Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play
Categories: artists, pottery, television, wheelthrowing

Another week of pottery fun on “The Great Pottery Throw Down”
this time very illuminating & illustrative! Plenty of wheelthrowing which I could watch forever… but let’s just say there were some people struggling, some bisque explosions & some poor design choices! Good TV for all !!!

Click here to watch this week’s episode on YouTube!

Categories: pottery, television, YouTube

So it was Week Four in The Middleport Pottery…
this time tackling slip casting & a wonderful wheelthrowing challenge that none of them saw coming! Another great episode on THE GREAT POTTERY THROW DOWN.

Click here to watch episode four on YouTube!

And here’s a “hint” of what they didn’t see coming…
always a fun game to play with my students both adults & kids at camp!!!

Categories: pottery, television

For those of you who have been enjoying the projects that my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class has been making… be sure to watch the newest episode of The Great Pottery Throw Down! It’s the inspiration for our class… although I can guarantee that we won’t be tackling raku firing as they did this week on the TV Show!

Click here to watch episode three on YouTube!

Categories: pottery, television

WHOO-HOO!… IT’S BACK!!!

And what perfect timing… as we’ve just started our own version with The Great Lillstreet Throwdown…the third season of THE GREAT POTTERY THROW DOWN is back!!! After a four-year hiatus, apparently the show was picked-up by a different TV station across the pond. So now it’s returned with a new host, a new judge… and the same ever-emotionally crying critic Keith Brymer Jones!

I don’t know if you can watch it here on American TV anywhere…
but you can click here to see Season Three Episode One on YouTube!!!

And don’t forget… if you’ve missed Seasons One & Two… I’m pretty sure you can binge watch them all om YouTube as well. So start from the beginning…and enjoy the journey!!!

Categories: pottery, production, television, vases

With all of the crazy stories about a certain EMPIRE star these days
I thought it might be fun to do a Flashback Friday to 2016
when some of my pottery made its big debut on EMPIRE
only to be smashed!!!

Click here to see more about the story & production!

Then click here to see how it went down on the show!!!
And by “went down” I literally mean smashing DOWN on the floor!!!

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Categories: Chicago, television

While 9/11 will forever go down as one of the most tragic days in history, there is another landmark historical event that happened on 9/11. Fifty-seven years ago today “BOZO CIRCUS” debuted on WGN in Chicago! While I was not even born then, I did get my chance several years later to attend a couple of tapings live in the WGN Studio. I even got to play the group game at the end of the show! My partner and I had to stack cup-saucer-cup-saucer-cup-saucer as high as we could on the end of a baseball bat. WE WON!!! And our prize was the Scooby-Doo 3D ViewMaster Slide Projector!!! Sure wish I still had THAT one!!!

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Categories: television

You know how I LOVE the TV show “SURVIVOR”!!!
I’ve watched every episode… every season… every castaway!!!
Love it so much that we actually gamble on it.

But this time, it looks like they may be gambling with us?!!!

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Categories: television

Unfortunately, I can’t find BBC2 on my cable anywhere!!!
Guess I’ll need to wait to find it on YouTube in a couple days?!

Categories: holiday, television

Tired of the capitalism of Christmas?
Frustrated with crowded stores and fighting over that one doll left on the shelf?
Well, here’s an alternative. A new holiday… a FESTIVUS for the rest of us!

No Christmas Tree to decorate. Just a simple aluminum pole.
No Christmas Carols… just the “Airing of Grievances.”
No Christmas Presents… just the “Feats of Strength.”
Enticing, right?

Click here for a “Seinfeld” FESTIVUS recap video on YouYube.
… and another piece of the puzzle falls in place!

And nothing says “Christmas” like all the happy faces around the table.

So here’s an addition to consider for EVERYONE’s gift list for next year…

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Categories: creativity, holiday, television

Okay, so I’m not a huge fan of Mariah Carey. So there. I said it.
But I do like James Corden… and I LOVE Carpool Karaoke!!!
So this one is pretty cute… and it just gets better.

Click here to watch the Carpool Karaoke Video on YouTube!

I love when a plan comes together!!!
And they must have been planning this one for quite some time!!!
Just some of the others in the car…