[Rockhounds] Texas collectors MR supplement

Wed Feb 4 16:52:07 PST 2009

Tim,,

To the casual reader, it appeared more that you were making accusations of the non mineral sort directed at "arrogant millionaires" and persons rather than criticizing the lack of variety in the Tx Supplement.  

On this list, I value the exchange of mineralogy fact and the observation of practical science being applied, not disparaging comments aimed at persons who appear to have more monetary resources at his/her disposal.

I am amazed at the appaling lack of netiquette you have displayed in a public forum.  

For me, enough said.  I have spoken my peace.

Sandra Gee, MD

--- On Wed, 2/4/09, Tim Jokela Jr. <tjokela at execulink.com> wrote:

> From: Tim Jokela Jr. <tjokela at execulink.com>
> Subject: Re: [Rockhounds] Texas collectors MR supplement
> To: "Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem collectors" <rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com>
> Date: Wednesday, February 4, 2009, 2:43 PM
> “In any field of collecting, there is simply no substitute
> for seeing a lot of specimens to broaden one’s knowledge
> base. "
> 
> -Editors, Min.Rec, V40, #1, p3, justifying the Texas
> Collectors Supplement
> --------------------------------------
> 
> What exactly can one learn from images of  37 tourmalines,
> 27 rhodochrosites, and 24 beryls in one supplement? I'd
> suggest that seeing yet another 10cm aquamarine from
> Pakistan doesn't teach us much of anything.
> 
> A quick & dirty photo count:
> 
> rhodochrosite - 27
> tourmaline group - 37
> beryl - 24
> wulfenite - 16
> azurite - 8
> pyromorphite - 16
> (I didn't count fluorite, calcite, gold, topaz, or
> quartz, they're all probably double digits or close to
> it.)
> 
> This is the supplement's failure. It offers little or
> no broadening of knowledge. It's a pointless vanity
> piece for wealthy collectors to show what they've got
> and to advertise that they're rich. That stuff gets old
> real fast, what a waste of money. There's no shortage of
> glossy supplements and coffee table books showing us common
> pretty minerals... Min Rec alone has produced quite a number
> of them, eg. Ikons, Freilich, Weill, Masterpieces, Houston,
> Carnegie, Smale, and the Romero collection. (Though the
> latter at least has the merit of being dedicated to the
> minerals from one region.)
> 
> I wouldn't call the Texas supplement a complete failure
> though. The educational pseudomorph sets shown on p.171 are
> a brilliant idea. Heierman's dedication to Al2O3 is
> remarkable. Mauthner's stuff is more advanced, with
> yummy whiteites and other goodies. The rest is pretty much
> all the top ten pretties, that with very few exceptions meet
> a certain dollar benchmark, from the ever-so-classic top
> localities, eg. Pederneira, Chamonix, Sweet Home, Tsumeb,
> Elmwood, Hotazel, blah, blah, blah, how boring.
> 
> Min Rec can do better! An example would be V.40#1, that
> came with the Texas supplement. Lots of the usual suspects
> but also some amazing surprises, from the rhodonite on the
> cover to insanely good rarities like vayrynenite,
> valentinite (!!!!!!), rammelsbergite, botallackite, a
> mind-blowing covellite, incredible graphite, senegalite, a
> wild Michigan shigaite... now that's good stuff. Thank
> heavens for Thomas Moore, he appreciates the less flashy but
> immensely more important stuff. That 4cm valentinite haunts
> my dreams.
> 
> Sandra - thanks for your input, it's nice to hear where
> you're coming from. Your accusations of stereotyping are
> nonsense, and as for "negative emotions", well,
> perhaps I've run out of patience with Min Rec's lust
> for glossy and pointless supplements. Will the next
> supplement simply show shelves with great wads of hundred
> dollar bills artfully arranged on custom lucite bases? The
> vast majority of mineral collectors will never spend over
> $1,000 on a specimen, yet it is the tiny percentage of
> wealthy collectors that dominate the press. It's a
> strange world. To be frank, I don't know what's more
> depressing: that your husband is openly hostile to the hobby
> you love, or that you saved for half a year to join the big
> boys club.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Tim Jokela Jr
> tjokela at execulink.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com
> [mailto:rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com] On Behalf Of
> Sandra B. Gee
> Sent: woensdag 4 februari 2009 18:20
> To: Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem
> collectors
> Subject: Re: [Rockhounds] Texas collectors MR supplement
> 
> It is helpful that Wendell gets an idea of what subscribers
> to Mineralogical Record want to see covered in future
> issues.  It is an interesting idea about having a pictorial
> essay on the best self collected specimens or the best
> rarest speices collection.  In the same way, I think that is
> how Min Rec came up with the Texas Collectors Supplement.
> According to the Notes From The Editor in the Jan/Feb 2009
> issue, it was input from some of the mineral societies in
> Texas that got the idea for the Texas Collectors Supplement
> started.
> A reason for the supplement directly from the Notes From
> The Editor,
> “In any field of collecting, there is simply no
> substitute for seeing a lot of specimens to broaden one’s
> knowledge base.  A book like this is the equivalent of a
> series of non-competitve displays, the next best thing to
> visiting each of the private collectors and seeing some of
> their favorite specimens in person.”
> I am one of the collectors featured in the Texas Collectors
> Supplement.
> Of the 29 collectors, there is
> ---a CPA (Gus Eifler),
> ---a physician (myself),
> ---a math professor (Will Heierman),
> ---a psychologist (Jim Houran),
> ---a school administrator (Shelly Houran),
> ---a museum curator (Mark Mauthner),
> ---a sixth grade science teacher (Jeff Starr) and
> ---an attorney (Rob Thacker).
> Although the overwhelming majority of the collectors are in
> the oil and gas business, not all of us in the supplement
> can be described as “the idle rich of Texas”.   I first
> heard ideas about this supplement being batted around Spring
> of 2008.   Maybe I look like the idle rich because I spent
> the latter half of last year saving up money to help fund my
> share of the supplement.
> I have a spouse who has been openly hostile to my mineral
> collecting. Realistically, I won’t have the opportunity to
> have a lot of other mineral collectors coming by to see my
> small modest collection.  Since I am a visual learner, I do
> benefit from seeing other collectors’ collections to learn
> what constitutes a fine mineral specimen.  In this process,
> I’ve also gotten a better idea of what I do and don’t
> want to collect.
> It is unfortunate that there has been some stereotyping and
> negative emotions evoked from the supplement.  It would be
> my guess that to have a supplement focusing on the  best
> self collected specimens or the best rarest speices
> collection would create a similar response.  After all, how
> do you choose the criteria for best rarest specimen or best
> self collected specimen collection?
> The reason I am on this list is that I do enjoy collecting
> minerals.  I choose to read the opinions of others that I
> don’t agree with and still remain with a group that has
> been very helpful for me in pursing my interest in minerals.
> Sandra Burkhead Gee, M.D.
> 
> 
> 
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tim Jokela
> Jr."
> > <tjokela at execulink.com>
> > To: "Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for
> rock
> > and gem collectors"
> > <rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com>
> > Sent: Monday, February 02, 2009 11:49 PM
> > Subject: Re: [Rockhounds] Texas collectors MR
> supplement
> > 
> > 
> > > Well I'll be damned, I'm not the only
> one!
> > >
> > > I suspect it's completely funded by the
> wealthy
> > Texas collectors
> > > themselves, so not much point complaining to WW.
> > >
> > > If MR did put funds or time into it... oy. Who
> needs
> > more mindless rock
> > > porn? Somebody add up the beryl, rhodo, and
> tourmaline
> > photos, how boring,
> > > same old stuff. Perhaps two specimens in there of
> > interest to the real
> > > collector. I'd far rather have a full-color
> > supplement on what's new from
> > > Mont Saint-Hilaire, or Laurium, or Kola.
> > >
> > > NEWSFLASH TO MIN REC: if you've seen one 10k
> > Pakistani aqua, you've seen
> > > them all.
> > >
> > > While it's lovely to know what the idle rich
> of
> > Texas are up to, a vanity
> > > mag is of no use to me whatsoever, and will be in
> my
> > club's next auction.
> > >
> > > Why MR is going down this path, I do not know.
> One
> > suspects the editor is
> > > getting far too cozy with his arrogant
> millionaire
> > buddies.
> > >
> > > Tim Jokela Jr
> > > tjokela at execulink.com
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message ----- > From:
> "Alan Goldstein"
> > <deepskyspy at insightbb.com>
> > > To: "Rockhounds List"
> > <rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com>
> > > Sent: Monday, February 02, 2009 4:07 PM
> > > Subject: [Rockhounds] Texas collectors MR
> supplement
> > >
> > >
> > > I would like to hear comments from the list
> regarding
> > the free Texas
> > > mineral collectors freebie included with the
> current
> > issue of
> > > Mineralogical Record. It contains some pretty
> photos
> > (a lot of Sweet Home
> > > rhodochrosites and tourmaline crystals) along
> with a
> > two paragraph bio
> > > from each of the 29 collectors (or couples).
> There are
> > some nice fluorite
> > > specimens (one of my favorite species) scattered
> among
> > them.
> > >
> > > While I like a bunch of pretty pictures as much
> as the
> > next collector, I
> > > would rather see those folks with deep pockets
> fund
> > something more
> > > educational or historically significant. How
> about a
> > supplement of the
> > > best self-collected specimens and the stories
> behind
> > their discovery?
> > >
> > > Alan G.
> > >
> 
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