spend the evening working at the same job that
> some potters must have been doing at the turn of the last millenium ( and
> possibly the ones before that ) is awe inspiring.
>
> If you would like to e-mail me I would be pleased to report back to the
> list. Wood firings or other primitive firings only.
>
> Chris - in Carolina

--
Earl Brunner
bruec@anv.net
http://coyote.accessnv.com/bruec

Janet Kaiser on wed 24 nov 99

------------------
Would all you wood imps please consider making a tile or two for The Path to
fire on 31-Dec-99?
We will be =22opening=22 The International Potters' Path at 24:00 hrs GMT =
here in
Criccieth, GB-Wales but we still need 4,000 plus tiles to complete the =
project.
It would be great to have some work which was actually fired the time The =
Path
was =22launched=22. All very meaningful and portentous - especially if we =
all fall
off the end of the Y2K scale and cannot communicate for hours, days, weeks =
or
until we can afford a new PC/Mac.

Thanks

Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art: Home of The International Potters' Path
Criccieth LL52 0EA, GB-Wales, UK
WEBSITE: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
EMAIL: postbox=40the-coa.org.uk
LAST UPDATE: 22-Nov-99 with news on The Path.

SAM YANCY on wed 24 nov 99

Is there anyone in the San Francisco Bay area that would be interested in
doing this? I have lots of work ready to fire, and agree that this would be a
good way to bring in the new year! Peace, Mary Jean

Louise on fri 26 nov 99

At 10:52 AM 11/22/99 EST, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Hi all -
>
> Could we have a show of hands for everyone who will be wood firing at
>midnight on New Years Eve?? Is it possible that we could be firing all over
>the world at midnight?
>
> The idea that we could spend the evening working at the same job that
>some potters must have been doing at the turn of the last millenium ( and
>possibly the ones before that ) is awe inspiring.
>
> If you would like to e-mail me I would be pleased to report back to the
>list. Wood firings or other primitive firings only.
>
>Chris - in Carolina
>
>Hi Chris;
I will be firing a sawdaust kiln at midnight.
Louise

Jinjer Stanton on fri 26 nov 99

This idea is lovely. All I have is a tiny electric jewelry kiln, but I
DO have that. My pots get better daily, so maybe I'll have something
worth firing for the millenium.

How many of you wake up with "visions" of a new pot to throw--one that
stretches your abilities beyond what you thought you were capable of?
It's happened to me twice now.

Jinjer

___________________
Earl Brunner wrote:

>For anyone who *is not* one of the exclusive wood firing types (I hasten to add
>that I'm sure not *all* wood firers are so exclusive) and would still like to:
>"spend the evening working at the same job that some potters must have been
>doing at the turn of the last millenium ( and possibly the ones before that
)...."
>I like the idea, I think I'll plan on doing it with my gas kiln, anyone else
>out there like the idea? Heck I'll even let electric kilns in on the game. We
>should be ok as long as Y2K doesn't shaft us.
>(are we sure that the potters at the end of the last millenium weren't more
>interested in getting un-sober than they were interested in firing their
kilns?)

Mo and Les Beardsley on sun 28 nov 99



Louise wrote:

> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> At 10:52 AM 11/22/99 EST, you wrote:
> >----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> >Hi all -
> >
> > Could we have a show of hands for everyone who will be wood firing at
> >midnight on New Years Eve?? Is it possible that we could be firing all over
> >the world at midnight?
> >
> > The idea that we could spend the evening working at the same job that
> >some potters must have been doing at the turn of the last millenium ( and
> >possibly the ones before that ) is awe inspiring.
> >
> > If you would like to e-mail me I would be pleased to report back to the
> >list. Wood firings or other primitive firings only.
> >
> >Chris - in Carolina
> >
> >Hi Chris;
> I will be firing a sawdaust kiln at midnight.
> Louise

Hi Louise
Where will you be firing...sounds neat.
See you on the 4th
Love Mo

Lana Reeves on sun 28 nov 99

------------------
What a wonderful idea=21 Don't have a wood kiln, but I've talked to a few =
friends
at Mudflat and we'll be doing a gas reduction firing through the night, and
feeling like part of a much bigger Millenium-eve party. I think the =
possibility
of losing gas here in Somerville is remote. Electricity not much more =
likely,
but if it does happen, all we'd lose would be the booster, so the firing =
would
take a little longer.

If we all think firey thoughts at once, will we spontaneously combust?

Lana in Somerville, MA
kilnkat=40rcn.com =3D=5E..=5E=3D

David Hendley on wed 1 dec 99

I hate to be the bearer of bad news (well, not really)
but did you all planning to fire your kilns realize that
on New Year's Eve the moon will be in the last stages
of waning before the new moon?
A kiln should always be fired when the moon is WAXING,
not waning!
This is not superstition. I read it in a book,
"The Three Books of the Potter's Art", by
Cipriano Piccolpasso (1524-1579). I'm not sure if this
rule applies to electric kilns, as the author does not
directly address electric firing.

--
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
hendley@tyler.net
http://www.farmpots.com/

Cindy Strnad on thu 2 dec 99

Cute, David . . .

You read it in a book. It must be so, then.

The last time I started a fire (for hot dogs and marshmallows at a little
girl's birthday party) in my (approved) outdoor fireplace, I had half a
dozen firemen in the front pasture putting it out. Hey, I'm isolated
here--no television, hardly listen to the radio, no newspapers--how was I
supposed to know all fire permits had been rescinded? We went inside and
roasted our marshmallows over candles (with the blinds drawn--just in case).

Anyway, all you pyrofiends, be sure you have a burning permit if necessary.
If not, you might really have some Y2K fireworks, courtesy of the local
forest service fire dept.

Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels Pottery
Custer, SD

Earl Brunner on thu 2 dec 99

Indeed, that may have held true for circa 1524-1579, but heck, that's half
way from the last millenium to this one! Besides, they *never* told me that
one while working on my BFA. I do know that some of the guys liked to pee
on the outside of the kiln (probably to provoke the kiln god) during a
firing. Mostly it just made the studio rather unpleasant for awhile.

David Hendley wrote:

> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> I hate to be the bearer of bad news (well, not really)
> but did you all planning to fire your kilns realize that
> on New Year's Eve the moon will be in the last stages
> of waning before the new moon?
> A kiln should always be fired when the moon is WAXING,
> not waning!
> This is not superstition. I read it in a book,
> "The Three Books of the Potter's Art", by
> Cipriano Piccolpasso (1524-1579). I'm not sure if this
> rule applies to electric kilns, as the author does not
> directly address electric firing.
>
> --
> David Hendley
> Maydelle, Texas
> hendley@tyler.net
> http://www.farmpots.com/

--
Earl Brunner
http://coyote.accessnv.com/bruec
mailto:bruec@anv.net

Morris S. Davis on sat 4 dec 99

Here are some remarks from a retired professor of astronomy. I hope the
author of the ill tidings below had his tongue in cheek as he provided us
with warnings of doom that have been rife for thousands of years. Remember
Comet Kohoutek and even more recent astronomical events which religious
fanatics equated with the Apocolypse.

There are many, many wrong headed notions about the moon. As you proably
know, a "lunatic" is one affected by the moon. Most of these come from lack
of understanding that even an elementary course in astronomy could correct.

Not being familiar with Piccolpasso, I looked him up on the Internet and
not only confirmed his existence and the book he wrote mentioned by David
Hendley, but also saw very interesting woodcuts of kilns being fired
hundreds of years ago. Piccolpasso was a practitioner of majolica and left
his mark on Italian potters and the pottery world of the time.

As to what Piccolpasso wrote about firing while the moon was waxing, take
that with the appropriate size grain of salt. Remember that contemporary
books also claimed that the sun and all the planets known at the time
revolved around the earth according to the accepted Ptolemaic theory which
had existed for more than a thousand years.

Morris Davis
Morehead Professor of Astronomy (Emeritus)

On Wed, 1 Dec 1999, David Hendley wrote:

> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> I hate to be the bearer of bad news (well, not really)
> but did you all planning to fire your kilns realize that
> on New Year's Eve the moon will be in the last stages
> of waning before the new moon?
> A kiln should always be fired when the moon is WAXING,
> not waning!
> This is not superstition. I read it in a book,
> "The Three Books of the Potter's Art", by
> Cipriano Piccolpasso (1524-1579). I'm not sure if this
> rule applies to electric kilns, as the author does not
> directly address electric firing.
>
> --
> David Hendley
> Maydelle, Texas
> hendley@tyler.net
> http://www.farmpots.com/
>

David Hendley on wed 8 dec 99

I'd like to suggest the Winter Solstice, December 22nd, as a great
time to fire your kiln.
The solace and the full moon will occur on the same day.
The moon will be at it's perigee, the point in the moon's
orbit when it is closest to the earth.
According to my friend, who works for NASA and is an astronomer:

The moon will appear about 14% larger than it does at apogee
(the point in it's elliptical orbit that is farthest from the
Earth). Since the Earth is also several million miles closer
to the sun at this time of the year than in the summer, sunlight
striking the moon is about 7% stronger making it brighter.
Also, this will be the closest perigee of the Moon of the year
since the moon's orbit is constantly deforming.

If the weather is clear and there is a snow cover where you
live, it is believed that even car headlights will be superfluous.
In laymen's terms it will be a super bright full moon,
much more than the usual AND it hasn't happened this way for
133 years!

I don't know what this confluence would mean in the Southern
Hemisphere.

--
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
hendley@tyler.net
http://www.farmpots.com/