Cowboy Who?

#Mia #Ully #RoninWarriors

Twenty-five years ago, Glasstire went live on the World Wide Web. It was a different time: people weren’t chronically online (if they were even online at all), Enron was still a solvent company (allegedly), and Texas was flush with art writing. Publications across the state had full-time art critics; alt-weeklies still wrote art reviews; there was an unbridled sense of space, opportunity, and the ungratifying but simultaneously limitless potential of being located nowhere near “the center” of the art world.  

Today, our world is different: we’ve realized that obsession and overengagement with the internet and with our devices is a serious concern, our economic environment is unmoored, and Glasstire is one of the last surviving bastions of criticism in Texas. Art writers no longer get into public (written) arguments, in part because there are so few critics left, and in part because media outlets are devoting increasingly small column space to visual art coverage. There is still, however, a permeating sense of possibility that emanates throughout Texas, even as our state has become better connected to major art cities. 

When Rainey Knudson, our founding Publisher, launched our site 25 years ago, from the jump it was publishing serious criticism by Texas writers. The artist Bill Davenport, who would later design our art fair installations, become our Editor, and do myriad other odd jobs for Glasstire, was our first-ever writer. His column of 50+ reviews, Tire Iron, ran in Glasstire’s early years and prompted community letters to the editor, which we also ran as their own posts.   

Glasstire started out serious, and at the same time had a slapdash quality to it that was fittingly appropriate for the days of the early internet and also for the young upstart role it was playing in Texas’ art community. Even though there were other newspapers and outlets covering local art scenes, Glasstire, by the virtue of being online and not in print (and therefore immediately responsive), was designed to connect Texas’ disparate artistic scenes with each other. Rainey’s vision was one of a network, of a web, of artists in Amarillo being aware of what artists in Brownsville were working on. 

Over time, Glasstire’s structure shifted, in part because the internet changed. We eventually nixed the message boards, which were home in the early years to hot gossip and speculation, as well as genuine, earnest discussions about art. We beefed up our news reporting to more thoroughly cover what was happening across the state. We went from a more blog and author-driven format (anyone remember Betsy Lewis’ Don’t Look. Okay Look., Margaret Meehan’s Melba Toast, Lucia Simek’s Shelf Life, Ivan Lozano’s Capital A, etc.) to a more traditional publication structure, helmed by an Editor-in-Chief. 

Changes to our publication also reflected Glasstire’s new roles and responsibilities in Texas’ art communities: alt-weeklies began to die out; newspapers axed full-time art critic jobs and slowed (or stopped) their publishing about visual art altogether; Art Lies, the longtime magazine based in Texas that I think of as Glasstire’s print foil, ceased publishing in 2011. As Glasstire grew up, it assumed more responsibility in a shrinking landscape of art writing. For those of us working for the publication, it has been a double-edged sword: we’re proud of the work we’ve been able to do and of how, over the past 25 years, Glasstire has grown into the publication covering art in Texas. At the same time, a shrunken art writing ecosystem isn’t the ideal place from which to operate, and it also isn’t what’s best for our state’s art and artists. But still, we soldier on. 

Embedded into the bedrock of Glasstire is our belief that Texas deserves a publication that is producing serious, smart, considered, readable writing about the art happening here. We’re fortunate to employ some of the only full-time art critics in Texas, and we’re even luckier that we have a cadre of contributing writers who pitch stories to us. Driving our work daily is the idea that art writing and criticism is the foundation of a healthy, thriving visual art community. 

I myself have been at Glasstire for ten-and-a-half years. My first day on the job, I was thrust in front of a camera to film man-on-the-street-style interviews at a Lawndale Art Center opening in Houston. I became our first-ever News Editor in 2018, and then I took over for Rainey when she stepped down in 2019. When I was reading Glasstire years ago as a student in college, using the publication to acquaint myself with Houston’s art history, I never imagined I would write for it, much less helm it. 

Running a publication like this isn’t easy. I say this not to complain, but to be honest. We understand and take seriously the responsibility that we have to you, our readers, and to the myriad people, places, and institutions that appear on our digital pages. We’ve always felt it, and the reason we put in the work day in and day out, the reason Rainey kept this little engine of a website going for so long, is because we believe. In the artists, arts workers, and gallerists who chose to call Texas home; in the writers who publish apt and insightful takes on what’s happening here; and in the power and importance and the democratizing force of looking and considering and thinking. As Dave Hickey would say, we believe in being participants, not spectators. 

I’m so excited to celebrate Glasstire’s 25th anniversary this year. Thanks for coming on this ride with us. 

To learn more about Glasstire’s 25th anniversary programming, read Brandon Zech’s Letter from the Publisher.  

The post Twenty-Five Years is a Long Time: On Glasstire’s Anniversary appeared first on Glasstire.

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. Coworker was cheating in our virtual Jeopardy tournament

A couple years ago, just for fun, a coworker started a virtual Jeopardy tournament which anyone in the company could participate in. It was the usual setup: three contestants (with cameras on), the coworker hosting, and an audience tuned in once a week.

One contestant, “Kurt,” was the reigning champion. The man could not be beat. Until, after a few weeks, there was some speculation that Kurt was not abiding by the honor system and had Google up on his screen. The theory was finally confirmed when there was a question about an obscure national bird. After a pause with some suspicious arm movements and his eyes darting around the screen, Kurt answered just in time with obvious hesitation, and mispronounced the name of the bird to boot. The host called him out then and there. Kurt (unconvincingly) doubled down, but the jig was up.

I’m not in Kurt’s department, nor even in the same state, so I didn’t witness the personal/professional fallout from his duplicity (he’s still employed here), but I am curious: if you were his manager, would this incident compel you to take any action? This gameshow was held during office hours and attended by dozens of employees, but it wasn’t official company business. You’d assume, though, that if Kurt was willing to break his coworkers’ trust in this scenario, he couldn’t be trusted in general, right?

Yeah, it would make me look harder at his integrity. I wouldn’t take any official action since this was just a fun game, but would it make it question things he said that I otherwise might have trusted implicitly and do more checking to be sure I could rely on his honesty? Absolutely. And if I had a certain type of relationship with Kurt, I might have pointed out to him that that was a natural outcome (not just on my end, but presumably for other colleagues too).

2. Can I have a sumo wrestler calendar on my wall at work?

I’m a big fan of watching sumo wrestling! Can I put up a wall calendar of sumo wrestlers in my office at work? Sumo wrestlers don’t wear very much clothing…

I think a sumo wrestler calendar is fine. Sumo wrestling photos are very much not sexualized (I mean, I’m sure someone sexualizes them, but that’s not the cultural connotation around them), and the skimpy clothing is more athletic uniform than anything else.

3. Incompetent coworker asked me to be a reference

A coworker on my small tech team recently asked me to be a reference for him. I have worked closely with him and I have seen him firsthand be bad at our job. I’ve worked with him on projects and I have been left to do all of the work and then he feels guilty about that and says he doesn’t want it all to fall on me. I’ll say, “Oh, do you want to take this on then?” and then he gets super noncommittal and barely ever does anything. I dont think he understands what our role is and how to do a good job. He also loves talking endlessly about totally irrelevant things. Plus he’s somewhat often checking out women or just generally being weird (he once sent me a photo of animals having sex).

I was talking about this situation with my roommate and he suggested I give my coworker a glowing review so that he will leave our office.

On the one hand, I don’t want to lie if the job calls — for several reasons, such as my reputation and not wanting to screw them over and having a hard time lying. On the other, I also don’t want to be the one responsible for tanking his chances by stating what I think about the quality of his work, because I think he is infuriatingly bad at our job and should do something else.

When he asked me, I told him he could put me down but asked him to think about if there might be someone else who would be a better reference due to my short length of time on the job (I previously worked with him before I was promoted). He told me he’d get back to me but never has.

If I do get a call, my plan is to keep the convo short and state some positive things and some critical things to them but not go over the top either way. What do you think?

I think you should give an honest reference, or at a minimum a lukewarm one. Otherwise you’re actively misrepresenting his work to someone. If you’re not comfortable doing that, you should go back to him and tell him that you’ve thought it over and don’t think you can be a reference, in part because he hasn’t pulled his weight when he’s worked on projects with you and so you can’t speak positively of the things a reference is likely to ask. That’s a reasonable thing to say! If he tries to dispute that, you can say, “What I’m saying is that I am not positioned to give you the kind of reference you need, so it is in your best interest not to offer them my name.” From there, it’s up to him whether he still lists you or not.

Also, part of the problem here is your management, in keeping this guy on without addressing all the problems you listed. It shouldn’t be on you to grapple with whether to give him a misleadingly positive reference to get rid of him; it should be on them to do their jobs and manage him more appropriately.

4. Consequences for secretly working two full-time jobs at once

A coworker was recently fired when it was discovered that he was secretly working full-time at both my company and another in the same industry for two years. He has already lost both jobs. What other ramifications, legal and otherwise, might he face?

He’s unlikely to face legal consequences unless the circumstances are extremely unusual (like if he works in a patient care role and was negligent in one job because of his focus on the other and that negligence endangered someone). He might have a hard job getting another position in his field if word gets around or employers contact the previous jobs for references. And he won’t be eligible for unemployment benefits. But other than that, there aren’t really other ramifications other than, you know, losing the jobs.

5. How long should I wait after getting a promotion before job-searching?

I work within a very small (and shrinking) but necessary team in my company. Recently our team’s core personnel was reduced to just me and the team lead, leaving a vacant position, and just today they significantly cut the team lead’s pay, leading him to walk. This leaves me as the only person with significant day-to-day operational knowledge in a technical position, as everyone else are mid- and high-level management who work with several teams and oversee much larger programs.

I’m the senior most member of the team besides the lead and am very likely to get the vacant position. Given the recent state of the company, however, it’s clear that I should not count on any long-term plans with them.

The raise is likely to be significant and the position would look good on a resume, but I’m certain they will overwork and underpay me. But I’m afraid, and with some precedent, that if I refuse, they will lump whatever of his work they can on me and divvy the remaining responsibilities among the upper levels as a “temporary” or “necessary” measure. But I also fear that taking this promotion could shackle me to this position for a while yet.

If I take the promotion, how long should I wait before seeking new employment? I imagine recruiters would look at someone applying soon after a promotion rather negatively, particularly since this would be a jump into a leadership role and could lead to me being seen as either unreliable or unable to handle such a position. Is there any other way I could diplomatically present this within interviews besides “differences of opinion” and “not seeing eye-to-eye with [Employer]”?

You don’t need to hold off on job-searching. Take the promotion and start a job search. It’s not going to look weird.

If a recruiter asks why you’re looking so soon after being promoted, you can say, “I was happy to help out with the role when the company asked me to, but the company has also been making a lot of cuts and I’m looking for something more stable.”

The post coworker cheated in Jeopardy, a sumo wrestler calendar at work, and more appeared first on Ask a Manager.

As you’ve probably heard, a corrupt authoritarian president has been destroying his country for over a decade—and as of this weekend, he decided to invade Venezuela. But just who is this political criminal?

If you’re just catching up, here’s what you should know: He’s a despotic demagogue who has abandoned the working class, stifled political dissent and organized labor, threatened to jail political opponents, and abused state power to no end. His country may very well be on the brink of social and economic collapse, but in recent months, he turned his focus to bombing little boats in the Caribbean.

You might be thinking, Wait, how is this guy in power at all? Well, he narrowly won his first election after a campaign in which he claimed he could shoot people in public with impunity. He left office briefly after losing his bid for a second term, but not before attempting to overturn a free and fair election and encouraging a mob to murder his own vice president. He eventually returned to power and has hinted that he will never relinquish his iron grip on a country that, by and large, has come to despise him. Now, in a not-so-subtle attempt to take over foreign oil reserves, he has plunged his country into a new, violent quagmire in South America.

Why haven’t I heard this guy described this way before? Probably because he has systematically oppressed independent media and sowed distrust in journalism. Even now, his administration is attempting to paint its international incursion and kidnapping of a foreign leader as a necessary justice for narcotics trafficking—at the same time that he’s pardoned other politicians for the same crimes.

What about his wife and their sons? They are just a few examples of how frequently this cabal has placed family members and business associates in positions of power, a tradition of nepotism rooted in greed. Their thirst for riches and status knows no bounds, as evidenced by a cryptocurrency they launched that swindled supporters—and the country’s economy at large—out of money. Now, they’ve gone a step further: They want to personally run the entire country of Venezuela.

So… what can we do about it? Not to worry, he’s promised all this won’t affect you, just so long as you keep your head down, do what he says, and be very rich. For more on the totalitarian ruler who is destroying the lives of regular, everyday people in his own country, read our report about his yet-to-be-announced invasions of Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Greenland, and maybe even Canada.

New comic!
Today's News:

Every time I close a menu in Death Stranding it is only so I can make room in front of my eyes for a different menu.

SOLVER is back back back! And so is Dean Thompson. But following the events at Wobbly Head (you may wish to refresh your memory on part 4), he seems to be a man in deep turmoil. Clippy can help. Clippy always helps.

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Subscribers can read the new chapter in full on my Patreon, now!

The post How To Be A Pythonista appeared first on Bad Machinery.

#CowboyWho

#Kento #RoninWarriors

One Two Three Four, open up my secret door! #CowboyWho

UFO lands in downtown, witnesses describe alien visitors: Their noses are too big #CowboyWho

Happy New Year, Houston Historic Retail Readers! Today, we’re going to take a moment to reflect on 2025. Hopefully, this past year went well for you. It was a good one for HHR. Readership of the website has remained steady, with occasional spikes and dips in blog views, but traffic has been sustained via Google and link building. The HHR Facebook account has been highly active over the past year, recently reaching 14,000 followers and ...

In brief: In today’s post we take a look back at the year in weather for 2025, which had few major stories. The notable exception was a winter storm back in January. There was also a hidden, but significant story as well. We also take a look ahead to a stand-out weekend and warmer weather for much of next week.

A look back at 2025

In some ways, last year was one of the quietest in recent history weather-wise for Houston. The most notable event occurred in January, with a hard freeze and widespread snowfall. Do you remember the snow? Many locations picked up 3 to 5 inches, and following this low temperatures dropped into the upper teens.

But after this January winter storm Houston’s weather turned tranquil. We made it through spring without major, widespread storms or flooding. All summer we experienced nary a tropical storm in the Gulf. Laughably, the only “threat” was conjured up on social media in July, when some non-meteorologists were energetically warning Houston that a hurricane was on the way. (It was not). Fall came and went with mostly calm weather as well, aside from a few tornadoes. Winter, to date, has been fairly mild. When you add it all up, it was a quiet year, especially after January. We see that in our website traffic. We average about 10 million page views a year on Space City Weather, and we were down by about 30 percent this year. I’m not complaining, I don’t like scary weather that threatens my home and family, either.

In one way, however, the weather in 2025 was extreme.

I am speaking about temperatures. I went ahead and plotted the average annual temperature in Houston dating back to 1969, when the official monitoring station was first moved to Bush Intercontinental Airport. It turns out this year’s average temperature of 73.0 degrees was the second hottest in the nearly six decades of records there. It was exceeded only by the mark of 73.1 degrees in 2024. In fact, the last three years have recorded the three hottest annual average temperatures at the airport since its opening in 1969.

One of the things that stands out on this graphic is that the annual average temperature in the 1970s was nearly five degrees lower. Now global temperatures have not risen that quickly, and it is not possible to say how much of the warming observed at Bush airport is due to climate change. Some is very likely due to urbanization around the airport. But a significant chunk is clearly due to a warming planet, as similar trends have occurred elsewhere, including Galveston Island. There is no question that Houston is quite a bit hotter now than it was half a century ago. Even a decade ago, for that matter. That is the hidden extreme from last year.

Friday

Speaking of heat, today will bring it. Highs will crest in the low 80s, maybe even mid-80s for some locations, thanks to a warm southerly flow ahead of our next front. Winds will be gusty, from the south up to 25 mph. The record high temperature for today is 81 degrees, and I’m fairly confident we’ll strike above that comfortably. In any case, we will be about 20 degrees warmer today than is customary for early January. The warmth will be goosed by mostly sunny skies. Lows tonight will only drop to about 60 degrees, before cooler and drier air arrives on Saturday morning.

Saturday and Sunday

The weekend won’t feel much like January typically feels in Houston, but it’s going to be gorgeous all the same. We should have wall-to-wall sunshine, and lower humidity. Saturday morning will be a bit windy, with northerly winds up to about 20 mph. But they should back down during the afternoon. Highs on Saturday will be in the upper 70s, with lows on Saturday night dropping to around 50 degrees. Sunday will be splendid and sunny, with highs around 70 degrees. We’ll have another night with lows around 50 degrees on Sunday night.

Next week

Much of next week looks warm for January as a ridge high pressure builds over the central United States. Monday probably will not reach the 80s, but most of the rest of the week will be in the vicinity. Skies will be mostly sunny during the daytime, and with dewpoints in the low 60s it will feel moderately humid. Nights will be mild. At some point a stronger front will push into the region later next week, probably late on Friday or Saturday. I don’t have much confidence yet in the details, but there could be a modest splash of rain with the front, perhaps on the order of one-half inch. For many parts of Houston there has not been significant rain in nearly four weeks, so anything would be welcome.

As for my runners, let’s hope that front makes it in time for the Houston Marathon on Sunday. I’m about 75 percent confident that it will, and we’ll have start-line temperatures in the upper 40s to lower 50s, with drier air. But there are risks. One is that the front is delayed, in which case we’ll be quite a bit warmer and muggier. Another is that the front comes through just before the run, and we see some lingering showers. Overall, I’m hopeful about race-day conditions, but not confident yet.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. I’m going to be outside a lot, soaking in this great weather.

Boy, it’s a mess.

This is the prequel to In Cold Blood.

Would you believe a Sandy Frank picture?

I like your cakes! I mean, your desserts.

Hey, it’s the captain of the Valdez.

OTTAWA – This morning, in an unscheduled press statement, the Prime Minister’s Office has said that Prime Minister Mark Carney has turned off geolocation services for all his electronic devices “for no particular reason whatsoever”. “This is just a normal, everyday, temporary precaution the Prime Minister is taking to avoid unwanted public or perhaps presidential […]

The post Mark Carney turns off geolocation on phone just in case appeared first on The Beaverton.

OTTAWA – Canadian Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre was reportedly seen lighting emergency flares, in hopes that U.S. President Donald Trump would “liberate” Canada in the same fashion that he has done with Venezuela. “Please, Mr. Trump! Depose the tyrannical Mark Carney in the way I utterly failed to do,” shouted Poilievre as he held aloft […]

The post Poilievre lights emergency flares to beg Trump to invade Canada appeared first on The Beaverton.

LOS ANGELES—Addressing the show’s hotly anticipated finale at a press event this week, Stranger Things co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer admitted to reporters that they haven’t watched the series in years. “We got through most of the first season, mostly because of all the buzz it was getting, but after that we really fell off,” Matt Duffer said as his brother nodded and cited long wait times between new episodes, baffling plot holes, and frequent pacing issues among the reasons they stopped tuning in. “Some of the stuff with the bald girl—Thirteen or whatever—was kind of cool. I think she’s supposed to be some kind of space alien. But as soon as those stupid demo-monsters appeared, the show completely lost us. By the third season, it felt like they’d totally abandoned any meaningful character development. It just became this surface-level ’80s nostalgia fest. Which is fine if that’s your thing, but it’s not for us.” The brothers went on to express surprise that Stranger Things ever got a second season, let alone a fifth one.

The post Duffer Brothers Admit They Haven’t Watched ‘Stranger Things’ In Years appeared first on The Onion.

Cameron Winter, the Geese frontman who made his solo debut with the LP Heavy Metal, has been hailed by fans as a Gen Z Leonard Cohen. The Onion shares everything you need to know about the artist.

Vocal Style: A lot

Biggest Musical Influence: Spotify Smart Shuffle

Childhood Nickname: Future Geese frontman Cameron Winter

Source Of Existential Pain: Getting grounded for vaping at the dinner table

Pre-Show Ritual: Losing track of time while playing 2K

How School Was Today When Parents Asked: Fine

Signature Stage Move: Coughing blood into handkerchief

Lice: 10

Message To Fans: Can I stay at your place for a couple nights?

What’s Next For Him: Zipping up hoodie over head

The post Artist Profile: Cameron Winter appeared first on The Onion.

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Mark Carney has vowed that 2026 will see huge economic growth for Canada’s GDP, manufacturing, and exports, none of which will redound to you in the slightest. Despite challenging economic trends in the previous year, Carney has forecasted that Canada’s economy will modestly outperform expectations in for sectors like Asian exporters, […]

The post Carney promises 2026 will see huge economic growth that will absolutely not include you appeared first on The Beaverton.

WATERLOO, ON – A local allegedly grand piano has been revealed to just be fine. Owner Marsha Jameson made the discovery this past week after sitting down to play the instrument for her first time since last Christmas. “I was just starting to bust out one of the four songs in my repertoire, Jingle Bells, […]

The post Grand piano just okay appeared first on The Beaverton.

The site has had a minor spruce-up for 2026. NEMS parts 2&3 and Savage Sword of Susan have been moved to the story archive – you can find them in the menu at the top of the page (under “my old comics”), or on the Scary Go Round site where you can also find Bad Machinery, Kit + The Wolf, Giant Days (Self-Published) and more! I’ll add It’s The Nineties, Get Used To It to this archive when I get chance.

The plan for this year is twelve months of Solver, so it’s time for the old masthead (knocked up in ten minutes nearly five years ago, IIRC) to go. I hope you like the new one. Mildred must feature, of course – she got two whole issues of Solver, after all, and can always return to stir up trouble when she’s needed.

The post Spruce Up appeared first on Bad Machinery.