Ping Pong Balls

Well , Larry and I talked tonight. First good talk since Saturday. As we talked I thought of Don Herbert - " Mr. Wizard ". The coolest thing I ever saw was Don Herbert toss a ping pong ball onto a ping pong table, covered with mouse traps. .

This is 1959 folks, and I was about to drag our PhilCo TV to my 6th grade class in my long forgotten red wagon. Just so we could see all those very early rockets explode in black & white.

" Mr. Wizard " was explaining nuclear fission to all us baby boomers, and he had baited all those mouse traps with more ping pong balls.
Imagine a ping pong table covered , completely carpeted with mouse traps. EACH BAITED with 1 ping pong ball.

So Don tells us about splitting the atom. Why it works in reactors, & why it works in the bomb.
Then he tossed one ball onto that table, what follows next isn't a bunch of dominoes falling down .
It's pure insight into a nuclear chain reaction.

50 years later, as I listened to my friend Larry , I was just thinking of all those ping pong balls going everywhere.

One of our ping pong balls -

Paul Aguilar's Images of from 7-11-09.

The July DAM-Off The Charts

This weekend was a resounding smash. That's all that can be said. It was a group effort, a community event and a whole lot of fun all rolled into one...a neighborhood happening. We had 29 Artists, 7 produce and plant vendors, Mad Solar Scientist Colorado Bob experimenting and...drum roll please...over 600 people through the Market. People that numbered more than doubled in 60 days, 3 markets. Everyone who participated and supported this should be very proud of it, it was a killer event.
Tornado Gallery and The Downtown Art Market would really like to thank all the Artists who have been there all events and the ones who continue to sign on, all the growers who came this time and from now on to add another local flair to it all, and to the folks who get out and buy items -that's a key- this is a great event but to sell thangs is what its about, these Artists and Growers pour their time and hearts into their crafts and plants and by purchasing, them y'all are showing that you want local items, local food and want this to be a success-that is a great thang.
The Lubbock Arts Alliance,The Lubbock Avalanche Journal and McDougal Properties really stepped up to the plate and helped knock this one out of the park...Thank You!

Tony Greer, Jennifer Greer, Colorado Bob, our unsung hero Randy Fisher-Fish- who does our remarkable graphics and I want to express our thanks to every one of you out there who sold, showed or supported The Downtown Art Market...please keep it up and we will too!
Larry Simmons

Farmers Market Meeting

This is a nice shot of the first meeting for the Fresh Produce and Plants arm of the Downtown Art Market. Over 40 food gurus, growers, consumers and Downtown supporters gathered in Peggy Chapman's Garden at the Gallery to discuss the next step in this evolving concept. This will be a great market in July with 6, maybe more folks adding natural items to the markets wares.
The Downtown Art Market thanks each and everyone of those people who came to help in this project.

The Second Market and Beyond

Folks this idea is catching on, the second Art Market was another blistering success, blistering as in the heat! Every one of our Marketers deserves a huge pat on the back for hanging tough. As we all know Lubbock is hot, and it rang true on the 13th...hot. We increased our vendor count, stayed almost the same on customer traffic and again we saw people leaving with purchased items, thats right our Artists sold things. This Market is as much an attempt to make The Hub a cool place to buy Art, as it is an experiment in community effort. Maybe that should be "communal" effort-whichever it is a group of people who come together on the second Saturday each month and bring a little neighborly spirit to Downtown Lubbock. Why not get on board.

Whats in store for the future you ask...so do we, what do y'all see. The July Downtown Art Market will see (hopefully) our first produce people with more to come. We want to add a fresh produce/food thang to the Downtown Art Market, we'd like to see demos of some of the Art displayed, looking for a glass bead maker to work in the ArtLab, we have lots of ideas ahead, and we'll keep on trying to increase our traffic flow.We hope everyone will stick with us and tell their friends, this is a labor of Love but also a work of Art, and we want everyone to help in its creation.
Larry

Lubbock Farmers Market Grass Roots Committee

Our Second Market

" There's Indians in that Tee Pee, I just know it. "

Aerial shot from Tony Greer




Our Next Market is July 11th. See you there.

The June 13th Downtown Art Market

Its that second Saturday and that means The Downtown Art Market...this Saturday at 9am. The first was a success despite the unfavorable weather, and this one will be bigger. We want everyone who reads this to come out and support this event. This is a terrific way for artists, families and neighbors to come together and support Lubbock Arts. We have a wide variety of wares and vendors and there have been more sign up, We think we have something here...a grassroots event for everyone, for a good cause. Lets keep this rolling and just get bigger and better...see y'all Saturday.
Larry Simmons