As soon as I got back home from the event, I fired up my rod warmer to play with glass (and make some awesome mistakes, which will be detailed below). I have a long weekend this weekend, and am planning to hook up a 20lb tank of propane rather than continuing to use the small tanks for lampworking. I hope to really make some improvements with lots of time to work!
The red one in the same photo was also over heated to some extent. It was a clear amber rod (I have several) and it came out a rich red, that was not so clear. I realized after the fact, when I looked at the rod it self, that it was not one of my normal amber ones, as the tip had changed to a bright clear red. I tested that one again in the next batch, and you can see the clear red bead there (with an orange twisty stringer applied to the surface rather badly). So many things to learn!
Still working on shapes and dots and hope to make a great deal of progress this weekend. :-)