{"conf": "collecting", "generated_at": "2026-04-26T08:00:02.954878Z", "threads": [{"num": 0, "subject": "", "response_count": 0, "posts": []}, {"num": 1, "subject": "Introductions", "response_count": 89, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 1999 (10:21)", "body": "the thing i really like to collect are sliderules. i have about 15 of them in various stages of newness."}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 1999 (10:56)", "body": "i collect a bunch of things like fishing frogs, barbies, dolphin stuff, and harmony boxes."}, {"response": 3, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 1999 (11:36)", "body": "i like to collect STUFF, just STUFF maybe it's not collecting... maybe it's just 'keeping' ... either way, it takes up tons of space in those little Rough Totes I bought to organize everything in!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 1999 (12:35)", "body": "haha!!"}, {"response": 5, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 1999 (12:37)", "body": "this conf has given me a majorly geeky idea. i need to put up a page on my web site that has all of my sliderules on it!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 1999 (13:08)", "body": "do, showcase your collection. you never know, ray, how many other sliderule freaks are out there! (maybe you should post a pic here so i'll know what you're talking about *grin*)"}, {"response": 7, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 1999 (13:56)", "body": "you dont know what a sliderule is? oh god, i feel *sooo* old!!!"}, {"response": 8, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 1999 (15:23)", "body": "i have an idea (just not been around too many sliderules)....."}, {"response": 9, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 1999 (15:37)", "body": "well, looks like i need to create my web site so you can see some!!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 1999 (15:54)", "body": "yep!"}, {"response": 11, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (00:32)", "body": "Hey, Stace, we collect the same things! I'll show you mine if..."}, {"response": 12, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (03:51)", "body": "...you promise to give me an honest appraisal!"}, {"response": 13, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (00:37)", "body": "*chuckle* only if you promise not to get depressed when you see how much better my collection is!."}, {"response": 14, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (03:10)", "body": "hmmm... so it's down to who goes first in \"I'll show you mine if you show me yours\" hmmm..."}, {"response": 15, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (03:19)", "body": "you'd better go first, otherwise you'd be too embarassed to go after me"}, {"response": 16, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jan  6, 1999 (12:51)", "body": "don't want to shoot for the simultaneous thing?"}, {"response": 17, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jan  6, 1999 (19:31)", "body": "ahhh... if we're playing that game... I wanna go first (and second!)"}, {"response": 18, "author": "wer", "date": "Wed, Jan  6, 1999 (21:25)", "body": "proceed"}, {"response": 19, "author": "Dumper", "date": "Mon, Feb 15, 1999 (20:53)", "body": "Ray, have you seen the round, yes totally round, cylindrical, sliderule that is on display at the Antique Mall next to the Airport Convention Center on Broadway? It is a fascinating thing to see, although I think it would be hard to use because it is so large. Do you use your sliderules? Younger people collect, but often don't know how to use sliderules. My dad was a master with a sliderule but even with his tutoring, sliderules never appealed to me. Rose Lynn"}, {"response": 20, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Feb 15, 1999 (21:16)", "body": "welcome rose lynn!"}, {"response": 21, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, Feb 15, 1999 (21:30)", "body": "Thanks for checking this conference out, too, Rose Lynn!"}, {"response": 22, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Feb 26, 1999 (12:52)", "body": "Ray, there are some really famous slide-rules that used to be widely distributed here in Germany; the design of some supposedly derives from some superb mathematicians of the Technische Hochschule Darmstadt (now Technische Universit\ufffdt Darmstadt). They were manufactured - among other makes - by Faber Castell in Mainz or Wiesbaden, I think. A certain quantity had been discovered after ages just one or two years ago and sold via the Manufactum catalog of fine things. Interested?"}, {"response": 23, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Feb 26, 1999 (23:09)", "body": "he's probably drooling already..."}, {"response": 24, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 1999 (13:49)", "body": "Well, not enough; didn't say a thing yet, did he?"}, {"response": 25, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 1999 (13:58)", "body": "perhaps you've left him speechless..."}, {"response": 26, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 1999 (14:03)", "body": "Now it's my time to *grin*."}, {"response": 27, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 1999 (14:04)", "body": "hey!!! lookit those teeth!!"}, {"response": 28, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 1999 (14:07)", "body": "Uh, doesh tzat mean djuh tond mint iv zey are krooked?"}, {"response": 29, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 1999 (14:08)", "body": "I especially like the one stickin' out of yer nose!"}, {"response": 30, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 1999 (14:09)", "body": "Uh, dat hain't teetz, datz toezes!"}, {"response": 31, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 1999 (14:11)", "body": "well git to it with the toothbrush under those toenails then!"}, {"response": 32, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 1999 (14:35)", "body": "yep..."}, {"response": 33, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (07:06)", "body": "Stacey, thanks for the valuable tip - I did just what you said, and see: I can nearly write like a normal person again! There's no way to tell!!"}, {"response": 34, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (15:21)", "body": "woo woo!"}, {"response": 35, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sat, Mar  6, 1999 (14:47)", "body": "Hey, but what happened to you - is \"woo\" your word of the day, or did you run out of letters, and some w's and o's were the last ones left?"}, {"response": 36, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Mar  7, 1999 (00:35)", "body": "that would be correct, yes..."}, {"response": 37, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Mar  8, 1999 (13:07)", "body": "Well, if Kitchen is right - then just have some of mine, Stacey! As editor, I get quadruple rations of letters every month, and since we only publish quarterly (more at www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/music/59.5 ), I got enough left to share! They are unused and premiere quality, just the stuff you'd use for real good articles and the like, even some elegant stuff. Sturdy enough to last through printing, too, - you'll like them. What letters do you need?"}, {"response": 38, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Mar  8, 1999 (14:47)", "body": "thanks Alexander, for the offer but WER's affirmative response was actually in answer to the \"word of the day\" suggestion. Truth be known, it's actually been the word of the past few years! Woo Woo! It's like Stacey's excitemetn verbalized!"}, {"response": 39, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Mar  8, 1999 (16:27)", "body": "So, I got everything wrong again, eh? Still, I'd like to give away some of my surplus letters (see it as my generosity, uh, letterized): qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp \ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd \ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd \ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk As you see, I've done a lot of things with numbers, as I've used them up by now. And maybe you can't use the \ufffd, \ufffd and \ufffd, but maybe you can use it to decorate your office or something. ;=}"}, {"response": 40, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Mar  8, 1999 (17:41)", "body": "thank you thank you!!"}, {"response": 41, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Apr  9, 1999 (12:05)", "body": "Hey, I'm just now joining this conference 'cause I want to start a topic on 3d photography and video cams."}, {"response": 42, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Apr  9, 1999 (23:41)", "body": "go for it, Boss!"}, {"response": 43, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Apr 12, 1999 (12:03)", "body": "Welcome Terry! You might want to take a look at the film topic here, too. Are you a general photography buff?"}, {"response": 44, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Apr 12, 1999 (14:44)", "body": "Mostly video, but I have this 3d camera I'd like to play around with some."}, {"response": 45, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Apr 13, 1999 (11:03)", "body": "Oh, what coincidence! See what I found laying around: http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/collecting/31 . Enjoy!"}, {"response": 46, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, May 10, 1999 (04:42)", "body": "(Looks like Terry never got to toying around with his camera. What a pity! I'd love to hear more about it, if it's one of those stereoscopic things, or a holografic camera or what...)"}, {"response": 47, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, May 11, 1999 (08:42)", "body": "I loaned it to my builder, Les, out in Cedar Creek, to take some 3d pix around the place out there. Maybe he'll show me how to use it this weekend. I want to take some pictures of the spring on my property and some of the creeks."}, {"response": 48, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, May 11, 1999 (08:52)", "body": "Anyway, you got your topic in this conf."}, {"response": 49, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, May 11, 1999 (15:30)", "body": "It will pick up!"}, {"response": 50, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, May 11, 1999 (15:43)", "body": "well it better! *grin*"}, {"response": 51, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, May 11, 1999 (15:44)", "body": "oh oh, i'm #50!! love them zeros..."}, {"response": 52, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (00:52)", "body": "I am here - I'll think of something to get this rolling again...Um...what do you want in the way of in intro that everyone does not know about me already?"}, {"response": 53, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (10:38)", "body": "you could clue everybody in on what you like to collect :)"}, {"response": 54, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (14:33)", "body": "other than Holy Firthian Relics and rocks, of course..."}, {"response": 55, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (14:36)", "body": "...and admit before God and everybody that i am a packrat at heart, and I am loathe to give up anything once I find it necessary to my life?! Rocks (all identified and marked as to where found and when) sea shells (all catalogued and identified) books (but the bugs eat them here) and lots of stuff...."}, {"response": 56, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (14:40)", "body": "oh yes, thanks for reminding me... Things Firthian Interesting people Maps Instruments of all sorts (usually related to meteorology Radios"}, {"response": 57, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (15:31)", "body": "Like transistor FM radios or amateur radio? Talk to Terry - ever been to the Radio conference?"}, {"response": 58, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (15:40)", "body": "Instruments and (working) machines are cool! Got some nice Super8- and slide-projectors (a Rollei w/ carousell magazine and a vintage Leitz), a magnetic tape echo/reverb machine (loop of magnet tape runs around 5 magnet heads, weird effects & sounds), right - the 16mm projector a friend gave me... No 16mm camera, though. A half dozen Super8-cameras (Rollei, 2 Bauer, Kodak,...), all but two working. Foto cameras! Mainly russian makes fron the fleamarket (all with M42 screw mount - great lenses available for little money), a Rollei 35B I have with me early always I leave the house (sometimes I take a Lomo instead). I even have a Wow and Flutter meter! I'll try and see, perhaps I can rig it to the Spring. Old technology is fun. Looks curious, and does amazing things."}, {"response": 59, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (16:27)", "body": "Radios: Scanners from tunable through crystal through programmable (have 3 working hand-held and someone stole my base station. Short wave receivers - 5 plus my Dad's HRO which I parted with last year to a amateur radio man who could fix what needed to be fixed and take proper care of it."}, {"response": 60, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (16:38)", "body": "Stroll over to Radio!"}, {"response": 61, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (16:39)", "body": "What is a HRO?"}, {"response": 62, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (16:43)", "body": "Oh, yes...cameras: I have a pre WW2 Certo Werke \"Dolly\" with an F2 lens which is so superior to any others...*sigh"}, {"response": 63, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (16:52)", "body": "The Rollei 35B is the best I have - 100% mechanical, metal case, very compact - fits in the breast pocket of a jeans jacket. But the Super8-cameras... That's technology! Great mechanical feats, especially the later Bauer, which has functions to dream of..."}, {"response": 64, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (17:00)", "body": "And! The Rollei 35B was a gift, too..."}, {"response": 65, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (18:07)", "body": "You have a very nice collection there. Germany has consistently produced the lenses in the world and their cameras' precision is a work of art. My CW Camera and the HRO were my father's. The HRO in its day was the best all-band receiver in the world. As such it was used throughout the world in airplanes and on the ground as well as at sea. I believe it was made in Japan by what is now known as National Panasonic (it has been a while, so I am sure to be corrected if I erred.) The interesting part of this receiver was that each band was a drawer-shaped item (each fairly heavy) which slid into a wide slot at the bottom of the chassis and plugged in when seated properly. A large knurled k ob was used for tuning what was then considered very precisely in those days."}, {"response": 66, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Jul 26, 1999 (11:55)", "body": "back to the maps... Marcia, perhaps you could point me in the right direction? I am looking for a large (about 20 square feet) map of Pangea... preferably done on rice paper... any ideas on where I should look?"}, {"response": 67, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul 26, 1999 (12:04)", "body": "Stacey, you're on - let me check my sources. I will get back with you!"}, {"response": 68, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Jul 26, 1999 (12:34)", "body": "Woo Woo!"}, {"response": 69, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul 26, 1999 (17:49)", "body": "I wish I could have summoned one out of thin air, but the size you wanted I don't think you want as a computer printout. Sorry if I disappointed - will go back and hunt some more if you'd like! (I responded by email)"}, {"response": 70, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Jul 27, 1999 (09:57)", "body": "the sights were great! ummm... sites, I guess... I didn't find what I was looking for but I wandered around in there for awhile and found things I didn't know I was interested in! Thank you! The reason I'm interested in a map of such size and historical significance... we just 'finished' the downstairs guest room and want to have a travel theme... the books are all travel books/language books and I want to decorate with nice maps. I like the look and texture of old maps done on rice paper... I know Pangea will probably not be easy to find in such a format but I'll keep searching. Anyway... I enjoyed the historical maps of a bunch of different continents yesterday... thanks again!"}, {"response": 71, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug 11, 1999 (20:18)", "body": "I did an altavista search for \"where can I find large wall maps?\" They have a lot of selections of current stuff...I should have put in \"antique\" or \"old\" in there. I always wanted a room with an Orrery in the ceiling and huge globe in the floor and large celestial maps and antique maps for the walls...oh well, another life time, perhaps. But here are a few places you can make inquiries: http://www.mapshop.com/wallmaps/Custom-wall-maps.htm http://www.galaxymaps.com/Default.htm http://users.netmatters.co.uk/clsgraphics/maps.htmlhttp://users.netmatters.co.uk/clsgraphics/maps.html The second one seems to have all sorts of map options...and more!"}, {"response": 72, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (04:58)", "body": "I have some from late 40ies - South America, Africa (before there was Isreal, etc.) Eastern hemisphere/Asia. Used to hang them in my flat... Where are they now?"}, {"response": 73, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (15:12)", "body": "maps are cool! (especially now that i know how to read them *grin*)"}, {"response": 74, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (17:40)", "body": "Maps are definitly happening, and I cannot travel without them (yup, studied Cartography, too). But the neatest ones I have listed up there are more for decoration for Stacey's guest room than planning your next voyage, I think!"}, {"response": 75, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (21:37)", "body": "Definitely chalk me up as a map lover. I have a problem dealing with their storage and mounting though. I took cartography at U of I. I loved that course. My real love is topo maps. And 3d aerial photos. They're awesome!"}, {"response": 76, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (21:42)", "body": "Those 3-D aerials with the special glasses? Awesome indeed. When my son took that class in the pursuit of his Geology degree, I got to see some really neat stuff. I love the topo stuff, too, except when I have to do the lines...I hated that...mostly because I erased holes through the first one I did."}, {"response": 77, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (21:44)", "body": "(we probably should have posted these comments in the newly-created Collecting/Maps topic...)"}, {"response": 78, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 13, 1999 (12:42)", "body": "For further discussions of maps please see http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/collecting/42"}, {"response": 79, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Aug 13, 1999 (13:27)", "body": "and don't forget that there is an underutilized cartography topic in Geo..."}, {"response": 80, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 13, 1999 (13:36)", "body": "Thank you for mentioning it...please contribute, cartography fans: http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/5"}, {"response": 81, "author": "LauraMM", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (12:09)", "body": "Can we start a topic of Porcelain Dolls or Madame Alexander-type dolls, my 9 year old daughter is collecting them and has quite a collection. I collect teapots;)"}, {"response": 82, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (14:58)", "body": "of course! and i'll start one for teapots (my co-worker does as well)."}, {"response": 83, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (04:48)", "body": "Hmh, I wonder if we could use a topic on Hi-Fi gear, or maybe a whole AudioPhiles Conference, like e.g. the Radio one. That's different from the Music Conf - as this guy once said to me \"Now you got the software, lemme get you fixed onto the hardware, too!\" There's not a lot serious audio geeks want to talk about more than their high end amps 'n' stuff. Comments, please."}, {"response": 84, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (12:02)", "body": "I think it is a terrific idea. However, we need someone with the time and know-how to do create the conference for us - just as Wolf and I have been waiting since before Christmas for a Crafts conference."}, {"response": 85, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May  4, 2001 (00:16)", "body": "Alexander, I hope he gets this conference going, \"hi fi\" or \"audio\" ?"}, {"response": 86, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct  3, 2001 (10:16)", "body": "Wow, Ray I like the color scheme here, did you do that?"}, {"response": 87, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct  4, 2001 (01:19)", "body": "Wolfie did it. Made the buttons and bars and everything!!! About a year ago or more, actually..."}, {"response": 88, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct  4, 2001 (10:11)", "body": "Wow, wolfie did that. I use telnet so much I don't see a lot of these things!"}, {"response": 89, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul 10, 2002 (21:22)", "body": "Wolfie also furnished my buttons. I removed the frames (made them transparent) and installed them on Geo. Wolfie also did the SpringArk page out of whole cloth. She is really a talented lady with too little spare time! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 10, "subject": "Houseplants", "response_count": 43, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jan  7, 1999 (13:47)", "body": "originally, i had created a topic called \"plants\" directly before this one. but in the middle of transmitting, i changed my mind. this topic \"houseplants\" is the place to discuss your collection of plants!"}, {"response": 2, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jan  7, 1999 (15:34)", "body": "I need help with an ivy that's having some issues... Leaves are browning up. I noticed that the soil gets this whitish fugus(?) looking thing to it... what can I do before my ivy croaks?!?!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jan  7, 1999 (16:03)", "body": "try moving it to a cooler location. ivy's hate to be hot and dry. cut back the brown stuff, let the soil dry before watering again and move to a cooler spot (say out of direct light) and mist it once or twice a day. don't repot it until it recovers from the move and starts putting out healthy shoots."}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jan  7, 1999 (16:06)", "body": "oh, i guess i should have asked what type of ivy it is. the true ivy (needlepoint, silver dollar) is what i was refering to. pothos ivy, philodendron (sweetheart ivy) will usually survive harsh conditions including neglect. but the above info is good for all the vining type plants."}, {"response": 5, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jan  7, 1999 (16:44)", "body": "well the problem is it's still putting out new shoots and they look healthy (for about two weeks) and then they go uggo. I shall try it though, THANKS!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jan  7, 1999 (16:44)", "body": "oh, the kind of ivy... well, it was given to me by my sweetheart... does that make it the obvious sweetheart ivy?"}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jan  7, 1999 (21:02)", "body": "*lol* no...haha, that was cute though! yeah, if they're too hot, they'll do that. let me ask this to help determine your plant: does it have heart shaped leaves or leaves like the ivy you see crawling up walls?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (11:19)", "body": "kinda heart-shaped, kinda like the wall crawling type... i'm not being very helpful am I?"}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (12:59)", "body": "no! the pothos and sweetheart ivy have no breaks in the leaf edges. ivy has more of a-oh what the hell--lemme scan a couple of samples for you!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:19)", "body": "ok, here's my sample pic, sorry if it's too big:"}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:20)", "body": "(sorry about the text color, had probs changing it)"}, {"response": 12, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:29)", "body": "oops, lemme get onto a browser then..."}, {"response": 13, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:31)", "body": "the two philodendrons are in the same family but look a bit different. the smaller one (on top) has bright green, shiny leaves. the bottom one is more of a purplish-green with velvety leaves and a burgundy underside."}, {"response": 14, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:31)", "body": "silver dollar true ivy!!! woo woo! Thanks for the visuals... that certainly helped, no?"}, {"response": 15, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:35)", "body": "i think so! so, yeah, you need to move the ivy to a cooler spot with indirect light. in other words, a south window is too hot, move it to east or north. spritz the leaves once or twice a day to keep it cooled off (and it will increase the humidity level around it)...."}, {"response": 16, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:36)", "body": "I'll get to it!!!! THANK YOU!!!"}, {"response": 17, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:41)", "body": "anytime!!"}, {"response": 18, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Apr  1, 1999 (18:01)", "body": "ok, are you ready for this? my houseplant collection is growing. my african violet collection just increased by 3 or 4 plus i picked up a gloxinia. can't help myself. they're like chocolate for my green thumb."}, {"response": 19, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Apr  7, 1999 (11:17)", "body": "Unfortunatly I lost a few from my collection while we were away. The friend who was housesitting had a rather difficult time with them! But the up side is that my hyacinths, tulips and violas are blooming in the yard!!!"}, {"response": 20, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Apr 12, 1999 (12:50)", "body": "Ooh, sorry to hear that. Fortunately, I had more luck, when I went to Hamburg. (a) that was only for five days, (b) I had somebody coming over who took extremely well care of things and significants."}, {"response": 21, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (20:59)", "body": "well, i lost several african violets in my collection due to my going away to school and someone neglecting them. picked up two more orchids at lowe's: oncidium sharry baby-it's in bloom and smells just like roses and chocolate. phal. art's kaala x phal. winter kaala (basically it's a phal cross). not in bloom but in a well for wick-watering. it has beautiful healthy leaves so i'll wait and see what she looks like."}, {"response": 22, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (21:54)", "body": "Most interested in your new Phal. It should do very well in your humidity if you keep it warm enough (but, you know that! Far too wet here for African Violets..."}, {"response": 23, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (09:37)", "body": "all my violets and orchids are inside. only the orchids go out during the summer. i suppose i could put out the violets in the shade but am afraid to try it!"}, {"response": 24, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (16:26)", "body": "African Violets get root rot and all sorts of ailments outdoors. They are definitely indoor plants even in Hawaii. Your orchids should like the moist heat there in the summer!"}, {"response": 25, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (16:31)", "body": "they love it but i can't get them to bloom. my first two phals (who were stuck together in the same pot--what a buy) took a long time to finally appear to be settling in. one of them has a new leaf. i took them outside during the first few weeks of cooler temps and hope they will put out a stalk this jan-feb. *fingers crossed*"}, {"response": 26, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (16:32)", "body": "oh, forgot to mention, there are vanilla orchids in stalk at lowes right now. thinking about going back to get one before they're gone. they'll smell lovely!"}, {"response": 27, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (18:26)", "body": "Real Vanilla orchids? The ones which give us the seasoning? How nice!!!"}, {"response": 28, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (21:05)", "body": "the very same (and it should've read in stock not stalk *grin*)"}, {"response": 29, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (21:28)", "body": "Gonna make your own extract? Stickum in a small bottle of vodka (like when you make home-spiced vinegars and such)...or lab alcohol if you can get it."}, {"response": 30, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (21:47)", "body": "right now, i just want some flowers!"}, {"response": 31, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (21:50)", "body": "Yeah, I think they're pretty important in the whole scheme of things. Then you probably need some exotic hummingbird or insect to pollenate them...*sigh* Have to check in my book."}, {"response": 32, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (22:01)", "body": "i can pollinate them. just buy two and manually perform the act unless they're self-pollinators. hmmmm....right now, i just would really like some blooms. a couple of orchids i've had for 2 years and haven't done much of anything except put out more plants. so they're happy that way, just need to figure out a way to get them even happier."}, {"response": 33, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (23:08)", "body": "When I first moved to Hilo, I had the lovliest green leafy sprouting orchid plants you ever saw, but they never bloomed. I asked my neighbor what was the problem. She told me that I could leave them in the shade and feed them a lot and water them a lot and I would have lovely green plants. Or, I could stick them out in the sun and forget about them and have yellowish plants which look miserable but put forth lovely flower stalks. Now, if you are getting that many shoots and no flowers, cut back on the water and food and put them in more sunlight. Just don't cook them by putting them in a sunny window where they will get too hot! Just a thought. My Dad pollinated his with a sable brush!"}, {"response": 34, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (08:51)", "body": "mine are under lights and during the summer, they get a couple of hours of morning sun and it's still bright in the shade."}, {"response": 35, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (21:15)", "body": "we;;, then make them thirst and hunger a little..."}, {"response": 36, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (09:37)", "body": "what? i should neglect them a bit?"}, {"response": 37, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (12:26)", "body": "I have had to put mine on a grow table or in my biggest tree where I cannot get to them easily. Otherwise I will fidgit them to death and overfeed them. Be sure they can climb out of the pot easily. They *are* epiphytes, after all!"}, {"response": 38, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (12:41)", "body": "yes, they are. none of mine are terrestrial (there are some that can be grown outdoors-even in Louisiana-in the dirt!) and african violets are epiphytes as well. for those that don't know, epiphytes means they live on other plants like trees with their roots exposed to grab moisture from the air. they are not parasitical, meaning they do not harm the host. it is very easy to make your own epiphyte community. just take a good piece of wood (even a 2x4 works) and secure it in a pot with stones or concrete. then select the epiphyte plants you want to use (orchids, african violets, bromeliads). place the roots close to the tree and wrap with sphagum moss and some fishing line to hold it securely in place and mist w/water at air temp. keep the air humid by misting and you won't ever have to water. you can even make one using a grapevine wreath if you don't have the room. and instead of using a limb or 2x4, use the supports commonly seen in pothos pots (can't remember what they're called) or stick them onto your live ficus trees. have fun!"}, {"response": 39, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (13:13)", "body": "The only thing I would add to that is be sure you are not using treated wood. (termite proofed stuff)"}, {"response": 40, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (15:05)", "body": "good point, thanks marcia!"}, {"response": 41, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (15:09)", "body": "Here people make orchid or other epiphyte hangers using hapu'u (tree fern trunks shredded) irother weathered tree part still having part of the bark on (don't use driftwood from the sea)or\"blast wood\" from the volcano area. Just be sure you sprinkle them to keep them moist if you are having a really dry spell."}, {"response": 42, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (15:14)", "body": "these plaques can be hung indoors and outdoors. you can also hang your ferns from them as well. a little something i learned in biology, ferns are also epiphytes and would rather be watered from above than below. which would be the reason that any fern i had died! you can mount the plaques to an ordinary metal hangar by bending the hangar into a straight shape and using the hook part to hang the whole thing. mount the wood to the hanger with more fishing line or hot glue. (note that hot glue has a tendancy to come undone in hot areas)."}, {"response": 43, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (15:46)", "body": "You got that right about low temp melt glue for sure and for some hot melt as well. We either use clear plumbling caulk or wire things into place. We never plant ferns. I weed them out of just about every plant I own and trees too. They shed spores and will grow on just barely cooled lava! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 11, "subject": "Dr. Seuss", "response_count": 2, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar 11, 2005 (21:29)", "body": "to celebrate suess' b'day, today was read across america day. i went and read to some 1st graders but didn't pick any dr suess books, though greens eggs and ham was sitting out."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Mar 12, 2005 (06:21)", "body": "Cool. What did you read to the little buggers? collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 12, "subject": "antiques", "response_count": 16, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 30, 1999 (20:11)", "body": "Does the IO count?"}, {"response": 2, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Aug 31, 1999 (12:49)", "body": "MARCIA!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 31, 1999 (15:28)", "body": "Just asking..."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep  2, 1999 (10:12)", "body": "Speaking of antiques. Has anyone seen the real neat tv show, Antique Roadshow? They have folks dig out their treasures and bring them in for appraisal. This show has been a sleeper hit."}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep  2, 1999 (13:15)", "body": "Oh yes, one of my fav TV shows. I can remember the lady who found an old helmet in the rafters of her house and it was 15th century Spanish worth $250,000...!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Sep  2, 1999 (20:12)", "body": "i've seen that show, but i find it boring at times. esp. when someone brings in a piece of junk and hopes it's worth millions. i wonder how greedy some people can be."}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep  3, 1999 (08:09)", "body": "Wah! I don't have any old stuff in my attic!"}, {"response": 8, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Fri, Sep  3, 1999 (13:22)", "body": "Want some of mine?"}, {"response": 9, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep  3, 1999 (23:55)", "body": "In Hawaii we have neither attics nor basements and very few garages. My \"stuff\" is in the spare room under tons of junk. I have no idea what is really in there!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sat, Sep  4, 1999 (10:23)", "body": "So go investigate! Welcome, Isabel! Are you a pack rat, too? What do you collect?"}, {"response": 11, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Sat, Sep  4, 1999 (15:38)", "body": "Haha - \"packrat\" - I know one... No, I'm more a kind of a magpie. I must have everything that looks nice or is glittering or somehow funny or just interesting. So I don't collect special items, but I have a huge collection of \"things without any use\", you know stuff that doesn't really do anything, like old toys, little vases, porcellain, glassthings, linen, a teamill (!)...God's sake I don't collect little porcelain or ceramic figurines or old elctronic stuff like some of my friends do. Oh, and sometimes I buy records, too. What fleemarket-stuff do you fall for?"}, {"response": 12, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Sat, Sep  4, 1999 (15:38)", "body": "Haha - \"packrat\" - I know one... No, I'm more a kind of a magpie. I must have everything that looks nice or is glittering or somehow funny or just interesting. So I don't collect special items, but I have a huge collection of \"things without any use\", you know stuff that doesn't really do anything, like old toys, little vases, porcellain, glassthings, linen, a teamill (!)...God's sake I don't collect little porcelain or ceramic figurines or old electronic stuff like some of my friends do. Oh, and sometimes I buy records, too. What fleemarket-stuff do you fall for?"}, {"response": 13, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep  4, 1999 (18:17)", "body": "i love antiques, but i don't know the first thing, nor am interested enough to do the proper research....i used to prowl through local antique shops but only the furniture interested me and i didn't know if it was worth the prices or not, so i didn't buy anything. (oh, except for a brush and comb set that i got suckered into)... and glad to see you over here, too, isabel...is a magpie the same as a raven? i know ravens like glittery shiny things....sounds like you have an eclectic collection of things that appeal to you that don't belong in any one category. shall i open a topic for that?"}, {"response": 14, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep  4, 1999 (18:29)", "body": "and introducing, just for folks like you, isabel, a topic for all that junk you love: http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/collecting/45 it's called Mish Mosh"}, {"response": 15, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (05:32)", "body": "Hey, great! Isabel - that sounds interesting... Show us some pics of your useless stuff - send them to Wolf, she knows how to do this (proof: Barbie-topic, where I haven't seen any new stuff lately - WOLF!)"}, {"response": 16, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (14:35)", "body": "*blush* i'm trying ovah hee-uh! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 13, "subject": "Koosh Balls", "response_count": 8, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (07:52)", "body": "Wolfie, it's a slow afternoon and I'm meandering around. What the heck are Koosh balls please. Sounds like some kind of japanese pleasure item, which I'm sure they're not!"}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:07)", "body": "*lol* i suppose, if one had the inclination, they could be used as such *grin* lemme get a link with a picture (my koosh ball sits at my desk at work)..."}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:11)", "body": "here ya go..."}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:12)", "body": "and that one happens to be the same color as mine. it's a plastic ball that has been shredded (kinda rubbery) and still has the rubber part in tack in the middle. the thing feels funny in your fingers and is easy to toss and catch."}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:50)", "body": "I love'um but too cheap to spring for what they cost just to collect dust. So, I grab a feel every chance I get. They are good stress relievers, no?!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (18:57)", "body": "i got a big one for the price of the small ones ($5!!) and yes, i love to fiddle with it and the slinky i keep at my desk! (kids love to come to work with mom or dad, they get to play at my desk)"}, {"response": 7, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (04:07)", "body": "Oh, so it's a sort of grown up play thingy? I don't think they made it this side of the atlantic!"}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (18:19)", "body": "They're not made on any side of the Atlantic or on this side of the Pacific, either. Japan imports originally. Probably Chinese now, too. Too good for kids, btw *grin* collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 14, "subject": "German Military Medals and Decorations", "response_count": 3, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wer", "date": "Sat, Feb 13, 1999 (11:55)", "body": "visit http://www.derrittmeister.com/ and http://www.militarycoins.com/"}, {"response": 2, "author": "Dumper", "date": "Mon, Feb 15, 1999 (20:56)", "body": "To wer: what era of German Military Medals do you collect? Do you have a specific medal that you favor? Have you seen Rittmeister's pages since his Feb. 15 update? some real pricey stuff."}, {"response": 3, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, Feb 15, 1999 (21:32)", "body": "The ones that interest me most would be circa WWII... and no, I haven't made it by yet... collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 15, "subject": "Slide Rules", "response_count": 53, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Feb 15, 1999 (21:18)", "body": "so, dear ratthing, when're you gonna show us a pic (for those of us sliderule challenged)?"}, {"response": 2, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Tue, Feb 16, 1999 (18:50)", "body": "oh! i'll find one for you!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Feb 16, 1999 (21:50)", "body": "go, ray, go! slide, ray, slide!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Wed, Feb 17, 1999 (22:31)", "body": "this page is totally awesome... http://www.sphere.bc.ca/test/sruniverse.html"}, {"response": 5, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Feb 18, 1999 (18:14)", "body": "like, totally, fer shur?"}, {"response": 6, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Thu, Feb 18, 1999 (21:20)", "body": "dude..."}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb 18, 1999 (21:42)", "body": "ok, now i know what they look like, but what are they for? kinda reminds me of the \"sliderule\" i use to get the right distance for sewing hemlines."}, {"response": 8, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Feb 18, 1999 (21:47)", "body": "they are primitive calculators, Wolfie..."}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb 18, 1999 (21:49)", "body": "primitive? damn, they look pretty complicated to me. like an abacus or something? or for stuff like concrete? (my neighbor gave me one made of plastic, kinda neat)"}, {"response": 10, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Feb 18, 1999 (21:52)", "body": "I'll let Ray take over from here..."}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb 18, 1999 (21:53)", "body": "uh, t'anks!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Fri, Feb 19, 1999 (18:43)", "body": "primitive, indeed! they are ultracool and ultracomplex!! sliderules were used in pre-calculator days to multiply, divide, calculate squares and cubes, square roots and cube roots, logrithms, and a variety of other trig functions. the basic concept behind the slide rule was that of ratios and proportions. you slid the parts of the sliderule to a certain position, then read your answer off. the advantage of a calculator over a slide rule is of course speed and accuracy. however, slide rules don't need batteries and can last for many, many years. also, learning things like powers and logrithms on a slide rule makes it easier to understand them than just typing numbers into a calculator!"}, {"response": 13, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Feb 19, 1999 (18:57)", "body": "wow, thanks....."}, {"response": 14, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Feb 19, 1999 (23:32)", "body": "(I knew I'd get you going, Ray...)"}, {"response": 15, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sat, Feb 20, 1999 (09:52)", "body": "you evil, evil man!"}, {"response": 16, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Feb 20, 1999 (11:21)", "body": "be that as it may... I can be effective! (and probably affective, as well...)"}, {"response": 17, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sat, Feb 20, 1999 (20:44)", "body": "convective? ,"}, {"response": 18, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Feb 21, 1999 (00:00)", "body": "hmmm..."}, {"response": 19, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Mar  3, 1999 (03:36)", "body": "Hey, but there's other ways to do the math thang, too. Somewhere around my place, stuffed in some moving boxes I got a book that does all that for you! Right, it says something like \"Don't calc it - Look it up!\" on the cover. Lotsa numbers in there, too..."}, {"response": 20, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (13:23)", "body": "Hmh, Ray's doing the ring-thing and gets himself married? Might explain why it's so quiet around this place here... Will he have to store his slide-rule collection in the garage? Or will she be thrilled and have them displayed on the living room wall? Will she embark with Ray on a crazed, all-out world-spanning slide-rule hunt without remorse or mercy?"}, {"response": 21, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (13:29)", "body": "YES!!! YES!!! YES!!! YES!!! YES!!!"}, {"response": 22, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (13:31)", "body": "So, what will happen? I take Gate B..."}, {"response": 23, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (13:34)", "body": "I'm usually preferential to the back door..."}, {"response": 24, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (13:46)", "body": "wow. thanks for the visual WER..."}, {"response": 25, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (14:14)", "body": "I knew you'd approve and, you're welcome. Anything else I can do for you?"}, {"response": 26, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (14:17)", "body": "Oooh, Wer, does that mean you also collect these things, what's this topic called, these sli..."}, {"response": 27, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (14:19)", "body": "no, but my father has a cool one..."}, {"response": 28, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (14:30)", "body": "Boy, where are you from! The Ozarks or what! I didn't know that it was that deeply, uh, rooted..."}, {"response": 29, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (14:52)", "body": "WER is from Ireland... trapped helplessly in an Italian kitchen... he played bagpipes in high school and went to college on a scholarship based on his blowing talents... I knew him during those college years... what a dramatic transformation..."}, {"response": 30, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (18:57)", "body": "oops...forgot about all that..."}, {"response": 31, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Apr  9, 1999 (13:06)", "body": "well pull out your yearbook WERsie! (that was my college nickname for heim)"}, {"response": 32, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Apr  9, 1999 (23:43)", "body": "yessum, tongue-twister (that was my nickname for her...)"}, {"response": 33, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sat, Apr 10, 1999 (13:18)", "body": "So, why didn't this work out, one might wonder?"}, {"response": 34, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Apr 10, 1999 (13:45)", "body": "but it did, Alexander, it did"}, {"response": 35, "author": "stacey", "date": "Sat, Apr 10, 1999 (23:25)", "body": "*grin*"}, {"response": 36, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Apr 11, 1999 (00:45)", "body": "oh, the memories! (past, present, and future...)"}, {"response": 37, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Apr 12, 1999 (12:12)", "body": "So, you've been together in college or what? And what about this Brandon guy? Does he do Sushi, and she got fed up with pasta?"}, {"response": 38, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Apr 12, 1999 (19:05)", "body": "he likes sushi... he likes pasta too!"}, {"response": 39, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, Apr 12, 1999 (23:29)", "body": "as does Stacey..."}, {"response": 40, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Apr 13, 1999 (11:10)", "body": "And! And! What's that with you guys? Were you once affiliated, so to speak, or is that none of my biz? What happened at college? (But then, hadn't I once found in the innards of this place the very first posts you'd exchanged? Didn't look like you guys knew each other then...)"}, {"response": 41, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Apr 13, 1999 (12:21)", "body": "*grin*"}, {"response": 42, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Apr 13, 1999 (12:44)", "body": "*wider grin*"}, {"response": 43, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Apr 13, 1999 (14:53)", "body": "*cheshire cat grin*"}, {"response": 44, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Apr 13, 1999 (19:49)", "body": "you are correct on all counts, Alexander... we are affiliated (so to speak)... of course it is your business since a lot of it is posted around here... Stacey graduated, I flunked out... (we knew each other, we just hadn't met yet...)"}, {"response": 45, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Apr 13, 1999 (19:51)", "body": "So *ahem* anyone seen a good slide rule, lately? Or used one?"}, {"response": 46, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Apr 13, 1999 (22:19)", "body": "what is the rule about sliding anyway???"}, {"response": 47, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Apr 14, 1999 (14:40)", "body": "I thought of all people here, you two guys knew!"}, {"response": 48, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Apr 14, 1999 (23:26)", "body": "sometimes, it is safer to pretend otherwise..."}, {"response": 49, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 1999 (12:06)", "body": "Oh. Excuse me. Wait, I'll rephrase that: \"I'd never thought of all people here, you two guys wouldn't know!\" Yep. Wer you're right - this looks much better!"}, {"response": 50, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 1999 (12:09)", "body": "sometimes WER just acts coy..."}, {"response": 51, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 1999 (13:10)", "body": "and sometimes I just don't know how to act..."}, {"response": 52, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 1999 (13:35)", "body": "...but I always compensate by blindly typing ahea\ufffdkbgbm ab\ufffdkkhnb\ufffdlmadfhbno\ufffdikkm qjed#pjgsnby\ufffdpkm., aerhbpouj4n-ydnfb anyway. Yes, I understand perfectly."}, {"response": 53, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Mon, Jan 31, 2005 (02:58)", "body": "Alexander, William and Stacey. Where art thou? collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 16, "subject": "Record Collecting", "response_count": 126, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Feb 26, 1999 (17:18)", "body": "you oughta sneak on over to poetry! thanks for stopping by....."}, {"response": 2, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Mar  1, 1999 (14:04)", "body": "Well, Wolf, jus hadda acute strain of show-off in me. Anyway, DO YOU collect records? What periods/labels/artists or styles? See my comment in musics introduction-topic; I go for 78s a long way. There's really good fun in there..."}, {"response": 3, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Mar  1, 1999 (14:14)", "body": "not sure I've even seen a 78..."}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Mar  1, 1999 (17:48)", "body": "the lp's that i have are from my childhood. don't own a phonograph so can't listen to them. i don't collect them in any sense even though i have a box full!"}, {"response": 5, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, Mar  1, 1999 (21:59)", "body": "my parents have some 78's..."}, {"response": 6, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Mar  2, 1999 (12:48)", "body": "Yo, Kitchen, you happy happy cat! I hope they are good ones, too - what are they? People, realise that 78s were made into the 1960ies (up to then, every Elvis-single was released on vinyl- 45s (aka 7'') as well as 78s (10'' size). And earliest are from 1880ies - so you can find quite some variety here! Two days ago, I found some american WWII-troop-entertainment-records here in a small antiques shop in Germany. Great swing, folks! Really hot jazzy things, plus a white-labelled beauty with inkwriting on it announcing a song called \"Schicklegr\ufffdber\". Ok, it's been misspelled, but they were making big time fun of Hitler! What a song! Wolf, you don't need a phonograph for your vinyls! Phonographs are for wax cylinders (genuine vintage Edison-tech!!), LPs are played on record players. And! lotsa very fine music has never been released on CD. Ever thought about that? But then, maybe not everybody has this virus... Just let me say, some people like to play a Les Paul (famous guitar by Gibson), I like to listen to Les Paul (famous guitar player, of whom I got some 78s). Wolf, next time you happen to stand around bored on a fleamarket (wel , you can't really get bored on fleamarkets, but still...) - next time, check some old vinyl. Maybe you find a very fine soul record of the sixties? Let's say, Joe Tex. Or old country-stuff. Take it home, ask around where to listen to it. Do it. Stacey, 78s are basically like vinyl records, because they are the medium vinyls derived from. The material (shellac) is very brittle, so they break easy and chip on the edges (that's why pre-war gramophone cabinets could be locked, so nobody - kids or servants - could play music and accidentally break 'em!). They don't play at 33 1/3 rpm like LPs or 45 rpm like Singles (which were introduced around 1949, I think), but at - tadah! - 78 rpm. Try to read the label while playing one, and you're big time dizz soon (no hangover, though!). Oh, and they are mono, as were all records before late 1950ies. These are the media our grandparents and parents grew up with, listening to Bing Crosby or Louis Armstrong, or other things. Of course, there's always some noise from scratches and the like, sound is not as crystal clear as on a CD. But that's not what I'm after - I want this musical heritage we're denied because of switches in media! Enough for today. If you still bear with me, I'll all call you to arms and rebellion against the media conspiracy tomorrow! I hope by that time I come up with a cool idea on what I'm talking about, anyway... ;=} )"}, {"response": 7, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Mar  2, 1999 (13:23)", "body": "So 78s are indeed what my mother stores in the bottom of the broken victrola? (speed control is all wonky!) Then I have listened to them."}, {"response": 8, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar  2, 1999 (18:08)", "body": "yeah, alexander, i knew lps are listened to on record players. i look for stuffed steifs at flea markets rather than vinyl, but maybe i'll take a listen. what part of germany are you in? i'm from stuttgart."}, {"response": 9, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Mar  3, 1999 (03:32)", "body": "Hallo Wolf, Ich bin aus Rhein-Main. Steiff-Tiere sind klasse, da habe ich auch so 1,2 stk, ;=} Record players: as you are from Germany, too, you should be able to get a nice Thorens record player. Make sure, it also spins 78 rpm and ask the sales folks what needle (diamond/saphire) you'd need for 78s. Yes, for those you'd use a different needle, as they have wider grooves that modern vinyls (who have microgrooves)."}, {"response": 10, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Mar  3, 1999 (10:11)", "body": "Translation of Alexander's German courtesy of Tranexp.com... \"I am outfield rhine-[Main]. stiff-animals are class, there property self also so 1,2 [stk], \" ja. ????"}, {"response": 11, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Mar  3, 1999 (16:49)", "body": "and away we go..."}, {"response": 12, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Mar  3, 1999 (17:37)", "body": "no worries, i got the gist of what he said. alex, i'm no longer in germany. last time i was there was about 14 years ago. still communicate with oma and opa (whom i love dearly) (for those non-german folks, oma=grandma opa=grandpa) i haven't found steiff here in Louisiana. i picked up a cat that looked like steiff but had no button in the ear or any tags."}, {"response": 13, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 1999 (13:42)", "body": "Wolf, watch your step over there. German emigrants have become an endangered species statesside, I've been told. Stacey, your trrranslatorrr thingus rrrocks! Ok, I just told Wolf whthat I'm from the Rhein-Main area (a circle of about 60 kilometers or 40 miles around Frankfurt). He collects stuffed animals by the german manufacturer Steiff (those with a button in the ear...) - I have some of them, too. IF you look for something nice to bring home for some kids, check them out. New ones in any toy store, old ones on toy cons/markets (much sought after!). Always a good thing to find on a fleamarket, if inexpensive (but mostly, they're overpriced). These are quality-products that may (if properly treated) serve several generations..."}, {"response": 14, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 1999 (13:47)", "body": "Hey, what's that! Is this a Stuffed Animals collecting topic, or what!! Wer, what 78s do your parents have? Stacey, have I told you that there are people who think very well of Victrola as a brand? Even repair some... Still, for playing, I prefer a nice record player that does 78 rpm with a proper needle (because wider groove that 33 and 45 rpm records!). That's much easier that steel needles and changing them after playing 2 records (shellac is so hard, that the needles get blunt - if that's the proper word)."}, {"response": 15, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 1999 (14:37)", "body": "not sure...I'll ask next time I talk to them..."}, {"response": 16, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 1999 (17:29)", "body": "oh, and alex, i'm the alpha female around here *grin* (and steiff do age well even with lots of lovings)"}, {"response": 17, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (07:17)", "body": "So, what does that mean for me, besides the obvious. *charming blush* Do I now have to ask you first before replying to Stacey? Anyway, I think you're safe, Wolf. They only bump off the male of the species, as far as I can tell from here. Still, as in german it's \"Der Wolf\" for the male, and \"Die W\ufffdlfin\" for the female, you maybe ought to change that to She-Wolf - maybe they've hired a guest worker, who knows german, too. You never know. My, now I get really concerned, too. Be careful. And stay out of Florida and Arizona, for good measure. I would like to ask Stacey, what's wrong with the Victrola. May I?"}, {"response": 18, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (15:42)", "body": "speed control Herr Schuth... speed control... it's all wound up tight and then BANG, unwinds to quickly ( STOP laughing WER!!! I'm talking bout the Victrola! ) *smile*"}, {"response": 19, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (17:37)", "body": "no one has to ask me permission to speak, you had just referred to me as a \"he\" at no fault of your own, so i thought i'd correct the social blunder *heehee*"}, {"response": 20, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (17:43)", "body": "awww... WOlfie... there you go again... taking all the fun and social blunders outta everything. *pout*"}, {"response": 21, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (17:47)", "body": "*sorry*"}, {"response": 22, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (17:47)", "body": "(i was just kidding)"}, {"response": 23, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (17:49)", "body": "so was i *heehee* how are you doing stacey?"}, {"response": 24, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (17:50)", "body": "purty good... got some groovy medicine making my owwie parts stop hurting... actually, the collecting conference is appropriate for how I've been collecting illness lately!"}, {"response": 25, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (17:57)", "body": "i think the crud is hitting all over. a lot of folks around here have come down with it. glad the meds are working for ya and hope you feel better soon!"}, {"response": 26, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (17:58)", "body": "danke schon (dunno how to make a umlaut in telnet...) how are you doing??"}, {"response": 27, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (18:07)", "body": "stressed =o (work has been a bummer lately)"}, {"response": 28, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (18:07)", "body": "how come??"}, {"response": 29, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (18:10)", "body": "reorg'ing and i get a bulk of crud to take care of. part of the job. just stressful."}, {"response": 30, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (18:12)", "body": "what do you do to relieve stress (outta curiousity) I'd lose it without exercise... and screaming... how do you make it okay so that you don't take it all and dump it on those around you? (and I'm sorry you're having a rough time)"}, {"response": 31, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (18:13)", "body": "i just deal with it and talk about it. i also use a lot of positive self-talkm (and chocolate-that helps), and prayer."}, {"response": 32, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (18:14)", "body": "ummm... positive self-talkm... I'm gonna try that! *grin* *hug* hope it gets better!"}, {"response": 33, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sat, Mar  6, 1999 (14:36)", "body": "Oh, and there are always them silly newbies who's ears you can pull and the like, Wolf. Then they look like this Steiff bunny I got... If you're stressed, try music NOW. (after all, this is a record collecting topic...) I'll play Ol' Man River from Show Boat right away (my original 78), and dedicate it to Wolf. And I'll chuckle to the lyrics, as I sometimes do (especially with this song). And for Stacey, I'd like to play a song from Disney's Jungle Book. It helped one of Superstar's authors when he was ill, and he wrote this down for us all to read in his column. \"I want to be like you\" (not meant literally) and fish stix are what saved him. Stacey, how good is your german? Should I post it (in the Superstar topic)? Get well. You got a long trip ahead of you, you want to enjoy it. Ever been over here?"}, {"response": 34, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Mar  8, 1999 (14:44)", "body": "I LOVE that song!!! My German isn't so good but my attitude ain't so bad... You could post it if you like but make sure it's more of a gibberish feature than cohesive German prose... Thanks, I will (I feel tons better now actually) Nope, never been. But the anticipation has been going on for years!"}, {"response": 35, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Mar  8, 1999 (17:01)", "body": "Your will be done! Please click here: http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/music/59 Get well, you don't want to have jetlag mixed with flu or something. Are you coming for fun or is it a business thing with tight schedule? AND you've picked some good places. I loved Berlin all my life (especially in the 70ies, when it was very much a decaying place - quite different now). Never been to Prague yet, but whoever goes, sings it's praise. Does your family come from there? Vura sounds so czech to me..."}, {"response": 36, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Mar  8, 1999 (18:04)", "body": "Brandon is going for business... I am taggin along! Pure vacation bliss (I hope!) The name is Americanized Hungarian... of which I am not strangely enough... my greatgrandfather (born in Italy of Italian descent, was adopted by a Hungarian couple and obviously given their name!!! I have seen slides of the 'original' homestead in Italy but I doubt we will make it so far south to calabria..."}, {"response": 37, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Mar 12, 1999 (09:00)", "body": "Ah, Italian Hungarian Style! That explains the fire!"}, {"response": 38, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar 12, 1999 (11:43)", "body": "fire, eh?"}, {"response": 39, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Mar 12, 1999 (12:54)", "body": "Well, sure. Lemme just get me ole bucket, and I'll fix that!"}, {"response": 40, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Mar 12, 1999 (23:21)", "body": "that better be one damn big bucket..."}, {"response": 41, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sat, Mar 13, 1999 (08:54)", "body": "Oh, Kitchen, you'd love it - it's a aprox. 15 l bucket of zinc-galvanized steel, complete with wooden handle on the handle-thing. It's doesn't melt, even if you get real close! Profeesional quality, that's what I call it! But I just checked concerning the get-close-thing (Sunday morning) - Stacey, I won't make it. Shame on me, I'm really sorry about that. So, this spares you (and any given innocent bystanders) for this time. :=["}, {"response": 42, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Mar 13, 1999 (10:38)", "body": "and once again, the world is safe..."}, {"response": 43, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Mar 14, 1999 (03:56)", "body": "Oh, Wer, if you want to rub it in, please do so in http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/screwed/157/All . I might not comment on this issue further in this topic.- Anyway, I keep the bucket around, you never know..."}, {"response": 44, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, Mar 15, 1999 (00:25)", "body": "that's true...around here, one never knows..."}, {"response": 45, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Mar 15, 1999 (07:34)", "body": "Wer, what is the most-loved recording you own (any medium)? What do you think Wolf loves the most?"}, {"response": 46, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, Mar 15, 1999 (22:07)", "body": "gotta contemplate on the first one, and as to the second, Wolf?"}, {"response": 47, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar 16, 1999 (09:14)", "body": "dunno...."}, {"response": 48, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Mar 16, 1999 (09:47)", "body": "Please, Wolf, there must be some canned compositions that for some wicked reason you love, and that never fail to make you happy or smug or sad or laugh or cry or dance with joy or a complete fool or a wise Wolf or gives you strength when you're weak, and spend light to you when all is dark?"}, {"response": 49, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar 16, 1999 (11:20)", "body": "well, one of my favorite songs is don henley's boys of summer. does it for me everytime. don't have it on record though."}, {"response": 50, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Mar 17, 1999 (06:51)", "body": "Wolf, what do you think Wer will name as his favorite? \"Bella Napoli\"?"}, {"response": 51, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Mar 17, 1999 (23:24)", "body": "no...it's hard to think of a song I like better than \"On Suday\" by Shoulders, although \"Offerings\" by them ranks right up there..."}, {"response": 52, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Mar 18, 1999 (10:33)", "body": "Shoulders? Not in my Discography, tell me more..."}, {"response": 53, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Mar 18, 1999 (23:30)", "body": "an Austin band...not quite sure what else to say..."}, {"response": 54, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Apr  7, 1999 (11:19)", "body": "Close call never woulda happened anyway Alexander... our flight from Chicago was cancelled and we flew in the next day on American Airlines! Only 18 hours late!"}, {"response": 55, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Apr  7, 1999 (11:20)", "body": "I promise I'll stay on topic now... *grin*"}, {"response": 56, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Apr  7, 1999 (18:26)", "body": "Glad to have you onboard again, Ma'm. Bought any records lately, perhapy ever-delicious vinyl or tasty shellac?"}, {"response": 57, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Apr  7, 1999 (18:49)", "body": "not in the last ten (or 15!) years... I was a big cassette and 8-track girl!"}, {"response": 58, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (13:05)", "body": "OOOooooooooh! Tell us all about it! I've seen only two 8tracks machines in my life... Do you still have them? What recordings did you love the most?"}, {"response": 59, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (13:47)", "body": "i killed a couple Eagles 8-tacks (overplaying of course) and I still have all my Queen ones... Olivia Newton John... Alabama... (man this is embarassing!)"}, {"response": 60, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (13:49)", "body": "Any RARE stuff, something not a household name?"}, {"response": 61, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (14:52)", "body": "nope"}, {"response": 62, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Apr 20, 1999 (22:51)", "body": "I know it doesn't really go here, but... http://www.vintagesynth.com/"}, {"response": 63, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Apr 21, 1999 (03:18)", "body": "Thank you for this link! Please post it also in Music (MIDI topic perhaps? Or new one: Vintage Equipment) and maybe in Dead Media. This site is great - full of information on legendary synthesizers, discussion forum (Interface), technical tips, etc. Unfortunately, the Classifieds section doesn't seem to work yet."}, {"response": 64, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Apr 21, 1999 (03:22)", "body": "Excuse me. The Classifieds work, just opens a new browser window, and I didn't see it. Looks great - if you ever need something, like e.g. a drum machine, this is the place to look!"}, {"response": 65, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Apr 30, 1999 (06:06)", "body": "Hey, y'all! THIS IS GREAT! Got a parcel today, from a musician + buddy who writes for superstar. He's just been to the States (where - besides his own professional interests - he did an interview for us...), and when he came back, he sent me this parcel! You won't believe this! A BIG stack of 78s, actually perhaps like 6 pounds. A note: \"Something I picked up in the States for you\"..."}, {"response": 66, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Apr 30, 1999 (09:43)", "body": "how kind of him!! i bet you're on cloud nine (ok, maybe cloud 78!!)"}, {"response": 67, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sat, May  1, 1999 (03:44)", "body": "Yeah, and spi nn iii nnn ''' ! !! ! !"}, {"response": 68, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, May  9, 1999 (12:11)", "body": "Serious Drama: What if you split up and have to divide the records and CDs between your ex-partner-to-be and yourself? How to handle that? Ever seen this happen? Or had to live through this yourself?"}, {"response": 69, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, May 10, 1999 (01:12)", "body": "not yet..."}, {"response": 70, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, May 10, 1999 (11:21)", "body": "is that foreboding or just keeping your options open?!"}, {"response": 71, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, May 10, 1999 (12:11)", "body": "good question! I dunno..."}, {"response": 72, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, May 20, 1999 (12:36)", "body": "Well, seems nobody here ever divorced... (or maybe didn't have a record collection?)! How exceptional - but some of you must have split up with somebody in the past, and had to suffer worse because of that special CD or the beloved LP? Come on, tell us your grief! (Meanwhile, the hardcore collectors will like this link: http://www.shellac.org/ and especially \"Toasting a CD\" at http://www.shellac.org/slumber/stech01.html , just what I want to start when I got the gear together...)"}, {"response": 73, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Aug  5, 1999 (08:46)", "body": "I hate it when that happens! Why do people have to take one's favourite cd's when they don't like you anymore??"}, {"response": 74, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Aug  5, 1999 (10:53)", "body": "...okeh, I listen - what happened? And what CDs?"}, {"response": 75, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug  6, 1999 (00:45)", "body": "Alexander, are you fond enough of Classical Music to be interested in my fairly large and old collection of LP's No cost. Just need to figure out how to get them from Hawaii to Germany."}, {"response": 76, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Aug  6, 1999 (06:29)", "body": "I like classical music . . . but don't have an LP player. Do alot of people still keep them? ha-ha, No! Nothing serious there, Alexander! Just a guy I was supposed to marry (convention thing more or less); he seemed decent enough to begin with, but then he turned out to be REALLY needy, and I decided to flee the country instead. But the break-off had to be faced, and the best way he could think of in paying me back for the hurt ego was by refusing to return some cd's I once lent him. Can't even remember which ones, but if he thought THAT was the best revenge, he was so damned right!!! I cri d myself to sleep over those cd's!"}, {"response": 77, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Aug  6, 1999 (14:57)", "body": "Well, see if you remember and tell us!"}, {"response": 78, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Aug  6, 1999 (15:25)", "body": "How many records, Marcia?"}, {"response": 79, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug  6, 1999 (15:32)", "body": "lots...while I was in California the house-ape moved or tried to move them and put them elsewhere. The entire cabinet fell apart. They occupied a space about 4 feet in length (1.2M)standing on edge. HAve some old 78's too from the lower Manhattan record district which got the money I did not spend of second hand books."}, {"response": 80, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Aug  7, 1999 (21:25)", "body": "i've got some lps too and don't have a player. ree, they still sell phonographs and some stereo systems come with them."}, {"response": 81, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Aug  8, 1999 (23:00)", "body": "I have a turntable but seldom use it. My girlfriend has one (a Nutone) that folds into her kitchen wall. How 70's!"}, {"response": 82, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (04:17)", "body": "Wow! I'd love to have THAT kitchen appliance! Riette, nice record players are e.g. Thorens (a swiss maker?) or Technics (what the DJs use... No 78 rpm...). Ofter, Hi-Fi- studios have used drives in good condition to offer... (that's where the nice Marantz amp I use is from... 60ies or early 70ies model). Marcia, I hope the 78s did not break... Shellac is much more brittle than vinyl, as the proprietor of a second hand records stand of the fleamarket had to discover, when I asked him how much he wanted for a 78 by Bill Haley; made in Germany, though. The guy said 50 marks, and I pointed out to him that inside that plastic sleeve were shards you could puzzle with, but no record... I gave him 5 marks (like USD 3), because I wanted to have at least the label. 78s are to me audible ethnology into the world of our parents and great parents, archeological searches into styles and artists long forgotten. And it can be very romantic, too... Much music from that time has never been rereleased on vinyl (LP and 7''), much less on CD (though there are occasionally projects dragging such treasures together and reissuing them...). Even many great LPs were never reissued on CD - and people who have no record players are completely cut off from even having a chance to hear that stuff. Their favorite children's stories, the family's christmas record, what one's parents loved (Dances! Parties! Romance!). Thanks, music industry, for creating new products and new markets every few decades! Thanks for already planning the next big thing after the next big thing after the CD, DVD! Thanks for forcing serious hardware costs down our wallets every ten years - yes, the pace picks up!-, and thanks for letting so much of our cultural heritage go to waste and be forgotten... But then, perhaps it's fortunate for people like me - some of the nicest records I find right now come from people who sell cheaply or give away ALL THEIR VINYL RECORDS, because they don't have a player... Or from people who sell stuff of some deceased grandparent... Some treasure I hunted up lately - all early Stereo recordings (1958-1960): 2 LPs by Martin Denny (exotica, jungle sounds - weird stereo stuff tiki style), Julie London, Senor Tito Rodriguez (Cuban Big Band!), \"Big Hits by Prado\" - Mambo and other Latin goods (released in RCA Victor's \"Living Stereo\"-Series, which is much sought after by audiophiles...), \"Li'l Abner\" - the movie songs,..."}, {"response": 83, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (04:44)", "body": "Marcia, just saw post 75. Hold on to that. I'm not much into classical music, but perhaps somebody else is... How 'bout your son, whenever he gets settled?"}, {"response": 84, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (11:26)", "body": "BTW, it's a shame people don't part as easy from their Super-8 (or Normal 8) movies as from their records... I keep being amazed at seeing how many folks sell projectors and cameras at fleamarkets, but the films they did? Or some bought movies or cartoons? Tough luck!"}, {"response": 85, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (11:59)", "body": "Alexander, I think most of the 8 and Super 8 and even the 16mm film which my Dad used to document our family are in the family archives awaiting processing onto video tape. It is family history, after all, and may be the only pictures they have of elderly relatives, now long gone. Don't think son is into music at all. He has short wave and multiple scanners as does his mother for aural input."}, {"response": 86, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (12:41)", "body": "Yes, I see about this \"converting to\" side, but most people back down from it. I have over 40 reels Super 8, each about 20-30 minutes - that's ONLY the family movies! About 24 h materiel, and copying is something like (one price quoted to me last summer) DM 3 (approx USD 1.80) PER MINUTE! I'm happy to play any films for other people - after all, I have 16mm, Normal 8 and Super 8-facilities. But there are many movies people bought - SciFi, Monster or Western stuff, all from way before VCRs. And these wares hardly ever show up. BTW, my friends love watching the old family-stuff, which really astonished me. Pick some nice music to match (Hammond-organ records are great!), and open a window to the past... Cars, hair-dos, clothes, buildings, cities - all looked so different! Perhaps I should do a Monster-HomeMovie-Marathon - show all films nonstop, and have some DJs do fitting music, stuff from those years... Haven't I been in a nice cinema lately, where the owner asked me about some cooperation ideas?"}, {"response": 87, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (13:09)", "body": "Yes, Alexandeer...have Terry run them on SpringCam and watch the hits soar as word gets around. It just might be the only chance we get to see what Alexander auf Hessen really looks like! I'd watch!!! I know of only one family who did conversions. One of the group paid to have it done, the rest made copies and shared the overall cost. We have hundreds of 16 mm spliced onto big reels. We even have the Hindenburg burning and the Coronation of George VI and Streamboat Willie, plus inumerable Betty Boop nd Popeye reels."}, {"response": 88, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (08:51)", "body": "OOOOOOHHHHHHHHH! But Dad didn't film that himself, did he? Let's move this discussion into the Film topic here in Collecting, ok?"}, {"response": 89, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (12:26)", "body": "Sure!"}, {"response": 90, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (13:24)", "body": "...to be continued in film...."}, {"response": 91, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Aug 15, 1999 (05:18)", "body": "Bought some strange mix - Junior Guitar Watson, Barry White (early 70ies, when he WAS brilliant - as I only now find out!), Dean Martin, Elvis P.-Christmas album, singles by Malcom McLaren (Bufalo Gals), Amanda Lear (some Munich-disco stuff... 'twas the cover I need for an article...)."}, {"response": 92, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Aug 25, 1999 (15:21)", "body": "...more Barry White (actually, one was a \"Love Unlimited\"-lp). Some nice funk singles from the Atlantic label. Some obscure spanish singles..."}, {"response": 93, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Aug 25, 1999 (16:09)", "body": "i love Bary White... baby.. baby... baby... seems amusing to me that it took a prime time tv show to make him popular again... (how's the mag coming?)"}, {"response": 94, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Aug 26, 1999 (16:57)", "body": "(hard work, but ok, thank you! we worked on the cover today... sellin' ads - gotta sell more -, edit stuff, keep people happy...) And all day I hum \"I'm under the influence of love and I know that I can't live without it...\" Gotta hafta do with this wedding I attended two weeks ago... (Guess that goes to show this here COUNTRY BOY - THE EDITOR FROM HELL has a mortal soul after all...)"}, {"response": 95, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 26, 1999 (17:14)", "body": "*smile* We knew it all along!"}, {"response": 96, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Aug 27, 1999 (13:07)", "body": "OH!"}, {"response": 97, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Aug 27, 1999 (15:56)", "body": "(Just a mortal one, don't be scared, it's nothing indecent. It'll even pass away once I embraced decay decisively!)"}, {"response": 98, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 27, 1999 (18:58)", "body": "Please do not plan to do that for a very long time. We need you...or, at least, I do! *hugs*"}, {"response": 99, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Aug 28, 1999 (03:23)", "body": "Nothing indecent? Darn it!"}, {"response": 100, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug 28, 1999 (13:47)", "body": "Ree, we can always hope. Soon, this magazine will be put to bed and his creative mind will be able to think of other things. (Pulling out my blanket and snacks) Have some cheese and fruit while I cut the baguette...!"}, {"response": 101, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Aug 29, 1999 (00:57)", "body": "Imagining what those things may be might be a stretch though ..."}, {"response": 102, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 29, 1999 (01:24)", "body": "It might even be scary...or the hoped-for indecent?!"}, {"response": 103, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Aug 29, 1999 (06:54)", "body": "Bet it'll involve fleamarkets, more records and Super-8-films... all of which will have to keep waiting for me a few weeks longer than planned. # 14 is postponed for two weeks."}, {"response": 104, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 29, 1999 (11:12)", "body": "We're prolonging the agony, are we? Sounds like birthing anything. False labot and all. Reward yourself when it is all put to bed properly...anything taking this much of Alexander deserves that."}, {"response": 105, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 29, 1999 (11:13)", "body": "That should read 'labor'... and I am sure there is nothing false about it!"}, {"response": 106, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Mon, Oct 11, 1999 (11:25)", "body": "Hi! Anybody have an idea were to get record collector prices on the web? Got some old records and wonder what it might be worth. I don't want to sell it, just want to know if I have to talk with my insurance company...(haha) I sometimes wonder if that old stuff could really be worth loads of money?"}, {"response": 107, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Oct 11, 1999 (13:00)", "body": "check ebay and see how much they're going for there. alex? you're the record man, what do you think?"}, {"response": 108, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Mon, Oct 11, 1999 (16:26)", "body": "But if I go to an auction place, I have to tell them my name, no? And I really don't want to sell my things, but I'm nosy if I got some treasures between my rubbish..."}, {"response": 109, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Oct 11, 1999 (17:10)", "body": "Perhaps some of your items are already listed there... Maybe even in like condition, so you could see what other folks ask for them. Besides Ebay, there is ricardo.de in Germany and www.andsold.de , I think. But there should be more specific record collector's resources, like record traders specialized in second hand and special recordings who offer their wares on the web."}, {"response": 110, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Oct 11, 1999 (18:29)", "body": "we can do some searching for you, isabel, i'm already registered at ebay, so i can go there for you. let me know what you have and i'll get to work on it!"}, {"response": 111, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Oct 12, 1999 (02:57)", "body": "A german record collector's site: http://www.sammler.com lists dates for collectors conventions, shows the grading system and offers the chance to post questions (hey, some folks even offer 78s!). It's regularly updated - doesn't look too fancy, but well maintained. Their page http://www.sammler.com/sp/sp_links.htm shows links to online-record trading markets, a bootleg shop, etc. Enjoy!"}, {"response": 112, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Oct 12, 1999 (03:06)", "body": "Find records on offer at http://www.music-market.de/ , where you could also advertise (if you wanted to sell something). And if you'd want a printed catalog to browse, check http://www.motor-presse-stuttgart.de/mps/mgz/mgz.asp - there's one for Rock&Pop LPs and one for Rock&Pop singles. Something for classic and jazz, too (wonder if my jazz 78s are in there - e.g. my two Mezz Mezzrows...)."}, {"response": 113, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Thu, Oct 14, 1999 (07:57)", "body": "\ufffdsigh\ufffd Ehem, thank you! Those web-sites look interesting and maybe I would find what I'm searching if they weren't so difficult to survey... I bought the first Bob Dylan LP in mint condition and the dealer said that it's worth a lot and now I wanted to know if this might be true or not..."}, {"response": 114, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Oct 14, 1999 (12:09)", "body": "Check out http://www.jerryosborne.com/ - they have a price guide for American records for $26, perhaps available via Amazon, too. And! You can sell and buy collectibles there, And! they appraise your records for ONLY US$ 3,- per item! All chargeable via plastic money."}, {"response": 115, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Tue, Oct 19, 1999 (11:39)", "body": "Looked up some book on vinyl collector prices lately, it said that's its not much worth - about 25 english pounds....Hoped it was more..."}, {"response": 116, "author": "Laughingsky", "date": "Wed, Mar  8, 2000 (09:21)", "body": "Old LPs?? Alexander, which ones are you looking for? Old Motown? Old rock? Classical? My other half used to do flea markets, and, Holy Moly, Batman! There's a million of them out in the garage!! He's debating on selling some on eBay, having a garage sell, doing another flea market, etc. I have found so many LPs that I had forgotten about, well, I started having flashbacks! LOL!"}, {"response": 117, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Mar  8, 2000 (15:16)", "body": "Next step: Play 'em! Go and check which you still can bear, and which are just to far behind. Right now, there's lots of soul in this household. Some Barry White, much Curtis Mayfield. Besides that, I listen to the monks a lot right now (see the monks-topic, and check out their website; they are the REAL thing!). I like many things in music, on LPs, 10'', 7'' and 78s."}, {"response": 118, "author": "Laughingsky", "date": "Mon, Mar 13, 2000 (09:15)", "body": "I have definitely been listening to many of them. I haven't even broken the \"iceberg\", yet! I have given strict instructions on which ones are keepers, though...there's quite a huge pile of those tucked away in the corner!"}, {"response": 119, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (04:46)", "body": "Hmh, I wonder if we could use a topic on Hi-Fi gear, or maybe a whole AudioPhiles Conference, like e.g. the Radio one. That's different from the Music Conf - as this guy once said to me \"Now you got the software, lemme get you fixed onto the hardware, too!\" There's not a lot serious audio geeks want to talk about more than their high end amps 'n' stuff. Comments, please."}, {"response": 120, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (12:08)", "body": "Just did...Aloha, Alexander!"}, {"response": 121, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (07:54)", "body": "I did some work for a guy once and he paid me in antique records - caruso and stuff. I really regret now that I gave them away when we sold everything up."}, {"response": 122, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (14:48)", "body": "Caruso - he was the first highbrow artist to record. See, until that moment (and for quite some time after that) \"serious\" artists and ensembles would not record, or if, then only pseudonymous, because they were very much aware of the low quality in reproduction if compared to life performance. They thought they would tarnish their reputations if they allowed less than satifying reproduction of their work. Also, they were worried that their market value as performers would drop if their work were readily available on media. Caruso did away with that. If the result was only half as good as live, but if he reached much more listeners and made them happy - molto bene! And so he became the first international recording superstar, creating access for record labels to top-notch artists, and helping artists to become more widely known - even in places where they'd never perform live. When I started collecting 78s, I bought three boxes with about 30 records each, plus an approx. 20 records Linguaphon English language course (\"The Englishman is very found of smoking tobacco.\" \"The doctor is a great friend of humanity.\"). One record in the boxes was Caruso. Nice thang. And then there were wax cylinders, too (well, I don't have any yet) - did I ever post this link: http://www.tinfoil.com/ ? Y'all check it out, that's really neat - and you can listen to some wax cylinder recordings."}, {"response": 123, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (14:57)", "body": "And there is also Tim Gracyk's place: http://www.garlic.com/~tgracyk/ This is more for early 78 (or shellacs) fans. Very good articles on media history, technology, restauration of gramophones, etc."}, {"response": 124, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (15:12)", "body": "Thanks for Tim's link. My ersatz son-in-law collects old gramophones. I will forward it to him. Oh, and I have no idea what happened to my dad's collection of wax cylinders, but there were a lot of them and I recall the peculiar sound of them...far better than nothing, but nothing compared with what is available today. He later bought a Scully Lathe and recorded us all for posterity on shellac. Wonder where those are, as well...*sigh*"}, {"response": 125, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (04:13)", "body": "We always had loads of 78s when I was growing up. We had our own wind up gramaphone with a big horn. don't know what happened to it. My favourite was 'in a monastery garden'. It was a tiny little record. I have a box of records in the loft, I wonder if I kept that? I had a Gallicurchi record too (well, that's how its said, but the spelling doesn't look right). She was a fantastic soprano around the same time as Caruso I think. I always wanted a Kathleen Ferrier recording (later I know). Her 'blow the wind southerly' still gets me every time. I hate giving things away - but we're into that again now and it hurts."}, {"response": 126, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Mon, Jan 31, 2005 (02:58)", "body": "Maggie where art thou? collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 17, "subject": "Fishing Frogs", "response_count": 19, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Mar  1, 1999 (17:51)", "body": "ok, i've got three and i love them! i also have a frog planter (not a fishing guy). maybe i just like frogs, i dunno. but definately the ones fishing, those are cute!"}, {"response": 2, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Mar  2, 1999 (09:33)", "body": "my mother used to collect frog figurines... never had a thing for the fake ones although I did have a mighty collection of live ones (that weren't fishing, mind you) during the wet months in Texas..."}, {"response": 3, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Mar  2, 1999 (21:43)", "body": "..."}, {"response": 4, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (07:57)", "body": "Wolfie, you do have the oddest topics! I have yet to find something I like, fishing or otherwise, for my little pond. I did import some frog spawn the other year, which of course, produced lots of little real froggies, but sadly none of them have stayed and the pond is still rather barren."}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:03)", "body": "We have one in our ditch (moat) and it has outived two generations of malicious minded children who would have liked to have done evil to it. Huzzah for the little green froggie! I don't know how he fishes, though..."}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:06)", "body": "Oh, the RHCB has a ceramic one who is apparently fishing...rather disgusting little critter, actually...but the frog is cute *grin*"}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:23)", "body": "growing up, we had toads that lived in the window wells of the basement windows. i built shelters for them and made a pool and everything. they stayed too! have a total of 3 fishing type frogs (cloth, stuffed animals) plus a couple of frog figurines in the garden."}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:41)", "body": "I have a little wee froggie figurine which was deposited in our moat after a big storm. I cleaned him up and he is now residing on my rotating specimen shelves. No stuffed froggies, but I did have kitchen curtains (valances) with them across the hem. Cute!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:41)", "body": "Geez lousie, we have bufos everywhere. Toads to the rest of the world. Yuck!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:44)", "body": "i like toads! and the wart thing isn't true!"}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:58)", "body": "Ours have poison glands on their backs which make dogs think twice about trying to eat the second one. My ex used to collect them at night for lab the next day, and put them in a paper bag in the fridge over night to keep them quiet... Not much raiding of leftovers went on in the middle of the night here!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:58)", "body": "(yup! Bum rap the toads get...they are beneficial - eat a huge amount of bugs)"}, {"response": 13, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (18:58)", "body": "yup, but the ones i know of aren't poisonous....ew, i wouldn't want to play with one that was!!"}, {"response": 14, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (04:17)", "body": "I am still sad my little froggies didn't return. I don't mind our toads either. Once when we were driving to my parents across Wobourn Abbey Park the road was so full of migrating frogs we had to stop for ages to let them go across. It truly was a wondrous sight. Most of the froggies i see here are too kitsch to collect!"}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (21:55)", "body": "Migrating frogs?! Is Britain not the most marvelous place on Earth?! Toads hatch as wee miniatures of their parents and are just adorable. Frogs go through a long tadpole stage. Our toads, during rainy season, sing in the ditch (more like a gargling sound) and we know there will be lots more little wee toads to play with. They are adorable when teeny. Big, they are ugly and stupid and they get squashed all over the roads since they are nocturnal."}, {"response": 16, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Apr  8, 2000 (11:34)", "body": "When i was little we used to collect frog spawn from a local pond and grow baby frogs to pass out to our frineds (we were helpful kids my middle brother and I). Well we had them in a small fishtank in the breakfast room over the boiler. We fed them on bits of meat hung from string, and bread, I think. Well they grew quite nicely and got legs and stuff. Then one night when they about an inch big I forgot to put the top back on the tank. In the morning all 26 of them had disappeared. We found frogs all over the house for weeks! Just one of the many occasions when my brother and I were not very popular."}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr  8, 2000 (16:05)", "body": "That is Hilarious! While I was reading your little story, I just knew what was coming up and starting laughing before you ever got there. Too funny! I'll be your adult supervision was not all that thrilled..."}, {"response": 18, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Apr  9, 2000 (18:16)", "body": "have added a new fishing frog to my collection. found him at a gift shop at \"the city under the hill\" in natchez, mississippi (where i've been this weekend and forgot to warn y'all) :)"}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr  9, 2000 (18:39)", "body": "WooHoo, Wolfie is back, fishing frogs in tow. Yippee!!! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 18, "subject": "Elephants", "response_count": 7, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jun 12, 1999 (17:24)", "body": "well, since no one wants to go first, i have one elephant from Lenox, and then an elephant box from Harmony Kingdom. i do love elephants as they are such huge creatures full of personality. granted, my house isn't filled with elephant paraphanelia, but....."}, {"response": 2, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Jun 15, 1999 (13:59)", "body": "no elephants..."}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (23:54)", "body": "Have several - from Pennsylvania Senatorial race while I was at Penn State, I got several little blue ceramic ones...then there is a larger one i somehow ended up with from my Grandfather (have no idea where it is now) and plastic ones hanging from campaign buttons...Oh, and a little ceramic one which holds my rings."}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul 26, 1999 (00:05)", "body": "Oh, and some little Jade ones too..."}, {"response": 5, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jul 26, 1999 (08:30)", "body": "are their trunks raised? have heard that a raised trunk on an elephant is a sign of good luck....you should see the gift shops at the casinos-filled with little overpriced good luck elephants...."}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 30, 1999 (16:51)", "body": "The large metal one the trunk is just slightly curled up like a J...My ringholder one by necessity has it straight up like a L and the little ones are made for good luck anyway so theirs are either linked with the tail of the next elephant or are curled up for good luck."}, {"response": 7, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 30, 1999 (16:55)", "body": "*lol* about the Casinos. We went to a wedding in Las Vegas (Don't want to go there again in August!) The whole place is so bizarre. As far as I am concerned, it is only good for people watching, and that is more than a little frightening!!! Anyhow, as I browsed the gift shops I wondered if there was a Republican convention in town from all the little elephant figurines, hair clips, jewellry and whatnots. collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 19, "subject": "Turtles", "response_count": 2, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Mar  2, 1999 (09:34)", "body": "i like live turtles... they're calm and relaxed, or so it appears to me"}, {"response": 2, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Mar  3, 1999 (18:00)", "body": "(um, weird, odd, uncomfortable(?) flashback happening...) collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 2, "subject": "Barbie (c)", "response_count": 349, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 1999 (14:43)", "body": "I do love Barbie! And use other people's children as an excuse to continue playing with her and Ken!"}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 1999 (16:52)", "body": "me, too (via my daughter)! i've only been collecting barbie for a couple of years (starting in 96 with the happy holidays edition). i'm sorry i didn't start collecting earlier as they won't be producing anymore of them. i'll post a couple of websites that i use as a reference later on as i don't have the urls with me right now."}, {"response": 3, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (01:39)", "body": "I have Barbie's from the 70s and 80s as well as an old pre-Barbie barbie"}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (03:18)", "body": "girl! they're worth a ton now depending on their condition. what's a pre-barbie fashion doll? i had a couple of barbies growing up but unfortunately they didn't make it into my adult years."}, {"response": 5, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (04:20)", "body": "pre Barbie... some gazillion y.o. thing that my mother got from here grandmother!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jan  6, 1999 (15:19)", "body": "Barbie's official website: http://www.barbie.com"}, {"response": 7, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jan  9, 1999 (03:10)", "body": "The Barbie Collector's Ring is designed just for Barbie web pages! See what's new with Barbie in 1998. Visit Barbie in Singapore, Barbie in Canada, Barbie on Rodeo Drive, you never know where she will be next! This gal gets around! Even meet Barbies Baby Sister Kelly! A great way to bring together Barbie web pages from all around the world. http://www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/1041/ring.html"}, {"response": 8, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jun  8, 1999 (21:40)", "body": "i picked up the birthday wishes barbie, first in the series (1999)...guess they did away with the birthday barbie line... http://www.donnas-dolls.com she has a program allowing the serious collector to keep up with the collection! donna is also putting together lists of barbie prices and values. there's the barbie webring, trade site, chat, and lots more. she really likes barbie!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jun 12, 1999 (18:29)", "body": "oh, my daughter got the talk with me barbie for christmas and had a blast until she realized barbie didn't answer her questions! haha, it was so cute. the one thing that bothers me about this one is the typical \"girly\" things she talks about. don't get me wrong, i love it. but my daughter got bored talking about jewelry and shopping! but it's a neat setup..."}, {"response": 10, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Jun 13, 1999 (00:26)", "body": "Zoe got one too, but she had to wait to play with hers until we got our new computer..."}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun 23, 1999 (22:23)", "body": "i picked up three new barbies!! got the 1999 birthday wishes (for my bday of course, earlier this month) and today, i grabbed toys r us' pink inspiration and toys r us' 50th anniversary. this one is so pretty and is the fanciest one i own. she's beautiful! (oh, and the toys r us dolls were on sale :))"}, {"response": 12, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jun 24, 1999 (04:36)", "body": "Well, seems we're all wrong about the canine species. They don't only hunt and eat well-hung goods, they are also gatherers. Perhaps we don't derive from primates, but from canines?"}, {"response": 13, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 24, 1999 (10:27)", "body": "it's that pack thing, y'know! (and no, we aren't from primates)"}, {"response": 14, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jun 25, 1999 (08:49)", "body": "ok, well, i picked up marzipan from the classic ballet series...she's the third in the series (sugar plum fairy and swan lake). the alpha male in my pack believes this wolfie has lost her mind!"}, {"response": 15, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Jun 28, 1999 (12:55)", "body": "And that took him how long to figure? Geez, some fellas... I mean, living with a gator- and barbie-obsessed wolf-turned-hindlegs-walking-hunter-gatherer, you'd expect him to notice at SOME point, but... I only hope he regrets the folly of chiding you after selling them off pays for comfort during your and his silver-furred high age."}, {"response": 16, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jun 28, 1999 (21:40)", "body": "me too *grin*"}, {"response": 17, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Jun 29, 1999 (06:53)", "body": "Get him hooked on something stupid, so he can't complain! But: do this only, if total net income is sufficient to fully support multiple manias..."}, {"response": 18, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jun 29, 1999 (11:18)", "body": "Harley #3 is on sale at Toys R Us Online ( http://www.tru.com ) they have barbie and ken sold separately for $70."}, {"response": 19, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jun 29, 1999 (11:19)", "body": "btw: alex, he's hooked on fishing. a fishing wolf, go figure!"}, {"response": 20, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Jun 29, 1999 (11:47)", "body": "And your cuddly furry - what do you call them in English, German would be \"Welpen\" - offspring? What do they crave the most?"}, {"response": 21, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (02:08)", "body": "nintendo and food...."}, {"response": 22, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (02:55)", "body": "ok, while browsing barbie auctions at http://www.ebay.com , i learned that butterfly art barbie was recalled because she has a tatoo on her tummy tum. personally, i didn't find it offensive, but, because she has been discontinued by mattel, she may be a collector's item. i'll see if i can scan her (she's in the box and it might glare)."}, {"response": 23, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (03:23)", "body": "here's butterfly art barbie in all her belly tatooed glory:"}, {"response": 24, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (05:23)", "body": "x that one out, ifn you can, wer, here's a smaller version:"}, {"response": 25, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (05:24)", "body": "*sorry*"}, {"response": 26, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (13:43)", "body": "No, it's ok, I like the large one better, anyway. But you might want to trim the black stuff away, and show only the box next time (you can define the area to scan if you do a preview, mark that area, and then scan). I am surprised how well this scanning of a box went - the depth of the box is at least 1 1/2 inch or 5 cm, I guess, and still it went ok. We should expect more scans in this conference soon, I say! Barbie's tattoo: Difficult thing. While obviously not an offensive thing itself, what would you say to an sixyear old who wanted a kitty tattoed on her tummy? Especially if, say, Dad's got a Harley on his arm... I can see why they did not want to alienate the buyers, who are the parents in most cases. Good thing for you! A true collectors item - store it away with any documentation (newspaper pages, articles, etc.) of the recall action."}, {"response": 27, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun 30, 1999 (11:51)", "body": "i'm still relatively new at scanning and couldn't figure out how to resize the photo and trim it up (esp. after i did the scanning). it'll be slow-going, but i'll try. well, speaking of offensive things barbie does, what about earring magic ken? (i don't have him so no pics). i've seen many a boy with earrings (i'm talking three year olds). alpha wolf said the same thing about belly-tatooed barbie. http://www.barbie.com is mattel's page strictly on barbie. you can take a look at collector barbies and more. one thing i'm having trouble with is finding pink box barbies (these are the ones you usually find in stores i.e., tatoo barbie). but, they have this really neat program where you can design a barbie to your specs (within limits). you can name her, give her a personality, and purchase the barbie you created. it's really neat to play with. there is also a recalled version of barbie and ken as scully and mulder of the xfiles. as an xfiles fan, you can be sure i purchased this one but i didn't get the recalled version. the original had scully with longer hair (??). have yet to find a picture of that one. if you have a picture of the recalled version PLEASE email it to me and i'll post it here (mswolf68@hotmail.com)."}, {"response": 28, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun 30, 1999 (17:08)", "body": "ok, here's the toys r us 50th anniversary, note the red aids ribbon...i apologize for the quality of this pic. she is still in the box and i'd tear it up to take her out."}, {"response": 29, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun 30, 1999 (17:10)", "body": "ok, well, let's try that again!"}, {"response": 30, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun 30, 1999 (17:12)", "body": "ok. that didn't work either. one more time and then i'll need help!"}, {"response": 31, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jul  3, 1999 (19:14)", "body": "hit toys r us yesterday and picked up the Charity Ball Barbie which benefits COTA (children's organ transplant association). she's quite lovely (esp the dress) and will have her up when i figure out how to shrink down the bytes. also grabbed Barbie Millicent Roberts' Perfectly Suited. Barbie is wearing a lilac power suite, has mobile phone, dayrunner, briefcase, and a quick change into her lingerie with matching shoes, stockings, necklace, and hanger. she was a steal (to me) at $20 (normally $60) and she's valued at $70 according to miller's magazine. but i still can't get over Pink Splendor at $799.99 at toys r us. i'll find a link to her pic so you can see for yourself."}, {"response": 32, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jul  3, 1999 (19:28)", "body": "here's the link-it's to mattel's barbie site: http://www.barbie.com/collectors/pshow/pshow_h/h_16091.asp enjoy!"}, {"response": 33, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Jul  4, 1999 (00:23)", "body": "Zoe has got one from some celebration thing in the Philipines... I'll try and find the name stuff..."}, {"response": 34, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Jul  4, 1999 (00:26)", "body": "I thought about getting her one of the look like her Barbies, but the custom one for her would look just like the normal Barbie..."}, {"response": 35, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul  4, 1999 (13:26)", "body": "yeah, but you can get the hair color and style as she likes it and zoe would be able to name her and everything."}, {"response": 36, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Jul  5, 1999 (05:45)", "body": "\"Name her\"? Isn't she, dunno - I guess: called \"Barbie\" ? Dizzy, yours truly"}, {"response": 37, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jul  5, 1999 (13:38)", "body": "well, in this case, she is \"friend of barbie\"....."}, {"response": 38, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Jul  5, 1999 (14:49)", "body": "Huh?"}, {"response": 39, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jul  5, 1999 (15:59)", "body": "ok, start over....mattel has a place (www.barbie.com) where you can design barbie to meet your specs (with certain limitations of course). you are offered selections for skin color, hair color, eye color, hair length and style, and clothing. once your selections are made, you are prompted for a name and birthday. you are also prompted to \"fill in the blanks\" according to what is offered for you to select from in order to create the personality of the doll. in the end you have the option of printing you one of a kind friend of barbie, to purchase her, or to start over. got it?"}, {"response": 40, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Jul  6, 1999 (01:03)", "body": "(I'd say yes if I were you...)"}, {"response": 41, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Jul  6, 1999 (15:17)", "body": "can you change her breast size? you know images like that are depressing for those of us that are not 55', 18', 25' when drawn to scale!"}, {"response": 42, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jul  6, 1999 (15:33)", "body": "yes i do. but, they give us limits. can't do anything with her body. which is too bad because i thought a pear shaped barbie would appeal to a lot of women and maybe some men! you know, even the new style barbie doesn't look much different to me. supposedly her waist is bigger, but maybe that was for the teen barbies (skipper). she's supposed to sport smaller breasts. i don't know as i don't purchase skipper. oh, my daughter is into dressing her barbies now and sending them off on dates, vacations, and weddings. she has one ken and boy is he popular!"}, {"response": 43, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Jul  6, 1999 (17:38)", "body": "yea...my Ken Barbie doll saw lots of action in his day..."}, {"response": 44, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 16, 1999 (16:55)", "body": "Are they making Ken anatomically correct yet?"}, {"response": 45, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jul 16, 1999 (17:02)", "body": "He still looks like he's wearing a body stocking, I think"}, {"response": 46, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 16, 1999 (17:08)", "body": "Bummer!!!"}, {"response": 47, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 16, 1999 (17:09)", "body": "I rather fancied that he would be much more fun to play with the other way!"}, {"response": 48, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jul 17, 1999 (22:24)", "body": "he still looks the same....and to think that barbie has molded on panties now! by the way, miller's magazine says that toys r us is having a major clearance of barbies right now. well, in nw la, they're still having the same sales they were having 3 weeks ago and nothing has changed. picked up a few barbies today and put them on layaway for christmas. one more and i'm caught up on my collections so far, but there's so many more!!"}, {"response": 49, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 17, 1999 (23:03)", "body": "I am so disappointed! Molded-on panties?! Is that like some Space age Chastity belt? I shudder to think."}, {"response": 50, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jul 17, 1999 (23:53)", "body": "me, too!"}, {"response": 51, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jul 19, 1999 (19:25)", "body": "ok, kmart is having a toy sale (including barbie) and they're marking down 20 to 70 percent off. i plan on scoping out the local kmart and will tell you what my covert operations find. walmart has two new barbies: one is jewel skating barbie and the other (can't remember the name) is a barbie who does gymnastics and comes complete with parallel bars and a smart bobbed hairdo. i think she's battery operated to work with the bars, but i'm not sure."}, {"response": 52, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul 19, 1999 (21:33)", "body": "....and I am still the only one here with a Penn State Cheerleader Barbie? (all sorts of things go through my mind when I hear of a battery-powered Barbie, but I think I will just be a lady and let it pass...)"}, {"response": 53, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jul 19, 1999 (21:40)", "body": "i'm with you, am gonna let that one go by *big grin*"}, {"response": 54, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul 20, 1999 (03:43)", "body": "Is there a soccer mom Barbie yet?"}, {"response": 55, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jul 21, 1999 (02:20)", "body": "no, but there was a variations personal ad from a soccer mom in the Chronicle a couple of weeks ago..."}, {"response": 56, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jul 21, 1999 (10:47)", "body": "hmmm... barbie is not a mom yet (if you don't count the pregnant barbie from a couple of years ago--or was i dreaming? didn't they have one where her belly opened up?)"}, {"response": 57, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul 21, 1999 (14:33)", "body": "\"C-section Barbie\"? That will give the little ones the really wrong idea of how babies usually get out of their Mommies. It probably had little hinges at the sides, and I can see little girls peeking at their tummies to see where their hinges are!"}, {"response": 58, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jul 21, 1999 (17:14)", "body": "tell me about it! the doll might not have made it to the stores, but i'll do some checking around and see (i know i heard about one of those)"}, {"response": 59, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul 22, 1999 (11:36)", "body": "ok, the promised scoop: the local super k had the sorriest barbie sale i've seen. only two of them were marked down and only by 10% or so--the barbie recital (with kelly) and a basketball barbie. the local toys r us has the same dolls on sale as were there a month ago and i haven't seen any drop in prices (and these dolls are only 10-20% off). the collector doll prices haven't changed either, although 40th anniversary barbie was in their display case (the african american version)--very pretty! am still waiting for pink ice to drop from $75 (although it's regular price is $170). i'll pay $50 but no more seeing as how their 50th anniversary barbie was marked at $50 and still is. walmart had a few dolls on clearance but none of the collector editions (save the nascar barbie). will keep you all updated!"}, {"response": 60, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug  7, 1999 (18:54)", "body": "A man walks into a store to buy a Barbie doll for his daughter. \"How much is that Barbie in the window?\", he asks the shop assistant. In a condescending manner she responds, \"Which Barbie? We have Barbie Goes to the Gym for $19.95, Barbie Goes to the Ball for $19.95, Barbie Goes Shopping for $19.95, Barbie Goes to the Beach for $19.95, Barbie Goes Nightclubbing for $19.95, and Divorced Barbie for $265.00.\" The guy asks, \"Why is Divorced Barbie $265.00 when all the others are only $19.95?\" \"That's obvious,\" the assistant states, \"Divorced Barbie comes with Ken's house, Ken's car, Ken's boat, Ken's furniture...\""}, {"response": 61, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Aug  7, 1999 (19:49)", "body": "heard that one before! *chuckle* K&B Toys has the 40th Anniversary Barbie ($59.99) and the Millenium Bride Barbie ($49.99). If you buy any collector barbies and your total is $100, you get the Swan Queen and Sleeping Beauty free!!"}, {"response": 62, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug  7, 1999 (21:22)", "body": "I want the prince! Prince William..."}, {"response": 63, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Aug  7, 1999 (22:20)", "body": "barbie does offer the \"together forever\" series. the two sets in the collection are romeo and juliet and arthur and guenevere (sp?). wonder if they'll have a robin hood and marion? hmmmm...."}, {"response": 64, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Aug  7, 1999 (22:50)", "body": "or a Bill and Hillary..."}, {"response": 65, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug  7, 1999 (23:42)", "body": "Wrong Willliam...(Prince Charming?!)"}, {"response": 66, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Aug  8, 1999 (14:20)", "body": "bill and hillary *yuck yuck yuck* yeah, that prince william is a cutie pie. glad he takes after his mom!"}, {"response": 67, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug  8, 1999 (17:00)", "body": "Oh Wolfie, you've got that right. (Yuck yuck and Yummmmmmmm)"}, {"response": 68, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (05:31)", "body": "You! Girls! Behave! He's too young - spare him, I pray thee!"}, {"response": 69, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (14:00)", "body": "Well, actually...the one I had in mind...was not a Windsor, actually..."}, {"response": 70, "author": "Elena", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (14:08)", "body": "But......Fitzwilliam?? ;-)"}, {"response": 71, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (14:08)", "body": "*Blush*"}, {"response": 72, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (14:12)", "body": "(mute)"}, {"response": 73, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (14:13)", "body": "*giggle*"}, {"response": 74, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (18:22)", "body": "*sigh* if they came out with fitzWilliam, I would have to have a Lizzie, not a Barbie to go with him...oh well...! *sigh*"}, {"response": 75, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (20:44)", "body": "toys r us has the millenium princess for $32.99. just for comparison, wal-mart has her for $36.87 and K&B for $39. there is a millenium bride who is way more expensive ($200 range) but i think the best you can do now is reserve a doll. they won't be released until jan 2000."}, {"response": 76, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (21:07)", "body": "Still holding out for Prince Charming...*sigh* (signed: Princess-in-Waiting)"}, {"response": 77, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (22:37)", "body": "Are there Barbie Women's NBA dolls yet?"}, {"response": 78, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (22:52)", "body": "There ought to be a soccer Barbie, for sure! Do not know about the NBA..."}, {"response": 79, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Aug 13, 1999 (10:47)", "body": "i think so and there's barbie in the chicago cubs uniforms too. i'll see if there are soccer barbies."}, {"response": 80, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (19:22)", "body": "there are soccer barbies, don't remember where i saw them, though. toys r us has the #3 harley barbie in stores now for $70. picked mine up today."}, {"response": 81, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (17:12)", "body": "and here she is, thanks to Donna's Dolls"}, {"response": 82, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (17:13)", "body": "they are sold separately but i didn't like ken very much. harley motorcycles are not yet available for barbie, BUT mattel does make a barbie motorcycle."}, {"response": 83, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (18:03)", "body": "Child-sized or Barbie-sized Harley? Do not like Ken, either, and Barbie is too skinny. I look positively plump beside her (well, not quite, but she does have the skinniest legs...). I guess all of her weight is ^up there^...*smirk*"}, {"response": 84, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (18:04)", "body": "Or is that, up ^^ there...."}, {"response": 85, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (18:08)", "body": "either way, i get your meaning. *sigh* they'll never make barbie look like a real woman!"}, {"response": 86, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep  7, 1999 (21:16)", "body": "I wonder if she would be as marketable as a real woman?! How many Daddies (other than the one who posts in here) actually buy them for their daughters...or is it for themselves? hmmm..."}, {"response": 87, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Sep  7, 1999 (21:43)", "body": "*scratches chin*"}, {"response": 88, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep  7, 1999 (21:54)", "body": "Might I join you? *scratching head*"}, {"response": 89, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep  9, 1999 (01:25)", "body": "What size are Barbie's breasts these days?"}, {"response": 90, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Sep  9, 1999 (12:57)", "body": "depends..."}, {"response": 91, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Sep  9, 1999 (12:59)", "body": "Inflatable?"}, {"response": 92, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep  9, 1999 (13:59)", "body": "I am all puzzlement. You mean they are changeable?! How...ummm...different!"}, {"response": 93, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Sep  9, 1999 (19:03)", "body": "i think it depends on which barbie you buy--you know, like stacey, kelly, skipper, or grown-up barbie."}, {"response": 94, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Thu, Sep  9, 1999 (19:54)", "body": "Here's a real collector's item Barbie."}, {"response": 95, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Sep  9, 1999 (21:06)", "body": "did you do that yourself? *haha*"}, {"response": 96, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Thu, Sep  9, 1999 (21:34)", "body": "No, I got it off a website: http://www.impeach-clinton.org/Intern_Barbie.jpg I did do the Walt Whitman poem parody that no one will touch (for obvious reasons) in Poetic Caricutures, though...now, people will never believe me when I tell them I'm not gay...but then, my policy has always been \"Don't ask, don't tell!\""}, {"response": 97, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep  9, 1999 (23:05)", "body": "Just call me Skipper...*sob*"}, {"response": 98, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Sep 10, 1999 (18:38)", "body": "there are lot's of \"modern\" barbies out there.....divorce barbie that comes with all of ken's things, drug addict, etc. etc. i don't go to those sites, but they come up on a search...."}, {"response": 99, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (18:20)", "body": "just returned from toys r us and they have crystal jubilee for $299.99. checked the sears wishbook and they also list her for $299.99. you think that's expensive? you should take a look at the millennium bride. a whopping $399.99!! both of these gals are beautiful, though. the details are excellent!"}, {"response": 100, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (18:27)", "body": "Sheesh! My own wedding gown only cost $35 because I fit in the one on the rack. No one could tell it from the really expensive one my oldest sister had. Now, a doll is gonna outshine me and out price me, also?! It does sound very expensive. Is it another Bob Mackie creation?"}, {"response": 101, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (18:32)", "body": "crystal jubilee:"}, {"response": 102, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (18:34)", "body": "Millennium Bride: Crystal Jubilee and Millennium Bride pics borrowed from Donna's Dolls ."}, {"response": 103, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (18:44)", "body": "Wow! Thanks!"}, {"response": 104, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (18:51)", "body": "there's also a new one through avon, snow sensations, her picture's huge so let me find the link and you all can check her out: Avon's Snow Sensation"}, {"response": 105, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (18:54)", "body": "and the most expensive barbie in the world, here's a bit on her at mattel's barbie page: Diamond Barbie"}, {"response": 106, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (18:55)", "body": "i think i'm gonna put up links to barbie's pics to save some space on the spring's servers!"}, {"response": 107, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (19:12)", "body": "a href-ing you shall go...and Terry will be most grateful, I am sure. I'm off to check out diamond Barbie..."}, {"response": 108, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 12, 1999 (12:42)", "body": "Just how much is this yuppie barbie?"}, {"response": 109, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep 12, 1999 (15:04)", "body": "which one?"}, {"response": 110, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep 12, 1999 (15:07)", "body": "diamond barbie was estimated to be auctioned between $30K and $60K"}, {"response": 111, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep 12, 1999 (16:56)", "body": "Nothing against Barbie, mind you, but if I am spending $60k on diamonds, I am going to wear them!!!"}, {"response": 112, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep 12, 1999 (19:30)", "body": "my sentiments exactly!!"}, {"response": 113, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 17, 1999 (18:20)", "body": "We went to Kona to Costco (the other side of this Big Island from Hilo) yesterday, and they had a display of Millennium Barbies for $31.95 each (of course!) How does that compares with other Costco outlets."}, {"response": 114, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Sep 17, 1999 (18:36)", "body": "no costco outlets here."}, {"response": 115, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 17, 1999 (19:31)", "body": "I scrolled back through this topic, and the prices you quoted were higher at other places. It might be interesting to know if everyone gouges us here for living in \"paradise\" with no competition!"}, {"response": 116, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Sep 17, 1999 (20:31)", "body": "i would think prices would be higher in paradise because of shipping..."}, {"response": 117, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 17, 1999 (20:52)", "body": "Indeed! We even import the coal with which we make our electricity thus enabling us to pay the highest kilowatt-hour rate in the nation - and probably in the world - 19 cents/kilowatt hour. We have an abundance of geothermal energy around here, but it is not in favor with the people who build their homes next to the source then complain about the smell. Incredible...! That is just one of the little flies in the ointment of Paradise *frown*"}, {"response": 118, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Sep 21, 1999 (12:22)", "body": "woo woo! Barbie's come a long way! I like the new (to me) background too!"}, {"response": 119, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Sep 21, 1999 (21:07)", "body": "(thanks) btw: you know harley barbie #3? well, according to the current issue of white's guide , she's worth $150. how's that for appreciation on an investment?"}, {"response": 120, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 21, 1999 (21:42)", "body": "...just find that one person willing to part with the $150... Quite an appreciation on investment! (wondering how many Penn State Barbie Cheerleaders they made....)"}, {"response": 121, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Sep 22, 1999 (13:56)", "body": "Marcia, that's hitting the nail on the hammer! From my \"wild\" collectors years, I know one thing: you can get any price you want, if you have the time to wait for the right customer to cross your path... But this can be quite a while! If you want money, you take a bulk and offer them 25 to 50 % off catalogue prices (which are for mint conditions, mind you!). As to how the market would react, with internet auctions, it's much easier to get buyers and sellers of such specialties together these days. So, I think that there's (a) a better chance to find Mr. (or Mrs) Big Wallet, or (b) the offers drive prices down to a certain level (forces of demand and supply). Wolf, have you ever tried auctioning off an item? I'd love to hear of your experience!"}, {"response": 122, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Sep 22, 1999 (18:51)", "body": "not yet! am registered with ebay, though."}, {"response": 123, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep 26, 1999 (22:46)", "body": "here's a link to the 2000 Barbie line-up: http://www.donnas-dolls.com/new2000.htm"}, {"response": 124, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Tue, Sep 28, 1999 (08:19)", "body": "Wow, Wolf! I never knew there were so many of them! You get some in Germany in the big stores in Frankfurt, but mostly you only see the normal children barbies. How come that our barbies here ( as I remember them) have all the same face and a totally other one, from those I saw at the Barbie-collectors-site? Hey I would love to have this Elvis '68 doll, looks great!"}, {"response": 125, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Oct 11, 1999 (14:16)", "body": "just got a couple of flyers: 1 from toys r us and the other from the barbie collectors club. check out the price differences-- crystal jubilee: toys r us $299.99, collectors club $299.90 40th anniversary: toys r us $44.99, collectors club $49.98 toys r us even beat out wal-mart with the millenium princess barbie. she's marked down to $29 now. i'll wait until she goes lower and buy another to take out of the box!"}, {"response": 126, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 13, 1999 (21:09)", "body": "Went to Walmart yesterday and they are making a big deal out of Barbie this weekend. \"She\" is going to make a personal appearance this Saturday. I shall head for the other end of town, I think! (Though I wonder what a real live Barbie actually looks like!)"}, {"response": 127, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Oct 13, 1999 (21:47)", "body": "dunno, probably someone dressed up in a mask! supposedly barbie makes an appearance in toy story 2."}, {"response": 128, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 14, 1999 (00:35)", "body": "Hmmm...interesting! I'd be curious to go just to see the percentage of fathers in the crowd. I imagine there will be curious males at least passing by - eyes right!!! We went out to dinner then walked it off in a local mall. K-Bee has a \"sale\" on which announces that you get 2 free collectable Barbies with each $75 (or was it $72?) spent on Barbie purchases. Heck! I do not even spend that much on Marcia!"}, {"response": 129, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Oct 14, 1999 (19:00)", "body": "they've been running that promotion for awhile, methinks they overstocked!"}, {"response": 130, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 14, 1999 (19:13)", "body": "ah...I thought I had seen that banner before. I am sure they are...perhaps in anticipation of pre-Christmas purchases?! I was a stingy Santa - I limited my kid to $20...but ended up spending much more...he just could not ask for something from Santa that was too pricy."}, {"response": 131, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Oct 14, 1999 (19:16)", "body": "(i tell my kids that greed will result in nothing from santa! so they're very careful in making their selections. of course, they almost always get everything they've wanted, thanks to lay-away plans!!)"}, {"response": 132, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 15, 1999 (21:18)", "body": "*hugs* You're a good momma to both man and beast and small child. *applause*"}, {"response": 133, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Oct 15, 1999 (21:29)", "body": "thanks!"}, {"response": 134, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Oct 16, 1999 (19:05)", "body": "as you will recall, i ordered my avon barbie several weeks ago. well, she's so popular she's on back-order and should be in next week. :("}, {"response": 135, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 16, 1999 (20:02)", "body": "I recall, indeed! Bummer...=("}, {"response": 136, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 16, 1999 (20:02)", "body": "Oooh, those buttons are cool and edgy!!!"}, {"response": 137, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Oct 16, 1999 (20:31)", "body": "well, i hope they're better now, did some tweeking. can't seem to get rid of the white edging though!"}, {"response": 138, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 16, 1999 (20:41)", "body": "Love the bars, too...I think if you manage to tweak away the edging you will lose the 3-D effect on the horziBars, too...!"}, {"response": 139, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (21:26)", "body": "ok, i didn't go away for two weeks to come back empty handed, barbie wise! went to a toys r us in S.A. and found pink ice for $50. that is over 50% off of her original pricing. AND, as a gift from my husband on our 11th anniversary (yesterday), he took me to toys r us here and told me to pick out a collector doll (excluding crystal jubilee at the $300 price tag, would rather have jewelry from him for that price). soooooo, i picked up portrait in taffeta, the 3rd in the couture series. you won't believe the price either, $66. it was a steal because she was also more than 50% off. AND, the AM went to the pick-up desk and examined the box and made them get another doll because the box was dented! i was so impressed. oh, and barbie in her role of tour guide for the new toy story was there. i wasn't impressed. liked the package with woody and bo peep better! will get a link put up for pink ice. crystal jubilee has her picture in response number 101."}, {"response": 140, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (21:34)", "body": "i'm sorry, the one i got was symphony in chiffon, not portrait in tafetta. here's the link to her pic at the mattel page: http://www.barbie.com/collectors/pshow/pshow_h/h_20186.asp"}, {"response": 141, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (11:07)", "body": "Hey wolfie, congrats on number 11."}, {"response": 142, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (14:18)", "body": "thanks! here's a link to pink ice (forgot to post it yesterday!): http://www.donnas-dolls.com/pinkice.htm"}, {"response": 143, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (12:41)", "body": "Congrats, too! So, you's like old love! Great! Say, did I get that right - S.A. being South Africa? You had a holiday there?"}, {"response": 144, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (13:59)", "body": "(Probably closer to San Antonio, Texas...) *hugs* on your 11th, Wolfie. I agree with the pricer items - might as well be saving up for that Alexandrite we all want...!"}, {"response": 145, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (17:55)", "body": "indeed!! S.A. is San Antonio Texas. no holidays in South Africa. no holidays anywhere! and thanks for your salutations! old love is the best, already larnt mine AM!! (although i was quite the b**** this weekend, but hey, i am an AF, right?)"}, {"response": 146, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (12:32)", "body": "Larnt him? Taught him? B****? You speak in miracles, don't get the first, guessed the middle, but isn't the third what female canines simply are? No offense meant, but... I gotta find that dictionary! San Antonio - didcha meet Ray? That's a very nice town, what with that Riverwalk and all."}, {"response": 147, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (19:00)", "body": "no, i didn't get out much after class. larnt him is just a way to say i taught him. and b****, no offense, it is what i meant! (and because i'm a female wolf, i wanted you to be aware of the pun *grin*)"}, {"response": 148, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Nov  4, 1999 (13:19)", "body": "Oh! Hey, goodie! I got a pun! Hey, everybody, I got a pun!"}, {"response": 149, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  4, 1999 (14:02)", "body": "...and all this time I though AF was Air Force...she must be AF\ufffd"}, {"response": 150, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Nov  4, 1999 (16:56)", "body": "No no, I'd gotten that before, I knew. 'Coz she TOLD me when I was a young puppy at this Spring that she's the ALPHA FEMALE of this place! Wow!"}, {"response": 151, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  4, 1999 (17:13)", "body": "Yes...I understand (I learned about this stuff when I was a young'un at the Spring, also). And her husband is the Alpha Male, as is appropriate. But she is Air Force, as well - which is why that little 2 is beside her AF. Anyone who is both a Sgt/ USAF and AF has my undying gratitude and submission. Now, do I have to do anything when she enters the room besides come to attention, salute and grovel?"}, {"response": 152, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Nov  4, 1999 (19:13)", "body": "*blush* all this fuss over l'il ole me? geeeeeeeeezzzeeeee!!"}, {"response": 153, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  8, 1999 (16:16)", "body": "(oops! I did not think she would see this *grin*)"}, {"response": 154, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Nov 26, 1999 (13:34)", "body": "happy happy joy joy!! the avon snow sensation barbie came in yesterday!! she's beautiful!"}, {"response": 155, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 26, 1999 (13:49)", "body": "....and, is she yours? Lovely!!! Off to basketball and my 15 minutes of fame on the telly...*lol*"}, {"response": 156, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov 29, 1999 (18:51)", "body": "winter splendor from avon came in today. she is also lovely. will have to find pics to show you guys!"}, {"response": 157, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 29, 1999 (19:00)", "body": "I'll bet she is all sparkly!!!"}, {"response": 158, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov 29, 1999 (21:23)", "body": "Winter Splendor at Donna's Dolls : http://www.donnas-dolls.com/1998avon.htm"}, {"response": 159, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 29, 1999 (21:33)", "body": "I just checked. No sparkly stuff! I like to sparkle for holidays... Which Barbie did you get? She shows three examples on her web page. It looks like velvet and taffeta...is it?"}, {"response": 160, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 29, 1999 (21:37)", "body": "As regards Barbies 1 and 3, dontcha just hate it when you spend all that money on a gorgeous new gown and it does not cover the seam where your shoulder meets your arm? Major fashion faux pas, that!"}, {"response": 161, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov 29, 1999 (21:41)", "body": "*lol* i picked up the caucasian doll. in the catalog i saw, the asian doll wasn't shown, didn't even know it was avail. just stared at the doll and didn't look as closely as you did *grin* i would hate the plastic spaghetti straps on my shoulders, what a rash that could cause! am trying to find out if mattel is going to have a holiday doll this year (i mean one that's avail. to the public and not just club members)..."}, {"response": 162, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov 29, 1999 (21:44)", "body": "i guess the arm-shoulder seams are there to remind us that this is, afterall, a doll! *grin* (went back to see what you meant)"}, {"response": 163, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 29, 1999 (22:04)", "body": "Hmmm...what plastic spaghetti straps usually mean (other than the rash they will cause in humid climates like yours and mine) is that the wearer is not well-enough-endowed to hold up the dress by herself...or that she bought it \"off the rack\" and did not have it fitted to her shape. (...the story of my life so I avoided off-the-shoulder stuff until I was mature enough to wear it properly...) Interesting that arm-shoulder seams are racial. The Caucasian one does not appear to have them (lighting fooling our eyes?!)...or perhaps it is like the Mongolian Spot?!"}, {"response": 164, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Nov 30, 1999 (07:41)", "body": "The Barbie computer is kind of a ripoff, kids are better off with a more powerful system without paying the extra couple of hundred for the Barbie logos. Although, this may be the only way to get some Barbie fanatic kids motivated in this direction."}, {"response": 165, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 30, 1999 (13:31)", "body": "Kids need to be motivated to use computers? I spend my entire waking hours here and am lost without it. How could they be so short-sighted (by being kids, I guess...) I would probably opt for one of the \"educational toys\" mfg for a truly beginning computer for a child. They come in all price ranges and are big on the wish list for the kids being served by the Salvation Army Angel Tree (my particular Christmas gift to me is my service at that tree.)"}, {"response": 166, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov 30, 1999 (18:17)", "body": "i won't buy either the barbie or the hotwheels computer. get a good computer then slap stickers all over it, i say! the arm seams are just hidden well on the caucasian barbie, she has them, trust me!"}, {"response": 167, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 30, 1999 (18:45)", "body": "That was precisely my thought when I posted the one before yours. Stickers!!! (Happy to know the Caucasian model has all the working parts *grin*)"}, {"response": 168, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov 30, 1999 (21:46)", "body": "*lol*"}, {"response": 169, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 30, 1999 (21:55)", "body": "I miss Alexander when his in on a press deadline...what a creative mind!"}, {"response": 170, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 30, 1999 (22:03)", "body": "Ooops, that comment was to go with the Pokeman stuff. (Incidently, it does mean pocket monster!) Back to the plastic spaghetti straps and functional models of Barbie...*grin*"}, {"response": 171, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (10:31)", "body": "barbie update: well, not really, nothing new to report. Donna's Dolls hasn't had anything for weeks. but, i went to wal-mart yesterday and birthday wishes was marked down but not by much. the second in the series is out and on shelves and finally saw her in person. she's very pretty. while looking at both i checked the mattel info on the bottoms of the box and noted that the first in the series has a (c) of 1998 and the second of 1999. guess it shows how long it takes to get f om the patent office onto the store shelves because bw #1 wasn't on the shelves until early 1999 (if i remember correctly). i'll find a pic to link up and show you #2."}, {"response": 172, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (10:34)", "body": "Birthday Wishes #2 . note the avail. date at the bottom (she's out NOW!!)"}, {"response": 173, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (12:55)", "body": "from Miller's : McDonald's has Barbie/Hot Wheels 12-31-99 thru 1-27-00. There are 20 pieces in the set, 10 Barbies and 10 Hot Wheels. 5 of the Barbies are design replicas of past Barbies and 5 are current Barbies. There will be 2 of each design weekly. As an added attraction there will be a collector's case. wow! this'll be the first time a collector's case will be offered. guess i know where i'll be eating lunch that month!!"}, {"response": 174, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (14:30)", "body": "Let's see, 2 all beef patties, pickles,lettuce, cheese, special sauce, on a sesame seed bun??? Hmmm...artery clogging time. Me too!"}, {"response": 175, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (16:00)", "body": "i get the happy meals because there's just the right amount (those special value meals are a waste for me) and then there's the TOY!!"}, {"response": 176, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (16:28)", "body": "Let's hear it for the toy!!! You mean they let adults have happy meals? How novel that idea is. Wish I had known before...!"}, {"response": 177, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (21:18)", "body": "fast food restaurants do, but sit down restaurants limit the kiddies' menu to them *darn*"}, {"response": 178, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (22:48)", "body": "Tell me about it! One tiny stomach here which does not like to be over-stuffed...it is wasteful, besides! We do not need to eat that much."}, {"response": 179, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (16:22)", "body": "i've heard from donna ( donna's dolls ) and she has been sick. she says she's had the flu twice since thanksgiving. it was very nice of her to email me and i hope she makes it over here to see our neat niche. stores are having barbie sales but the prices aren't marked down much. there are some new pink box barbies out that i've not seen before including hawaiian ken and barbie (plus all their friends). will have to find a pic for you to see."}, {"response": 180, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (16:37)", "body": "Don't hurry on my account...all I can see in your posts is the html language...*sigh*"}, {"response": 181, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jan 10, 2000 (11:43)", "body": "this one's pretty: http://www.donnas-dolls.com/hollywd.htm"}, {"response": 182, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan 10, 2000 (12:59)", "body": "Wow! Her Jean Harlow impression or Marilyn Monroe? Very evocative and beautifully done!"}, {"response": 183, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jan 10, 2000 (14:16)", "body": "yup and $50 or so....."}, {"response": 184, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan 10, 2000 (23:14)", "body": "Not exhorbitant as some Barbie prices go..."}, {"response": 185, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jan 11, 2000 (19:17)", "body": "nope. there's a special on QVC on 13 Jan at 9PM CST with a new collection called Royal Gems or something. the first one is emerald. can't find a pic or a price."}, {"response": 186, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan 11, 2000 (20:23)", "body": "Sounds like it would fit into your conference and mine *grin* but it is probably an Irish Barbie."}, {"response": 187, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jan 11, 2000 (21:19)", "body": "i'm gonna search for it anyway....."}, {"response": 188, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan 11, 2000 (22:33)", "body": "I have pix of the King Arthur and Guinevere... and a tweedy-looking Barbie. I could email them to you if you are interested, or they are tiny enough to post...when I can ftp them to access.spring.net...*sigh*"}, {"response": 189, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jan 12, 2000 (08:53)", "body": "just ftp over when access is up and running. thanks, marcia!"}, {"response": 190, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan 12, 2000 (13:42)", "body": "Will do! (*pacing* and trying to be patient *grin*)"}, {"response": 191, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jan 13, 2000 (21:08)", "body": "k you barbie collectors, don't forget tonight at 9 cst. guess that would be 7 for you west coasters and 10 for the east. and if you live somewhere else in the world, you'll have to do your own math. already told the AM that the tv is mine at nine! tried to find pictures at all the hot barbie spots and have come up empty-handed. even mattel's site doesn't show a pic. well, we'll see!"}, {"response": 192, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan 14, 2000 (17:53)", "body": "i got empress of emeralds and she is beautiful. she won't be shipped until mar 7 so i have to wait. 3 of the barbies showcased sold out in the first few minutes, elizabeth taylor as cleopatra, and a renoir style. can't remember the other one, think it was la papillion (the butterfly). iqvc didn't have any pictures of the empress for me to link up to. will do some more looking. surely, someone has one because she has been officially unveiled!"}, {"response": 193, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan 14, 2000 (17:54)", "body": "oh, and with the purchase of the empress of emeralds from qvc, you get a copy of the original drawing to boot!"}, {"response": 194, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 14, 2000 (19:45)", "body": "She is a stunner. Glad you contacted me as you were thinking of purchasing her. Really lovely! Where is a Ken worthy of that lady?!"}, {"response": 195, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan 14, 2000 (22:15)", "body": "well it's certainly not great date ken in his one piece suit! (i'm serious, gave one to my daughter and had no idea his suit would be so weird)!"}, {"response": 196, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jan 15, 2000 (02:04)", "body": "One-piece suit??? Like those weird jumpsuits they wore in the 60's? Double knit and all? ack!!!"}, {"response": 197, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jan 22, 2000 (21:52)", "body": "found a pic for the empress:"}, {"response": 198, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jan 22, 2000 (21:54)", "body": "the number in the lower right is the item number at QVC. she's no longer avail. there (i think).... picked up Rose Barbie for $24 (originally $50). now toys-r-us isn't having an out of this world sale but wal-mart is. barbies at half off!"}, {"response": 199, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jan 22, 2000 (22:30)", "body": "The gown looks almost black in this photograph as it did on my telly. Let us know what color it really is when you get her. Great photo. Have you gotten a snappy since I last asked?!"}, {"response": 200, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jan 23, 2000 (11:10)", "body": "no, i did a search and found it! her dress is dark green..."}, {"response": 201, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan 23, 2000 (14:28)", "body": "I figured it must be. Emerald green would have been too much, but against a tourmaline green dress she should look dazzling in her faux emeralds."}, {"response": 202, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jan 23, 2000 (14:56)", "body": "i can't wait!!"}, {"response": 203, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jan 25, 2000 (21:24)", "body": "well, i joined the club today, the barbie collector's club. the small print at the bottom of the webpage says if i quit the club, the collector's barbies i buy, i have to return. wonder if that means if i don't renew next year, do i have to return the dolls i purchased during my year of membership? can't wait to get the package to determine what they're talking about. it'll be here in 7-14 days!"}, {"response": 204, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan 25, 2000 (21:33)", "body": "That sounds so incredibly exciting! Keep us posted! How do you display your Barbies, so they are safe and kid-proof?! We need a photo of your collection and how you have them displayed!"}, {"response": 205, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jan 25, 2000 (21:36)", "body": "haha! no, really, you don't want to know how they're displayed. let's say they don't see the light. and i will indeed keep everyone posted. i counted up the dolls i have right now (plus the one from qvc) and i'm up to 49. that's it? as other enthusiastic doll collectors might say. but i'm out of room with them!"}, {"response": 206, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan 25, 2000 (22:10)", "body": "I know how collections can eat up available flat space. I thought AM might have built your tiered risers so they could be displayed above closets and in other unused space like that."}, {"response": 207, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Feb  1, 2000 (20:27)", "body": "ok, we lost some posts here. where are my buttons????"}, {"response": 208, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Feb  1, 2000 (21:30)", "body": "I can paste the lost ones if you'd like. I am crazy enough to save conferences topics to file...! (I think the buttons are cute with the Yellow background!)"}, {"response": 209, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (09:24)", "body": "There were about 5 days of lost posts, between the time I tarbabied the old conferences and transplanted them here. You can still get to the old site if you want to copy the lost posts (old site - http://206.97.234.70 and new site is http://www.spring.net or http://208.165.85.156) ."}, {"response": 210, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (18:53)", "body": "got some barbie-related news : mattel's ceo resigned (or was fired) due to lagging sales in the 4th quarter.... and little debbie snacks' 40th anniversary doll arrived at my house today. she looks a bit different (the face) but is a barbie never-the-less. just $21 total with shipping."}, {"response": 211, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (18:53)", "body": "hey, why's there a hyperlink on news????"}, {"response": 212, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (20:27)", "body": "I was going to telnet to look at it but I cannot see anything after several posts yesterday. I wonder what the new one will be. sigh! Is Little Debbie/Barbie cute? Is she wearing that little hat, too?"}, {"response": 213, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (20:46)", "body": "nope, this is the anniversary edition and she's in blue with a knit top and a stretchy light blue skirt with a tulle overlay with sparkles. very pretty. she carry's a silver bag and has silver accents on her dress and hair."}, {"response": 214, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (21:41)", "body": "This is not the same Little Debbie with which I am familiar...! Sounds lovely!"}, {"response": 215, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb  9, 2000 (00:57)", "body": "Here is Arthur and Gwenivere"}, {"response": 216, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Feb 10, 2000 (16:24)", "body": "Did they also make Whazzisface, her boyfriend? I forgot the name, you know - the other guy?"}, {"response": 217, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb 10, 2000 (18:31)", "body": "Guinnevere or Barbie? also, barbie will be sporting a new waist soon. she will have a belly button and her waist will be covered with stretchy \"stuff\" (technical aren't i?) so you won't see the armatures when she wears midriff bearing outfits that are, like, sooooo coooool today. wonder if she'll sport a naval ring as well?"}, {"response": 218, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb 10, 2000 (18:57)", "body": "Stupid question time: Why does Barbie need stretchy tummy \"stuff\"??? Can you see her armatures now? I obviously have not had my hands on a Barbie in ages and ages - my son wanted the real thing when he got old enough ;)"}, {"response": 219, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb 10, 2000 (21:03)", "body": "i don't know. let me find the article and the PICTURE!"}, {"response": 220, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb 10, 2000 (21:13)", "body": "Yay! Pictures! Inquiring eyes want to see *grin*"}, {"response": 221, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb 10, 2000 (21:16)", "body": "here's the article and the picture shall be here forthwith: ----------------- By Michelle Healy, USA TODAY A year after hitting the big 4-0, everyone's favorite party girl is getting a major overhaul, smack-dab in the midsection. Barbie: The new doll bares midriff. Consider it Barbie's millennium makeover. That's what the folks at Mattel are calling the redesign that will enable the world's most popular fashion doll to twist and bend at the waist without joints showing. That unsightly seam at her waist? Gone, history. In its place is a cute little bellybutton. At next week's American International Toy Fair in New York, Mattel will unveil the latest body incarnation for its $1.5-billion-a-year baby. Jewel Girl, due out in August, will be the first Barbie to sport a midsection material that allows much more human, natural movement, says Barbie marketing executive Anne Parducci. \"It looks almost like skin and has a soft, fleshy feel,\" she says. \"Bend her over and she gets a little bit of a (paunch).\" Why mess with a middle that has worked so well all these years? Barbie was looking \"a little dated,\" Parducci says. Whether it's cropped tops or low-slung pants, \"today's styles show off the midriff. It's hard to do that with an ugly (abdomen).\" At least two retailers who have seen the new body praise it for enhancing the fun quotient and for being more \"realistic\" - if that term can be applied to a plastic plaything famous for being perched on tippy-toes. It's \"a great new body that looks more natural,\" Toys R Us buyer Deborah Terrell says. \"More mobility and flexibility only enhances the Barbie experience,\" says Wal-Mart spokesman John Bisio. Toy watchers may recall 1997 reports of a much-ballyhooed Barbie makeover that was supposed to result in a doll with wider waist, slimmer hips and smaller bust. It never materialized. Preliminary discussions about changes \"got car ried away by the press,\" Parducci says. One change that did come to fruition was last year's introduction of what Mattel calls a \"more contemporary\" smiling face. Though some collector Barbies will sport a reserved, closed-mouth smile, the new subtle-yet-toothy grin is set to reign over mass-market Barbieland, popping up on 95% of the 2000 dolls. --------------- so they gonna do her neck, legs, and arms next?"}, {"response": 222, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb 10, 2000 (21:19)", "body": "New Waist Barbie"}, {"response": 223, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb 10, 2000 (22:56)", "body": "Unreal! You still cannot see but I hope it is made of tough stuff which will not deteriorate over the years or she will fall apart just like real women do!"}, {"response": 224, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (14:28)", "body": "Maybe they'll design her an abs excercizer!!! Oh, and she'll have to have proper gym clothes - a nice sideline for Nike perhaps? Or does she already have those?"}, {"response": 225, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (17:45)", "body": "she has gym clothes but they're not endorsed YET!"}, {"response": 226, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (18:02)", "body": "I'm surprised - I thought they'd have done that ages ago!"}, {"response": 227, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (18:51)", "body": "Yup! Adidas or someone... Perhaps they ask too high a price for that little bit of advertising...?"}, {"response": 228, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar 10, 2000 (19:08)", "body": "ok, empress of emeralds came in today! she's beautiful. her box lid comes off and you can straighten out her jewelry and hair if you need to. i'm so *excited* and, avon's newest barbie is angelic inspirations. my friend is an avon lady and ordered her for me at her price. i saved $6. (she's $29.99 with a $10.00 purchase or $54.99 by herself). she's really pretty and her hair is done a bit differently along with her makeup. am trying to find a pic for you guys to see."}, {"response": 229, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 10, 2000 (20:18)", "body": "What color is the dress in real life? She is stunning - about that waltzing in a straight line...I think I shall be thusly adorned...! Can't wait to see the new Avon acquisition! (and your wee little pix will not cause the demise of Spring as we know it!!!)"}, {"response": 230, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Mar 11, 2000 (09:59)", "body": "her dress is a deep emerald green. it's quite lovely. even the AM was excited!"}, {"response": 231, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar 12, 2000 (00:48)", "body": "Oooh! Gotcha...She was lovely with the strawberry-blonde hair...*sigh* She must be stunning for AM to single her out of all of your others. If you had not told me to turn on the telly that time she was on QVC I would not know how lovely she really is! I am realy happy for you! *hugs*"}, {"response": 232, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Mar 15, 2000 (18:16)", "body": "here's a link to the new avon barbie: http://www.donnas-dolls.com/avon_angel.htm"}, {"response": 233, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 15, 2000 (18:59)", "body": "That is gorgeous - and an Angel! I would collect angels if I had someplace to put them. Lovely gold and porcelain Renaissance Angels..."}, {"response": 234, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (12:33)", "body": "From Amy (irishprincess) who says she thinks she will never get too old to collect Barbies, Merlin and Morgaine"}, {"response": 235, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (15:45)", "body": "More from Amy: IMPERIAL COLLECTION: AUTUMN in LONDON:"}, {"response": 236, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (16:19)", "body": "From Amy's collection and wish list:"}, {"response": 237, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (16:20)", "body": "The left one is Peruvian and \"even the baby is cute.\" The right one is Native American which is still on her wish list."}, {"response": 238, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (16:39)", "body": "oh the imperial collection is beautiful and most expensive. but the detailing is perfect. the first one was blonde with a blue dress. am so glad there's someone else out there nuts about barbie! am gonna scan a couple of pictures...."}, {"response": 239, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (16:55)", "body": "Excellent - amy will be happy to hear about your scans - perhaps we can entice her back for a little while...*grin*"}, {"response": 240, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (17:26)", "body": "here goes and i shrunk them quite a bit but they may be too big still.... Venetian Opulence Barbie 3rd in the Masquerade Series (and the best in that set IMO)"}, {"response": 241, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (17:27)", "body": "ok, and the Porcelain Faberge' Imperial Elegance Barbie (a whopping $400 to boot)"}, {"response": 242, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (17:29)", "body": "due to my scanner, blue spots appear on the dress above. her dress is cream accented with swarovski crystals..."}, {"response": 243, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (19:10)", "body": "Dazzling Barbies. I had no idea they were so ornate. I love the gold and blue one...just stunning. Is she a regular Barbie or all porcelain?"}, {"response": 244, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (19:21)", "body": "These Barbies look exquisite on your watered silk background. I love the masquerade Barbie you posted. Amazing!"}, {"response": 245, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (23:03)", "body": "the faberge' (blue and cream) is all porcelain, which explains the high price!"}, {"response": 246, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (16:31)", "body": "Wolf, when I look at this and the prices... Makes me feel worried - think of the kid's college, or sumpthin'!"}, {"response": 247, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (16:47)", "body": "oh, alex, i've not purchased a doll over $100 unless it was on sale for under that. don't worry for me!"}, {"response": 248, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (16:58)", "body": "Aren't these vastly costly - for a doll - Barbies for adult collectors? Children seldom get to play with ones like these!"}, {"response": 249, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (17:02)", "body": "you know that's right. no, the high dollar ones are for adults. and mattel knows they can get folks to pay."}, {"response": 250, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (17:03)", "body": "i'd much rather spend $800 on a piece of jewelry than a doll...at least i can carry that around with me *grin*"}, {"response": 251, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (17:06)", "body": "Yup! Or like that $40,000 diamond Barbie. I want to be wearing the diamonds if I spend that kind of money on them!!!"}, {"response": 252, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (18:24)", "body": "that's what i'm saying!"}, {"response": 253, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr  1, 2000 (12:35)", "body": "Actually, I don't spend anything even close to the amount she spends of clothes, but then, Bob Mackie does not design Most of my stuff...*sigh*"}, {"response": 254, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Apr  3, 2000 (21:46)", "body": "can't remember where we discussed the star wars royalty collection, but tonight, i added the third and final one. queen amidala in her senate gown (the red one with the horned hairdo).....she was half-off original price and i couldn't pass her up, since wal-mart didn't have any of them left (after their $18 sale of the dolls)..."}, {"response": 255, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (00:10)", "body": "I don't remember your mentioning them. Oh yes! Now I do. There was one with a blanck travelling outfit, as well, or am I thinking of something else?"}, {"response": 256, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (17:06)", "body": "nope, you're on the right track!"}, {"response": 257, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (17:13)", "body": "Good...I shall check back through the posts to refresh my memory...*sigh* Do you have some shelves where all of these ladies are viewable? You are acquiring quite a lovely collection now."}, {"response": 258, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (17:21)", "body": "the shelves where they sit are in the closet. they are stacked on top of each other. the star wars collection sits on my dresser at the moment since both the closet and the top of a filing cabinet are stacked high and no more will fit. (1/2 of a small closet is converted to shelves) oh, and toys r us is having a barbie giveaway--you fill out a slip, mail it in and enter the drawing: grand prize: retail value of barbie items at $10,300, can you imagine??? 1st prize: 10 winners receive a barbie pc computer package with color monitor and software 2nd prize: 5 winners receive a barbie party with refreshments, an appearance by barbie at the location of their choice. or course, i'm interested in the grand prize! who wouldn't be? but if we win anything at all, my daughter would be happy (and so would i, really)"}, {"response": 259, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (18:03)", "body": "Wow! Enter! (Like you didn't a thousand times already?!) Good luck, Wolfie!!!"}, {"response": 260, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (19:52)", "body": "i suppose i could enter a thousand times, it says only one entry per outer envelope. hmmmm, how much can i afford in stamps? i'd better get moving!"}, {"response": 261, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (19:13)", "body": "Go! Wolfie Go!"}, {"response": 262, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 13, 2000 (01:57)", "body": "Sign language Barbie to go on sale LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Barbie, the world's most famous plastic bombshell, has been a doctor and a designer, but never in her 41 years had she been a champion for the disabled, until this week when she found work as a sign language expert. With one hand permanently molded into the sign for ``I love you,'' Mattel Inc.'s new ``Sign Language Barbie'' comes with sign language stickers and attempts to teach girls American Sign Language (ASL), said Julia Jensen, a spokesman for the El Segundo, Calif.-based toymaker Mattel. ``For over 41 years, Barbie has taken on several exciting aspirational roles ranging from astronaut to presidential candidate,'' said Adrienne Fontanella, president of the girls' toy and Barbie division at Mattel. ``But this is the first time Barbie has communicated an ASL signing position, and in the role of teacher, she can help to break down barriers and facilitate understanding between children with and without disabilities.'' Mattel worked with the National Center on Deafness at California State University, Northridge to ensure the American Sign Language Barbie doll was accurately representing a sign language teacher, Jensen said. The sign language Barbie, which sells exclusively at U.S. Toys 'R' Us stores, comes with a chalk board, reusable vinyl sign language stickers, and is packaged in a schoolroom setting. By using the stickers, children can make their own sentences through the use of American Sign Language, Jensen said. Jensen added that although Barbie teaches sign language she herself is not deaf or disabled. However she has a disabled friend, Becky, who Mattel began producing in 1997 complete with her own wheelchair and camera, Jensen said. This year Mattel plans to release a ``Paralympic Becky,'' in time for the August 2000 Paralympics in Sydney, Australia, Jensen said. The Paralympic Becky will come with an athletic uniform for track and field events, specially designed wheelchair, riding helmet, gold medal, and tiny water bottle. Paralympic Becky will specialize in track and field events, Jensen said. Her pal, Swimming Champion Barbie, also to be released this summer, will win Olympic gold this year, despite only recently learning how to swim, jaunts in children's baths notwithstanding. ``It's the first time Barbie will be able to swim on her own. She has a wind-up feature that will allow her to do the backstroke and freestyle,'' Jensen said. ``We have no plans at this point for a disabled Barbie but I can't tell you it would never happen,'' Jensen added. In the near future, she added, Barbie is expected to become more socially conscious and will be more active in raising awareness about disabilities, Jensen said. ``This is an area where we feel there is a need. There are plans right now for that not just within Barbie but other Mattel brands.'' Barbie's new direction hints at changes inside Mattel after several tumultuous quarters during which the toy giant tried to remake itself from a traditional toymaker into a family products concern. Earlier this month, Mattel said it would sell its troubled Learning Co. software business, considered a large part of its problems, in a transaction that could fetch far less than its $3.5 billion purchase price. The unit's huge losses led to the resignation of Chairwoman and Chief Executive Jill Barad and several other executives. So far a buyer has not come forward. Meanwhile, Barbie doll products produced more than $1.5 billion revenue for Mattel in 1999 and analysts said domestic Barbie sales in 2000 so far were healthy."}, {"response": 263, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 19, 2000 (18:30)", "body": "Q: Have you heard about the new teenage Barbie doll? A: As soon as you take her out of the box she starts to resent you."}, {"response": 264, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Apr 19, 2000 (21:57)", "body": "of course!"}, {"response": 265, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 19, 2000 (22:19)", "body": "I musta been lucky, mine never did - or, if he did, he did not let it show. You have that to look forward to, huh?!"}, {"response": 266, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 19, 2000 (22:34)", "body": "Barbie Pursuing New Career: President WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Last week it was disability rights. Next month, Barbie will launch her campaign for the White House. The White House Project, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that promotes women candidates, said it has teamed up with Mattel Inc. (MAT.N) to market a ``Barbie for President'' doll, which will hit stores May 1. Among her 75 careers over the past four decades, Barbie has worked as a doctor, designer, soccer champ, diplomat and astronaut. Last week, she added sign language expert to her repertoire. Marie Wilson, president of the White House Project, said on Monday a President Barbie was a natural next step. ``Girls nationwide own an average of eight Barbies. Since Barbie is such a large part of girls' lives, we want to be there with a message that encourages them to be tomorrow's leaders,'' she said in a statement. Each ``Barbie for President'' doll will be sold with a copy of the White House Project's Girls' Action Agenda, which urges girls to pursue leadership roles in their schools, communities and homes. ``President Barbie represents possibilities and girls need to know that becoming president is possible,'' said Wilson. Wilson, who also heads the Ms. Foundation for Women and initiated the feminist magazine's ``Take Our Daughters to Work Day,'' said she had suggested that Mattel turn Barbie's big pink dream house into the White House. Sold exclusively at Toys R Us (TOY.N), the doll will be available in three races: black, white and Latina, the group said in a statement released on Monday announcing the 41-year-old doll's latest guise. The only woman to run for president in 2000, former Cabinet secretary Elizabeth Dole, dropped out of the Republican primary contest and threw her support behind Texas Gov. George W. Bush. The White House Project on April 30 will release the results of a national straw poll and a survey on potential women vice presidents. The poll and survey are part of the group's ``Pipeline to the Presidency'' initiative, which tries to promote a dialogue with young women aged 18-24 and encourages girls and women to get involved in politics. ``Our democracy demands full political representation,'' Wilson said. ``We won't settle for anything less.'' Later this year Mattel also plans to release a ``Paralympic Becky,'' in time for the August 2000 Paralympics in Sydney, Australia, and a Swimming Champion Barbie. Barbie doll products produced more than $1.5 billion revenue for the El Segundo, California-based toy giant Mattel in 1999 and analysts said domestic Barbie sales in 2000 so far were healthy."}, {"response": 267, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (14:28)", "body": "White House Unruffled by Barbie for President Doll WASHINGTON (Reuters) - She's beautiful, elegantly dressed and very popular but the Barbie doll running for U.S. president is not worrying anyone at the White House. Dressed in an ice blue suit with a ``Barbie for President'' button on her lapel, the svelte doll made by Mattel Inc is running for the highest office in the land from a red, white and blue box emblazoned ``Barbie President 2000.'' ``Barbie...Um...can't think she's gonna have much of an impact on the race unless they run Malibu Barbie and then maybe California will be impacted,'' White House spokesman Joe Lockhart told reporters on Thursday, tongue firmly in cheek. The White House Project, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that promotes women candidates, this week said it had teamed up with Mattel to market the ``Barbie for President'' doll, which will hit stores May 1. Overall Barbie doll sales generate more than $1.5 billion in revenues for California-based Mattel. Presidential Barbie, who comes equipped with a slinky red evening gown and matching shoes, seems to understand it may be tough to beat the main presidential contenders: Democratic Vice President Al Gore and Republican Texas Gov. George W. Bush. In a disclaimer written in small print at the bottom of her box, the company notes: ``Podium not included. Doll cannot stand alone.''"}, {"response": 268, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 29, 2000 (01:44)", "body": ""}, {"response": 269, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 29, 2000 (23:55)", "body": "Emerald Empress Thanks Amy"}, {"response": 270, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, May 30, 2000 (21:20)", "body": "all four of the new collection (royal gems) are out (prototypes of the other 3)...will scan the pic tomorrow!"}, {"response": 271, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 30, 2000 (22:13)", "body": "Ooh good. The above one was emailed to me."}, {"response": 272, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (09:44)", "body": "well, this goes to show that tomorrow never comes *grin* i finally scanned the pic and as soon as i get it to the right size, i'll post it!"}, {"response": 273, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (09:53)", "body": ""}, {"response": 274, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (09:54)", "body": "ok, lemme fix that..."}, {"response": 275, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (09:56)", "body": "well, i don't get it."}, {"response": 276, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (13:42)", "body": "ok, don't have a pix of her yet but Harley Barbie #4 is at TRU for $69.99. She is a blonde who has had high and low lights put in. and she has really full lips. oh, and can someone tell me why the beauty mark is placed over the right side of the mouth and not the left? i've seen several folks of beauty with these natural moles on the left. so shouldn't barbie be the same?"}, {"response": 277, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (13:56)", "body": "TRU link: http://www.toysrus.com/index.cfm?siteID=UZR89t2CmH4-gLepfGfa4Pkg0zpjnVxQCw"}, {"response": 278, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (13:58)", "body": "(scroll down the page and click on Harley #4)"}, {"response": 279, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (16:31)", "body": "Awesome!!!"}, {"response": 280, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2000 (15:45)", "body": "NEW Barbie dolls to coincide with her and OUR aging gracefully. these are a bit more realistic... 1. Bifocals Barbie. Comes with her own set of blended-lens fashion frames in six wild colors (half-frames too!), neck chain and large-print editions of Vogue and Martha Stewart Living. 2. Hot Flash Barbie. Press Barbie's bellybutton and watch her face turn beet red while tiny drops of perspiration appear on her forehead. Comes with hand-held fan and tiny tissues. 3. Facial Hair Barbie. As Barbie's hormone levels shift, see her whiskers grow. Available with teensy tweezers and magnifying mirror. 4. Flabby Arms Barbie. Hide Barbie's droopy triceps with these new, roomier-sleeved gowns. Good news on the tummy front, too-muumuus with tummy-support panels are included. 5. Bunion Barbie. Years of disco dancing in stiletto heels have definitely taken their toll on Barbie's dainty arched feet. Soothe her sores with the pumice stone and plasters, then slip on soft terry mules. 6. No-More-Wrinkles Barbie. Erase those pesky crow's-feet and lip lines with a tube of Skin Sparkle-Spackle, from Barbie's own line of exclusive age-blasting cosmetics. 7. Soccer Mom Barbie. All that experience as a cheer-leader is really paying off as Barbie dusts off her old high school megaphone to root for Babs and Ken, Jr. Comes with minivan in robin-egg blue or white, and cooler filled with doughnut holes and fruit punch. 8. Mid-life Crisis Barbie. It's time to ditch Ken. Barbie needs a change, and Alonzo(her personal trainer) is just what the doctor ordered, along with Prozac. They're hopping in her new red Miata and heading for the Napa Valley to open a B&B. Includes a real tape of \"Breaking Up Is Hard to Do.\" 9. Divorced Barbie. Sells for $199.99. Comes with Ken's house, Ken's car, and Ken's boat. 10. Recovery Barbie. Too many parties have finally caught up with the ultimate party girl. Now she does Twelve Steps instead of dance steps. Clean and sober, she's going to meetings religiously. Comes with a little copy of The Big Book and a six-pack of Diet Coke. 11. Post-Menopausal Barbie. This Barbie wets her pants when she sneezes, forgets where she puts things, and cries a lot. She is sick and tired of Ken sitting on the couch watching the tube, clicking through the channels. Comes with Depends and Kleenex. As a bonus this year, the book \"Getting In Touch with Your Inner Self\" is included."}, {"response": 281, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul 16, 2000 (15:07)", "body": "*lol* OK, went to good old walmart today and found a couple new barbies. one was millenium bride, a new collection, for $49 (rounded). another was a the first of what looks like a new holiday series...barbie is celebrating christmas 2000 with a 2000 ornament. didn't get the price and don't have pics. BUT i'll keep scouring my mags and the net and let you know!"}, {"response": 282, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul 16, 2000 (19:44)", "body": "ok, here's the millenium wedding barbie link: http://www.barbie.com/collectors/00_preview/pshow/pshow_h/27674.asp"}, {"response": 283, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul 16, 2000 (19:45)", "body": "and the new holiday line starts with celebration barbie: http://www.barbie.com/collectors/00_preview/pshow/pshow_h/28269.asp"}, {"response": 284, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Aug 31, 2000 (20:39)", "body": "ok, and the 2001 lineup is up for preview at the newly redesigned barbie.com. here's one of the new limited collection set that's out now: http://www.barbiecollectibles.com/collectors/series/series_h/classicalgoddess.asp"}, {"response": 285, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Oct 31, 2000 (22:03)", "body": "just got a piece of mail from the barbie club, 2001 club kits are now available to order, this one includes a note pad set w/pen along with all the other goodies usually found inside. (a collectable pin, a binder for the barbie insider editions, and an outfit with accessories, plus an order form for collector club dolls)"}, {"response": 286, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 31, 2000 (22:42)", "body": "Wow! Marketing is everything, I guess. No free samples?! My Daddy warned me about those!"}, {"response": 287, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 22, 2000 (16:16)", "body": "------------- \"Smart\" Toys Don't Like Abuse --------------- Mattel Corporation has gotten into the high-tech act by pro- ducing a line of talking dolls. The strategy is to attract older girls who are tired of Barbie. The new dolls, called Diva Starz, scream if their hair is pulled and object if you keep them in pajamas after the sun comes up. More of these latest toys include robotic dogs, toys which communicate and new versions of dolls with change vocabulary and actions as they age."}, {"response": 288, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May  4, 2001 (01:19)", "body": "What's the latest Barbie line, wolfie?"}, {"response": 289, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, May  6, 2001 (03:31)", "body": "you know, i get catalogs all the time and keep forgetting to post here! i'll get back to you on it!"}, {"response": 290, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, May  6, 2001 (13:40)", "body": "OK I'll take your raincheck."}, {"response": 291, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, May 11, 2001 (14:12)", "body": "Barbie has not lost herself on me, I'm just floundering in the throes of life. am way behind on my collection though i did see one i just love and have to have. i think she's Grand Entrance and Wal-Mart has her ($50). all of the Royal Jewels are available either through Mattel or QVC (i think QVC still has the first one). they go for $99. last i checked, the first one (Empress of Emeralds) was going for $92 on QVC. still haven't picked up the latest Harley Barbie but Toys-R-Us still carries her AFAIK. perhaps i should put these dolls on lay-away and pick them up when i return from a business trip."}, {"response": 292, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Aug 29, 2001 (19:27)", "body": "ok, as i was telling marcia in an email, i found the replacement barbie for butterfly art. she has absolutely no tattoos, straight hair (vs crimped), plain denim skirt (vs fringes), no jewelry, the box is smaller, and the doll has a different stock number than the original but carries the same name. i will take a pic of these dolls side by side and post them for you to view. no promises as to when but, i'll do it. oh, and the tattoos included in the box are referred to as temporary stickers but also referred to as tattoos in the ingredient list."}, {"response": 293, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep  9, 2001 (14:47)", "body": "as promised, here are the butterbly barbie photos *fingers crossed* but first, let me apologize for the quality of the pics. hopefully you can make out the differences!"}, {"response": 294, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Nov  8, 2001 (21:34)", "body": "Avon has a new barbie for us collectors: she's the Ring in the New Year Barbie Doll. this time, avon has included the hispanic version this time (don't remember seeing that one offered before). and the avon website doesn't have her listed yet. she comes in a display box and has a musical ornament that plays \"auld lang syne.\" (all this for $36.99, whew)"}, {"response": 295, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  8, 2001 (22:25)", "body": "Wow!!! I am assuming you have told the resident Santa of your need for this one. What a splendid holiday ornament. Pictures??"}, {"response": 296, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Nov 10, 2001 (21:37)", "body": "no, i was hoping avon had it but their site isn't updated with the new campaign stuff yet. maybe i'll scan it, though the picture is cut right down the middle of the booklet."}, {"response": 297, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov 12, 2001 (12:33)", "body": "did i mention that Mattel is just around the corner from where i work and i can go there during lunch? *laugh* look out, here comes wolfie!!!"}, {"response": 298, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov 12, 2001 (12:34)", "body": "oh, and did i also mention that the AM gave me the green light to shop there? *rubbing paws together with glee*"}, {"response": 299, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Nov 16, 2001 (21:47)", "body": "here is the ring in the new year barbie at avon: http://shop.avon.com/avonshop/default.asp?department=shop&level1%5Fid=3"}, {"response": 300, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Nov 16, 2001 (21:47)", "body": "try this: http://shop.avon.com/avonshop/product.asp?src%5Fpage=product%2Easp&department=shop&level1%5Fid=&level2%5Fid=3&pdept%5Fid=13&dept%5Fid=54&pf%5Fid=2330&level=3"}, {"response": 301, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Nov 17, 2001 (21:55)", "body": "ok, guess what???? let me first just tell you what my receipt said at the bottom: YOUR SAVINGS 249.96. yes, i saved nearly $250 just by buying 2 barbies at the mattel toy store. so what did i buy, you ask? Barbie 2000 (yes, this was last year's model) regularly sells for $46.....spent $10.99. And Ferrari Barbie (now this one, *wow*) regularly sells for...$299.95 and guess how much the thrifty wolfie paid? $89.99, yes you saw that, 89.99. and the husband actually sat there and said \"get it\" which is RARE!!!! ok, so let me hunt some pics for you."}, {"response": 302, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Nov 17, 2001 (22:01)", "body": "Ferrari Barbie"}, {"response": 303, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov 17, 2001 (22:02)", "body": "WoooooooHoooooooo Wolfie!!! You scored Big Time. Enough for you to buy the real Ferrari for the mom of the Barbie collection?? *Sigh* Now we need pix."}, {"response": 304, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov 17, 2001 (22:08)", "body": "Wow!!! I just looked at your picture link. Red is my favorite color. She is stunning! What color is her Ferrari? Can they be anything other than red?! *Sigh* I guess I am never going to look like Barbie! Love her with the chestnut brown hair, though! She looks positively smashing."}, {"response": 305, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov 17, 2001 (22:10)", "body": "(I wish my buttons worked....*sniff* Wolfie's work, why don't mine? *whine*)"}, {"response": 306, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Nov 17, 2001 (22:16)", "body": "i dunno, sweetie!! i thought we finally got geo looking spiffy again! barbie doesn't come with a ferrari but i did see one on the road and about fell out. it was a testarossa and was sporty red!"}, {"response": 307, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 26, 2001 (23:20)", "body": "santa was very nice to me and gave me a lovely barbie doll. this one is the fantasy goddess by bob mackie (my first mackie doll). she is beautiful! lemme get you a link for her pic----"}, {"response": 308, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 26, 2001 (23:22)", "body": "Fantasy Goddess of the Artic"}, {"response": 309, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jan 27, 2002 (21:47)", "body": "we went browsing through k-mart and i found a new model of barbie. the sunshine day (yeah, like the partridge family) has wider hips and a smaller chest. i bought her just because of that. and i've noticed a newer look for the african american version as well. she has almond shaped eyes vs the wide-eyed version. wonder when they'll make a version of barbie that is brunette with brown-eyes and is not hispanic (i do like the hispanic versions though). and k-mart's toys section (esp. barbie) was sad indeed!"}, {"response": 310, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan 27, 2002 (22:39)", "body": "Works for me Wolfie. Brown-eyed brunettes are very special people!"}, {"response": 311, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan 27, 2002 (22:49)", "body": "Poor K-Mart. I'm glad I don't own any of that stock."}, {"response": 312, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jan 28, 2002 (19:09)", "body": "but they're not being left high and dry. afterall, martha's staying with them. i didn't notice any shortages in the food department either. what i've always disliked about k-mart was the mess it was always in and how nothing was organized or in stock. wonder if mattel will pull their toys from the shelves."}, {"response": 313, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Mar  2, 2002 (22:06)", "body": "added two more bob mackie designer dolls to my collection: Goddess of the Americas and Goddess of Asia. The third and first out of the collection (Goddess of the Arctic is the fourth). Just need Goddess of Africa to complete the set (but they were out)."}, {"response": 314, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar  2, 2002 (23:09)", "body": "Nice, Wolfie! When do you add a real Bob Mackie to your own wardrobe? If you are like me, you need a whole new lifestyle to afford to do that. Pictures? Can you FTP yet? If not, email Terry with your old username and password. I did and am back in business as is John. John has made a few really cute adjustments to his prediction charts. =)"}, {"response": 315, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Mar  3, 2002 (13:24)", "body": "Fantasy Goddess of the Americas Fantasy Goddess of Asia And the only one i still need in this series: Fantasy Goddess of Africa"}, {"response": 316, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Mar  3, 2002 (13:25)", "body": "better link for: Fantasy Goddess of the Americas"}, {"response": 317, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar  3, 2002 (14:57)", "body": "The Goddess of America Barbie is STUNNING!!! I had no idea they could be so gorgeous. Since I am running NASA TV at the same time I am running a bunch of other applications, I'm having a slow time of it loading some of the images."}, {"response": 318, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Mar  3, 2002 (19:23)", "body": "the africa is stunning too, you should see the detail on her dress! but bob mackie dolls all come like that, with extensive bead detail. the asian has a beautiful lime green fully beaded gown and a dragon fan-shaped head-dress. of course, i have to peak around the tissue paper to take a look-see."}, {"response": 319, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar  5, 2002 (19:23)", "body": "check this out: (hope the link works, if not, i'll be back *grin*) http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-000016345mar05.story?coll=la%2D headlines%2Dliving\">New Doll"}, {"response": 320, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar  5, 2002 (19:23)", "body": "ok, it didn't.....hang on!"}, {"response": 321, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar  5, 2002 (19:25)", "body": "New Doll *fingers crossed*"}, {"response": 322, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar  5, 2002 (23:23)", "body": "It works! I can't wait to see the realistic Barbie!!!"}, {"response": 323, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Mar  6, 2002 (18:09)", "body": "i'm gonna be looking for her!"}, {"response": 324, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 18, 2002 (18:26)", "body": "Did anyone find the realistic Barbie? Surely there is a Southern Belle Barbie. I wonder which one he might like... I'm guessing one in Green!"}, {"response": 325, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Aug 25, 2002 (11:45)", "body": "the Southern Belle Barbie is probably closest to the tea barbies."}, {"response": 326, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep 29, 2002 (12:04)", "body": "mattell was having one heck of a sale yesterday--glad i went after work (yes, i worked saturday--it's end of fiscal year and we have to obligate funds like madmen)....enchanting mermaid was not on the menu for price cuts though and they didn't even have one single box laying around for me to drool over. but let me tell you what i did come out of there with: Duchess of Diamonds Countess of Rubies Venetian Opulence let me note that these dolls come in \"damaged\" boxes. The Royal Jewels Collection had nothing wrong with their boxes but are supposedly missing their certificates (inside the box). Venetian Opulence did not have the lid to her box (nor did any of the others like her on the shelf) and came without \"papers.\" This didn't bother me much since I bought her because I've always liked her."}, {"response": 327, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Feb  4, 2003 (19:31)", "body": "the 2003 line is here to check out: http://www.barbiecollectibles.com/index-home.asp"}, {"response": 328, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar 11, 2005 (22:27)", "body": "well i haven't been here inawhile. am still collecting barbies but now that i'm away from l.a., no mattel store to buy discounted dolls. and i haven't seen any at the flea markets that i'm willing to shell out money for."}, {"response": 329, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Mar 12, 2005 (07:20)", "body": "I saw a barbie something somewhere."}, {"response": 330, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Mar 12, 2005 (18:39)", "body": "*laugh*"}, {"response": 331, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar 12, 2005 (20:35)", "body": "Wow ! it has been ages! Taking a break from trying to find people to testify on my behalf for the upcoming trial, tell us what new Barbies are in your life now, Wolfie!"}, {"response": 332, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Mar 12, 2005 (21:52)", "body": "here is a link to barbie.com and the 2005 lineup: http://www.barbiecollector.com/showcase/products_by_year.asp?iYear=2005 james bond is in my collection now along with the fairy queen and legolas from the LOTR movies. hoping they have the entire group soon. am still looking for the fantasy goddess of africa to complete my bob mackie fantasy goddesses collection."}, {"response": 333, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Mar 12, 2005 (21:53)", "body": "march 16, the 2005 fanclub starts!!"}, {"response": 334, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar 14, 2005 (13:17)", "body": "I just can't remember who, want, where, when. Maybe it will coem to me. It's lurking around in the shadows of my mind, a Barbie cool thing I heard about somewhere. Maybe it will surface."}, {"response": 335, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct  3, 2005 (14:44)", "body": "Legolas?! How about Arwen? She LOOKS exactly like a pretend person. Lovely!"}, {"response": 336, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Oct  3, 2005 (20:19)", "body": "Legolas and Galadriel are the only ones for now. Not sure if they're going to do any of the other characters (boy, I hope they don't use the little kid sister of barbie for the hobbits)...."}, {"response": 337, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct  4, 2005 (21:49)", "body": "hahaha - probably not but they might use the original mold to work from. Furry feet? I wonder."}, {"response": 338, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Oct  4, 2005 (21:59)", "body": "*laugh*"}, {"response": 339, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct  5, 2005 (00:22)", "body": "I know a store filled with Barbies in Austin. It's a doll shop. I took a bunch of pictures there a long time 'a go."}, {"response": 340, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Oct  5, 2005 (22:47)", "body": "was it a Mattel outlet store? i told the AM i needed to take a trip back to El Segundo, CA just to visit their store."}, {"response": 341, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct  7, 2005 (10:39)", "body": "Nope it was a funky, jam packed antique doll star on Kerbey Lane. If ya' come to Austin, go see it. Or make a point to go see it before they ship you off somewhere."}, {"response": 342, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Oct  7, 2005 (21:04)", "body": "well, that means they're expensive......some of those doll stores give me the creeps!"}, {"response": 343, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct  7, 2005 (23:45)", "body": "No I didn't think it was that expensive. I'll stop by there, I have photos of it somewhere. I don't know when. I know where it is on Kerbey Lane. Kerbey Lane Cafe has great food."}, {"response": 344, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Oct  8, 2005 (15:38)", "body": "well then i know where to visit when i head up austin way..."}, {"response": 345, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct  9, 2005 (17:29)", "body": "It's real close to Mopac off 35th."}, {"response": 346, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 11, 2005 (01:48)", "body": "I've been to that El Segundo mall store. The line used to wind around the building and they restricted how many you could buy each time !!"}, {"response": 347, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Oct 11, 2005 (17:32)", "body": "*laugh* you got it!"}, {"response": 348, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 15, 2005 (18:20)", "body": "In fact, the lady who took me there commandeered the whole available family and we each got 6 of whatever she wanted. I have no idea what she is doing with them, but she must have zillions of them by now. Like saving pennies. Everyone has more than they already want or need so who cares? I guess she plans to live for 200 more years until they are \"valuable\" ?!"}, {"response": 349, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 15, 2005 (18:21)", "body": "Back to Barbie, The Franklin Mint christmas catalog has some impressive Barbies for collecting. They are getting more and more into portrait dolls, now. collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 20, "subject": "Clowns", "response_count": 4, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Mar  2, 1999 (09:36)", "body": "ACCCCCKKKKKKK!!!! Poltergist! Poltergist!!! I hate clowns, I hate em, I hate em... That movie came a a very delicate age for me... yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck... besides.. I really am not fond of anything/anyone who does not show their true emotions.. Leaves me uneasy."}, {"response": 2, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Mar  3, 1999 (17:57)", "body": "hmmm... what about mimes, jesters, harlequins, etcetera?"}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Mar  3, 1999 (20:35)", "body": "they're clowns too, so stacey must hate the whole lot of them! don't worry, stacey, there's something about talking dolls that gives me the creeps at times! (thanks to chucky!!!)"}, {"response": 4, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Apr 12, 1999 (12:00)", "body": "This is not exactly on clowns, which - to me - are also a difficult topic as far as collectibles or interior decorations go. Still, clowns aren't to bad. I don't know if any of your guys bosses is a clown in your opinion, but I HAVE WORKED FOR AN ACTUAL CLOWN! AND: he was my first boss, too. I think I even have some docu on that on super8 film... Back to my original topic: TV is an explicitly annoying thing most times, but haven't I been extremely well entertained lately! Oh my, gotta wipe the laughing tears off, or you'll all think I were heartless (not true; I prefer the word: ignorant), a zynic (rather: ignorant) or generally a dumb and stupid brute without any sense of piety (much shorter would have been: ignorant). Where were I? Right, this TV commercial they run at lete evenings now. You know these commercials hawking special coins or kitchen items or dolls in the evenings, especially during programs aimed at the females of the species, right? Lately, a company called Janus offers this great item, reduced from DM 79,99 to DM 49,99, and available only from them directly, offered only on TV! The Lady Diana doll, with exquisitely handpained face and fine dark blue dress and hat. (For the Diana-fanatics, please notice http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/collecting/20 , where somebody honestly should write something on the memorial put up on her family's estate. This \"fund-raiser\" is run by her brother...) collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 21, "subject": "Oddities", "response_count": 4, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, Mar  1, 1999 (21:57)", "body": "people collect Spring participants?"}, {"response": 2, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Mar  2, 1999 (09:37)", "body": "you guys are weird."}, {"response": 3, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Mar  2, 1999 (19:32)", "body": "that would've been the point, yes..."}, {"response": 4, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Mar  3, 1999 (10:12)", "body": "ahhhh then I get it! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 22, "subject": "allygators", "response_count": 56, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 1999 (17:30)", "body": "haha!!"}, {"response": 2, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (07:22)", "body": "Do I get this?"}, {"response": 3, "author": "visitor", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (09:02)", "body": "probably not...it's in reference to a post in the pool topic in the home conference..."}, {"response": 4, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (15:43)", "body": "and dammit! I keep entering topics while Telnetting and put '.' 'ok' without thinking... that's why all my topic names are 'ok' *sigh*"}, {"response": 5, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (17:39)", "body": "maybe someone can change this one (i was wondering why pool allygators was in a topic called \"ok\")!!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (17:43)", "body": "'cause I'm a dolt!"}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (17:48)", "body": "ok.....*grin*"}, {"response": 8, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (23:31)", "body": "next time I get to telnet in, I'll see if I can change the name... suggestions, anyone?"}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Mar  6, 1999 (10:42)", "body": "allygators...."}, {"response": 10, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Mar  6, 1999 (10:50)", "body": "so simple and straightforward, yet so poignant..."}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Mar  6, 1999 (11:09)", "body": "uh-huh.... wer, get on over to paraspring...."}, {"response": 12, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Mar  6, 1999 (11:40)", "body": "I'm trying!..."}, {"response": 13, "author": "wer", "date": "Thu, Mar 25, 1999 (23:44)", "body": "and the topic has been re-named..."}, {"response": 14, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar 26, 1999 (11:45)", "body": "noted *grin*"}, {"response": 15, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Apr  7, 1999 (11:21)", "body": "it's all confusing for me with the time, ID and email prompt before the response!!!! HELP!!"}, {"response": 16, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Apr  7, 1999 (21:52)", "body": "you lost me, girl!"}, {"response": 17, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Apr  7, 1999 (23:48)", "body": "I don't touch telnet stuff, Stace...would that be watcha talkin'bout?"}, {"response": 18, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (11:27)", "body": "no... I was actually browsering it... and on the response line it began with the poster's name and a link to their email... (not crazy, not crazy, not crazy...)"}, {"response": 19, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (12:49)", "body": "um...always has as far as I know... (I'm lost or confused or both, methinks...)"}, {"response": 20, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (13:48)", "body": "no no no!!! i was different... I SWEAR!"}, {"response": 21, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (14:17)", "body": "I know you were..."}, {"response": 22, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (14:53)", "body": "it it it it it (damn it...) I MEANT IT was different!"}, {"response": 23, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (18:59)", "body": "SURE you did...we believe you, don't we guys?"}, {"response": 24, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Apr  9, 1999 (13:06)", "body": "*sticking out my tongue*"}, {"response": 25, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Apr  9, 1999 (23:45)", "body": "fair is fair, I guess...(and it's such a cute and talented tongue, too!)"}, {"response": 26, "author": "stacey", "date": "Sat, Apr 10, 1999 (23:26)", "body": "it's purple (slurpee stained!)"}, {"response": 27, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Apr 11, 1999 (00:48)", "body": "then it would be tasty, as well..."}, {"response": 28, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Apr 12, 1999 (19:15)", "body": "yummmm!"}, {"response": 29, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, Apr 12, 1999 (23:32)", "body": "thought so..."}, {"response": 30, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, May  8, 1999 (19:21)", "body": "you'll never guess what? ok, lemme take care of the suspense right now. we went to get crawfish (out of a ravine) and in doing so saw the most awesome, scariest thing ever. ok, so it was a bayou and you probably won't find this fascinating but here we are, me with the binoculars (got to look for my hawks), my kids in the back of the truck, my husband in waders fishing for crawdaddies. when lo and behold, what appeared walking across the street about 50 yards up? nothing but a real life 10 foot allygator. upper. my son spotted her and i yelled at my husband to warn him she was moving in on his territory. i watched her disappear outta sight (her is generic in this case, i have no idea if it was a him either, and her just sounds better *grin*). well, we watched her travel slowly down the bayou towards my husband. then she slowly meandered back a bit. i warned the other fisher-folks in the area of this magestic bayou type critter and then we hopped in the truck and traveled the length of the bayou to see wher she went or was doing. turns out, she decided to hang out on the farthest bank and then when we left, it was like she was trying to decide if she wanted to leave her watery playground for the boggy soil. it was cool. that was the first time i'd ever seen an allygator that big, out of the water in the wild. not a zoo and not those spooky green eyes peeping out of the mire either. it was way cool!"}, {"response": 31, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, May 10, 1999 (05:32)", "body": "Too bad you guys didn't slug it out! Would make a great Hollywood-movie: \"She-Werwolf vs. THE GATOR From HELL\". I could image the crayfish as sidecasts... Are Abbott and Costello somewhere around? Gotta have those, too! ;=}"}, {"response": 32, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, May 10, 1999 (05:36)", "body": "(Wonder who would compose ther filmscore... After last night, I should perhaps ask Mr Quintron, he's from New Orleans, so he should feel at home with the story-line...)"}, {"response": 33, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, May 10, 1999 (07:56)", "body": "oh yeah! the crawfish would be bubba and boudreaux (gotta have those cajun names)!"}, {"response": 34, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, May 10, 1999 (08:15)", "body": "And we MUST have the GATOR From HELL nibble that fishing dad within the first 15 minutes or the whole movie is dead meat. The kids can stay (+/- 1). After all, the She-Werwolf from the bayou gotta have somebody to save. Kids always work great with the 25+ female demographics, too - doesn't hurt to draw them in crowds to this fishing-trip nightmare. \"All we wanted was them crawdads, all we got was a gore-fest!\" Could also work as hook to draw the 12+ juvenile environmentalist crowd, plus the male 35+ social worker scene: Portrait the GATOR From HELL as pet that has been flushed down the toilet (like the NINJA-TURTLES!) and now positively defends the crayfish that raised her..."}, {"response": 35, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, May 10, 1999 (11:19)", "body": "neato!!!"}, {"response": 36, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, May 10, 1999 (12:15)", "body": "I see it being a cult classic! Think we can get Savini to do the special effects?"}, {"response": 37, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, May 11, 1999 (06:52)", "body": "Guess who called me!!! But he hung up when I said we'll do it on Super 8 and pull 30mm copies for the big screen off that. *Sigh*"}, {"response": 38, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, May 11, 1999 (06:52)", "body": "Ah, sorry, 35mm, that would have been."}, {"response": 39, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, May 11, 1999 (11:47)", "body": "*rats*"}, {"response": 40, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, May 11, 1999 (11:47)", "body": "what about making it a silent film?"}, {"response": 41, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, May 12, 1999 (10:33)", "body": "Well, filming it in Super 8 is silent (they don't make the films with the magnet track on the side anymore, which enabled you to record sound while filming). But I'd like some nice thrilling score - it greatly enhances the whole movie experience. You can't make a horror movie for the whole family without sound. I need only one word to prove that: Screaming! On the other hand, if we could thkare 'em till their bones rattle just with the gruesome imagery, we might do OK without sound. Plus we'd be tr\ufffds far out avantgarde dudes and dudettes!"}, {"response": 42, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, May 12, 1999 (11:19)", "body": "Spring re-union at Cannes?"}, {"response": 43, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, May 12, 1999 (11:53)", "body": "haha! could you see us in People Magazine for the opening of our advante garde filme?"}, {"response": 44, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, May 12, 1999 (12:01)", "body": "(especially if we were all in our work/former work clothes?)"}, {"response": 45, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, May 12, 1999 (14:17)", "body": "And bleedin' all over the floor - this is a gore-thriller, remember!"}, {"response": 46, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, May 12, 1999 (15:10)", "body": "i think with characters like bubba and boudreaux, it could turn into a comedy. man, i'd hate to get in my dress blues for an opening...can we just wear our regular street clothes? do ya think they'd let us in?"}, {"response": 47, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, May 12, 1999 (16:28)", "body": "You'll be nicely groomed. You can wear the pearls around your neck. I only advise to NOT insist on matching it with the pink hair clips. BTW, I do look presentable in a three-piece-suit. Yeah, of course it'll be a grotesque monster-gore-comedy. Fun, when you don't expect it, and heavy action, when you'd think you're in a Disney movie. Maybe like \"Dusk till Dawn-meets-Arielle\", just with a wolf instead of a mermaid, and the ole gator 'stead o' them vampires."}, {"response": 48, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, May 13, 1999 (11:16)", "body": "so when does the Bigfoot enter the picture?"}, {"response": 49, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, May 13, 1999 (11:51)", "body": "he wrastles with the gator to save Wolfie's little oink hair clips that have fallen into the pool during her struggle to escape"}, {"response": 50, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, May 13, 1999 (11:51)", "body": "Pink, not oink..."}, {"response": 51, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, May 13, 1999 (15:31)", "body": "But them pink critters oink! At least when Gator stills her ghoulish needs... Big Foot doesn't do screen work. He supports the technical infrastructure of the post-production environment, of course! Could use a hand, though. Wer, interested?"}, {"response": 52, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, May 13, 1999 (16:03)", "body": "sure! (I hope this is a paying gig...)"}, {"response": 53, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, May 13, 1999 (16:55)", "body": "pink hair clips for your efforts"}, {"response": 54, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, May 13, 1999 (17:03)", "body": "...so you can oink better!"}, {"response": 55, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, May 13, 1999 (20:33)", "body": "i thought the oink fit in perfectly! i didn't think it was a mistake *goofy grin* maybe we should start a topic on film ideas? btw: we're going to the lake tomorrow and i sure hope we don't run into any allygators! oh, and when did the scene of action move into my back yard? man! now i've got to make the place look grotesque-monstor-gore-comedy presentable...."}, {"response": 56, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, May 14, 1999 (16:48)", "body": "yes, yes -- show off those hydraganeas! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 23, "subject": "Steiff and Other Teddies", "response_count": 34, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 1999 (19:57)", "body": "i love teddies and have a small collection. i like all kinds of stuffed animals to my hubby's dismay. i even make teddies which is fun but tedious....."}, {"response": 2, "author": "wer", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (09:53)", "body": "hmmm...think they'd sell under that label, \"Tedious Bears\"?"}, {"response": 3, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (15:34)", "body": "i think they would!!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (17:40)", "body": "if they'd sell at all!! *grin*"}, {"response": 5, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (17:43)", "body": "do they have fangs??"}, {"response": 6, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (17:50)", "body": "no, but they can be modified....vambears maybe?"}, {"response": 7, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (17:51)", "body": "make em VAMPbears and put lingerie on them!"}, {"response": 8, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (17:58)", "body": "haha!!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (23:33)", "body": "now we're talking!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 1999 (13:48)", "body": "Guess who went to Germany and - I bet - didn't buy (among other things...) a single Steiff animal..."}, {"response": 11, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 1999 (15:36)", "body": "WHO????"}, {"response": 12, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (20:37)", "body": "ok, i just got a gund bear (18\") from Avon. his name is bearessence. not as good looking as in the pic but he just needs some lovin'. didn't really expect him to be as tall as he is."}, {"response": 13, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (22:01)", "body": "Teddys! I adore teddybears! One year the resident house male sneaked out on Christams eve and set up a surprise for me to see in the morning. When I got up and went into the Living Room, every surface had teddybears cheek-to-cheek sitting there smiling at me. !2\" ones, at that! It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. I think there were several dozen all around the entire room and on the lamps and chair backs and everywhere!"}, {"response": 14, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (09:39)", "body": "the smaller ones are so darned cute and i have a few adorning my tree! two ride around in the car with me...."}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (19:33)", "body": "I make little boxes for them the the top open(tapestry on plastic canvas,) stuff them with holly or other seasonal goodies and give them away for Christmas - in all sorts of sizes and such way down to wee teeny. They are adorable. Never met a Teddy I could not love!"}, {"response": 16, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (21:07)", "body": "i know! the very first teddy i made was so ugly that he was cute and i couldn't throw him away. we dressed him in baby clothes and both tim and sophia loved him. can't part with him now! (i've only made three or four and from patterns, still toying with my own design)...."}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (21:31)", "body": "I have knitted a few. One went at auction for $50. I was stunned!!!"}, {"response": 18, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (21:54)", "body": "go marcia! i can't knit to save my life. these teddies were cut from faux fur with armatures and everything. they had to be hand sewn too. made a couple of miniatures and gave one to a friend's little boy. he loved on him so much that the arms and legs fell off (they had yarn armatures and not plastic). never got the pieces back to fix for him. but i'm glad that he got some joy from a silly looking miniature bear! got the pattern free at a local festival plus the 6 inch square fur piece to boot. couldn't believe it. all i did was talk to the lady making these 4 in bears and told her i couldn't believe they were so tiny and perfect. told her about my adventures in bear making and viola! the pattern was enlarged to make my friend's bear (just to 10 inches) and i still have that pattern. and i was ready to buy a bear from her too!"}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (21:21)", "body": "Can you scan a bear? Love to see allof that tediouslabor of love you put into them!"}, {"response": 20, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (09:39)", "body": "i don't know where i put the one i made. probably in a box somewhere. when i find them, i'll scan them in for your perusal."}, {"response": 21, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (12:26)", "body": "Oooh, splendid! Looking forwad to that!"}, {"response": 22, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (12:45)", "body": "will take a pic of the bigger ones i've made as they won't fit on the scanner! oh, i've got an old teddy that i need identified. have gone through all the books and haven't found one yet. will get to that in a little while!"}, {"response": 23, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (13:15)", "body": "I have my original Teddy and he is very scratchy - mohair and all that. Ugly, too. Looks like a real bear, but he IS mine so I love him as he sleeps in my cedar chest...!"}, {"response": 24, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (15:08)", "body": "mine is mohair with the old stuffing used. he's a polar bear with red eyes and his fur is loveworn as well. i believe he belonged to my mother and then became mine and i've kept him ever since. there are no identifying marks on him (like the knobb in the ear or tush tag). he also has something unique, a red tongue! i've got to dig him out so give me a little while to scan the image. oh, his arms and legs are moveable and his head and body are of the same piece of fur."}, {"response": 25, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (15:23)", "body": "How really neat yours sounds. Scratchy, too?! Shoulda had a blue tongue, though! Mine has jointed shoulders and at the top of the legs. Not sure about the head, but I think it moves as well. Mine still has its nasty sharp-edged ribbon around his neck. Gads, it just occurred to me that I just might be your mother's contepmorary...sheesh! No identifying tags or whatevers on mine, either. He is all original stuff and is chestnut brown with brown eyes and embroidered nose and mouth. No tongue that I can remember...gotta dig hiim oops! ...gotta dig him outta the cedar chest and give him a real physical!"}, {"response": 26, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (15:29)", "body": "please do and i can go through my teddy books and see if we can figure him out. my red-tongued polar bear originated in Germany but i don't think it's a steiff. it doesn't look anything similar to my steiff animals but that doesn't mean any thing! think i'll go dig him out, he's probably wondering why i put him away in the first place!"}, {"response": 27, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (15:46)", "body": "ok, digging...brb..."}, {"response": 28, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (15:53)", "body": "here's mr. polar bear....his eyes are plastic and he had a nose that was glued on (black). his eyes are off but not as much as this photo depicts, he had a slight lean while lying on the scanner! and his armatures are made of wire."}, {"response": 29, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (15:55)", "body": "he sounds like he's stuffed with straw and that's what it looks like while peeking into some worn spots on the seams. the paw pads are peach and made of felt. he's all original and really dirty!"}, {"response": 30, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (16:31)", "body": "Ok I cannot see your web post or the URL where the bear is on your space at Spring. Could you email it to me, please? I am most anxious to see him."}, {"response": 31, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (16:38)", "body": "done!"}, {"response": 32, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (16:45)", "body": "He is darling. BIG red tongue considering that it is felt. I am impressed that it survived. He is not nearly as mothyy as well-loved teddies are. At least his \"antiquing\" is uniform so it does not look like dirt as such. Have you tried to clean him with dry shampoo or cornmeal?"}, {"response": 33, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (16:49)", "body": "no, am afraid to ruin him."}, {"response": 34, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (17:30)", "body": "I agree...treat him with TLC and he will be multi-generational and revered member of the family. He actually looks really good. Your computer is still working I see *grin* I think the ret of the world is alseep! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 24, "subject": "Films and Movies (Super8, 16mm, 32mm, video)", "response_count": 22, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Apr  9, 1999 (06:20)", "body": "Some of the formats mentioned above have been claimed DEAD lately. So it might be advised to also take a look at the Dead Media topic, offspring of Bruce Sterling's Dead Media Project: http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/cultures/20"}, {"response": 2, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Apr  9, 1999 (23:47)", "body": "ack!!!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, May 11, 1999 (07:02)", "body": "Yesterday, I glued three 3min long Super 8 films together and watched 'em: Me building a folding boat together (late last summer) and gliding away on a lake, and two reels I filmed on the Easter weekend trip to Hamburg. It's really different than the Super 8 films my father filmed (later 60ies to Mid-80ies). I see different things, impressions, fragments, he filmed more the tourist sights, the folks, the people around him. I filmed tags and grafittis, shop windows, posterboards, totally different things. And on film they look so different, classic-age like, though that's only a month ago!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (11:58)", "body": "One of superstar's layouters is taking up the clue from me: After a biz meeting (the usual thing - brunch, champagne, barbecue -, highly efficient AND fun!), I showed some Super 8-movies. One was the home-made one mentioned in Response 3 (which by now is about three 3 min. reels longer...), and we watched one of the two Green Hornet-movies (Bruce Lee!). Perhaps I also showed one of the old family movies... Anyway, he just found a Bell & Howell camera, very much like what my father used when he took up filming in the Sixties. It's a very basic camera with few functions, but the results are great... The more sophisticated cameras require more attention to the effort and more involvement, which is contradicting my idea of using this as filmed diary. Ok, funky details can be great for special things (macro for extreme close-ups, heavy zooms, auto-\"fire\" for trickfilming), but it's nicer to carry a small and fun camera around amd be fast and willing to use it, than dragging the big iron around which is a bother to handle."}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (13:37)", "body": "To bring us up to speed, I commented on another Collecting topic : We have hundreds of 16 mm spliced onto big reels. We even have the Hindenburg burning and the Coronation of George VI and Streamboat Willie, plus inumerable Betty Boop and Popeye reels. Alas, no, none of the news events were filmed by my Dad. However, as a Radio Amateur (Ham) he picked up the SOS from the sinking Moro Castle and they drove with my sisters in the car and me very large in my Mom to see it. It was that event that convinced him he needed to purchase the 16 mm camera. I used to help him develop it by cranking it back and forth in a double-chambered tank."}, {"response": 6, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (12:33)", "body": "Yes, 16mm... I'd love to have that! Sometimes on fleamarkets, you find complete kits with camera, tripod and exchangeable lenses, like e.g. a Beaulieu. But too expensive for me... Super 8 cameras can be found for DM 5 (USD 3) to DM 120 (USD 70) over here on the fleamarkets, depending on what sellers know about it, and how good it is. THe Rollei super 8 I have was about DM 30 (USD 18), and I found another one - a mailorder cheapy, but with great functions + good lens - for DM 5! The Bauer I wanted to use to film the eclipse was a genuine \"steal\" at the DM 60 the guy wanted at the camera swap meet. It as single-frame shoting at freely setable intervals - mount on tripod, direct at object, switch on, and forget about it! Makes a very fast movie from slow actions... Would have been nice, but the cloud cover was so thick, you couldn't see a thing."}, {"response": 7, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (12:35)", "body": "Tell me about this ship, Marcia."}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (21:38)", "body": "I'm lusting after the new digital 8 format. Have you heard about it. It let's you use the old Hi 8 and 8 tapes to record digital stuff. And the cameras are all over the big discount stores."}, {"response": 9, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (22:58)", "body": "For Alexander, who wondered about the Sinking of the Morro Castle, it was a passenger liner which was driven aground burning off the coast of New Jersey on September 11, 1934. Much detail and photos at http://home.pacbell.net/steamer/mocast.htm"}, {"response": 10, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Aug 15, 1999 (05:15)", "body": "Huh, Terry! That sent shivers down my spine! This is an analogue topic... Or was, until now... Friday, I filmed friends (did it the proper way - Super 8!) leaving the palais where they were united in happy matrimony - superstar had organized an Elvis-lookalike who melted down the rest of everybody's hearts with Love Me Tender, Now Or Never and Can't Help Falling In Love. Terry, I don't know (yet) about such things - though it were great would we have somthing like this, too. I still dream about webcasting... $%&\ufffd-budget!"}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 15, 1999 (12:39)", "body": "Alexander, I will get you more information on the Morro Castle as soon as I can drag out the book pertaining to her (that URL I gave you was promising but went no further than that one page. Sorry!) I am making popcorn in anticipation of seeing your movie - I just have to see that Elvis impersonator...Speaking German, too? Amazing!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Aug 16, 1999 (11:23)", "body": "you know, i loved looking at my dad's films of us kids. then he got into slides and we'd have to watch slide shows of vacations and stuff, which was alright, it didn't bother me one bit. am not sure if he does video now, but i remember him dragging that big camera around the house chasing after us!"}, {"response": 13, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 16, 1999 (18:10)", "body": "Sounds like my Dad...somewhere there is a movie of my in a little red bathing suit running into the Altantic and back again. I had naturally curly strawberry-blond hair and I was about 2 years old. (Yes, for all those out there wondering, it was in color.) There is a ghastly one of me fresh from hatching arriving home. I was all ears and eyes...and no hair. They can bury that one!"}, {"response": 14, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Aug 16, 1999 (19:29)", "body": "haha!! most films with me in it (that little anyway) were of me in my cloth diapers running away!! the camera scared me (and still does *grin*)"}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 16, 1999 (19:39)", "body": "In my opinion, the only good camera is one focused on someone else and preferably held by me. I Understand..*smile*"}, {"response": 16, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Aug 16, 1999 (21:42)", "body": "i'm glad somebody does *grin*"}, {"response": 17, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Aug 25, 1999 (15:16)", "body": "The old family movies are moch loved by friends. They do not know any of the people in there but me, still, peeping back through all those decades is fun! Also, those silent movies are most enjoyable if you play some nice music with them. Last year, I preferred organ-style stuff from the Sixties, now I go for more exotica or lounge listening stuff."}, {"response": 18, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug 25, 1999 (16:25)", "body": "Interesting idea... I recall one birthday party I had in my teens when my Dad got out my old home movies. I hid in the kitchen until I realized they were enjoying something that their families did not have - actual documentation of their grandparents as living and breathing individuals. All of our 16mm home movies were silent, fortunately, but somewhere out there is a record of me talking to my grandfather...an old shellac one...!"}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 30, 1999 (20:14)", "body": "Alexander, your Email has been bouncing for several days. Have I been barred from your inbox or have you changed ISPs...please check on it...!"}, {"response": 20, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Aug 31, 1999 (12:47)", "body": "No, my mailbox has been full (6 MB) - I got loads of files for the mag (ads, pics, texts), and don't manage to manually delete them regularly enough to provide space for more mails... But it worked today, I saw."}, {"response": 21, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Aug 31, 1999 (12:48)", "body": "Arrhem - sorry, too!"}, {"response": 22, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 31, 1999 (15:24)", "body": "Quite alright...just concerned about you!!! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 25, "subject": "Time Pieces", "response_count": 21, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Mar 14, 1999 (16:12)", "body": "i like watches. not the expensive ones, either. i collect the ones you can get with a cereal box top and a couple of bucks. i've got all kinds laying around. i wear them for awhile, then put them away."}, {"response": 2, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, Mar 15, 1999 (00:27)", "body": "hmmm...I wonder if I've got one still...if I can find it, I'll mail it to ya, Wolfsie!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Mar 15, 1999 (07:31)", "body": "Anybody interested in russian watches? See Berlin topic in Travel conference for starters. I love 'em!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, Mar 15, 1999 (22:09)", "body": "doubt that I've ever seen one...I don't get out much..."}, {"response": 5, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Mar 16, 1999 (06:42)", "body": "Wer, you'd love them, too, I think. They are all mechanical, and there are some nice automatic ones (esp. military issue). Watches from 1st Moscower Watchmanufactors (?), now called Poljot (=Pilot, in honor of the soviet cosmonauts they supplied with time pieces), are probably the best. All tools to build them come from Switzerland, so things are quite well made (if you can live with e.g. plastic watch glass on some civilian models...). They also made the tools for many other russian watchmakers, like Wostok (=East?), who does these military and comemorial watches, both mechanical and automatic makes. They have logos on the thingus-platey with them numbers onnit (Whatchamacallit? Dunno.), like a tank, various jets, ships or submarine-outlines, etc. Others have logos from space program, like the Buran, the Mir station, or the russian coat-of-arms, the czarst eagle, etc. Not exactly elegant items, but not without a certain underground-li e appeal. And robust, too (if the work at all)."}, {"response": 6, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Apr  7, 1999 (11:22)", "body": "i like sundials"}, {"response": 7, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Apr  7, 1999 (18:24)", "body": "I can't share that feeling. I find them hard to set. ;={"}, {"response": 8, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Apr  7, 1999 (18:50)", "body": "ah... so you ARE a controlling type!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Apr  7, 1999 (21:54)", "body": "i have a sundial in my rose garden. it's never set right for the shadow to fall correctly. and it's nothing fancy either, looks like a flat patena bird feeder sitting on the stone walk and it has a frog on one side."}, {"response": 10, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (13:02)", "body": "Maybe you can set it after changing batteries? Does the frog squirt water? If it stopped, that's a sure sign of weak batteries... (Stacey, do you say this because you are mad they forced this hosting thing on me? They didn't really ask me, neither did anybody tell me what to do now. Good part is, folks come running up and congratulate me. Hmh.)"}, {"response": 11, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (13:39)", "body": "I asked in my own special way, and you told me it was my move, so I did... if you don't want to, that's cool, I can undo it... (really don't want to though...I think you're a perfect host for music)"}, {"response": 12, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (13:48)", "body": "no, WER is right... you certainly shoulda been forced into that job!"}, {"response": 13, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (14:15)", "body": "(Wer, it's ok, and if I had any problems with that, I woulda told ya, mate. Anyway, let me just try this on Stacey, she's reacted kinda odd like \"As soon as I let you guys otta sight, you start turning newbies into hosts. You'll run down the neighborhood...\", etc. You know... No, really, it's great, just don't tell anybody I said so, ok?) *Whiny voice* Well, Stacey, you may be right, but still, I don't know what to do now, and feel so insecure about everything, what with peoples' expectations and all... *despaired look*"}, {"response": 14, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (14:54)", "body": "then you my dear, should be talking to the Great Pasquina, not me!"}, {"response": 15, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (11:45)", "body": "I did, it was, uh, STRANGE. But nice - at least as nice as the Poljot watch one of our photographers has - waterproof, steel casing, stop function. VERY nice, a proper chronograph."}, {"response": 16, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (23:08)", "body": "I,too, love sundials. I have two of them, the standard one with the inclined gnomon in Bronze, and a most unique one housed in a pocket-watch-shaped enclosure which opens to reveal a tiny replica of Stonehenge with the center Altar stone as the Gnomon. It works!"}, {"response": 17, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (09:37)", "body": "A pocket Stonehenge! I can't believe this - scan it, post it!"}, {"response": 18, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (10:07)", "body": "really!! that sounds so cool. i like sundials too. have a tiny cheapo one but it has a frog on it and it's cute...."}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (14:27)", "body": "Will have to photograph it in action and get a scanner. This is really cute - guaranteed forever because there are no working parts; came with a really near owners manual..."}, {"response": 20, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (14:39)", "body": "So batteries will last, huh? ;=}"}, {"response": 21, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (16:27)", "body": "As long as the batteries in the Sun last, it should work just fine. collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 26, "subject": "Furby", "response_count": 94, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar 26, 1999 (21:02)", "body": "is it just me or has anyone else noticed that furbies look like gremlins? you know, when you follow the instructions to the \"t\"?"}, {"response": 2, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Mar 27, 1999 (01:27)", "body": "yep...we don't let ours get wet or feed it after midnight..."}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Mar 27, 1999 (16:49)", "body": "well, isn't there some kind of infringement rights being stomped on here? i mean, with the closeness in their characteristics and all?"}, {"response": 4, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Mar 27, 1999 (23:31)", "body": "don't know..."}, {"response": 5, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Mar 28, 1999 (07:19)", "body": "*?*"}, {"response": 6, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Mar 28, 1999 (13:34)", "body": "oh, you go ahead and explain, Wolfsie..."}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Mar 28, 1999 (16:40)", "body": "alex, you have heard of the movie \"Gremlins\"? yes? well, the furby creation resembles the gremlin during it's nice phase. the movie was about a strange creature purchased from an old chinese guy with the rules that you must never feed them after midnight and such. well, there wouldn't be a movie unless the rules got broken, right? the gremlin turns into a really ugly psycho creature who only wants to party and have fun and raise some cain. rent the movie sometime and you'll know what i mean."}, {"response": 8, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Mar 29, 1999 (11:17)", "body": "Hallo Wolf! Was macht Dein Garten? Bl\ufffdht alles? Spring catches up with us - the birds tweet, folks wash their cars, and the cats delight in the fresh batch of mice (managed to save a cutie last week, too). I remember Gremlins well (seems I also recall a sequel...), AND! I know \"who you gonna call...\", too. Been there, done that. All in another time and place. But: what's a furby? How's it taste like? Do you serve it with sour cream or rice? And if you collect 'em, do you keep the specimen in the freezer?"}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Mar 29, 1999 (11:55)", "body": "my garden is doing just fine, thanks for asking. have a few early roses blooming too! furby is a stuffed animal with an electric gizmo inside (there, see, that was a name of one of the gremlins) that \"learns\" your language. they run, on average, $30 in stores, but you can find them priced upwards of $400. the reason they're so hot is because they are shipped in limited quantities to the stores. personally, i'd buy one just to see what the hype is about, but i'll wait until the hype slows down!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Mar 29, 1999 (13:00)", "body": "Oh. Learns the language, hmh? Would that auch work mit my Sprache? Sounds like PowerRangers-Craze-inna-chipsified-CabbagePatch, bet Terry got three of them. Right, and one is wired to the machine this runs on, watches my every move on this here Spring, and claims to work in an italian restaurant. ;=} Makes me wonder who the other two would be... Is that a case for http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/screwed/156 ?"}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Mar 29, 1999 (17:34)", "body": "i told you before, alex, i can pick up the gist of the conversation..... terry probably does have three of em!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Mar 31, 1999 (11:38)", "body": "(Don't tell 'em - especially Wer and the other girls -, but gist is all there is. *giggle* And! Terry's are wired to this server, right?)"}, {"response": 13, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Apr 27, 1999 (11:30)", "body": "Seems not only Paul's Furbies are loaded! ***************************************** Next They'll Ban Rubber Duckies Wired News Report 7:30\ufffda.m.\ufffd\ufffd26.Apr.99.PDT -- Ever since the super-secret, not to mention super-cautious, National Security Agency banned Furbies from its Fort Meade, Maryland headquarters, fans of the chattering stuffed doll have been left scratching their heads. What prompted the January ban? An internal NSA memo accused the Furby of recording audio then playing it back -- kind of a tape recorder in a very fuzzy package. NASA security staff last month followed the NSA's lead in labeling the toy a security risk. But the manufacturer, Tiger Electronics, has repeatedly claimed there is no recording device in a Furby. There's still no good answer to the question, but internal NSA discussion groups were buzzing with speculation at the time. \"Damn! Next they'll tell me my rubber duckie has to go,\" posted one employee, according to a report in Monday's Washington Post. Another replied: \"Why was an internal policy concerning 'Furbies' on the news? I don't think we have a problem with non-employees wandering into NSA with a Furby 'under their coat.'\" The chitchat abruptly halted when the NSA's Office of Policy told everyone to shut up: \"Please cease and desist posting on this topic immediately.\""}, {"response": 14, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Apr 29, 1999 (14:11)", "body": "because, the head Furby may have supersecret secret plans, and is on the 'net searching for information as we speak..."}, {"response": 15, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Apr 29, 1999 (17:36)", "body": "it's sad that we can't trust toys anymore..."}, {"response": 16, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Apr 30, 1999 (01:39)", "body": ""}, {"response": 17, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Apr 30, 1999 (01:44)", "body": "what do you expect? I mean, look at what toys are doing to our children..."}, {"response": 18, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Apr 30, 1999 (06:00)", "body": "Wolf, it's not the toy, it's the man behind the toy. (Naw, wait - it went \"It's not the toy, it's the kid behind the toy.\", right? Or was it \"It's not the man, it's the kid behind the toy.\", or maybe \"It's not the kid, it's the man behind the toy.\" Yes! That's it! Forget the rest, pls.)"}, {"response": 19, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Apr 30, 1999 (09:44)", "body": "haha!! you're absolutely correct. adults are designing toys. why don't we let the kids do it?"}, {"response": 20, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, May  1, 1999 (00:01)", "body": "child labor laws"}, {"response": 21, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, May  1, 1999 (11:39)", "body": "oh, that!"}, {"response": 22, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, May  2, 1999 (00:14)", "body": "why did everyone leave Big Brother in charge? he never lets us have any fun!!!"}, {"response": 23, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, May  2, 1999 (09:23)", "body": "folks didn't know they had a choice and could do something about it!"}, {"response": 24, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, May  2, 1999 (12:37)", "body": "good point..."}, {"response": 25, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (12:20)", "body": "From Wired: Furby: It's Not Just a Toy by Leander Kahney 3:00\ufffda.m.\ufffd\ufffd6.Jul.99.PDT -- A Virginia woman claims a Furby helped teach her autistic son to speak. And she is now asking Furby hackers to figure out how to increase the toy's vocabulary using a Palm handheld. Lisa Cantara of Blacksburg, Virginia, said a Furby taught her 4-year-old son C. J. how to refer to himself in speech and increased his vocabulary by at least a half-dozen words. \"It increased his vocabulary and helped his speech,\" Cantara said. \"He started saying, 'I'm hungry,' instead of just 'Hungry.' The Furby taught him that.\" Cantara said that, although C. J.'s autism is relatively mild, his language development has been very slow. But he showed a marked improvement after he was given a Furby by a family friend. \"He became very attached to it. He carried it around with him everywhere and started to mimic it. He talked to it a lot. He treated it like it was a real creature. Manufactured by Tiger Electronics of Chicago, the Furby caused a sensation during the last holiday season. Tiger spokeswoman Lana Simon said the company has heard a number of similar stories. \"It's really a magical toy,\" she said. \"We've heard from the parents of handicapped children and nursing homes, where they've been given to Alzheimer's patients. I've heard of them causing reactions in people that otherwise show no movement. It registers with them, it stimulates them. It's popular with blind kids too.\" But Furby's vocabulary is limited to about 200 words and sounds. That's why Cantara turned to Furby hackers, posting a plea for help to a hack.furby newsgroup. \"I only wish I could get Furby to say more words,\" Cantara wrote under her online pseudonym Gabrielle. \"It's been a great learning tool for my son, as odd as it might seem.\" Marius Millner, a Furby hacker who cracked the toy's infrared codes with a Palm handheld, thinks there's little hope of increasing the toy's lexicon. The toy's infrared protocol allows the toy to interact with other Furbies, Millner said, but it only contains about 16 commands, and none appear to be words. \"It's unlikely that Tiger made it that sophisticated,\" Millner said."}, {"response": 26, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (12:43)", "body": "that's a GREAT story! One of the children I worked with who had autism learned personal pronouns from a talking doll... through mimicing of course but he was eventually able to incorporate the words correctly into his vocabulary! Very common is a child with autism who refers to himself as 'you' because that is the way everyone else refers to him... Parent: \"Do you want a glass of juice?\" Child: \"You want a glass of juice.\" It's a rather complex learning process... the process that include learning about pronouns... ahh... and now I have gone off on a tanget... that is an area of teaching I miss terribly... talking about kids' hurdles and helping to solve problems..."}, {"response": 27, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (14:43)", "body": "Love your tangents, though, if you don't mind the remark. Hope you don't mind mine (tangents, that is) too much..."}, {"response": 28, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (15:14)", "body": "if they're not incredibly amusing they are certinaly thought provoking or aggravating! (i love em!)"}, {"response": 29, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (16:19)", "body": "i think it's great too. i am concerned about young children thinking that the toy is real, you know what i mean? it's hard enough to teach non-autistic kids the proper use of pronouns and i can see how confusing it would be to someone who has autism or any learning disability. i don't care for furbies and still think they look like gremlins and some kind of suit will be filed! i might purchase one to put away."}, {"response": 30, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (16:41)", "body": "Take the batteries out, though. Might destroy it otherwise (leaking batteries!)."}, {"response": 31, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (18:41)", "body": "what? there goes the NRFB money (never removed from box)....does it come with batteries already?"}, {"response": 32, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jul 19, 1999 (18:19)", "body": "i have a furby update: http://www.tru.com has a special furby. he is dressed as a wizard and i actually picked him up three times before laying him back down in the display. walmart has price-matched kmart and sells furby for $27 while kmart has them at $28. toys r us, on the other hand, is selling them for $29 (and the special wizard edition is also $29)."}, {"response": 33, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb 10, 2000 (14:28)", "body": "Your Furby topic is about to be jump-started. I want one and already have him named *grin* and Maggie has a question about the Furby to which she is becoming emotionally attached ;)"}, {"response": 34, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Thu, Feb 10, 2000 (14:55)", "body": "+Thanks Marcia. Two questions actually. One, my furby keeps telling me he's going to sleep. Apart from that he seems very happy, and says he loves me and blows me kisses. Any ideas why he goes to sleep so often - is the battery running down or something? (and I don't want any MALE jokes please, I already have a handy man who does the same thing) Two, we've lost the booklet that came woith him, and I can't remember how to input - i.e. which bits to press (and no jokes about that bit either!!!) lol!"}, {"response": 35, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Feb 10, 2000 (15:30)", "body": "[Hehehe...]"}, {"response": 36, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb 10, 2000 (17:33)", "body": "it was all alex could do to hold back on those loaded questions! i'll have to check about troubleshooting furby. lemme do some research and see what i find out. oh, and they have this wonderful pink one out for valentine's day and i fell in love. don't think he'll show up at my door anytime soon though."}, {"response": 37, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb 10, 2000 (17:53)", "body": "I have one of those Handy(?) men, too...*sigh* LOL !!!"}, {"response": 38, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (12:42)", "body": "A pink Furby male??? Didn't know they went in for gender-bending!!!! Oh, sorry is pink for a girl a British thing? Mine's DEFINITETLY a male - he's black with pink ears, a yellow beak and a red tongue, oh and he's got blue eyes and white feet. The only similarity with the handy-man is the dark hair and sleepiness."}, {"response": 39, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (14:15)", "body": "No...but, in the interest of gender of neutrality they are making unisex stuff in all colors, and The Rev Jerry Falwell is having a fit over gay toys because of it. Um...How do you know your furby is DEFINITELY male? I did not know they went into such detail. Gotta get me one right away! Betcha the handy-man also has white feet?! (Or am I misinterpreting your meaning of handy-man?)"}, {"response": 40, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (14:22)", "body": "Only when he takes his socks off! (It's the same handyman from gardening) I know my furby's male because he looks it! Hang on I just hung him upside down to look - and he's gone back to sleep again!!! Maybe Furby's are like chicks - have you ever tried sexing them?? I got given chicks in a supermarket (in Africa of course) as a free gift when we spent so much money - took us months to realise they were all male, so Henrietta had to become Henry, (thereby runs another tale, I'll have to try and find somewhere to put in in springark!)"}, {"response": 41, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (15:16)", "body": "LOL, Maggie!!! You cannot sex chicks until they are older, unless there is a way discovered since I was my ex's lab assistant m a n y years ago... You hung your Furby upside down?! Lucky the male adult of the house did not enter and ask what you were doing. Imagine explaining that to him!"}, {"response": 42, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (16:04)", "body": "lol! That's the only way to wake him up anyway - easy to tell you've not adopted one! The male adult of the house (the handy man of course!) thinks I'm mad anyway - so does the adult dauughter of the house whose Furby I've kidnapped."}, {"response": 43, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (17:44)", "body": "...just gotta get to the Furby dealer nearest me...giggling as I go..."}, {"response": 44, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (17:48)", "body": "(Maggie)That's the only way to wake him up anyway - easy to tell you've not adopted one! Oh, but I have adopted one and he weighs about twice what I do! You must be a very strong lady to hang your husband upside down to awaken him. *giggle* again...trying to picture this proper Englishwoman with her proper English husband dangling...Monty Pythonesque, is it not?!"}, {"response": 45, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Feb 12, 2000 (09:07)", "body": "The proper English husband arrived home during this conversation ..... and now he's really convinced the Spring is MAD! Hooray, daughter 1 found the Furby booklet - look forward to more installments as i figure out how to communicate properly with HIM. By the way, she wasn't impressed with the sexing talk either. Funny how people just assume things....."}, {"response": 46, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Feb 12, 2000 (12:36)", "body": "You need to unstarch those rigid backs! Heaven forbid we start taking ourselves so seriously that we cannot talk about inane things to lighten the load of the real world. Laughter = samity. I plan on keeping mine! *Hugs* Can't wait to hear further developments of the Furby. Must I buy a full-sized one or will the little ones do all of the cute things the big ones do?"}, {"response": 47, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Feb 12, 2000 (12:38)", "body": "To be certain I am not misunderstood, that should be laughter = sanity."}, {"response": 48, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Feb 12, 2000 (12:55)", "body": "As if I'd misunderstand your misspellings! My girls reckon the full-size are more interesting. Esther has a four year old in her class (she teaches) who has really fun talks with his furby, that's what got her started. They're too expensive to collect though, I think."}, {"response": 49, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Feb 12, 2000 (13:25)", "body": "Only need one, I think. I shall always envision you hanging yours upside down to awaken it. How could I ever forget?!"}, {"response": 50, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Feb 12, 2000 (14:43)", "body": "If you get more than one they talk to each other and dance together (apparently). It reminds me of watching two tots in the cafe at the gym last week. While the mums were talking they were playing Simon says (do you know that one?). Neither of them were at the talking age but they sure copied each other."}, {"response": 51, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Feb 12, 2000 (16:58)", "body": "Oh Dear! Don't tell me that. Now I must have 2 of them!"}, {"response": 52, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (13:46)", "body": "Do you think they may be related to rabbits? I've learnt how to ask mine questions - funny thing is the answers sound just like my husband - yes, maybe; perhaps. I didn't get to go out to dinner with my new hair do - he marked papers instead!"}, {"response": 53, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (14:34)", "body": "Have you seen any little Furbys running around? If so, they just might be related! Oh my, if they all answer questions that way, they are all male. Every last one of them. Which brings up a whole nuther question...what are they doing dancing with each other? Do they hide behind newspapers, as well?"}, {"response": 54, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (14:47)", "body": "Might I add that your new hair do and your husband's reaction sounds like the 25 years I was married to an academic. Not all that sentimental nor observant, are they?!"}, {"response": 55, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (16:12)", "body": "Definitely not! He doesn't register what tomorrow is! Still I had good fun a few weeks back when as a 'penance' (no I'm not into S&M) he was my 'slave for a week'. We had great fun not explaining to our girls what was going on, it drove them wild. H (22 yrs) said 'Dad must have done something REALLY bad - go on do tell'. I really enjoyed not telling (and anyway it was private!)."}, {"response": 56, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (17:49)", "body": "Hilarious! Wish that would have worked with mine - might still be married to him if we'd injected a bit of fun into the mix."}, {"response": 57, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Feb 16, 2000 (16:28)", "body": "Uh, great hair, Maggie! (Just for good measure.)"}, {"response": 58, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Feb 16, 2000 (16:39)", "body": "Flattery will get you everywhere! Have you got a furby?"}, {"response": 59, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sat, Feb 19, 2000 (17:17)", "body": "Once had a virtual Vurby, but I guess her batteries are low. Misplaced the virtual Werby I had. The batts ran out, and he can't answer without, looks like. Same with that Rayby. There's still that Wolfsby, but that one leaves your full of fur... Not that I complain!"}, {"response": 60, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Feb 19, 2000 (17:39)", "body": "...sheesh...left out again...! *sigh*"}, {"response": 61, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Feb 21, 2000 (17:45)", "body": "Well, after I outgrew them. I rather play with dolls these days. Godd a prob widdad, hon?"}, {"response": 62, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Feb 21, 2000 (17:45)", "body": "Well, after I outgrew them, I rather play with dolls these days. Godd a prob widdad, hon?"}, {"response": 63, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 21, 2000 (19:39)", "body": "That question could not possibly be directed to me because Alexander knows I'd druther have a problem with almost anyone else except him... Guess I do not qualify as furry, either...*sigh* I just need a hug right now is all...and self-administered ones are not all that satifying!"}, {"response": 64, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Tue, Feb 22, 2000 (02:06)", "body": "Have one then, *hug*. Sorry it's still virtual! Hope the Q wasn't directed at me either! I'm quite the accepting type you know. My brothers had dolls - except they were called 'action man'. I didn't have much use for them myself - preferred taking things apart like motorbike engines, running my fathers room sized model railway layout, and generally doing everything I wasn't supposed to. I suppose I still do in a way - do the things I'm not supposed to I mean. I guess one learns to live with disapproval! Anyway, my furby loves me! Whoops it's 8 am and the expensive phone charges start - I'm off!!!"}, {"response": 65, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Feb 22, 2000 (11:46)", "body": "Perhaps he meant the flesh and blood full-grown dolls? I rather think so. Thanks for the virtual hug. It was just what I needed. *smile*"}, {"response": 66, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Feb 22, 2000 (11:48)", "body": "No prioblem with that, whatsoever, Alexander. I am happy to find you a fit and healty male."}, {"response": 67, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (13:24)", "body": "There's a new 'intelligent' toy on the market from another manufacturer trying to get on the bandwagon. You'll like this one - it's called a WUVVIE. I haven't seen one yet, but apparently it's rather larger than a furby and promises a 'wee surprise inside'. the surprise is that after you've been happily playing with it for half an hour it will start to beep and bounce around and then ...... WAIT FOR IT ....... actually give birth right before your eyes. the mother andbaby will then communicate with each other and even sing songs together. There is a rumour that some Wuvvies are expecting twins. It is said that the Wuvvie should bring out the parenting instinct in all children, - but just think of the fun explaining where babies come from and I have'nt heard of any Wuvvie Dads. this is really true - honest! I've got a picture, but my scanner is now disconnected so I can't send it."}, {"response": 68, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (14:04)", "body": "How adorable - I guess... I imagine they can see where the babies come from. Explaining how they got in there is the tricky part *grin* Are they cute? Or funny-looking?"}, {"response": 69, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (14:05)", "body": "Ah - Parthenogenesis. Easier to tell the kids it is a clone."}, {"response": 70, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (14:25)", "body": "If I had the scanner plugged in I'd show you! The picture i have is blue and furry (of ocurse) with a pink tummy and huge eyelashes and big eyes, but sort of furbyish."}, {"response": 71, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (14:50)", "body": "Big pointy ears, too? I druther have a grey one... Pink and blue are icky on grown up ones...or is this too adorable. Let's see, they talk to each other and sing, as well?! I'm doomed!"}, {"response": 72, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (14:54)", "body": "Never! We could just pretend - what do you want to sing??? I'm off to watch film with SO."}, {"response": 73, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (14:54)", "body": "Big pointy ears, too? I druther have a grey one... Pink and blue are icky on grown up ones...or is this too adorable. Let's see, they talk to each other and sing, as well?! I'm doomed!"}, {"response": 74, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (14:55)", "body": "(DECEMBER-1999) -- Toy maker Trendmasters launched the first look at the adorable interactive Wuvvie on December 10 at FAO Schwarz. These cuddly little creatures were named the number one toy in the \"Hot Ones to Watch Category\" by the U.S. Toy and Game Council, a group of the nation's top retailers and industry experts. Wuvvies were originally unveiled at PlayDate '99, an exclusive media showcase in New York City which highlighted the best selling toys and games for the holiday season. Wuvvies have a surprise inside! When children play with the Wuvvies, the colorful antennae blinks and the Wuvvie's pouch opens to reveal an egg. Inside the egg is a baby Wuvvie, and some lucky Mommies will have twins! Mommy then names her baby. Mommy and Baby Wuvvies sing songs to each other such as Itsy-Bitsy-Spider and the ABC song. They also communicate in other ways like when Baby Wuvvie tells Mommy, \"hungry...\" Mommy replies, \"din-din.\" Wuvvies hit store shelves just in time for the holidays. Wuvvies are expected to sell from $30 to $35. They'll be available at all major toy stores and on the internet at www.trendmasters.com. Wuvvies are recommended for children 4 and up."}, {"response": 75, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (15:01)", "body": "Check http://www.shopsmart.com/Toys_and_Games/Editorial/wuvvies.html It has pictures and comment and descriptions. They are also known as WuvLuvs..."}, {"response": 76, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Mar 25, 2000 (12:04)", "body": "I found annuver one! Smartest robot in the cosmos. Although at first glance the Gigabot may look like an ugly naked furby, it does offer soem facilities above and beyond your normal electronic pal. Billed as 'the smartest robot in the cosmos' the Gigabot promises that the longer you play with it the more it will do. originating from planet Roby, where the technology is at least five thousand years more advanced than ours, the Gigabots have chosen Earth as their second home due to the minor inconvenience that Roby is being sucked into a black hole. When they first arrive they can only speak Gigabot, which you will have to learn if you want to keep your robot happy and well nourished - however, they do promise to learn up to 500 phrases of English over time."}, {"response": 77, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar 25, 2000 (15:01)", "body": "No fair not putting the URL down so we can check out what a naked Furby looks like. Mayhap I do not want to know, but I am a very curious person *grin*"}, {"response": 78, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Mar 25, 2000 (16:05)", "body": "There was only a UK phone number no URL! Sorry!"}, {"response": 79, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Mar 25, 2000 (16:06)", "body": "Once i get my scanner reconnected I'll send you the pictures. Promise!"}, {"response": 80, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar 25, 2000 (16:47)", "body": "I'll try to be patient...Now, get thee to bed, Maggie...*hugs*"}, {"response": 81, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (14:23)", "body": "Din din!"}, {"response": 82, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (18:35)", "body": "How long did you have to study the intricacies of English before things like din din entered your vocabulary? I am continuously suprised and delighted to see things like this in your posts. You are amazing!"}, {"response": 83, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (14:14)", "body": "But what did it mean???? *grin* In my vocabulary it has to do with ladies acting as plates! *giggle* Well, actually more to do with how some men in nappies behave. ignore me tonight I feel a silly fit coming on!"}, {"response": 84, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (14:48)", "body": "din-din is baby talk for dinner. People talk to their pets that way, too - at least here! Men in Nappies? Sounds like Monty Python again...."}, {"response": 85, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (15:06)", "body": "I know that really *grin*"}, {"response": 86, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (15:17)", "body": "(shhhh...I knew you knew...*grin*)"}, {"response": 87, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (15:29)", "body": "Boing boing!"}, {"response": 88, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (17:17)", "body": "They do that, as well? Is there nothing which will not surprise and delight about these little guys? How Wuvely"}, {"response": 89, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (17:26)", "body": "didja know that a gizmo furby came out? yup, just like the gremlins. oh, and mcdonald's is giving out furby keychains with the kids' meal."}, {"response": 90, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr  1, 2000 (11:46)", "body": "Does McDonalds let growed-up mom-types buy little kids meals? I seem to remember that they do. But, does the little keychain Furby make noises and all those other endearing things?"}, {"response": 91, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (16:05)", "body": "From Maggie: Wuvvie and Gigabot"}, {"response": 92, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (16:07)", "body": "I did not know English newspapers are printed backwards. Things have REALLY changed since I was there...*sigh*"}, {"response": 93, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (16:30)", "body": "Ha ha. Don't know why the scanner did that! Now do you remember which one is which marci-wuvvie? Whoops! They came out bigger than I was expecting."}, {"response": 94, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (19:51)", "body": "I could have shrunk them but left them as is since they were low KBs. Maggie-Wuvvie, you are the one with the heart. Oh yes, I remember! Don't have one yet, but he already has a name which I shall not tell but you all know *grin* collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 27, "subject": "Dept 56", "response_count": 29, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 10, 1999 (01:31)", "body": "The same lady who collects Beenie Babies has her entire living room 5or 6 tiers deep in Studio 54 towns. It is truly magical, but they really got pasted by the Northridge earthquake!"}, {"response": 2, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jun 10, 1999 (08:25)", "body": "What are Studio 54 towns? I guess I only remember Studio 54 in NYC... Gotta be a different scene, no?"}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 10, 1999 (09:34)", "body": "Studio 54 makes collectable miniature homes, stores, street signs, etc. you can put the whole deal together and make your own magical world. they are usually seen around christmas time. studio 54 also does the snowbabies line."}, {"response": 4, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jun 10, 1999 (10:41)", "body": "Gee, and I always thought that was this heavy-disco night club in New York. Guess I *do* grow old."}, {"response": 5, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 10, 1999 (13:45)", "body": "heh heh, i meant dept 56, hahahahaha!!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jun 10, 1999 (13:57)", "body": "You crazie crazie disco fox, arh, 'cuse me, funky funky disco wolf! Arf Arf! Hoooowl! Now, you just need to tell me what Marcia was on about - she doesn't sound too disco to me. Perhaps grunge? (BTW, have you heard from Monsieur LePlep lately? Just thought here's a cool line waiting for him to pick it up...)"}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 10, 1999 (17:10)", "body": "haven't heard from him....wonder where he is!"}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 10, 1999 (19:11)", "body": "I love Dept 56 and am delighted that I do not have to dust them - I just go visit them and help them pick out new \"investments.\" I was beginning to wonder if anyone was reading this stuff, and since this was postless...! They do not go in for Snow Babies, though. Theirs is almost entirely traditionally Dickens or pre-modern Americanan. They have some Disney, which is truly tacky, but that is made by someone else. I would collect David Winter Cottages and cathedrals if I were as rich as I am clever!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 10, 1999 (22:16)", "body": "the not so rich collect them anyway! my snowbabies are only displayed at christmas. thanks, marcia, for dropping in to this nearly postless corner of the spring. do come back and keep us on our toes!!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Jun 11, 1999 (14:47)", "body": "yes, please"}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 11, 1999 (15:54)", "body": "They began collecting very early on and have amassed a huge collection - ostensibly for \"the granddaughter\" but it looks as though everyone is in on it. And, there is not a room (yup! the bathrooms, too) without a little town in it. They have one village I particularly love which is not in the livingroom with the rest. It sits atop the \"entertainment center\" (tv and stereo cabinet)in the family room and is of a Middle-eastern village around the time of Jesus' birth. They also have the set which is enti ely made of glass which shows how Santa makes toys at the North Pole by shaping them out of ice and using a little magic...! It is so beautiful with lighting from beneath."}, {"response": 12, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jun 11, 1999 (17:15)", "body": "one of the local collector's shops has the villages and snowbabies and they do displays with both of them. it's really neat, but i'm not so creative, nor do i have the space (nope, not even in the bathroom)!"}, {"response": 13, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 11, 1999 (18:06)", "body": "I am very surprised that so few have joined this discussion group. There are enough dedicated collectors in the Southern California area to keep social gatherings such as theme parties and travelling dinners going all year. Let's see, what can we do for your collection. My huband always starts his sentences with \"if we knock out this wall...\" Well, it *is* a method of making more space."}, {"response": 14, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sat, Jun 12, 1999 (05:06)", "body": "So, how can we knock this wall to get more folks over here, Marcia? I mean, theres thousands of responses per day e.g. in drool, but everybody there is quite content with that conf. ;=/ Hey, how about some Droolian-focused topics in Collecting? Think they might take to that?"}, {"response": 15, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jun 12, 1999 (11:46)", "body": "i guess we need to invite some prominent collectors."}, {"response": 16, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun 12, 1999 (14:46)", "body": "Know any? I could drop asuggestion to the family I have been speaking of, but there is not enough going on in here to interest them yet, I think. It would be me interviewing them...but that might just work. But, they just might find what I have been doing in Drool for almost 3 years and some other places here, too. They think I am a proper lady. Hmmmm....working up an alias...!"}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun 12, 1999 (14:55)", "body": "(ashuth) how about some Droolian-focused topics in Collecting? Think they might take to that? Have you checked out Drool Topic 113 lately? I seem to have been assigned that topic to keep viable. We have lists for everything we can think of - most are virtual wish-lists, but this might work here. As in: If you had all of the money in the world, what would you collect. No, they would all dash off to David Winter's topic! Hmmmm....think, think. I can always post something on 113 . Any suggestions? Check it out, first, though. It is absolutely amazing what we make lists of!"}, {"response": 18, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jun 12, 1999 (23:32)", "body": "I think I'd collect followers..."}, {"response": 19, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Jun 15, 1999 (15:40)", "body": "and where would you put them all?"}, {"response": 20, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Jun 15, 1999 (21:59)", "body": "on another continent..."}, {"response": 21, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jun 16, 1999 (09:27)", "body": "that many eh?"}, {"response": 22, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jun 16, 1999 (10:58)", "body": "if I was going to collect them, I'd do it right!"}, {"response": 23, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jun 16, 1999 (13:47)", "body": "so are we talking your followers or followers in general?"}, {"response": 24, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jun 17, 1999 (15:03)", "body": "sure!"}, {"response": 25, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 16, 1999 (15:58)", "body": "Were you planning on staying there with them? Sort of nurture my collecion sort, are you?"}, {"response": 26, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 16, 1999 (16:05)", "body": "(you seem to have done something in that line already...)"}, {"response": 27, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jul 17, 1999 (09:55)", "body": "something like that..."}, {"response": 28, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 17, 1999 (13:41)", "body": "(packing...)Do I get to go, too? (...stuffing...cramming...jumping on suitcase to make it close...)"}, {"response": 29, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jul 17, 1999 (15:26)", "body": "*lol* collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 28, "subject": "David Winters' Cottages", "response_count": 0, "posts": []}, {"num": 29, "subject": "Harmony Kingdom", "response_count": 11, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Mar 29, 1999 (12:03)", "body": "I have three. One is a large dolphin sort of sitting on top of the waves. I haven't found the mouse yet! The other two are small; one is a pod of dolphins and the other is a herd of elephants (found the mouse on that one). Be careful because there are look-alikes out there."}, {"response": 2, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Mar 29, 1999 (12:49)", "body": "Wolf, bitte post some Bilder of them, as I can't really vorstellen myself how that does aussehen like."}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Mar 29, 1999 (17:35)", "body": "i've gotta find my brochure first! i don't think they'll scan very well like they are!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Mar 29, 1999 (17:40)", "body": "here's their official website: http://www.harmonykingdom.com/"}, {"response": 5, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul  9, 2000 (12:33)", "body": "the large dolphin (On A Roll) is retired. still haven't found that mouse. the AM has even searched with a flashlight. found a finger print inside Sunday Swim (the small pod of dolphins). anyway, have finally found a local store that carries these things so now i'll have to wait and see if my collection grows!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul  9, 2000 (15:28)", "body": "Is it a good thing to find fingerprints? Guess it shows a real potter made it??!!"}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul  9, 2000 (17:25)", "body": "well, at least i know it's not machine made!"}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul  9, 2000 (20:54)", "body": "This is true... How good of him to do that. Must have to trust your sources on the net....*sigh*"}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2000 (17:24)", "body": "actually, i picked those three treasure jests up at a gift store!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2000 (20:07)", "body": "Your happy hunting grounds, then?! Great!"}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 26, 2001 (22:18)", "body": "we now have 8 harmony kingdom boxes in our collection. and i might note that, somewhere on the spring, i mentioned that harmony kingdoms were not made in china. i stand corrected as at least one of their series does come from china (harmony garden). but, copies are out there so be careful buying. look for their hallmarks to be sure. collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 3, "subject": "TY Beanie Baby Mania", "response_count": 184, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jan  6, 1999 (14:12)", "body": "ok, i have three of the original ty teeny beanies from mcdonald's. they've still got the tags but no bags. we have the others, but the kids have played with them and none have tags anymore. i don't know how much they're worth, but i thought they were cute, which was why i kept them."}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jan  6, 1999 (14:18)", "body": "this is the official website: http://www.ty.com"}, {"response": 3, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jan  6, 1999 (16:05)", "body": "My mother has every damn single one of those buggers. In plastic, in a box. I chide her all the time about how they'll suffocate and die before she can sell 'em. I have a retired pig. It's the cats' favorite toy. It's a mess. Not worth the $300 it once was but... the meow meows like it!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jan  6, 1999 (19:34)", "body": "and that's what counts!"}, {"response": 5, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jan 13, 1999 (18:37)", "body": "ok, i bought 4 of 'em. they were 4.95 and cute so i did. chocolate moose, freckles (leopard?), antz the anteater (cute cute cute), and claude the crab. yeah, they're not worth a thing but they were cute and that's why i picked them up."}, {"response": 6, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Feb  9, 1999 (17:32)", "body": "Some Beanie Baby collector/fan is being sued by TY for using Beaniebabies.com as her web page name. Apparently it's copyrighted up the bunghole!"}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Feb  9, 1999 (17:41)", "body": "wow!"}, {"response": 8, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Feb 17, 1999 (19:15)", "body": "btw: the four i purchased have since retired and the price has gone up anywhere from $2 to $5. amazing, simply amazing!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Feb 17, 1999 (21:56)", "body": "dum-da-dah-dum...dum! Zoe's got two of the same zebra, except that they have different tags... we've probably got another ten or so laying around as well..."}, {"response": 10, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Feb 23, 1999 (11:49)", "body": "I bought a Beanie Baby for my collector mother... and while at the store (in Vegas no less) we mentioned our upcoming trip to Germany. The lady told us if we were to bring bears back, she'd pay us $400 per bear!!! Guess who's stuffing stuffed bears in her backpack for the trip home!?!?!?!"}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Feb 23, 1999 (13:54)", "body": "haha!! you go girl!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, May 28, 1999 (21:19)", "body": "alright, i picked up one more beanie, snort the dragon, and only because he's different! i also have all 12 of mcdonald's 1999 teenie beanies still in bags and did you know that 4 different beanie bears will be available june 4. i likes teddies, so you know i'll be there for those!"}, {"response": 13, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jun  8, 1999 (20:35)", "body": "ok, i got two sets of the bears....one to put away and the other to tear out of the packages! also picked up a turkey and bat....."}, {"response": 14, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jun  9, 1999 (17:18)", "body": "got the armadillo stuck to my bike helmet, riding on the visor!"}, {"response": 15, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun  9, 1999 (21:02)", "body": "haha!! http://www.beanieworld.net Mary Beth's Beanie World....."}, {"response": 16, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun  9, 1999 (22:00)", "body": "While I was in California, my sister-in-law made me accompany her, along with my husband and hers, to the Disney store. We were each to pick up 6 of each when they brought out the new ones for the week. She bought them all. The woman is obsessed and I think it is very weird to wait 2 hours in front of the store so you can be first in line to get them. I have one - from Denney's and it is a dog. Kinda stupid! I collect gold set with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds. At least I won't look too izarre when I wear them!"}, {"response": 17, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jun 10, 1999 (08:34)", "body": "You got that right! Though wearing them might also look interesting; I once saw a cape with teddy bears sewn it, looked fun - recommendable for the <18 set, perhaps... Stacey, ever bought any of the bears when in Europe? DID or DIDN'T you look at the Steiff stuff?"}, {"response": 18, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 10, 1999 (09:32)", "body": "oh do tell!"}, {"response": 19, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jun 10, 1999 (14:35)", "body": "uh oh... here i go getting in trouble again... nope and nope. we found the Germania bear but the TY craze has hit Europe as well. They were selling him for 460DM... like $240! musta been the alien device keeping me away from the Steiff stores..."}, {"response": 20, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sat, Jun 12, 1999 (05:25)", "body": "...oh what a LAME excuse! Yeah, that's just sooo US-American - blame it on the Prez, and if he's busy, on the aliens. It's a TRACKING DEVICE, not one of them remote-control stuff... And I bet that subscription has not yet been negotiated, either... Stacey, Stacey... ( ;=] )"}, {"response": 21, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Jun 15, 1999 (13:58)", "body": "*cackle, chortle, chuckle* hee hee hee! sorry, TRACKING DEVICE... that must be causing my mental mixups as well..."}, {"response": 22, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jun 17, 1999 (11:01)", "body": "Might well be, might well be. (*walks off musing*)"}, {"response": 23, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jun 17, 1999 (15:29)", "body": "rubbing your chin??? (me too)"}, {"response": 24, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Jun 18, 1999 (14:29)", "body": "(*rubbing my chin, due to popular request*)"}, {"response": 25, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Jun 18, 1999 (14:30)", "body": "(*on second thought also scratching my head, just to save some individualism and spontaneity in my life*)"}, {"response": 26, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Jun 18, 1999 (14:31)", "body": "(*also scratching my left kneecap 'coz it itches*)"}, {"response": 27, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Jun 18, 1999 (14:36)", "body": "(*which admittedly doesn't look to dashing, so I'll throw in a really fiendishly effective look*)"}, {"response": 28, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Jun 18, 1999 (14:39)", "body": "(*reconsidering, posing as hunk never worked for me - makes me always look ridiculous, while posing as being ridiculous always workes. Guess that has more the feel of authenticity to it... let's just make do with the usual dumb grin*)"}, {"response": 29, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Jun 18, 1999 (14:41)", "body": "(*on second thought, that's not attractive to look at at all. I give up*)"}, {"response": 30, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jun 18, 1999 (17:52)", "body": "the befuddled look is good... i like it!"}, {"response": 31, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Jun 22, 1999 (09:37)", "body": "(*aah, that does me oooh so good, scratching that %$\ufffd&!-kneecap with a befuddled look*)"}, {"response": 32, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (18:32)", "body": "ok, there are two bears being sold now that are in memory of JFK, JFK Jr., Carolyn, and Lauren. definitely collector's items. all profits are to be donated to feed the children. one is red and blue the other is green. go to: http://www.coolbeanies.com you can order online or pay by snail mail (check/money order)...."}, {"response": 33, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep  4, 1999 (18:22)", "body": "did you guys see the announcement Ty made? 31 Aug 99, they announced that all current beanies will be retired on 31 Dec 99. wow, huh? i've heard that they're coming out with a new line but who knows!!"}, {"response": 34, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (18:19)", "body": "FINALLY got my platinum kit. all i really wanted was the bear, cuz i luvs bears! i guess that's all i have to do to become a member cuz the club card and everything is in the kit. found it at coach house gifts in the mall for $21."}, {"response": 35, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (15:11)", "body": "Wow! That's only, wait, a inexpensive $21, and that little Barbie for $70, and what else did we have...? Wolf, please be careful! You only have two wages to spend! BTW, what is a platinum kit? Scan it, show us!"}, {"response": 36, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (16:03)", "body": "yeah, i know. actually barbie was a deal because in a few years she'll be worth twice that. and 21 dollars for the kit, not too expensive to me. and all for the bear, too. which was all i really wanted. i messed with the width and height tags so let's hope this isn't too darned big:"}, {"response": 37, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (16:04)", "body": "yeah, i know. actually barbie was a deal because in a few years she'll be worth twice that. and 21 dollars for the kit, not too expensive to me. and all for the bear, too. which was all i really wanted. i messed with the width and height tags so let's hope this isn't too darned big:"}, {"response": 38, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (16:50)", "body": "WOW!!! Looks like you got the whole kaboodle (isn't that what comes in a kit?!) The Bear is adorable!"}, {"response": 39, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (17:10)", "body": "yup, kit AND Kaboodle!! *grin* and nothing extra to buy--i.e., forking over more money to actually become a member. but now, i get to keep you guys informed on the beanie frontage."}, {"response": 40, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (17:12)", "body": "that is, IF i can ever register as a member at the ty site. the only thing that chaps my buns right now is that i can't get clubby I. only gold members can and that membership is no longer available. should i raise a stink? i just want the teddy bear, is that too much to ask?"}, {"response": 41, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (17:33)", "body": "I would raise some sand with them. Platimun is rarer than gold, after all, and more precious. I will write you a letter of recommendation, if you'd like. Can you get the card out of there without breaching the \"original packaging?\""}, {"response": 42, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (21:02)", "body": "no, you have to break the pack, but it's nothing more than a plastic cord holding the zippers together. at this point, i don't care about the d****** packaging as long as it took for me to find the thing!"}, {"response": 43, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep  7, 1999 (14:42)", "body": "It does not ruin the future value? I thought it had to be in pristine condition...but, you know all about that and I know nothing...here to be educated, as it were."}, {"response": 44, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Sep  7, 1999 (17:43)", "body": "you know, marcia, i'm not sure if it'll ruin the value. but i didn't open the coin or collector's cards nor did i take the ty tag off the bear. most ty beanies are sold unpackaged and the values (from what i've seen) are based on tag condition as well as popularity of the character. (hope you didn't take offense at how i wrote #43) i was frustrated at the industry!"}, {"response": 45, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep  7, 1999 (18:20)", "body": "No offense, my dear Wolfie. Not a chance *hugs* I guess I was thinking of Barbie and how you have to keep her chaste until parting with her. Those Ty tags are so funny...they sell elaborate protectors for them, as you know. I am the sort who takes tags off everything as soon as I get them home, including labels sometimes. My family dispairs of knowing quite what is in which bottles, and on occasion, I forget, as well!"}, {"response": 46, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Sep  7, 1999 (20:45)", "body": "i only take labels off bottles if i'm gonna use them as vases. (i've got the protectors *grin*)"}, {"response": 47, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep  7, 1999 (21:01)", "body": "(that's called protecting your investments, huh! *smile*)"}, {"response": 48, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Sep  7, 1999 (21:11)", "body": "you bet!"}, {"response": 49, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep 19, 1999 (13:12)", "body": "a friend of mine says that Ty's last beanie will be a bear with \"the end\" on it. don't have any references for it but will do some research. went to the connie hines monthly craft show and picked up the millennium bear for $12. haven't seen them anywhere else so i grabbed it. cute!"}, {"response": 50, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep 19, 1999 (17:39)", "body": "While I was at Costco checking on the Millennuim Barbie I noted a big bin of the cutest hedgehogs...I was eyeing one (in hand, actually) quite closely when O'O looked at me with \"you have nothing better to spend your money one?\" in his eyes. I put it back...but I can still see those big black eyes looking at me saying \"take me home!\" *sigh* (they were less than $10, as I recall...)"}, {"response": 51, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep 19, 1999 (18:12)", "body": "go get one, girl! the alpha male said \"no more!\" as if my house is filled with them."}, {"response": 52, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep 19, 1999 (18:55)", "body": "Next time I see one, it comes home with me, large soulful eyes and all, and I know just what I will name Him...*smile*"}, {"response": 53, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Sep 21, 1999 (11:25)", "body": "Woo Woo Wolfie... Thanks for the scan... Now... just ease your face down on the scanner... close you eyes, smile and push GO... I wanna see your smiley, Ty collecting, UFO sighting, huggy giving, animal loving face!@^!&*@^!^@!* PUUUUHHHLEEEESE????"}, {"response": 54, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Sep 21, 1999 (20:09)", "body": "had thought about that, but am not very scanner-genic. i should try it for sng's though!"}, {"response": 55, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Sep 22, 1999 (12:59)", "body": "sng's?"}, {"response": 56, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 22, 1999 (17:11)", "body": "Does a scanner do to your face what the Xerox machine does? Makes you look as though they just hauled you out of a peat bog? Yuck! sng's...????"}, {"response": 57, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Sep 22, 1999 (17:52)", "body": "yeah, s and g's--s**ts and grins... don't wanna plaster my face onto the scanner, you'd get an image of me much larger than you'd want and i'd plug up the servers! *grin*"}, {"response": 58, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 22, 1999 (22:14)", "body": "Gotcha! *lol* too funny...and I know somewhere in your military spit'n'polish there is a stunning photo of you which you will not share, but that is ok. I love you anyway *hugs*"}, {"response": 59, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Sep 23, 1999 (11:27)", "body": "actually, no current propaganda shots on file *grin*"}, {"response": 60, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 23, 1999 (16:35)", "body": "*BIG disappointed sigh*"}, {"response": 61, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep 26, 1999 (21:30)", "body": "i picked up another platinum beanie club kit yesterday. the reason was because the club member's card inside's different from the first one. can actually see the card number on this one plus it's a different color. haven't heard anything about it at Ty , but will keep looking and let you all know."}, {"response": 62, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep 26, 1999 (21:35)", "body": "oh, and while i was there, picked up pinky the flamingo and stretch the ostrich. both have since retired but much to the alpha male's chagrin, they're now part of my collection. you see, i had prematurely expressed my uneducated opinion on beanies when i first started collecting barbies. but that was way before i found out why they're so darn collectable, they're pretty darned cute! and now the alpha male says that i should please not bring anymore into the house. *grin*"}, {"response": 63, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep 26, 1999 (23:28)", "body": "Every last one of them have big dark eyes pleading to go home with you, and I just have the worst time with that. I can still see those hedgehogs looking at me...needing my love and attention. They are totally irresistable."}, {"response": 64, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (17:48)", "body": "JUST IN: now this is only a rumour, but please check this link out: http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~teresa/messages/7908.html i got the link from Donna's Dolls webpage."}, {"response": 65, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Nov 21, 1999 (15:29)", "body": "so, anyone add any new beanies to their collection? burnt out already, eh? well, i am. the ty site for bboc members is lousy. if you forget your password, there's no way to get a hint or an email back to you. the stuff they show on the site isn't updated. there's a screensaver which i downloaded and it's nothing more than a rotating add for ty. not a bunch of beanies having fun. if you're a platinum club member, you can't order the first clubby bear buddy at all. i did order a clubby ii buddy and now we'll see how long it takes to get here. according to the messageboard at ty, i should see them late next year if at all. oh, i've listed my gripes on their page but nobody reads it except to make sure you didn't list a phone number or cuss word in your message. i will say that i'd like to get \"the end\" bear and then i'm done."}, {"response": 66, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 21, 1999 (17:14)", "body": "From July on I do not buy anything for me - even stuff I need, so I can handle what I want to get other people for Christmas.(You could make a better screen-saver than that!) I have sticky notes all over to help me remember logins and passwords to tenet sites, email, visto, IM, and all that other stuff we must have them for. Including for here - our most precious Spring. Yikes!!! Ty could use some serious PR. Don't like being treated as a source of money and little else! Grrrrrr *snarl*"}, {"response": 67, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 21, 1999 (17:18)", "body": "Just checked out that \"rumor\" url and it is no longer valid (404 notice). Anything come of it, whatever it was (sorry I neglected to check it out!)"}, {"response": 68, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Nov 21, 1999 (18:12)", "body": "i think what's going on is ty is coming out with another set of beanies. of course, with the way pokeman is going, ty could be leaving the beanie realm altogether. it's more likely that because they're retiring all the 19-hundreds, they'll have a 2000 set. but, i'm not in the know and will have to check out a couple of places to really get some dirt."}, {"response": 69, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 21, 1999 (18:25)", "body": "I recall saying not so long ago elsewhere to you that I did not know what Pokeman was. Now, you cannot turn on the TV without being blasted with advertising for the movie and all sorts of spin-offs. I am sick of it already. I'll just bet there'll be Beanie Babies of them. Stand in line again...!"}, {"response": 70, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Nov 21, 1999 (20:31)", "body": "there are! not under the ty line but pokeman is out there!"}, {"response": 71, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 21, 1999 (20:48)", "body": "Ah, but are the non-Ty ones as valuable as the authentic ones?"}, {"response": 72, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov 30, 1999 (21:01)", "body": "to answer your question, marcia, rather belatedly, yes. other bean bag toys are valuable. now the counterfeit Ty beanies are NOT valuable, just a big rip-off unless you want a Ty-like beanie to quiet your child. but be warned, fake Ty beanies can be expensive since the seller is looking for a profit from the Ty name. and, i saw \"The End\" beanie baby bear at a table at a local arts & crafts show for $28. since i learned a valuable lesson after buying halo for way too much, i walked right past the bear even though it's the one i'm looking for. i shall wait because, if any of you have access to a military installation's AAFES (i.e., BX, PX), you'll eventually get these guys. for example, i picked up valetina, hope, and the 1998 Ty signature bear for $4.99 ea. i'm sure the end will be there in no time. now for some good news (for me anyway): Clubby II Beanie Buddy (avail. to BBOC members), arrived today via UPS in excellent condition, no crumpled ear tags, etc. was supposed to get collector cards with it, but am not worried because i paid for the bear and he's here! it's only been 3 weeks since i placed my order. (if you read the cyberboard at the Ty site, you'll see posts from people who are still waiting after 16 weeks)... perhaps i'll go and try to get the bears (prob. just the new ones and whatever shows up at the BX) and then just concentrate on my barbie collection. (i need a new room added to the house *grin*)"}, {"response": 73, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 30, 1999 (21:13)", "body": "That new room added to the house is a familiar feeling to me, as well. Thanks for your complete and most interesting comments on my question. Hindsight is always 20-20, but now you can use it more profitably. Let us know of your success. And, keep scanning the shelves at your local AAFES! Excellent news about the Bear reaching you in pristine condition. Not always a sure thing this time of year. (off for the dinner with the coach...talk later!)"}, {"response": 74, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov 30, 1999 (21:17)", "body": "g'night!"}, {"response": 75, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec  1, 1999 (00:03)", "body": "G'night, Wolfie *Beanie Bear hugs*"}, {"response": 76, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Dec 11, 1999 (20:05)", "body": "some news concerning the beanies' retirement: this was in today's local The Times newspaper. according to The Associated Press, Oak Brook, Illinois, Disproving skeptics who thought it was a ploy to boost sales, the maker of Beanie Babies says the end really is near: Dec. 31 will be the last day the popular stuffed critters are made. Oak Brook-based Ty Inc. posted a cryptic announcement on its Web site Thursday, saying that production will stop Dec. 31 and warehouses will be cleared of surplus. The company hinted at the move with a similar Web site announcement in August, saying it would \"retire\" all current Beanie Babies at the end of the year. Many collectors and fans thought it was a ploy to boost beanie prices and were expecting a new line of the toys. Ty Inc. spokeswoman Anne Nickels said she had no idea why the cuddly toys were being discontinued, adding that the decision to stop production was made by the owner, Ty Warner. One factor for the decision could be the growing interest in Pokemon cards, said Leonard Tannenbaum, president of Beanienation.com, an Internet auction site for the Beanies. \"Our Pokemon sales have flown, but Beanie sales haven't,\" Tannenbaum said. End of the article. and speaking of Pokemon, please see it's topic in this conference for an interesting article also published in today's The Times newspaper."}, {"response": 77, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 11, 1999 (20:13)", "body": "Just as I got a hands-on look at Platinum Beanie Bear they are doing to stop making them? I cannot believe that! Another ploy to increase panic buying and hording of said little stuffed critters? I will be most surprised if this is truly the case."}, {"response": 78, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 24, 1999 (09:09)", "body": "straight from the horses mouth at Ty GLOBAL NEWSFLASH I have been overwhelmed by the response to my announcement that all Beanies will retire on December 31, 1999. Since the announcement, there have been thousands of messages posted on websites worldwide discussing the discontinuation of Beanie Babies. I have received hundreds of letters from children, educators, hospitals, clinics, charities and collectors around the world asking me to reconsider my decision and create new Beanies. After much thought, I am willing to put the fate of Beanie Babies in your hands. You make the decision. You have inspired the Beanie Babies line through your devotion to them. I will kickoff the new millennium by conducting the first live worldwide vote of its kind, a global vote to determine whether Beanie Babies should, or should not, be continued. Our Beanie Baby factories are shut down, but if you decide that new Beanie Babies should be created, I will re-launch production. As the new millennium begins, people in every country and every time zone in the world will have an opportunity to participate in the \"Beanie Babies Ballot\". The global vote will begin on 12/31/99 at 6:00 a.m. EST, USA. When you access www.Ty.com you will be asked this question: \"Should Ty create new Beanie Babies in the year 2000?\" The website will give detailed instructions on how to cast a vote by internet or telephone at that time. On 1/2/00 at 6:00 a.m. EST, USA, the voting will come to an end. Results will be final and binding. We will be charging an amount of U.S. $ .50 (fifty cents) per vote (which requires credit card validation). This charge should ensure integrity of the vote, as well as prevent over-voting. Ty employees/vendors/licensees are not eligible to vote. All proceeds (100%) from the vote will be donated to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Regardless of the outcome, children of the world will benefit from your vote. Remember that it is you that can make a difference in this world. Happy Holidays Everyone! Ty Warner so now they're gonna charge us to vote! what about all the kids who don't have cc's? you should see the responses at the cyberboard at ty. they're hoppin'!"}, {"response": 79, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 24, 1999 (12:07)", "body": "Oh boy! Another sales ploy and publicity stunt? Charging you to vote to be allowed to give them your money? Something terribly wrong with that - and all too American, too."}, {"response": 80, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 27, 1999 (17:50)", "body": "well, mr. warner responded to requests by beanie collectors to match their gift: I have been reading your posts both here and at other sites. I have heard your challenge to \"put my money where my mouth is\" by matching any funds raised from the \"Global Poll\". I think that is a great idea! I will, therefore, present the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation with an amount that is TRIPLE the amount raised by your voting! May the New Millennium bring each and every one of you health and happiness! Ty Warner this is a great gesture, too bad he didn't think of it himself!"}, {"response": 81, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 27, 1999 (19:33)", "body": "Really!!! He had better still be making those little critters or I'll never buy anything he makes again...(unless it is unbearably adorable....!)"}, {"response": 82, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 27, 1999 (20:23)", "body": "well, he says he already closed down a bunch of factories. imagine putting all those people out of work before the holidays. maybe that's how he'll be able to triple the contribution. while i think raising money for pediatric aids foundation is great, it should be voluntary. when you vote (which is still free in this country) they should have an option so you can contribute an amount. this way, all collectors can have a voice (some actually don't own credit cards and they're 18+) without feeling obligate or anything. but can't the man see that these critters are still sought after? all he has to do is sit down and read his message boards thoroughly. and a lot of people are quitting (which means more for us) because they're tired of the hoopla and being strung up."}, {"response": 83, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 27, 1999 (20:39)", "body": "It strikes me as self-agrandizing of the worse sort - masquerading under the guise of charity and democracy. I am glad you told me about his factory closings and such callous treatment of the world in general just for his own best interests. I am more than a little disappointed in such a man, and I agree with you that charity is only permissable with the approval of the donor. Something is terribly wrong about all of that. It will be interesting to see how popular he remains when it all shakes out."}, {"response": 84, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 27, 1999 (20:55)", "body": "we'll see. supposedly this little market started out because he wanted an inexpensive toy that was safe for all ages. well, now he's just gotten greedy. and has forgotten about all the people who have made it possible for him to triple the amount of $.50 donations per vote in the first place. he talks about his factories in his plea for votes. he should've had the vote before he gave out the pink slips, duh!! the sad thing is i think they're quitting this line of beanies and moving on to something else beany. he had other beany brand names registered recently so it doesn't matter if we vote or not. ty will go on but probably not as we are used to seeing. for me, i'll pick one up if they appeal to me and that's the only reason i pick up anything like that anyway. isn't that the joy of collecting? not just to grab 'em all so you can say you got the whole set! (ok, so i got the whole set of 1999 teeny beanies at mcdonalds by buying drinks and getting four beanies at a time. but they're not for sale. i think the teenies are cute and i especially love the bears!) a person sure could learn a lot about free trade and capitalism in america by following ty!"}, {"response": 85, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 27, 1999 (21:18)", "body": "just posted a gripe at ty's cyberboard. it's subject is to Mr. Warner and here's the body of the text: Your message of matching our donations is very generous, didn't you know how much beanies mean to your collectors? We've made it possible for you to match our 50 cent votes. Last I checked, voting is free in America, something that has been fought and paid for. Allow us the option to donate. Many beanie collectors are foregoing credit cards which means they can't vote. Can you validate us by membership numbers? I am not a business woman as you can tell by my post, but I am a consumer and a small time beanie collector. This whole thing appears to be a ploy. To buy votes for something that will go on anyway even if different from what we're used to seeing. Yes, collections end and new things take they're place. But you're losing a lot of respect and trust from consumers like me who are tired of being roped around. Thank you very much for your time, for creating a little bean toy that's appealing to everyone. yeah, am making a fool of myself *grin* it's not posted at the site yet because the moderators have to make sure i'm not cussing and stuff...."}, {"response": 86, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 27, 1999 (21:39)", "body": "it's been posted and that's the fastest i've ever seen anything posted up at their cyberboard. and really feel insecure about it. anyway, no matter, i'm just a consumer like everyone else!"}, {"response": 87, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 27, 1999 (22:06)", "body": "Yup! And, as such, yhou are easily as important as anyone else is in world!"}, {"response": 88, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 27, 1999 (22:11)", "body": "I just re read your post to Mr Warner. You said exactly what needed to be said. In just the way it should have been stated. I am proud of you, Wolfie!"}, {"response": 89, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 27, 1999 (22:14)", "body": "gosh, i was so nervous but felt i had to write something! am waiting to see what kind of response i get at the board. in fact, keep bouncing back and forth between there and here! it had originally had much more in it but had to cut it back to under 1000 characters. thanks for your support *HUGS*"}, {"response": 90, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 27, 1999 (22:42)", "body": "Let us know!!! and I'll leap in and post there if you catch any flak!!! You done good, Wuufie."}, {"response": 91, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (09:20)", "body": "thanks my dear. and it seems to have stunned the cyberboard or else ty pulled the plug because nothing has been posted new since (there were a few posts that got in after me). no, my post can't have been the clincher but it's strange that the board has nothing new since last night. usually there are 3 or 4 pages of stuff to sift through the next day. wonder what happened!"}, {"response": 92, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (11:45)", "body": "well, boy did they catch up. got some good responses to my post!"}, {"response": 93, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (13:32)", "body": "Give me the url again...can't seem to find the message boards I'm dying to see what comments you elicited...!"}, {"response": 94, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (15:02)", "body": "http://www.ty.com click on ty cyberboard and then on grins & gripes. you may have to go to a 2nd or 3rd page but you'll see. i'm mswolfie at the ty board."}, {"response": 95, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (16:58)", "body": "ok, i read about the following rumor through the end's cyber diary at ty: Beanieland: Who knows what the keys to the future hold? The upcoming online poll to determine the fate of Beanie Babies isn't the only news coming out of Beanieland. Ty Warner, the company's mystery-loving president, tells USA TODAY in an e-mail that he has a new creation in the works. \"I wanted to come up with something that would be a total surprise. I did, and we will launch this new product at the trade shows in January.\" Absolutely no details are available, but the Ty Inc. Web site (www.ty.com) on Tuesday did make a passing remark about \"Ty TV.\" Ty TV? geeze louise, like there's not enough out there already to keep our kids' eyes glued. we'll see!@"}, {"response": 96, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (18:22)", "body": "Just when you thought it could not get any worse...Greed rears its ugly head!"}, {"response": 97, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (14:14)", "body": "the following was cut and pasted from the end's diary at the ty website: I found out what Ty TV is all about! When the Global Polls open on December 31st at 6 a.m. (EST) the Ty web site will not be a web site but it will be TV! How cool is that? It will show what's happening with the voting live! It's going to be so cool to watch! I wonder how many people it will take to make all this happen? I should have asked Ty that when we were talking about it. I bet it's going to take thousands and thousands! And they will all be working very hard until 5:59 a.m. (EST) January 2nd. That is when the polls will close and we'll all find out whether or not there will be any more beanies. It's going to be so exciting watching \"Ty TV\" during the polls! so now we know what ty tv is all about, i guess. wonder who really does the diaries...."}, {"response": 98, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (12:33)", "body": "well, i'm watching ty tv. i have to say that it is quite the piece of work and really neat. 29235 folks have participated world-wide and the vote is a resounding yes, 93% at that! like we thought it be any different. well, lemme do some math (this could take awhile) and see what that donation is up to. well, ty only has to donate $43852.50 which really isn't a lot considering his wealth but hey, the thought's in the right place i hope. ($58470.00 total to the charity, which isn't very much, considering the potential but every little bit helps, huh?) they've got another day to do this so i'll let you know what happens. (btw: if you go to the site, be prepared to wait)."}, {"response": 99, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (12:59)", "body": "rather than clogging up their site, I shall come here to find out what is happening. I am taking off my gloves and socks so I can also help you with your math *grin* Yup! Any money is better than no money! *hugs* Wolfie! I am happy to be online even if it is telnetting."}, {"response": 100, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (15:03)", "body": "it's 3 pm cst and the vote is up to 46171 worldwide. which means they've raised a total of $92,342.00. not too shabby really."}, {"response": 101, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (15:06)", "body": "Hey, it almost sounds like a bandwagon effect. Be part of it or be left out of the great donationa to charity. It would be lovely if it could top 6 figures! Not shabby at all!"}, {"response": 102, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (16:15)", "body": "53675 have voted and that means $107,350.00 has been raised for the pediatric aids foundation."}, {"response": 103, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (16:25)", "body": "Yay!!! This is turning into a \"good\" thing, after all!"}, {"response": 104, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (19:08)", "body": "now there's a whopping 70445 votes placed which equals $140,890.00 total."}, {"response": 105, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (19:17)", "body": "Hey! Great news. This guy is gonna get some real publicity out of this and it's gonna cost him big time (tax deductable, of course!) Yippee!!! I am also happy that you are still onlline (online!)...*grin*"}, {"response": 106, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jan  1, 2000 (09:29)", "body": "Happy New Year fellow beanie collectors. Ty's site is still up and running so let me give you the results so far: 111631 folks have voted which brings the total donation to $223,262.00. the site will be taking votes through 2 Jan at 6 AM EST."}, {"response": 107, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jan  1, 2000 (13:28)", "body": "does that figure contain his matching funds? If not, he has serious donation bucks there. Good!"}, {"response": 108, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jan  1, 2000 (13:53)", "body": "the total amounts posted include the matching funds. here're the latest numbers: 143271 voted which means $286,542.00 donated (Ty's amount is $214,906.50). marcia, it's good to see you at the spring. wish you could get in the usual way."}, {"response": 109, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jan  1, 2000 (15:02)", "body": "Thanks, Dear...I wish I could, as well. My sunspot gif is waiting for me to post it as are some other neat graphics I have discovered while Spring has been down. Gonna post that Poetry webring ifyou don't first...*hugs* Ty done good, as they say, despite himself!"}, {"response": 110, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jan  1, 2000 (18:33)", "body": "yes and the numbers keep rising: 173768 voted, total $347,536.00 raised."}, {"response": 111, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jan  1, 2000 (19:43)", "body": "Wow! Are all of the messages supportive? At least, are they now? They cannot have been so when this first started. Imagine what an ego trip this must be for TY!!!"}, {"response": 112, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jan  2, 2000 (09:28)", "body": "and here are the final numbers: 209763 people voted; $419,526.00 raised, 91% voted yes. (no way!) and ty says: --------------- NEWSFLASH RESULTS OF WORLDWIDE VOTE WOW!!! THE BEANIES WON!!! 91% voted \"YES\" and 9% voted \"NO\" I would like to thank everyone who participated in the Beanie Babies Ballot. We hope you have enjoyed the excitement of this event. Your vote in this \"first of its kind\" worldwide poll has made a difference to children all over the world and has helped a wonderful organization. Best wishes for this new millennium and continue to. . . . . Expect The Unexpected! Ty Warner ---------------- like he has been saying all along. well, at least they raised some money!"}, {"response": 113, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jan  2, 2000 (09:37)", "body": "i got the above numbers from Mary Beth's Beanbag World and they just sent an update. so the new and final numbers are 211060 votes (still 91% yes) and $422,120.00 raised."}, {"response": 114, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan  2, 2000 (12:18)", "body": "Almost 1/2 million for charity as worthy as pediatric aids is most worthy. That is proof that there is something of worth in just about everything...!"}, {"response": 115, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jan  2, 2000 (13:43)", "body": "even if it begins with greed! well, i'm glad they raised that much for those kids. let's hope it does some good. (i wonder how much $500K will do, i mean does it pay for their meds and provide a place to sleep -which is good, but does pay for research for better meds or even a cure?) lemme give you the name of the charity: Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. there used to be a link but it's gone."}, {"response": 116, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jan  2, 2000 (13:43)", "body": "even if it begins with greed! well, i'm glad they raised that much for those kids. let's hope it does some good. (i wonder how much $500K will do, i mean does it pay for their meds and provide a place to sleep -which is good, but does pay for research for better meds or even a cure?) lemme give you the name of the charity: Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. there used to be a link but it's gone."}, {"response": 117, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan  2, 2000 (14:25)", "body": "I sure hope it does not fall into the administration's coffers. If it goes for research it will be better than nothing but not much. If it went to give meds to those children who could not otherwise afford it, that would be the best of all. Perhaps we should investigate the foundation and see what they do offer sufferening children..."}, {"response": 118, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jan  4, 2000 (17:33)", "body": "and the Ty 2000 line is up and running: http://www.ty.com/catalog/catalogindex.html"}, {"response": 119, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan  4, 2000 (19:28)", "body": "None of them are nearly as enchanting as Beanie Babies...and I checked...!"}, {"response": 120, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jan  9, 2000 (20:05)", "body": "here's some news from MaryBeth's Bean Bag World Monthly : Ty\ufffd Donates $1 Million to Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation Ty Inc. more than doubled its original pledge to triple the funds raised by the vote by donating $1 million to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. oh, and beanie kids has been revealed at some of the current shows. haven't found any pictures yet. it'll be a few months for new beanie babies to show up, but meanwhile, enjoy the big, bigger, and biggest buddies they're making."}, {"response": 121, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan  9, 2000 (22:16)", "body": "I noted the rainbow-y bears were cute. Good for the EGPAF and his donation thereto. Just think! You were part of the greater good! Just checked MaryBeth's BBWM and she is a busy lady...and she keeps her beanies where they cannot mildew - on the web! (Everything mildews here! Absolutely Everything!!!)"}, {"response": 122, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan  9, 2000 (22:28)", "body": "I went to investigate Campus Critters and they have neither Penn State Nittany Lion or the U of Hawaii Rainbow Warrior. In fact, they have very few. Must be a new enterprise. Do you know anything about them? I'da gotten one of the Nittany Lion if they'd have had them...!"}, {"response": 123, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan  9, 2000 (22:52)", "body": "Woooolfie!!! Dontcha think we should invent a PTerryDactyl mascot for The Spring? You make teddies...how about a PTerry? (It's gettin' late and lonely on the Spring. Might as well close'er down and hit the horizontal...I've gone balmy in here all alone. My creative juices are caking up...!"}, {"response": 124, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan  9, 2000 (22:56)", "body": "Make'um out of PTerry cloth and stuff them with (chips and put springs for legs? Tell me g'night...G'night!!!"}, {"response": 125, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jan 13, 2000 (20:12)", "body": "alright, the new beanies are being shipped (not the beanie babies, the ty baby, ty classic, etc.). still no pictures of beanie kids. have heard that they're ugly and look like cabbage patch kids. also learned that the jumbo sized peace buddy is about $170! and that he is absolutely huge."}, {"response": 126, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jan 15, 2000 (01:08)", "body": "Kids don't sound very cute... How huge is absolutely? For $170 it ought to be people-kid-sized !!! I saw them and they are wearing that symbol depicting the All-American chicken track or whatever your political persuasion it calling it..."}, {"response": 127, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jan 20, 2000 (19:21)", "body": "and now http://www.ty.com has a new look. check it out. the place is really busy right now so expect to sit while the pages load. they have a link to the ty kids but i could never get through."}, {"response": 128, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jan 23, 2000 (14:01)", "body": "alright, i've gotten through on ty.com. the tykids isn't up yet as far as pics. you can create a tyfolio which allows you to list all the beanies you own whether babies, buddies, attic treasures, etc. it also lets you create a wish list that can be emailed to your friends and relatives and you can tally up your favorite beanies. the new look is neat so far. the tyfolio needs a username and password so make sure you write those down as there's no way to get it emailed to you that i've found."}, {"response": 129, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan 23, 2000 (17:20)", "body": "Oh Wolfie, I saw a beanie husky doggie yesterday: blue eyes, white tummy and grey back. The cutest little critter I've seen in some time. I spent an inordinant amount of time wondering what I had to do to talk the little girl out of it at the softball game...but she kept it...*sigh* Wow! Registering like for Wedding presents. Don't think I'd have that much nerve. I did not even do that for my own wedding and ended up with five very large salad-bowl-and-matching-individual-bowl sets!"}, {"response": 130, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Feb  4, 2000 (21:17)", "body": "pricing newsflash from ty (this was copied and pasted from their site): USA Beanie Babies $5-7 Attic Treasures $5-7 Beanie Kids $8-9 Beanie Buddies $10-11 Baby Ty $10-11 Ty Classics $10-11 $20-22 Oversized $30-32 Large $50-55 Extra Large $100-105 Jumbo (end of copy) ty also posted that new beanie babies (that were voted to continue) would be premiered at the toy fair in new york city. and still no pics of the ty kids."}, {"response": 131, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb  4, 2000 (21:24)", "body": "Jumob Beanies for over $100. Not in Hawaii. They mildew! At least, on this side of the island!"}, {"response": 132, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb  4, 2000 (21:25)", "body": "...'twould be nice if I could type correctly...sorry!"}, {"response": 133, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (20:08)", "body": "click the link--beanie kids have pictures now: http://www.ty.com/shared_i/bkgrpphoto.html"}, {"response": 134, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (20:11)", "body": "Talk about bad hair days! *lol* They are so funny-looking they are almost cute ...almost...!"}, {"response": 135, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (20:14)", "body": "that's what i was thinking. remind me of cabbage patch kids really."}, {"response": 136, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (20:28)", "body": "Yup! With that round, stuffed nose and beady eyes and mid-facial bulge (cannot remember how to spell prognothacism or whatever...) They look very whimsical."}, {"response": 137, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (20:43)", "body": "pictures straight off the toy fair show floor in new york of the new beanie babies: http://www.leahland.com"}, {"response": 138, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (21:58)", "body": "Golly Gee. Huh! They look familiar. I will be happy when all of Valentine's day is past and gone. No celebration here."}, {"response": 139, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Mar  1, 2000 (15:49)", "body": "well, v-day's come and gone and now the new beanie babies have pictures: http://www.ty.com/shared_i/catalog/babies/beanies_intro.html"}, {"response": 140, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar  1, 2000 (16:58)", "body": "I like the dragon! (I think it is a dragon, anyway...)"}, {"response": 141, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (08:33)", "body": "TBB news : the teenie beanie babies are at mcdonalds right now! haven't been so i couldn't tell you what the deal is. don't know if they're gonna work it like last summer where if you buy something you can buy a teenie without having to get the happy meal. will keep you posted."}, {"response": 142, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (08:33)", "body": "(terry, what's up with the hyperlinking?)"}, {"response": 143, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (15:18)", "body": "What do you mean?"}, {"response": 144, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (15:32)", "body": "They work in Geo... ergo they work here... yes?"}, {"response": 145, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 15, 2000 (09:13)", "body": "yeah but i'm not trying to link to our news topic!"}, {"response": 146, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 16, 2000 (23:06)", "body": "sheesh...Don't know"}, {"response": 147, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Oct 14, 2000 (17:13)", "body": "clubby III is out but only available through Ty right now. wonder if we'll be getting them at authorized dealers. hmmmmm......also, for those of you who haven't been to ty.com in awhile but are a registered user, you will probably have to reregister as i discovered when trying to order my club beanies (you get the club package with it's beanie plus a buddy) they are $15 ea plus S&H."}, {"response": 148, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 31, 2000 (20:52)", "body": "wow...mine are still sitting on my piano in the wrappers because they will mildew like everthing else in Paradise which is not used often ( uh... yeah, that too...)"}, {"response": 149, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Oct 31, 2000 (20:59)", "body": "it's wrapped in a plastic wrapper too? *grin*"}, {"response": 150, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 31, 2000 (21:29)", "body": "...might just as well be...! *smirk*"}, {"response": 151, "author": "scoobygirl83", "date": "Fri, Apr 13, 2001 (16:06)", "body": "i would like you know the price of the ty McDonalds beany babies, if anyone no email me at scoobygirl83@yahoo.com thanks alot."}, {"response": 152, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Apr 15, 2001 (17:57)", "body": "you want to tell us the price via email? are you trying to sell them yourself? here, let me save the hassle of the email....the 1st set, last i heard, are worth at least $100 (in bag, complete set)..."}, {"response": 153, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, May 11, 2001 (13:14)", "body": "i picked up two of the newest clubbies and they are soooo cute. i esp. like the colors and the clubby buddies. they didn't come in a kit this time. haven't been to their website in a loooooong time. (did i tell you about Clubby III already?)"}, {"response": 154, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov 13, 2001 (20:16)", "body": "ok, clubby iv is available and i ordered him online. no kit, just the buddy bear. but, also available was something called Cuddly Crystal, the BBOC Beanie Bopper. didn't care for her, but they also have something new called Jingle Beanies Collection (Clubby Edition) which i ordered as well. anyway, i ordered two of each--you know, one to put away, one to display. will let you know when they arrive (oh, the jingles are miniature beanies for hanging on the tree or whatever)"}, {"response": 155, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 13, 2001 (21:26)", "body": "I have the cutest little bear sitting above my monitor. I am not certain who made it, but he is adorable. I think I will name him John =) I will take a picture of him for you and post it!"}, {"response": 156, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov 13, 2001 (21:53)", "body": "oh goody!"}, {"response": 157, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 14, 2001 (05:50)", "body": "I have a little walrus on top of my monitor."}, {"response": 158, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan 18, 2002 (20:10)", "body": "i have ordered two more beanie baby bears-Speckles (beanie buddy) and Tradee (beanie baby). ordered two of each and it may be awhile before i see them. definitely need to build something to hold my bears!!"}, {"response": 159, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan 18, 2002 (20:10)", "body": "i finally got the walrus connection to you (walhus-walrus)*heehee*"}, {"response": 160, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jan 20, 2002 (22:29)", "body": "i went to check my order status at Ty.com and all they have is that it's been confirmed. my confirmation email said that it may take 8-12 weeks before they get here. but, when i ordered clubby iv, it took about half that time. these guys were here before i knew it."}, {"response": 161, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Apr  1, 2002 (12:58)", "body": "forgot to tell you all that i received that last order in a reasonable amount of time. Speckles is very soft and cuddly! Ty has a new offer for the red cross bear--it is a reverse color of the americana bear (or something like that)--anyway, proceeds go to the American Red Cross. can't wait for mine to get here!"}, {"response": 162, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr 16, 2002 (14:10)", "body": "it has been 15 days since i placed my order and it is only now shown as processing. and, btw, the reverse america bear sold out within a week of the offering. (i ordered the original, the reverse, and one of the working dog beanies they offered). will let you know when they get here."}, {"response": 163, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr 16, 2002 (14:12)", "body": "now, does anyone have any good plans for a shelving system (not too complicated, please). i mostly have bears (and buddies) so i think shelving would work best. was thinking about a bookcase with smaller shelf spacing for the smaller beanies and regular spacing for the buddies. do they make anything like that?"}, {"response": 164, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Apr 27, 2002 (10:10)", "body": "new beanies are on their way!!"}, {"response": 165, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 18, 2002 (17:24)", "body": "New Beanies???? Do they have any Civil War Beanies??? I'd love to get one for Don. Shhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Of course, Walrus. I seem to remember several years ago a lot of nonsense about Terry in Drool and using Walhus in place of Walrus in a bit of hilarity. I guess you had to be there..."}, {"response": 166, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Aug 25, 2002 (10:45)", "body": "no civil war beanies that i know about!"}, {"response": 167, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep 23, 2002 (19:28)", "body": "Ty is taking orders for club v bears--this time you get the buddy and the beanie! can't wait for mine to come in (and they're pink too)!"}, {"response": 168, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct  3, 2005 (13:42)", "body": "Did you get them? YOU need pictures !"}, {"response": 169, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Oct  3, 2005 (19:22)", "body": "i know, but for some reason, i can't access any of my files here so both my websites are dead (but, *blush* i owe terry a phone call and then this whole thing would be fixed)"}, {"response": 170, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct  4, 2005 (23:22)", "body": "512.581.9617. if it's long distance I'll call you back."}, {"response": 171, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Oct  5, 2005 (21:48)", "body": "it is long distance but i've got that covered (both via cell and home phone)...i'll call you tomorrow evening (unless you don't hear from me, then i'll call you some other time *wink*)"}, {"response": 172, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct  7, 2005 (09:39)", "body": "Daytime is the best time. Like right now. Evening's are tough sine there's so much entertainment going on."}, {"response": 173, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Oct  7, 2005 (20:06)", "body": "but i's got's to woh-eek....terry, all i really need is a password and then know the place all my stuff's at. tonight is sleepover (which i forgot about when i promised to call)....so whatcha doin' this weekend?"}, {"response": 174, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct  7, 2005 (22:45)", "body": "Give me a shout this weekend."}, {"response": 175, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 11, 2005 (00:44)", "body": "Let me know what the solution is Wolfie and perhaps I can work from there. I can't even access my old files anymore and they are invisible from the net so I have no idea how spring sees them when it comes to posting them. I'll wait to hear from you."}, {"response": 176, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 11, 2005 (22:36)", "body": "Look, I'm online. paulwalhus@yahoo.com. Get me on yahoo messenger and I'll help you out. Both a youse."}, {"response": 177, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Oct 12, 2005 (18:29)", "body": "you on line right now?"}, {"response": 178, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct 13, 2005 (05:48)", "body": "I am now."}, {"response": 179, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Oct 13, 2005 (18:00)", "body": "me too!"}, {"response": 180, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 15, 2005 (17:22)", "body": "Ok on Yahoo messenger I am kilauea83. I'll be looking for you"}, {"response": 181, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Oct 15, 2005 (18:03)", "body": "well, i tried to find you but your invite went to my daughter's yahoo account! so that's why i didn't accept it. i do show you on my account though."}, {"response": 182, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 17, 2005 (18:41)", "body": "hmmm need to know who you are there, in that case. I can see Terry when he is online."}, {"response": 183, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Oct 17, 2005 (20:34)", "body": "i finally got your invite to go through but it still shows you as waiting a response or something. i'm hazeleyedwolfie."}, {"response": 184, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 18, 2005 (14:52)", "body": "That is who I sent it to. Ok I still see Terry online. I'll look for the Hazeleyedwolfie this evening. collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 30, "subject": "What did you add to your collection(s) today?", "response_count": 97, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Apr  1, 1999 (18:57)", "body": "okay, okay, i added absolutely nothing. there. woopee!! wer: are you responsible for all the changes i've noticed around the spring?"}, {"response": 2, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Apr  1, 1999 (21:47)", "body": "all? maybe...do you like?"}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Apr  2, 1999 (19:31)", "body": "yes i do!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Apr  3, 1999 (01:02)", "body": "well then, of course I did it!!! (can't be too careful, you know...)"}, {"response": 5, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (14:16)", "body": "I bought some vinyl in Hamburg: Two early 90ies releases by SONNY VINCENT, one his Sylvia Reed-produced album Rollercoaster (with Scott Asheton/Stooges, Maureen Tucker and Sterling Morrison/both Velvet Underground, etc.), the other called Rec. 1979-1991 featuring stuff from his early days with punk act Testors and all the other outfits he's played in. Both these records were released in Hamburg, too, on a label now broke and dead. Richard Hell & The Voidoids, from 1983. Vinyl, german release on Line Records. Very nice Rock 'n' Roll, sometimes crossing the border to freaking listeners out (reminds me of one of my fave regional acts). No shellac. Record shop were open on Easter saturday till 16:00 h, but antiques places closed at 12:00 h or didn't open up at all."}, {"response": 6, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (14:49)", "body": "my collection in the To Do box is growing..."}, {"response": 7, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (14:50)", "body": "Dito."}, {"response": 8, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (15:22)", "body": "mine, too!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (15:27)", "body": "We should do a club, ooops, another one in the box!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 1999 (20:03)", "body": "let's talk about it tomorrow..."}, {"response": 11, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Apr  9, 1999 (07:28)", "body": "Wake up, Werby! It's already tomorrow! It's even today! (At least this side of the globe...)"}, {"response": 12, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Apr  9, 1999 (14:06)", "body": "and now it's today here too!"}, {"response": 13, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Apr  9, 1999 (20:19)", "body": "and soon it will be tomorrow!"}, {"response": 14, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Apr 10, 1999 (00:49)", "body": "and there still won't be anything done, and that much more to do!!!!!"}, {"response": 15, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Apr 10, 1999 (11:47)", "body": "yer right! cuz tomorrow never comes anyway...."}, {"response": 16, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Apr 10, 1999 (13:57)", "body": "*sigh*"}, {"response": 17, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sat, Apr 10, 1999 (14:06)", "body": "What a happy bunch we all are!"}, {"response": 18, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Apr 10, 1999 (14:12)", "body": "oh, yeah...YIPPPEEE!!!! = - ) party, party, party I feel good...."}, {"response": 19, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Apr 12, 1999 (13:14)", "body": "So, what new job will you add to your collection?"}, {"response": 20, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Apr 12, 1999 (20:11)", "body": "I'm gonna add AWare developer digital videographer graphic manipulator and chocolate fiend"}, {"response": 21, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Apr 13, 1999 (00:33)", "body": "as for me, who knows?"}, {"response": 22, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Apr 13, 1999 (12:16)", "body": "Surely I don't! What would you like to add? Are you just chucking that place and take a while off?"}, {"response": 23, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Apr 13, 1999 (20:53)", "body": "if I could afford to do so, that would be great... I don't know what I'm doing yet, except running out of time..."}, {"response": 24, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Apr 14, 1999 (15:38)", "body": "... and options. The story of my life."}, {"response": 25, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Apr 14, 1999 (19:09)", "body": "alright, i added another african violet to my collection!"}, {"response": 26, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 1999 (00:28)", "body": "*applause*"}, {"response": 27, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 1999 (13:57)", "body": "yeah, except i'm running out of room on the light shelves!"}, {"response": 28, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 1999 (14:11)", "body": "then add more shelves to your collection!"}, {"response": 29, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 1999 (14:13)", "body": "haha!! might need to do that. might need to build an addition onto the house too!"}, {"response": 30, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 1999 (14:21)", "body": "now you're talking!"}, {"response": 31, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 1999 (15:07)", "body": "Wer added some burns to his collection!"}, {"response": 32, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 1999 (16:36)", "body": "what kind?"}, {"response": 33, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun 23, 1999 (22:25)", "body": "i've added new barbies *woohoo*"}, {"response": 34, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jun 24, 1999 (04:31)", "body": "Throw 'em on the scanner!"}, {"response": 35, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 24, 1999 (10:28)", "body": "i would, but i don't think my scanner is big enough! will try, tho...."}, {"response": 36, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jun 24, 1999 (10:47)", "body": "Just throw the gal onnit and scan away! Be the alpha wolf of a whole new category of art - scanned collectibles collages, and give it a stupid name like scollage... HEy, hold it - give the idea to Wer, he might need it more urgent, and be his first follower (so he would collect something in gain, too). Be both rich and fabulous!"}, {"response": 37, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 24, 1999 (11:49)", "body": "but, you see, alex, the gals are still boxed (retain value that way)....although i would love to take 'em out and play with 'em once in a while! i could get into collages....."}, {"response": 38, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jul  1, 1999 (15:00)", "body": "Scanning boxed babes worked ok, now go do collages!"}, {"response": 39, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul  1, 1999 (19:45)", "body": "well, the pictures aren't very clear. am gonna have to invest in a digital camera...."}, {"response": 40, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul  1, 1999 (20:02)", "body": "I was gonna add my rock collection but I can't even see the boxed bounteous Barbie. I have only one - in a Penn State Cheerleader outfit, of course! A gift for me from someone who has no clue that I am still waiting to look like her! But that's a whole nother board!"}, {"response": 41, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul  1, 1999 (23:54)", "body": "lol!!"}, {"response": 42, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul  2, 1999 (00:11)", "body": "I keep showing up at the strangest places. I find musings on the ladies of Drool being pondered on the porch. Why do they not come up and post their pictures? It is hard to tell how cozy one would be with a photo-booth strip or a faceless individual. Get those Bachelors out where we can prod them and turn them around and see whatr the back side looks like - they have been doing this to women forever! Payback is a bitch! (talk about OT!!!) I added a cast-off onyx column to my rock collection. Anything that is not black over here looks interesting. We have one kind of rock - NEW! There are Peridots in the lava, though, and whole beaches made of them. Quite lovely!"}, {"response": 43, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Jul  2, 1999 (04:20)", "body": "Wolf, I don't thing a digital camera will be much better at peeping through the plastic. Just do it this way, and declare any imperfections to be intended Art. Thatza how to do it! Honestly, I think people make too little use of the fact that flat scanners are focused sharp over an inch in depth! I wonder if Marcia could try scanning some of her rocks... perhaps cover them with a white sheet of paper to provide for a clean background..."}, {"response": 44, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jul  2, 1999 (10:56)", "body": "oh, sounds like a new topic suggestion!"}, {"response": 45, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jul  3, 1999 (19:17)", "body": "marcia, if'n you want to show your rock collections, you can email the pics to me and i'll happily post them in your very own rock topic! mswolf68@hotmail.com"}, {"response": 46, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul  3, 1999 (20:03)", "body": "Thanks dear, I just might take you up on that. I am looking into getting a digital camera which will make life a lot easier here, too."}, {"response": 47, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (19:40)", "body": "ok, i added another plant to my collection...yep, don't know what it is yet. it's in the succulent family and has a pear shaped trunk that looks like it had crackle paint put all over it. there are branches coming out of the trunk with big fuzzy leaves. the unusualness of it is what attracted me. now the adventure of finding out what it is *woohoo*"}, {"response": 48, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (19:49)", "body": "I now have desert roses. They are the oddest looking plants which also has a water storage trunk (plus a vast root bulge for same). I also found a piece of lava with garnets in it. Usually it is Olivines (Peridot), but this'n is really pretty and red."}, {"response": 49, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jul 26, 1999 (09:27)", "body": "wow!! question, marcia, what does a piece of lava look like, feel like? anyhoo, i think the succulent is an adenium (desert rose is one, i think)...."}, {"response": 50, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 30, 1999 (18:04)", "body": "Lava comes in lots of different forms. And this is on topic cince my son's last camping trip yielded me some interesting obsidian and Bishop Tuff for my collection when he gets the time to mail it to me. Obsidian is slolid glass, so if you have seen slag from glass factories, it is silky-smooth to the touch...glassy! Aa is cinder and very jagged and rough. It will eat your Vibram soles like cookies. Pahoehoe has a hardened ropy-to-smooth surface, Pumice and ash is gritty and granular, reticulite is f othy glass and is treacherously sharp but very fragile. Yup, Desert Roses are indeed suculents of a sort."}, {"response": 51, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 30, 1999 (18:10)", "body": "How does it look? Aa is either red or black - looks like burned coal cinders Pahoehoe is black with rainboy effects from the differential cooling...looks like the place has been paved over smooth. Pumice is grey to black and dull granular Reticulite has Pahoehoe on both top and bottom with molasses-colored frothy glass...looks like a glass sponge."}, {"response": 52, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jul 30, 1999 (18:39)", "body": "neato! found out that desert rose has a poisonous milky sap and bleeds heavily when pruning. gross!"}, {"response": 53, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 30, 1999 (19:46)", "body": "Desert roses do not need pruning. That said, my old one is about 3' high and huge. My little one is so full of flowers it looks very odd - like a stunted plumeria. Your plant also has milky sap which is toxic if it is the one i am thinking it is. So do Poinsettias. And Plumerias."}, {"response": 54, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 30, 1999 (19:49)", "body": "BTW, I'll be you've never cut a fresh stalk of bananas...they bleed profusely, too. And it leaves a blood-red stain on anything it gets on."}, {"response": 55, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jul 30, 1999 (22:37)", "body": "how'd you know? i've never seen bananas on the tree in real life (tv doesn't count does it?) and the desert rose, isn't it adenium obesia (or something like that)? i didn't know the roses wouldn't need a prune, and even when i looked at my plant, i didn't see why, but did find wounds where it had been. i'm not planning on cutting into it, just want it to do it's own thing! and hopefully, it'll bloom too. i'm gonna have to get that link where i found the poisonous sap stuff on adenium. when i do, have a look-see, maybe they confused plants or something!!"}, {"response": 56, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jul 30, 1999 (22:40)", "body": "found it! http://www.bonsai-bci.com/species/adenium.html perhaps they were discussing pruning to keep it within bonsai requirements, i dunno."}, {"response": 57, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 30, 1999 (23:19)", "body": "Yes, Adenium obesum is the Desert Rose. We fed it Schultz 10-60-10 fertilizer which promotes rapid blooming. We did it about 6 weeks ago and that little plant in the pot with the huge belly-trunk has a dozen or more flowers on it. If anyone is interested in getting one of these, do no get a graft. It will have a skinny trunk. You need one raised from seed, with its natural fat trunk. You'll be able to see the difference even in little specimens. I am pot-binding mine to keep it small - just be sure it gets enough water during the summer and let it rest over the winter (which is much drier)."}, {"response": 58, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jul 31, 1999 (22:05)", "body": "got mine inside at the office in a west window. it has a fat belly!"}, {"response": 59, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Aug  1, 1999 (00:19)", "body": "Hey! So do I...*snif*"}, {"response": 60, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug  1, 1999 (00:27)", "body": "Hey! It is fortunate you do. No one trusts a skinny cook / chef. Besides if you are half a cute as these little (and not so little) plants are, you are irresistable. But, I do not recommend your sitting in the west window... Mine is outdoors all the time and gets what God decides it needs. (That, and a little blooming stuff every so often.)"}, {"response": 61, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Aug  7, 1999 (22:22)", "body": "i added three beanies to my collection today--a chihuahua, blue jay, and angel bear. picked up a hedgehog the other day (because hedgehogs are soooo cute)."}, {"response": 62, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (05:38)", "body": "You got the JFK Jr. Plane-crash-memorial one already? Read about it somewhere..."}, {"response": 63, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (09:17)", "body": "no, the company won't confirm my order (3 tries)....gonna have to go somewhere else!"}, {"response": 64, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (12:21)", "body": "But isn't that somehow, huh, WEIRD? A memorial cuddly-toy for a plane crash? No offense meant, Wolf (and all ye good Americans), but this idea is something I could have come up with, that's how weird it is..."}, {"response": 65, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (12:39)", "body": "no no, alex, no offense taken, but it's not in memory of the plane crash!! it's for JFK and his son. the money goes towards feed the children, a us charity."}, {"response": 66, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (13:05)", "body": "Yes, I've read that, too, but couldn't people just donate without a purchase? I think it - while definitely for a worthy cause - IS macabre (which appeals to me, unfortunately, so I'd like to have two...). When you get it, scan it, pls., so I can at least look at yours, ok?"}, {"response": 67, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (13:54)", "body": "It should have ceased to amaze me to what lengths the creative and tacky minds of Americans will go in the ostensible search for \"donations.\" I agree that is it macabre in the least and most distasteful. There must have been another way to handle this little item, but off-hand, I cannot think of what. Wolfie, those Hedgehogs are adorable, and I just might have to have one of my very own."}, {"response": 68, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (14:04)", "body": "But, Marcia, you must admit it has quite some \"cool\", too. That's what amazes me! It appeals to generous and compassionate humans and canines, as well as to evil, mean creatures like me. What a brilliant idea! (Bet J. Leno had a field day with that... So many mean remarks come to mind... Vicious, too...)"}, {"response": 69, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (19:15)", "body": "unfortunately, this society won't give unless it gets something back and i'm not talking about that warm fuzzy, either."}, {"response": 70, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (20:09)", "body": "That is fine - most places won't let you make off with their beanie-critters without you give them some metal and paper stuff first...!"}, {"response": 71, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (20:42)", "body": "yup, so that's my rationalization for getting them....kinda like all the princess memorabilia...."}, {"response": 72, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug  9, 1999 (21:00)", "body": "I think so. I'd kinda like to collect her Tiara with the pendant teardrop pearls..it's go in both of my gem topics...but I'd want the real one, and I suppose that has been spoken for. *sigh*"}, {"response": 73, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (15:09)", "body": "Found in the collection plate at church this morning - a \ufffd5 memorial coin for princess Diana! It was exchanged by my husband (treasurer) for a nice crisp \ufffd5 note and is now in our collection. I've no idea if it's worth any thing but it looks nice and can live with our Churchill crowns and set of New pennies from the 1970s. I hope it will be happier there than in a money sack at the bank."}, {"response": 74, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (16:19)", "body": "That is one of the perks of being treasurer. I always go through the coinage before I turn in the deposit and buy the interesting stuff. Someone was down to their last few pounds or you are getting ill-gotten gains. Either way, I am sure Churchill would approve!"}, {"response": 75, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (16:21)", "body": "Yesterday I added \"golden\" dollar coins which are legal tender but not really gold. Walmart had them so IO got me 5 of them. They're pretty!"}, {"response": 76, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (17:04)", "body": "I don't think we've had anything liek that turn up before - we occaisionally get scottish notes and irish coins, but nothing interesting. what are you going to do with your gold coins?"}, {"response": 77, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (18:06)", "body": "They are just \"golden\"...I have read nothing about them, so I do not know how many million-jillion they minted. I'll probably stick them in the same place I keep my little collection of Susan B. Anthony Dollars which were such a disaster - much as your pound coin (or is that still in circulation?)"}, {"response": 78, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (18:08)", "body": "i got mine getting change at wal-mart. they had this deal where you go to customer service and could buy $10 worth. well, i have $2 worth after paying for some other stuff we needed. they're neat!"}, {"response": 79, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (18:08)", "body": "gold dollar coins that is, not the pound coin."}, {"response": 80, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (18:10)", "body": "To give you some idea of how \"golden\" they are, they cost $1.00 each. Base metal, at best!"}, {"response": 81, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (18:15)", "body": "...But, Wolfie is right. They are pretty and have an eagle on the reverse and Sacajawea on the obverse (at least I think that's who it is.) Very light weight - must be aluminum under that shining golden coat."}, {"response": 82, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (18:19)", "body": "They smell like brass...! Copper, actually..."}, {"response": 83, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (18:19)", "body": "it is lightweight. wonder if the gold finish will rub off over time....."}, {"response": 84, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (18:54)", "body": "I am sure it will rub off...but since it is legal tender, it should be pretty durable. Have you seen anything about them in print? I am curious - they are so light I wonder if they will work in machines. I rather doubt it. We have not seen any new quarters yet, so I am more than a little surprised to find these here."}, {"response": 85, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (21:46)", "body": "just go to www.usmint.gov"}, {"response": 86, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (22:33)", "body": "Thank you! I went there and found out nothing about them. I wonder...gonna check something..."}, {"response": 87, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Feb 14, 2000 (13:10)", "body": "RE: Response 75 of 86: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (15:21) * 1 lines Yesterday I added \"golden\" dollar coins which are legal tender but not really gold. Walmart had them so IO got me 5 of them. They're pretty! Marcia... I thought the I stood for \"inconsiderate?\" You can't possibly call him inconsiderate if he went out and came back with a gift... can you??"}, {"response": 88, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 14, 2000 (16:28)", "body": "Alas, I wish you were right about this, but one is for his daughter, one for his son, and the other three are for is grandchildren. Not really mine...! (I am also harboring the jewels he did not give to me in my bank lock box - a large emerald and diamond confection, and his ex's first diamond before he got her a huge one. Neither have been offered to me and I think I would refuse them in any case. He is eating my Dove chocolate, too. I think I am paying for dinner tonight...! *sigh*"}, {"response": 89, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Feb 15, 2000 (10:38)", "body": "In most cases, this life is what we make of it Marica. If you desire greater passions and pleasures... Go GET them! You are a very wise woman, but some of the wisest people I've known can be foolish with their own hearts and minds... (*hug*)"}, {"response": 90, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Feb 15, 2000 (13:32)", "body": "At the moment he is convenient. I have been working behind the scenes to make my future a much better thing. But, in everyone's best interests, I am moving slowly becuase the other end of this little equation is not yet ready. Oh, yes, I shamed him into giving me the coins. Wow!!! That means, per our first comments, that he is not an IO. He's just an O right now. Stacey, you've been out there in the world more recently than I have been. How do you go out and GET those passions without getting a lot of stuff you don't want - like diseases and druggies and other nasties lurking out there? There are a few gentlemen who are most attentive and they are keeping me sane and anchored. Thanks for the advice. It is excellent, as ever!"}, {"response": 91, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Feb 15, 2000 (13:40)", "body": "Just as I'm certain a passionate you comes without diseases and drugs and other nasties, there are many others..."}, {"response": 92, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Feb 15, 2000 (17:22)", "body": "You are correct about me...and I am ever hopeful that there is my counterpart out there just as patient, morally upright and interested in finding someone like me as I am in finding someone like him. You have made my day *hugs*"}, {"response": 93, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Feb 16, 2000 (17:31)", "body": "Hang in there - I'm sure it will happen! *hugs*"}, {"response": 94, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Nov  3, 2001 (13:55)", "body": "k, i didn't add these things today, more like a couple of weeks ago. came upon an incredible deal at a closing Warner Bros store. picked up Scooby Doo Barbie for less than $10 (got two, one in the box, one to play with). too bad scooby wasn't in the box with her (i have this fascination with scooby doo). and....you know that frog that goes \"hello my darling, hello my ragtime gal....\" the dancing warner bros frog??? well, he is made by steiff and usually sells for a little over $200, we picked him up for $59. he came with a velvet bag too. i was thrilled (since i collect frogs too). oh, and just let me tell you this.....we found boxes like those made by harmony kingdom at a local vendor kiosk. you will be fooled unless you know what to look for. open the box and look for the hallmarks for harmony kingdom on the inside or on the bottom of the box. no hallmark, not real. what caught my eye was they had one on display exactly like one i have in my curio cabinet. looked inside, no hallmark, nor markings whatsoever. these guys are made in the UK, ok, so don't buy the pirated models, they're not worth anything."}, {"response": 95, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Nov  3, 2001 (13:56)", "body": "(the real guys are made in the UK, just so there's no confusion, NOT MADE IN CHINA)"}, {"response": 96, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Feb  4, 2002 (10:00)", "body": "i do have to go and rescind some of the info above--yes, a few pieces are made in china BUT they have hallmarks on them (the garden boxes for example)"}, {"response": 97, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 18, 2002 (18:21)", "body": "Yesterday, for Don's birthday, I added a scale model of a \"Napoleon Gun\" used in the Civil War. I bought it for him at Murfreesboro, TN at the Stones River Battlefield National Park. It is so cute and he is enjoying having it on a shelf near his bed. He collects memorabilia and books about the Civil War. collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 31, "subject": "3-D Photography", "response_count": 15, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug 11, 1999 (15:53)", "body": "If you are familiar with the Stereo Realist cameras, you will know about the film strips they took. I have a good-sized collection of these which were sold under the trade name Tru Vues and were coiled into little sleeves and then in boxes. My little ones are stored in specially-made fitted boxes which holds the viewer and the films."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (04:47)", "body": "That's what I have a Stereo Realist 3D camera. I got a viewer also. I was inspired by a visit to a couples Baylor Street house in Austin, they have literally tens of thousands of stunning 3d slides from all over the world, they showed us several hundred from India. I was introduced to them by the itinerant artist, Letitia Etheridge. It is on temporary loan to my cottage caretaker, Les Warren. He does photography shows around central Texas and I'm hoping he'll do some nature shots around the cottage out in Cedar Creek. I may do some shots soon, as well. I would imagine you could post these on the web and folks could view them somehow. Do you, Marcia, know of any websites sporting 3d pictures?"}, {"response": 3, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (05:44)", "body": "Here, in Europe, used and new russian stereo photography equipment is available of fleamarkets - there's even a stereo-projector, but you need special glasses to look through..."}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (19:05)", "body": "Terry, Not off-hand, but I will be delighted to hunt some for you as I have lots more time for that sort of thing than you have. I will post my results ASAP."}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (19:42)", "body": "Found a bunch, but not sure if these are what you need: Loads of Links here: http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Visual_Arts/Photography/3_D/Exhibits/ lots of links with this one http://www.midcoast.com/~nlund/photo.html this is a guy's gallery http://www.ne.jp/asahi/okuyuki/stereo/index_e.htm"}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (22:39)", "body": "Great I will check them all out and comment after I've done so. Super!"}, {"response": 7, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Mon, Jan 31, 2005 (04:01)", "body": "Try this site out for size. http://www.3dphoto.net/stereo/stereo.html The photos on this site are primarily in a format that requires cross-eyed viewing. It sounds worse than it is, and most people can view 3D pictures in this way (unless you have been cross-eyed before or have some other handicap involving one of your eyes). Some people need more time than others to perfect the mechanism, but once you have done so, it is really easy to do. There are, however, other ways to view many of the images on this site- the Anyview Photos, which make up about 1/3 of this site. Free-Vision Fusion (Cross-eyed method) This technique has the advantage of not requiring special viewing equipment. Fusion is the term used for the process for visually merging the left-eye image and the right-eye image into a single 3-dimensional image. When using a viewer, most of the work of achieving the needed abnormal convergence for stereo viewing is done by the optics and design of the stereo viewer. Free-vision fusion requires patience and practice because your willpower and eyes must do the work of the stereo viewer. You must be able to focus where your eyes aren't looking. Place the image in Figure 1 in the center of your screen. Sit at your normal distance. Slowly cross your eyes. You will see a double image, or four dots. Continue to cross until the middle two images overlap. Adjust focus on middle image, keeping the two images overlapped. You should see the blue circle floating above the black circle."}, {"response": 8, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Mon, Jan 31, 2005 (04:06)", "body": "Remember to stare at this picture and let the two pictures float together."}, {"response": 9, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Mon, Jan 31, 2005 (04:07)", "body": "Ready to go to Mars. Try this."}, {"response": 10, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Mon, Jan 31, 2005 (04:11)", "body": "Section 1 - 3-D DDDealers Dr. T - http://home.att.net/~drt-3d Ray Zone - www.ray3dzone.com Jon Golden - 3-D Concepts - www.make3dimages.com Ron Labbe - Studio 3-D - www.studio3d.com Dalia Miller - www.3dstereo.com Steve Berezin - www.berezin.com/3d Rocky Mountain Memories - www.rmm3d.com 3D Development Company - www.representatives.com/3d Antique Photographica - www.stereographica.com/ Widescreen Centre UK - www.widescreen-centre.co.uk/ Stereo Photo World UK - www.stereophotoworld.com/ John Craig - www.craigcamera.com Section 2 - 3DDD Resources www.stereoscopy.com/reel3d/faq.html - Reel 3-D's own Question and Answer Page - Still a great resource to answer your 3-D questions. If you have a question, this is a good place to start!!! www.stereoscopy.com - Your first stop for a great all around 3-D resource site! Lots of information about 3-D, 3-D news, 3-D resources, 3-D Clubs, and even downloads of 3-D software! Also see www.stereoscopy.com/links/ for links to other 3-D web sites. www.isu3d.org/ - The web site of the International Stereoscopic Union (worthy of belonging to just to receive their excellent periodical) www.stereoview.org - The web site of the National Stereoscopic Association (If you only belong to ONE 3-D organization, we suggest this one, at least. Their publication STEREO WORLD is well worth the price of membership! Don't miss us at the annual 3-D convention..) www.stereorealist.com - A good site for Stereo Realist fans, and other stereo information www.cinti.net/~vmmasell/ - The View-Master hobbyists web site www.dddesign.com/3dbydan/3dlinks/default.htm - Dan Shelley's 3-D Links Page. Very extensive! www.rollanet.org/~vbeydler/van/3dlinks.htm - Stereo 3-D Images 3-D Links Page www.stereoeye.jp/ - A Japanese 3-D web site by Takashi Sekitani, Japan www.jim3dlong.com/ - See mind boggling conversions to 3-D of classic and contemporary art - just the way you always imagined it -- in Depth! Includes conversions of Rembrandt, Vermeer, Botticelli, Leonardo Da Vinci, Albrecht Durer, Jan van Eyck, and much more. Art History in 3-D! http://home.earthlink.net/~pgwhacker/APEC/apec.html - The Amateur Photographic Exchange Club. They claim to be \"the world's only (as far was we know) stereo photography (3D photography) exchange club\". Lots of interesting info and links! www.johnsonshawmuseum.org/ - Trust us. A great site for historic stereo views and information. www.stereoscopicsociety.org.uk/ - We've been members of the Stereoscopic Society in the UK since 1983. The publish a superbly done Journal, and host a wonderful annual convention in the UK every year. If you live near London they also have monthly meetings! www.stereo3d.com - They list themselves as \"The independent 3D and Virtual Reality resource!\" Many links on this site seem to have gone out of date, but still a very interesting site for information. from the now defunct http://www.stereoscopy.com/reel3d/"}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jan 31, 2005 (18:07)", "body": "these are cool. having trouble viewing because i'm not sure if i'm supposed to look at them like the magic eye stereo pictures (where the picture can't be seen unless you unfocus your eyes)"}, {"response": 12, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Feb  1, 2005 (08:30)", "body": "You have to unfocus your eyes."}, {"response": 13, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 17, 2005 (19:47)", "body": "my ex could transpose church towers onto other buildings by \"unfocusing\" his eyes. I never got the hang of it. I also never saw anything in those digital art posters with hidden objects you can see if you unfocus your eyes."}, {"response": 14, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Oct 17, 2005 (21:35)", "body": "i've been seeing things unfocusing my eyes since i was little and thought i had powers *grin*"}, {"response": 15, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2006 (20:08)", "body": "Supergirl. collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 32, "subject": "Wish Lists", "response_count": 46, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jun 15, 1999 (13:33)", "body": "roque mallets."}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jun 15, 1999 (15:15)", "body": "what do you wanna smash, terry?"}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jun 15, 1999 (15:24)", "body": "if you're talking about croquet--- http://www.croquet.com/"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jun 17, 1999 (10:50)", "body": "roque to croquet is like baseball to softball. I want some of my own roque balls to smash. It may be still popular in England, but it's passe in the states."}, {"response": 5, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jun 17, 1999 (12:05)", "body": "Wow! THe Dead Media's equivalent in games - you should make a project out of that!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul  7, 1999 (22:22)", "body": "A meteorite for my rock collection. Gastrolith for same Every so often we have some spectacular eruptions which bring pieces of the Earth's mantle to the surface. I have some of these, and for all you August babies, it is solid peridotite (tiny crystals of Peridot). Most beautiful. We even have green sand beaches here which are granules of Peridot. Green beaches! Also have black beaches and the white ones are crushed seashells and coral, not silica as on the continents."}, {"response": 7, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul  7, 1999 (22:27)", "body": "Oh, and a coprolite would be interesting - just to say I have one..."}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul  7, 1999 (22:28)", "body": "...and a piece of amber with a whole creature in it."}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jul  7, 1999 (22:35)", "body": "i hear you about the amber. there's something about owning a piece of earth millions of years old even when it's been polished. i don't know if my piece has any insects in it, maybe if i take a jewelers glass and get a good look. it's shaped into a heart and dangles from a ring. i love it but am disappointed that i can't find more of it set in gold (which really compliments the warm earth tone). i can't imagine crawling around on a beach of peridot!! i'll go ahead and enter the rock topic. i don't collect rocks but enjoy looking at them!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (06:59)", "body": "Come to GErmany, Wolf! Lots of amber on offer, especially around the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts. Major cities' fleamarkets with Russian and Polish vendors have a lot of amber to offer, too. Most amber there like rocks, in the jewellery shops most is set in silver (for nicer reflection than from yellowish metals, I guess)."}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul 14, 1999 (19:26)", "body": "I truly think Amber is set in silver now because it makes it available at a less exhorbitant price. Baltic amber is the finest in the world. I have some tiny pieces including one with something foreign in it, but there is too little of it to tell of what it was a part. Probably grass trimmings from a lawn mower. That is what it looks like!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul 14, 1999 (19:40)", "body": "What I really wish is that you had had this discussion on Precious Stones and Metals. I guess I had better get writing on that topic. I rather thought it would take off on its own...! Alex, come visit Geo, Please! http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/8"}, {"response": 13, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jul 15, 1999 (10:23)", "body": "my brand new amber and silver bracelet and earrings have pieces of 'something foreign' in them (seeds maybe?) Brandon wanted one with a mosquito in amber but those pieces were HUGE I guess."}, {"response": 14, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul 15, 1999 (11:47)", "body": "If the pieces were not huge, you can bet the prices were. Not only is Amber fashionable now, it is popular amongst the newly Jurassic Park'd peopel who want a piece of the ancient past. Be careful with amber. It is v e r y soft and it will easily be abraided by anything it gets near. Store it wrapped in soft cloth or tissue and when you wear it other than on your ears or around your neck, remove it if you are going to be doing things which would scratch it. Otherwise you soon will not be able to see the goodies inside."}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul 15, 1999 (11:48)", "body": "BTW, congratulationd on your new jewelry. I am most envious!"}, {"response": 16, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul 15, 1999 (12:00)", "body": "and another thing, amber will dry out, so don't wear it on hot days where it would be exposed to the sun. the normal honey color because cloudy and dingy...."}, {"response": 17, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul 15, 1999 (12:01)", "body": "*ahem* becomes, not because!!"}, {"response": 18, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jul 15, 1999 (13:45)", "body": "ooh! thank you for the heads-up... I tend to be evil toward my jewelry and wear it non-stop... Brandon fell in love with the stuff when we were on our little engagement-prehoneymoon vacation so when he was in Denmark he bought me some! doesit wash up on the beach?"}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul 15, 1999 (14:26)", "body": "Along the Baltic Coast it does, indeed, wash up. Other places such as in the US, it has be be dug up. One way you can wear your bracelet is to push it as far up your arm as it will go then nestle it by rotating it to make it stay up there. I do that with my Heirloom Hawaiian jewellry and it works just fine."}, {"response": 20, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jul 15, 1999 (18:08)", "body": "if it ever does get scratched... can it be polished?"}, {"response": 21, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul 15, 1999 (19:28)", "body": "Very easily, but take it to a jeweller who knows what he is doing. Amber is very soft!"}, {"response": 22, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul 15, 1999 (20:38)", "body": "yup, and don't dip it in those jewelry cleaners either."}, {"response": 23, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul 15, 1999 (23:06)", "body": "or your pearls ivory or coral. In fact anything with organic origins should just be cleaned with mild soap (not detergent) and water."}, {"response": 24, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jul 16, 1999 (10:17)", "body": "'anything w/ organic origins' --- my diamond?"}, {"response": 25, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jul 16, 1999 (10:42)", "body": "your diamond is fine...ivory, coral, pearl, and amber are created differently--they're porous."}, {"response": 26, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 16, 1999 (12:34)", "body": "I was wondering when that would be asked. When Carbon is pure and in crystalline form it does not down grade into something else. it has rhombic chrystals and is very stable. They fluroesce, so check them under your black light, too."}, {"response": 27, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jul 16, 1999 (13:14)", "body": "diamonds flouresce? hmmmm....."}, {"response": 28, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 16, 1999 (14:08)", "body": "Some are!.."}, {"response": 29, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 16, 1999 (14:11)", "body": "The truly colorless and flawless ones might not but the colors in the rest of them (caused by various elements during their formation) can cause this effect."}, {"response": 30, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jul 16, 1999 (17:05)", "body": "oh Marcia! We had a lengthy conversation about just that topic a while back... my side stones flouresce a neon green and the big one is clear... Brandon's mother's ring has a bunch of little stones and they all flouresced different shades of green and blue!"}, {"response": 31, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 16, 1999 (17:17)", "body": "Now you know why. It is the result of minute amount which do not alter the optical quality as far as matching them for a setting goes, but is it not interesting how they betray their diversity under fluorescence. That is fascinating, Stacey, thanks for sharing ( and come to Geo and talk about it too!) BTW, Brandon got you a good stone for the center!"}, {"response": 32, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 16, 1999 (17:22)", "body": "Stacey, if you want a truly unique way of identifying your diamonds for insurance purposed, photograph them under fluorescent light. No other stones are likely to be combined the exact way yours are, or Brandon's mother's ring."}, {"response": 33, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jul 17, 1999 (22:27)", "body": "what a great idea!!"}, {"response": 34, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Mon, Jan 31, 2005 (04:01)", "body": "Found. Roque mallets."}, {"response": 35, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct  3, 2005 (14:45)", "body": "currently mine is alexandrite with a metal meteorite for good measure. I need one with a section polished. Some olivines in it would be a nice touch."}, {"response": 36, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct  5, 2005 (00:24)", "body": "Ames Doty has tons of rocks, email amesdoty@yahoo.com and ask him about alexandrite."}, {"response": 37, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Oct  5, 2005 (22:51)", "body": "noooooooooo, then i'll have to take out a few mortgages on the house!"}, {"response": 38, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Oct  5, 2005 (22:51)", "body": "marcia, we should invite him to geo!"}, {"response": 39, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct  7, 2005 (10:42)", "body": "You should, email me and invite him. He'll come. mailto://amesdoty@yahoo.com"}, {"response": 40, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct  7, 2005 (19:23)", "body": "Thanks ! *But if he is a real geologist he will be horrified at what passes for science in there, I fear* But, I'll be happy to do so. Is there a website to see for him? I need to Google a bit. Thanks, Terry!"}, {"response": 41, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Oct  7, 2005 (21:10)", "body": "no, no, no.....he'll probably find some of our \"uneducated\" theories as valid and have an excuse to apply for a grant....at the very least, he'd have a lot of fun at our expense! i mean, look, he even has his very own spring email addy!!"}, {"response": 42, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct  7, 2005 (22:04)", "body": "This is true. He even practtices his craft in Spring's home town. I'll give him a call via email and see what happens. Who knows. Maybe he'll get a few new customers !!"}, {"response": 43, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct  7, 2005 (23:51)", "body": "Ames is more of a mystic than a geologist."}, {"response": 44, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct  8, 2005 (15:26)", "body": "I noticed. Maybe wolfie could invite him to paraspring?!"}, {"response": 45, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Oct  8, 2005 (15:40)", "body": "ooooohhhhhh boyyyyyyyy....."}, {"response": 46, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2006 (20:09)", "body": "Ever hear from Ames, Marci? collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 33, "subject": "Action Figures", "response_count": 18, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jul 21, 1999 (12:18)", "body": "ok, am i the only one with some action figures? well, my husband and i grabbed a whole set of spiderman stuff when the store marked them way down (i'm talking down to $2 from $7). probably not worth anything, but we got 'em...."}, {"response": 2, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jul 21, 1999 (15:16)", "body": "just out of curiousity... WHERE IN THE HECK DO YOU PUT ALL THIS STUFF!! I am amazed at how much 'stuff' B and I have collected in only one year and am calling anyone and everyone to come take stuff we don't use..."}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jul 21, 1999 (16:16)", "body": "they're in a plastic storage box...."}, {"response": 4, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jul 22, 1999 (09:16)", "body": "a big one?? you guys must have a rather large house with rather large capacity for storage! Lately I've been frustrated because the few places we have storage seem to be busting out at the seams... and we've only lived there a year!!!! My mother-in-law to be (from this point forward she will be referred to in all conferences as my MILTB) collects all kinds of stuff ('for the grandchildren') and manages to keep it all well organized and out of sight... i do NOT have such talents! (but I do like action figures!)"}, {"response": 5, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul 22, 1999 (10:30)", "body": "no, i do not have a large house, nor is my home made up of closets. in fact, my bedroom closet contains the majority of our collections. (boxes stacked on each other). i had a bionic woman doll complete with her recharger get up. played with her right along with the barbie dolls. shoulda kept her, huh?"}, {"response": 6, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jul 22, 1999 (10:51)", "body": "shoulda... I gave most all of my Barbies, Matchbox cars, Tonka trucks, etc to cousins when I felt I was too old for them... shoulda kept em too!"}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul 22, 1999 (12:53)", "body": "you're right! my stuff went to salvation army...."}, {"response": 8, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Jul 23, 1999 (12:36)", "body": "...hope you did it out of your own free will at the time. Looking back twenty years later and thinking \"I must-a been braindead that day!\" is better than being upset for twenty year about getting stuff taken away against your will."}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jul 23, 1999 (13:10)", "body": "nope, parents said they had to go (i remember taking some of my fave toys to the dumpster and crying all the way) :("}, {"response": 10, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sat, Jul 24, 1999 (08:38)", "body": "My sympathies. I had everything taken away, which lead to me never lending something to others these days (\"Use it here or don't!\" - I am generous with that, or with coming along, but let stuff go out of sight... No way!), and hoarding crap, er, ahem, \"treasures\". As you know, I'm into old technical things, rare curiosa, recordings and films. Also heaps of comic books (some rare stuff, too) and books in general. Did not even manage to drag everything together yet, still spread over several garages and basements... Quite obviously related patterns. Quite pathetic, too. Pathological, even. Since I felt through these connections, it became less uncontrolled. Now I even can miss the buy of the century, and live with it without missing a minute of sleep. The past never stops to hurt - the pain and sadness never ceases, which is natural, but the drivenness and compulsiveness about it has gone, which is good. Plus I got the blaming-issue figured out. And now I only go for stuff that is really worth keeping."}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 24, 1999 (12:26)", "body": "Oh Alexander, how ghastly to have that done to your treasures. I have just about nothing of my childhood...it is probably just as well because houses here have neither basements nor attics, and it is too damp to store things anywhere else. I have all of my son's childhood stuff - most especially cherished are his little metal cars from various namufacturers in Europe and America. If he does not want them, they are mine!!! However, I am sure on my next visit to him that I will produce them in their litt e storage boxes and he will have Christmas all over again, and we will play with them on the floor as we did so long ago...*smile*"}, {"response": 12, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jul 24, 1999 (16:31)", "body": "*grin* that's what i'm doing with some of my kids' things--cute little outfits, first pair of shoes, and, yes, the lock of hair after the first haircut *sigh* they grow sooooooo darned fast. when we go through our kids' toys, they do the deciding on what goes and what stays. and then it's me who says, nah, we'll keep this or that...."}, {"response": 13, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 24, 1999 (18:37)", "body": "I know exactly what you are thinking and feeling. They are here but an instant and then they are gone. I miss mine like chunk was taken from me and lost but never heals (I do not see him very much!)"}, {"response": 14, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jul 24, 1999 (21:54)", "body": "oh sweetie *big hugs* i cry when i think about my kids leaving home (and they're only 10 and 6)...."}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (00:35)", "body": "One time, when my piano was new, David was running his little cars on the edge of it and scratched the new finish. I was about to slice and dice him verbally when my Mom pulled me aside and said that in 20 years when he was grown and gone I would rub over that very spot and cherish the memory of the cute little boy who made the scratch. You know, I do each time I go by...!"}, {"response": 16, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (10:40)", "body": "*sniff*"}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (14:29)", "body": "*sniff* here, too. It is a good thing to remember, though, when the little loves do something like that in total innocency...they never meant to scratch your furniture...Hug yours for me, please! I miss mine very much."}, {"response": 18, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (17:24)", "body": "will do! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 34, "subject": "Perfume/Aftershave Bottles", "response_count": 19, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jun 14, 1999 (12:39)", "body": "http://www.perfumebottle.com"}, {"response": 2, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Jun 15, 1999 (22:11)", "body": "for some reason, I expected to find the word \"Avon\" in here..."}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun 16, 1999 (09:04)", "body": "it's there now!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jun 16, 1999 (09:27)", "body": "whew! And I refrained from being te one to say it!!!"}, {"response": 5, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jun 16, 1999 (11:00)", "body": "yep, leave it to old lack of inhibitions me..."}, {"response": 6, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jun 16, 1999 (13:48)", "body": "so are we all envisioning the vintage car bottle? Cowboy hat bottl? Angel bottle? ..."}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun 16, 1999 (15:08)", "body": "gee, stacey, you really know a lot about these things, huh? *grin*"}, {"response": 8, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jun 17, 1999 (09:46)", "body": "ah... a child of a stay at home mom... ask me about Tupperware parties!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 17, 1999 (12:27)", "body": "i remember seeing car and truck bottles briefly at my house......"}, {"response": 10, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jun 17, 1999 (15:30)", "body": "did you have solid perfume lockets as well?"}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 17, 1999 (21:25)", "body": "i don't know...what do they look like?"}, {"response": 12, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jun 18, 1999 (10:10)", "body": "faux gold some of them had glass beads embedded in the top to resemble gems"}, {"response": 13, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jun 18, 1999 (10:57)", "body": "hmmm....i don't think i've seen them..."}, {"response": 14, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jun 18, 1999 (11:01)", "body": "many moons ago..."}, {"response": 15, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Jun 18, 1999 (14:27)", "body": "I had the dune buggy aftershave bottle. Many more moons ago..."}, {"response": 16, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jun 18, 1999 (17:52)", "body": "twenty years later it's a collector's item"}, {"response": 17, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Jun 20, 1999 (00:07)", "body": "much like some of us!"}, {"response": 18, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Jun 20, 1999 (10:02)", "body": "Let's put it this way, Stace - if you're right, it is one *today*..."}, {"response": 19, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Jun 21, 1999 (09:31)", "body": "Oh, I'm sure it is... so's the angel perfume bottle I have AVON of course! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 35, "subject": "Quilts", "response_count": 7, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jun 14, 1999 (12:48)", "body": "http://www.hickoryhillquilts.com http://www.antiquequilts.com"}, {"response": 2, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jun 17, 1999 (11:11)", "body": "Do you make or collect quilts?"}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 17, 1999 (12:29)", "body": "i have attempted to make quilts but i am awful at it. i'm working on a wall hanging now, but only have two blocks (of 12 total) made."}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:39)", "body": "here's a bit of interesting info i've just read. it comes out of the november issue of national geographic: it appears that some quilts made by slaves had coded blocks on them concerning the underground railroad. it's quite interesting and the text gives a url address: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad"}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  8, 1999 (15:18)", "body": "Thanks - sounds fascinating, and while Terry and ratthing agree that telnet rules...I have to get out of it (where I am now) before I can use that link. More than likely they know how to access it from here, but I do not!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Nov  9, 1999 (06:55)", "body": "Just copy and paste the link into your browser."}, {"response": 7, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov  9, 1999 (13:12)", "body": "OK! Thanks collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 36, "subject": "Linens", "response_count": 58, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Wed, Sep  8, 1999 (11:27)", "body": "Is there anybody out there who collects old linen, needlework, books about it and stuff like that? It's nearly the only thing I collect seriously - I've got a whole cupboard with old bed linen, hand made fabric and table clothes and stuff like that. ..and to reveal another \"secret\" that even my best friends around here don't know: I even do needlework and sew my own clothes. (Some of the girls react funny, if I say \"I do needlework\", seems to be not very up-to-date for a \"modern girl\")"}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Sep  8, 1999 (19:42)", "body": "i do needlework too, isabel! and i get it framed and hung in my living room too!! love it--great stress reliever.... i'll see what kind of websites i can find and post them here."}, {"response": 3, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Thu, Sep  9, 1999 (06:34)", "body": "Great! *Smile*"}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (16:36)", "body": "Needleworker here, too. (A Hemming would have to be, No?!). However, in this climate even the stuff you use regularly gets mildew stains on it and they cannot be removed. Most discouraging considering that some of it was dont by my Grandmother and it is all I have from her!"}, {"response": 5, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (17:17)", "body": "have you tried soaking it in hot water with clorox II and dove dish detergent? just let it soak and soak. (put equal amounts of clorox ii and dove in a sinkful or clean bucket full of hot water). this generally removes most stains from my cross stitch pieces. just make sure you rinse well in cold water. you can take it to a drycleaners to get it sealed just like a wedding dress. this should help prevent mildew probs."}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (17:22)", "body": "Thanks, I'll try that. I have tried about everything else but scissors to be rid of the little orange spots...!"}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (17:36)", "body": "little orange spots? could they be rust?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (17:49)", "body": "No, it is our brand of mildew out here on linens (all stored in acid-free tissue and in cardboard boxes.) Some in ziplocks also mildewed. Never seems to get the green or black kind like the walls and ceilings do, but the orange is something we have all had to fight. I am sure it is coloration from iron salts involved somewhere in there, so I should us oxyllic acid to get rid of them, I imagine. Now aren't you happy you do not live on the windward side of a tropical island?!."}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (17:58)", "body": "have seen orange mildew in the baths (esp. right after we bought the house)...wouldn't the acid destroy the delicate fabrics?"}, {"response": 10, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (18:18)", "body": "I am afraid it will, thus never tried anything too extreme - like regular Chlorox. Will give a your suggestion a try, though. They are not usable as they are, so I might as well try...will let you know of my success. (Don't tell me about baths. Yuck! You can watch it grow in there!)"}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (18:18)", "body": "Looms Ebay Tapestry Index Ebay Textiles Index maybe this will get you started, isabel.... and anybody find any other links, please post them!!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (18:22)", "body": "one too many spaces inbetween the links, sorry about that. marcia, DO NOT use chlorox bleach!! oh, and use clorox ii powder, not liquid. once dry, you can iron (from the back) to lose any wrinkles, don't press too hard or you'll flatten the stitches. oh, and if you have needlepoint or cross stitched pieces, they'll need to be stretched to maintain their shape. you can use foam board and rustless pins available at crafts stores and, quite possibly, walmart."}, {"response": 13, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (18:39)", "body": "Yes, thanks for the information. I knew about the other pinning for form. I always ironed my needlework on towels so the stitches had some place to sink into. OK, Chlorox II powder ...!"}, {"response": 14, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (10:24)", "body": "Maybe I should look into one of my old householdbooks if I could find something for the mildew-problem, Marcia. But be careful with your old linens, please!!! I had mildew-stains on old linen, too, but I got them out with normal bleach. After washing them twice and bleaching in the sun, they looked brand new. It were old pillow-cases with real bobbin-lace! ...and they were ment to be thrown away, got them out of a trash-bin!! Seems to be a special-Hawaian-mildew-species..."}, {"response": 15, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (12:03)", "body": "Bleach: In the olden days, our grandmothers used oxygen to bleach. They spread their linens - still wet - on community lawns (many street addresses like Bleiche or An der Bleiche still refer to the location of this place) on sunny days. The photosynthesis of the gras beneath makes gras \"exhale\" oxygen, which bleached the sheets. Hmh, I wonder if that might help."}, {"response": 16, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (15:45)", "body": "Yes, it certainly does help. During the WW2 period I heard that was how women got their laundry anything like white during rationing and scarcity of materials (of course I would know nothing about this personally...) Thanks for the sage reminder."}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (15:54)", "body": "Isabel, I do think we have special inflictions put upon us for the privilege of living in Hawaii, lest we get too overbearing about it. I am happy you got your linens (with bobbin lace!)pristine again. I shall go very slowly in my efforts to get the orange spots out. And, thank you for your time and kind thoughts. As soon as the next dry spell hits, I shall try and let you know of my success."}, {"response": 18, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (17:07)", "body": "yep, sun-bleaching is the natural way!"}, {"response": 19, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (17:46)", "body": "Is that why wolves like to roll in the gras?"}, {"response": 20, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (19:07)", "body": "yup, and it's a good way to get that rump and back scratched when yer too fat to do it yourself!!"}, {"response": 21, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (19:20)", "body": "(*grin* there is no such thing as a fat wolf!)"}, {"response": 22, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Thu, Sep 16, 1999 (12:10)", "body": "Hi Marcia! Didn't find much about mildew yet. There's something about using soda in old times, maybe this would help...or hydrogen peroxide, but this might be very aggressive, too.\"Das Reich der Hausfrau\" says, if you use chlorine, you should rinse the linen very carefully afterwards or take anti-chlorine (what ever this might be...) to neutralize it."}, {"response": 23, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 17, 1999 (17:15)", "body": "Aloha Isabel! I have an interesting re-print of an old book of household formulas, and it includes remedies for horse colic and I don't know what all. I should check in there and see what it suggests. Lemon juice has been used for bleaching hair. Wonder if it would also work on linen?!"}, {"response": 24, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 17, 1999 (17:17)", "body": "Since chlorine in bleach is an alkalai, I wonder if white vinegar might be a good acid to use..."}, {"response": 25, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Sep 17, 1999 (17:37)", "body": "white vinegar and baking soda works wonders on all sorts of things!"}, {"response": 26, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 17, 1999 (18:38)", "body": "Oh good! Thanks for the input. Somewhere in the back of my mind hiding amongst the debris, I vaguely remembered something like that."}, {"response": 27, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Sat, Sep 18, 1999 (14:00)", "body": "Today I was lucky! Found a little linen pillow-case with richelieu-needlework for just 5 marks (about $ 2.5)at the fleamarket! Normally you would pay loads of money for something like this. Some of the little \"bridges\" are broken, but I guess I can repair them. It's sooo lovely! I should get a new e-mail adress, so I can show you some stuff! Maybe I could get an account at the spring? Who to ask?"}, {"response": 28, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 18, 1999 (15:48)", "body": "Isabel, instead of clogging up valuable space on Spring's hard drive, go to hotmail or yahoo for their free service. It would be really nice to have you with a mailable address so we could get to know you better...*smile*"}, {"response": 29, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 18, 1999 (15:49)", "body": "I am Jealous of your finds at yout \"flea\" markets. The ones here come with real fleas and not much else to write home about!"}, {"response": 30, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep 18, 1999 (19:41)", "body": "that's why we go to garage sales. today, we went to a year-long flea market and i found some barbies but they were from the 80's. nothing to write home about there either! didn't see any linens except for a couple dirty old quilts that weren't exciting in the least."}, {"response": 31, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 18, 1999 (20:14)", "body": "Found my Henley's Formulas (Originally published in 1907). For bleaching linen: \"Mix common bleaching powder in the proportion of 1 pound to a gallon of water. Stir occasionally for 3 days and pour it off clear. Then make a lye of 1 pound of soda to 1 gallon of boiling water in which soak the linen for 12 hours, and boil it half an hour; next soak it in the bleaching liquor, made as abocve; and lastly wash it in the usual manner. Discoloured linen or muslin may be restored by putting a portion of bleaching liquor into the tub wherein the articles are soaking.\" \"Bleaching solution (aluminum hyperchloride) is made by adding to a clear solution of lime chloride a solution of aluminum sulphate.\" I'll bet you cannot even get this stuff anymore at the store - unless you are a chemistry professor! You do not want to know how involved he makes bleaching linen and other vegetable fibers with hydrogen peroxide, but it involves reeling vats and piling the fabric on carriages and acidulating them later. This book is amazing. It has formulae for electroplating and just about anything else you ever wanted to know!"}, {"response": 32, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Mon, Sep 20, 1999 (06:54)", "body": "I've never been to the U.S., not to speak of Hawaii!, but maybe european fleemarkets have more really old stuff to sell (???). The ones I visit in Germany are also mostly new stuff, many many clothes and not very interesting. Mostly I find just one thing, like the little pillow-case, and mostly I don't get up early enough to catch the interesting bits. There are special fleemarkets were only old stuff is allowed, but the trader are real professionals and they have their prices...I've heard the best fleema kets should be in the Netherlands and England, but I've never seen them, best in Germany was Berlin, I think, but I haven't been there since ten years. BTW, I heard that hotmail (was it hotmail?) got hacked and everybody could read your e-mail there without a password! I don't know if this is true, but I'll better check out yahoo..."}, {"response": 33, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep 20, 1999 (14:23)", "body": "eudoramail.com is the one I picked for emergencies on the net. It requires a password. You might like to check it out. (I use Eudora program for my regular Email through my ISP) Good luck. We once had a problem with a lurker and another lady signed on at about the same time with a nomail.com email address. We were all sure it was the same lady and gave her a very hard time. Please be someone we can know! Would not like that to happen to you!!!"}, {"response": 34, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Mon, Sep 20, 1999 (14:43)", "body": "Sorry, I didn't know I should have given you a \"real\" email adress at Spring. Got my old one so full of junk-mail that I wanted to avoid giving a personal email adress to public. OK, I'll see that I get a new one as soon as possible, I promise!..Thanks for your kind advice!"}, {"response": 35, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 20, 1999 (20:06)", "body": "Visto has email! Rememeber, when you sign up for Visto from the link on our main page, we make two big ones towards support of this place."}, {"response": 36, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep 20, 1999 (20:10)", "body": "Isabel!! Yes! Go to Visto - I had quite forgotten! Thanks, Terry!"}, {"response": 37, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep 20, 1999 (20:10)", "body": "i forgot about that!"}, {"response": 38, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Tue, Sep 21, 1999 (06:59)", "body": "Ooops, sorry! Got that Visto-Information too late...Thanks anyway! Got a new one were I still had my \"busy\" one... ...just klick at me!"}, {"response": 39, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 22, 1999 (17:13)", "body": "Yup! Your name is your email link! You didit!!!"}, {"response": 40, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 24, 1999 (19:14)", "body": "From Isabel: The first one \"Decke\" shows a part of the tablecloth I'm working on. It will take me some more years to finish! It's my first needlework since childhood - not perfect, but not that bad, either..."}, {"response": 41, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 24, 1999 (19:17)", "body": "Also From Isabel: The second shows a part of the old pillowcase I bought at the fleamarket."}, {"response": 42, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 24, 1999 (19:18)", "body": "Did I get them in the right order? Very nice needlework, Dear! Thanks for sharing."}, {"response": 43, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Sep 24, 1999 (20:21)", "body": "the first piece, isabel, is that similar to hardanger? it's very pretty and i hope we get to see the finished project!! i like the second one too!"}, {"response": 44, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Sun, Sep 26, 1999 (14:36)", "body": "The needlework of the first one is called \"Hohlsaum\" in german, I think it's hemstitch in english, but the stitches are somehow related to hardanger. You pull out threads and then stich a pattern with them. Hardanger and cross-stitch are favorite needleworks in Germany at the moment. Thank you for posting tham, Marcia!"}, {"response": 45, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Sun, Sep 26, 1999 (14:38)", "body": "That should have read \"them\" of course! Silly me!"}, {"response": 46, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep 26, 1999 (15:03)", "body": "Isabel, in the interest on keeping the images quick to load, I made the tablecloth small and left the other larger so we could see your needlework. Would you like me to post the URL for the full-sized image of either?"}, {"response": 47, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep 26, 1999 (16:25)", "body": "and while we're on the subject of posting pics...i've discovered a free service while running around the american gloxinia organization--photopoint. you can sign up for free and all you do is email your pics to them and they put them into your \"album\". you get a password so no one can mess with your stuff and you can use them as links to save terry's precious server space. so here's the url if you wanna check them out: http://www.photopoint.com (not trying to do a sales pitch, just thought it would be helpful!)"}, {"response": 48, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (09:57)", "body": "Hi Marcia! They really look nice the way you posted them.The tablecloth has just the exact size it has in real, I think there's no need to post an URL! Thanks!"}, {"response": 49, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (21:41)", "body": "Excellent...happy they meet with your approval (my utlimate aim when posting others' graphics...)*grin* The linen did look like canvas until I fiddled with it...now I think it is very like linen!"}, {"response": 50, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (21:48)", "body": "Wolfie, try posting this on the Porch conference. I think it is a really good idea, though I have not investigated it. I will as soon as I get more stuff to post, though! See what Terry thinks...(and wish we could get some input from..."}, {"response": 51, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Sep 28, 1999 (12:06)", "body": "post what on the porch conference? you mean a link or something?"}, {"response": 52, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 29, 1999 (19:08)", "body": "as soon as I get out of telnet I will check my files and let you know."}, {"response": 53, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jan  6, 2000 (20:21)", "body": "ok, so this may not fall under linen but they are crocheted. anybody have directions for these in english? Crochet Rings mom sent a ring to me but it was too big to scan so these are similar. they are in a german crochet project book and my german is rusty at best."}, {"response": 54, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jan  6, 2000 (20:24)", "body": "the directions are shown in a graph as well but i can't read that to save my life. do we have an arts & crafts conference? if not, i'd be willing to host that as well! terry? somebody? *grin* marcia, i sure hope you're in through the web, you've got to see my rock picture!"}, {"response": 55, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan  6, 2000 (21:50)", "body": "Can't help you with the German but your image is on http://206.97.234.70/~bayou/crochetring.gif for the time being. You never knit reindeer sweaters or argyle sox? All of them have patterns on grid paper I'll be happy to email Terry and hey, I do crafts all the time! I'd be delighted to help and all that or just add my two cents worth! Yippee!!!"}, {"response": 56, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan  6, 2000 (21:53)", "body": "Might I co-host with you or shall I bug you to make topics when I need them?"}, {"response": 57, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  7, 2000 (17:00)", "body": "it's not a grid. hmmmm....it's a picture with symbols on it. (and of course you may co-host with me *hugs*) but am not sure if crafty things fall under art or not...."}, {"response": 58, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan  7, 2000 (17:57)", "body": "Art it usually isn't but I shall leave that up to Terry. I did not bother him yesterday since he was not even online (he had opened his telnet channel but was nowhere to be found.) I just sent the message and will forward you a copy (why did I not CC you?!) *hugs* Thanks!!! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 37, "subject": "Folk Art", "response_count": 13, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jun 14, 1999 (12:50)", "body": "http://www.folkart.com"}, {"response": 2, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Jun 15, 1999 (22:07)", "body": "every \"item\" in their classification table could be topics here...quite an extensive set of links..."}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun 16, 1999 (09:06)", "body": "i know! it made me realize how much i missed...."}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul  2, 2000 (17:32)", "body": "ok collectors of folk art, gotta question about kitchen witches (no, not pagan stuff). my german grandmother has one, my mother has one, and i want one. am going to try to make one myself, but if you know anything about them, please post here! thanks in advance"}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul  2, 2000 (17:36)", "body": "THEKITCHENWITCHES HOMEPAGE ...THE KITCHEN WITCHES BRINGING MAGIC TO YOUR KITCHEN... hometown.aol.com/themenuworks/homepage.html - Show matches (Cache) - 8k - Similar pages [ More results from hometown.aol.com ] Kitchen Witches ... Kitchen Witches [ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Ancient... ...several passing references to kitchen witches (including Diane's... http://www.triplemoon.com/witchcraft/messages/7292.html - Show matches (Cache) - 5k - Similar pages from http://www.google.com/search?q=kitchen+witches&meta=lr%3D%26hl%3Den&btnG=Google+Search"}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul  2, 2000 (17:38)", "body": "Good to see you posting again, Wolfie!! *Hugs*"}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jul  3, 2000 (09:41)", "body": "thanks for that, marcia, but they're referring to witches in the kitchen, like real witches. what i'm referring to is the european folksy kitchen witches that are hung in the kitchen for good health. they are actually dolls on brooms and are for decorative purposes."}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul  3, 2000 (21:56)", "body": "I thought the bottom url I posted from google carried them all......haftq check more. Sorry"}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jul  4, 2000 (11:39)", "body": "it did, but there were messages about the doll not the origin. and lots and lots of stuff on being a kitchen witch! (did that google search myself and there were so many results, i was overwhelmed!) *HUGS*"}, {"response": 10, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul  4, 2000 (13:38)", "body": "Gonna have to modify it then... I'll do it as soon as I get the hormonally rampant men get off my IM program *grin*"}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul  4, 2000 (15:30)", "body": "This page has a good description and a bad teeny picture http://www.thesalemwitch.com/itm00048.htm Instructions for making a Kitchen Witch: http://www.sculpey.com/projects_kitchendol.htm"}, {"response": 12, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jul  5, 2000 (17:12)", "body": "yes, Yes, YES!!! thanks marcia, this is more like it. i've got stuff to make my witch and if i'm successful, maybe i'll make some as gifts. but it'd be nice to include a card as to the origin of these gals. i'll keep looking for that. thanks for those sites!!!! *HUGS*"}, {"response": 13, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul  5, 2000 (21:08)", "body": "I have more time than you do...my pleasure! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 38, "subject": "Walt Disney", "response_count": 1, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jun 14, 1999 (20:10)", "body": "here's a collector's newsgroup: alt.disney.com collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 39, "subject": "Warner Brothers", "response_count": 1, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jul 21, 1999 (12:21)", "body": "alright, well i like warner brothers but i have no collectibles. well, except for a plastic dot warner (from animaniacs-which, btw, i love to watch)..... collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 4, "subject": "Constructive criticism for the conference host(s)", "response_count": 38, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jan  7, 1999 (07:46)", "body": "Whoa baby, i love the yellow background!"}, {"response": 2, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jan  7, 1999 (10:55)", "body": "all that I do, I do for you..."}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jan  7, 1999 (11:04)", "body": "and you're such a sweetheart for it! *hugs*"}, {"response": 4, "author": "wer", "date": "Sun, Feb  7, 1999 (13:48)", "body": "getting tired of the pencils...any suggestions for other horizontal rules?"}, {"response": 5, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Feb  7, 1999 (20:13)", "body": "i've seen some great stuff for collecting around the net, will have to find them again (i.e., really cute beanie baby gif's, as well as barbie stuff). will look around :)"}, {"response": 6, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Feb  9, 1999 (13:18)", "body": "i can't find the sites that had those graphics. got an idea, though....maybe we can collect clips of different collectables and incorporate them into the yellow background. i'm gonna keep looking."}, {"response": 7, "author": "wer", "date": "Sat, Feb 13, 1999 (12:08)", "body": "I'm trying to offer this conf as a service to http://www.collectors.org/ as well, which may eventually affect the way this conf looks...what do you think, Wolf?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Feb 13, 1999 (12:51)", "body": "i think it'll be totally coooool!!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Feb 13, 1999 (13:38)", "body": "let's keep our fingers crossed then..."}, {"response": 10, "author": "wer", "date": "Thu, Mar 25, 1999 (23:34)", "body": "I know, I know...I'll fix the horizontal bars later... do ya'll like the background?"}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar 26, 1999 (11:44)", "body": "i do. the time pieces are great!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Mar 27, 1999 (01:25)", "body": "cool...if everything was this easy..."}, {"response": 13, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Mar 27, 1999 (16:47)", "body": "oh, didja notice anything different? hmmmmmmm????"}, {"response": 14, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Mar 27, 1999 (23:29)", "body": "Yes, dear."}, {"response": 15, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Mar 28, 1999 (07:20)", "body": "*smile*"}, {"response": 16, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (21:43)", "body": "ok, well, it's been awhile and i never did find those cute graphics i kept yapping about. am getting tired of the clocks, so will go out and see what's available!"}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (21:46)", "body": "Dontcha want something like food has? I sure do in Geo...*sigh*"}, {"response": 18, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (22:15)", "body": "yeah, yeah, i know it's yellow again, was trying to put up a different background in the rc file but it didn't work. terry, ratthing, wer, help!!! just look in the rc file and you'll see what i was trying to do!"}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (22:54)", "body": "Sorry I can't help - can only jam up my own rc file...looks cheery, though!"}, {"response": 20, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (15:16)", "body": "Cheesy? Hey, what's wrong with the watches? Oh, you're a canine - they ALWAYS redecorate, right? Dig around, drag stuff, what have you. I'm like cats - don't like changes after I got used to something... A packrat like cats! Think of it! How curious..."}, {"response": 21, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (15:22)", "body": "Me too, Alexander, me too *smile*"}, {"response": 22, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (15:44)", "body": "well, just wait til you see the new background, am trying here, guys!"}, {"response": 23, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (16:05)", "body": "You Go Girl....you can do it! (bet it'll be spectacular!)"}, {"response": 24, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (16:14)", "body": "*blush* dunno about spectacular but.....*hugs*"}, {"response": 25, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (16:24)", "body": "so...whatcha think? (i know about the buttons, am gonna figure that one out too) and i got this up all by myself!!"}, {"response": 26, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (16:41)", "body": "Oooh, Wolfie!!! It is Gorgeous!!!! Congratulations!!! *HUGS*"}, {"response": 27, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (16:44)", "body": "Gonna hafta lose those horizontal bars, too. There are lots of neat ones out there! On my monitor it looks like silk. Beautiful!"}, {"response": 28, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (17:05)", "body": "am trying, am trying!! thanks for the encouragement *hugs*"}, {"response": 29, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (17:38)", "body": "(I know...I know!) Geo is stuck with the wallpaper I have because of sentimental reasons. Perchance at some later date WE will change it and the bars, but till then...(and he promised me the rest of my buttons...)"}, {"response": 30, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Sep 21, 1999 (11:27)", "body": "I really do like it!"}, {"response": 31, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Sep 21, 1999 (20:16)", "body": ":)"}, {"response": 32, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Oct 11, 1999 (13:05)", "body": "ok, i purchased netstudio (the program that helped me create the buttons on my homepage and paraspring) so will mess around with it to make buttons for the other conferences i host that desperately need new buttons! just a note: netfusion is a great program and easy to use, however, it doesn't allow me to capture my own buttons unless i do up a whole webpage. netstudio is an easy no brainer program for wolfie's like me!"}, {"response": 33, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 13, 1999 (20:05)", "body": "Sounds like my kind of program - no brainer. I need buttons in Geo, desperately. Mine look like something you chew on for indigestion...not my favorite things to go with marble."}, {"response": 34, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 13, 1999 (20:06)", "body": "btw, how expensive was it?"}, {"response": 35, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Oct 13, 1999 (20:49)", "body": "$99 and delivered in two days. i'll see what they got (in styles) and maybe make some for you while i'm at it. but will send them to you for approval first!"}, {"response": 36, "author": "moonbeam", "date": "Wed, Oct 13, 1999 (21:02)", "body": "Oooooh, really purty colors here... (is that constructive enough? ;)"}, {"response": 37, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 13, 1999 (23:10)", "body": "Hi Nan! It is good to see you out and about! Constructive indeed - and it is loverly, is it not?!"}, {"response": 38, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 13, 1999 (23:11)", "body": "Oooh, Wolfie, that would be fantastic! I can use all the help I can get!!! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 40, "subject": "Currency", "response_count": 9, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 24, 1999 (14:13)", "body": "I've got a few of the new 50 State Quarters and have recently added New Jersey to the set. I had a $2 bill once, but it burnt a hole in my pocket. My brother collects 50 Cent pieces and I've continued the collection for myself. Love to find wheat pennies when I go through the penny jar. http://www.usmint.gov The site outlines the projected schedule for the State Quarters as well as the new $1 coin due out next year. Betcha those Susan B. Anthony's are collectable!"}, {"response": 2, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jun 24, 1999 (14:49)", "body": "Funny how frequently I run into people 'collecting' the new quarters... they should be collecting the OLD ones that they'll eventually take out of circulation! (BTW... i collect em too!)"}, {"response": 3, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Jun 25, 1999 (05:36)", "body": "Dear Fellow Hunter-Gatherers, I would like to point out that for the more philosphical aspects concerning the US monetary environment, a good fortune hath bestowed upon this here our Spring a dedicated topic: http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/public/read/cultures/25 , in which the charme and mechanics surrounding the objects of desire are discussed in length (err, no, I don't mean drool, though...)."}, {"response": 4, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Jun 25, 1999 (23:13)", "body": "now that we've got a numismatics topic, are we gonna get a philately topic soon, too?"}, {"response": 5, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (17:12)", "body": "BTW, I do collect Currencies, too. Please send me samples of your respective variety over. I'm looking especially for bank notes (paper bills) with multidigit denominations. Thank you!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (17:25)", "body": "*grin* unfortunately, alex, so are we!!!!"}, {"response": 7, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (17:29)", "body": "Oh. Maybe we could trade? Say, I'll give you a crisp 100 Mark note, and you give me the same, just in what you people have?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (17:34)", "body": "why do i have a funny feeling it won't be an even exchange? *sheepish grin*"}, {"response": 9, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (17:39)", "body": "Oh. Now, I wouldn't know... collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 41, "subject": "Rocks", "response_count": 220, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul  7, 1999 (22:12)", "body": "Rockhounds of the world, Unite! Wolfie dear, you're super!!! I have a chunk of Canterbury Cathedral -that has to qualify as especially choice. Lest you turn me over to Scotland Yard, let me reassure you I took it, with permission. It was in a dump truck which was hauling away stone which had been so badly eaten by acid rain that they were replacing it - most often statues. This piece has nothing carved on it, so I was allowed to \"take as much as you want, Ma'am!\" But, it is the original stone w ich was there when Thomas Becket was murdered therein!"}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul  7, 1999 (22:16)", "body": "Oh yeah! I need a Moon Rock. We had a piece of it here, and it looks just like the dense lava core of an A'a flow! It even had tiny craters in it!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "alyeska", "date": "Wed, Jul  7, 1999 (22:27)", "body": "Did anyone find a piece of the meteor that exploded ove NZ yesterday?"}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul  7, 1999 (22:57)", "body": "No! I had not heard about it! Did it actually strike earth or did it burn off in the atmosphere as so many do? Lucie, let us know what you find out. I shall ask AnneH and see what she knows. Thanks for the news!"}, {"response": 5, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (08:49)", "body": "i hadn't heard about that either. thanks for stopping by, lucie, do come back!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (13:57)", "body": "Let's see, two new Firthians know there is more to TheSpring than Drool. Very good. Now, I shall work on prying some more loose - even if I have to send them to my *shudder* Babe topic."}, {"response": 7, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (14:49)", "body": "Why shudder? Nice kneecap!"}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (14:58)", "body": "Thanks, Alex...you made my day! Hmm...should I put my rock wish list here now...the one with the coprolite, gastrolith, meteorite and moon rock on it?! Oh, and the complete creature in a chunk of amber."}, {"response": 9, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (15:58)", "body": "let me think on that...might be redundant, don't you know!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (16:07)", "body": "methinks you already did *grin*"}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (20:36)", "body": "Re the New Zealand Meteorite, I just got this from a Firthian in Perth, Australia: It was on the news last night. A burst of light just above the surface in New Zealand did not say where I expect the Astronomers want to get the pieces pristine. Apparently although it did fall to the surface in small pieces no one was hurt."}, {"response": 12, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (22:14)", "body": "*grin* Yes, I did, didn't I...*grin*"}, {"response": 13, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (22:49)", "body": "re response 11: thank God for that! marcia, do you have any websites for rock collecting info? or perhaps any literature titles devoted to it? i'll do some research myself and see if there are any legitimate sites out there. you know, in junior high (ah, so long ago), our science class touched on geology and i remember whenever the family would go on a drive, i'd look at all the landscape and jutted rocks or places where they cut through to put a road and be a little more knowledgeable about what happened to the earth. it really is cool!"}, {"response": 14, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (23:03)", "body": "Wolf, I have half of my Netscape Bookmarks used by Geology - from volcanoes (big over here), Earthquakes (part of the same and we have 'um quite regularly), Tsunamis (caused by the EQ's)and all sorts of US Geological Survey sites. What would you like? List the URLs or email them to you?"}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (23:22)", "body": "I just did an AltaVista search for Rocks and Minerals and came up with over 2,000 Web pages. The first few are very good for minerals and what they look like...and there are all levels of intellect, too, from little kids to us big ones. Any questions and I will check it out and report back here!"}, {"response": 16, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (23:37)", "body": "A good place to start is the Volcano Update from the Island of Hawaii where I am It has updates and links to other volcanoes and other neat stuff http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/ Use this URL for live images refreshed every 30 seconds of Etna, Vesuvius and Stromboli in Italy http://www.iiv.ct.cnr.it:80/files/cam_index_stromboli.html Current Earthquake information world-wide http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/QUAKES/CURRENT/global.html"}, {"response": 17, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Jul  9, 1999 (01:09)", "body": "any good plate techtonics sites?"}, {"response": 18, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Jul  9, 1999 (01:11)", "body": "(sorry about the spare h)"}, {"response": 19, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jul  9, 1999 (09:54)", "body": "thanks for your research, marcia. i know if i lived in a volcano/earthquake prone area, i'd have all those bookmarks too!"}, {"response": 20, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Jul  9, 1999 (13:46)", "body": "instead, all of yours are to water gauges, right, Wolf?"}, {"response": 21, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jul  9, 1999 (13:56)", "body": "got that right! flood markers all over the yard too! *grin*"}, {"response": 22, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jul  9, 1999 (18:11)", "body": "i have a friend who is quite into geology and collects rocks from everywhere. we spent quite the evening looking at her collection under black light!"}, {"response": 23, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul  9, 1999 (18:37)", "body": "Plate Techtonics (adult) www.earth-resources.net Plate Techtonics (kids) tuweb.ucis.dal.ca/~jmerry/basinview/plate.htm (JASON project) Plate techtonics for the truly curious - contains the meter sites where they measure contintal drift (some of these David has helped install) www.udayton.edu/~geology/FieldTrip/psites.htm"}, {"response": 24, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul  9, 1999 (18:41)", "body": "Stace, I'd love to have a shadow-box cabinet in which to display my fluorescent rocks. I hope all of you who can get hold of a \"black light\" for viewing this phenomenon know not to look at the light source. It will damage your retina, and your retina is not into self healing. You lose it, you are blind. Please be careful."}, {"response": 25, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul  9, 1999 (18:47)", "body": "Pardon the dead links. These should work: The one for adults http://www.earth-resources.net/p1832.htm the one for kids http://tuweb.ucis.dal.ca/~jmerry/basinview/plate.htm The metering sites http://www.udayton.edu/~geology/FieldTrip/psites.htm"}, {"response": 26, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul  9, 1999 (18:57)", "body": "This is for those of you who live in natural-disaster-prone areas (Tornado, flood, hurricane and such), this is the Natural Disasters Website of the University of Colorado (one of the very best!) http://www.Colorado.EDU/hazards/"}, {"response": 27, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jul  9, 1999 (21:50)", "body": "what? flourescent rocks? i have a black light bulb...hmmm...should i go out in the drive and pick up pebbles? when i lived in kansas, i found a couple pieces of crystal. they were cool!still have them, but don't remember where they are. think they're in the middle of a jar of shells!"}, {"response": 28, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul  9, 1999 (22:01)", "body": "Lots of things flouresce. Plug a light bulb socket (any hardware store has them) or cheap lamp into a l o n g outdoor extension cord, turn it on and look around. If you are wearing polyester anything or blend, even you and your shoes will fluoresce."}, {"response": 29, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul  9, 1999 (22:08)", "body": "Sorry about this misspelling it is Fluorescence (like the lights in an office) and certain chemicals (everything is made of chemicals) emit electromagnetic radiation which is visible to the human eye. Lots of things do exhibit this quality, but our visible spectrum is rather narrow in comparison with other animals."}, {"response": 30, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jul 10, 1999 (13:15)", "body": "i knew about white clothing really blaring under black lights...hmmm, am gonna have to have a black light alligator pool party in my backyard!"}, {"response": 31, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 10, 1999 (13:21)", "body": "Please tell me you are not looking for shredded remnants of clothing left by sated gators! and promise me you will not join them - BTW, be really careful around water. You could get a really nasty shock!!! And, remember to protect those little one's eyes from the bulb."}, {"response": 32, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jul 10, 1999 (13:24)", "body": "so, Wolf, what do you think? Should Marcia host a geology conference?"}, {"response": 33, "author": "casanova", "date": "Sat, Jul 10, 1999 (15:35)", "body": "im new here so just burry me please"}, {"response": 34, "author": "casanova", "date": "Sat, Jul 10, 1999 (15:36)", "body": ""}, {"response": 35, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jul 10, 1999 (16:49)", "body": "welcome to rock collecting, casanova! wer: i believe marcia is an expert on geology and would be perfect for her own geology conference!! marcia: i promise to be extra careful *grin*"}, {"response": 36, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 10, 1999 (17:42)", "body": "Send them over if necessary. If you cannot baffle them sufficiently I can try to snow them under completely! BTW, I wrote a cute intro for the Geo Conference which got lost somewhere between my keyboard and my returning image. Oh well. Off to create topics for discussion...and thanks, I think, for your faith in my abilities and expertise. I am thinking seriously about comandeering my son to help with the Geoecology part - that is his field."}, {"response": 37, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jul 10, 1999 (19:07)", "body": "figured you would..."}, {"response": 38, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 20, 1999 (16:48)", "body": "I need this to be linked to Topic 21 in Geo Conference. Going to look for some help in this endeavor - and perhaps we can breathe some life back into both of them. (It would be 21, right?)"}, {"response": 39, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 26, 1999 (09:01)", "body": "For example, when you're in telnet, to link a topic 30 in the austin conference to the news conference, go to the news conference and type li 30 austin"}, {"response": 40, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 26, 1999 (09:01)", "body": "Ok: help link **** LINKFROM **** Syntax: li_nkfrom Description: This will link items in the specified range in the given conference into the current conference. This can only be done by a fair-witness of the current conference. A link can be erased with the kill command. Link commands are logged to the conference log file."}, {"response": 41, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 26, 1999 (12:01)", "body": "Thanks, Terry. I shall try that as soon as I am more awake. I noted where my other links are indentified in the conf log because I found the ones which were done for me earlier before I had seen that they were an actuality!"}, {"response": 42, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 26, 1999 (17:55)", "body": "I tried in telnet to do as you instructed and the following appeared: Ok: li 29 springark Cannot access conference 29. I got the same response when I tried to link the other one, as well. Do I need to be cfadm to do this? I have not been so named. Suggestions?"}, {"response": 43, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct 27, 1999 (05:51)", "body": "I got the syntax backwards, it must be li springark 29"}, {"response": 44, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 27, 1999 (13:48)", "body": "Thanks Terry...(picky computer language...*grin*). It works beautifully and so easily when one knows the right command..! Both are now linked!"}, {"response": 45, "author": "patas", "date": "Wed, Oct 27, 1999 (19:12)", "body": "Hi Marcia, I was looking for new posts in the geo conference and there popped this topic! Telnet magic, I guess :-)"}, {"response": 46, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 27, 1999 (20:06)", "body": "Yes! I managed to link two topics - one from SpringArk and one from Collecting. Of course, Terry had to tell me what to do, but now I know...watch out world! Btw, I love the little world you promised me for my next birthday on Drool 72 =)"}, {"response": 47, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct 28, 1999 (08:42)", "body": "Cool!"}, {"response": 48, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 28, 1999 (13:44)", "body": "Now there will be people posting who never dared to venture into Geo before. It is rather nice in here and we get off topic as much as any other place does. Check us out...there is a lot of really cool stuff in here."}, {"response": 49, "author": "patas", "date": "Thu, Oct 28, 1999 (14:55)", "body": "(Marcia)Btw, I love the little world you promised me for my next birthday on Drool 72 =) Oh no, it wasn't a promise. I couldn't wait for your birthday so it was a non birthday present. Or a party favour, if you like :-)"}, {"response": 50, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 28, 1999 (15:48)", "body": "Might I save it and use it in my topics, then? I noted it was from a Portuguese (?) language web graphics site. Thanks!!! It is darling!"}, {"response": 51, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Oct 29, 1999 (20:56)", "body": "what is it? i can't wait to see..."}, {"response": 52, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 29, 1999 (21:44)", "body": "Its a cute little globe...she is giving me the world! (I think it might fit in theat capture ring you have which has interchangeable spheres...-*grin*"}, {"response": 53, "author": "patas", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (04:08)", "body": "(MarciaH) I noted it was from a Portuguese (?) language web graphics site. I think Swedish, not Portuguese... Rather the opposite end of Europe :-) Here's the page's url, they say you can use their graphics and ask that you link to them, so..."}, {"response": 54, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (09:51)", "body": "cool! thanks!!"}, {"response": 55, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (13:47)", "body": "Wolfie, your captured world is in Organic gems, but so you can share it, I'll put it here, also."}, {"response": 56, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (19:55)", "body": "i like it!"}, {"response": 57, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (20:07)", "body": "Is that not the ultimate sphere for your Orbis collection>\u007f?!"}, {"response": 58, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (20:14)", "body": "indeed!! *grin* oh, i found an amber colored rock on the beach (at port aransis, texas) and picked it up. maybe i can get it ground and polished up for my ring!"}, {"response": 59, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (20:16)", "body": "OOOh...Opaque or translucent?"}, {"response": 60, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (20:38)", "body": "it's kinda translucent and smooth from the water."}, {"response": 61, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (23:36)", "body": "Ummm..darkish reddish orange - Carnelian?"}, {"response": 62, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (23:42)", "body": "Check out http://www.jewelry4less.com/parts/carnelian.shtml"}, {"response": 63, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (09:09)", "body": "none of those. it's more of a pale orange. it looked darker on the beach."}, {"response": 64, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (13:45)", "body": "Hmmmm...how hard is it? Does it scratch window glass? Could it be citrine quartz?"}, {"response": 65, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (19:05)", "body": "haven't tried that yet. um...it has a dark spot on it, like something stuck inside. perhaps i should scan it?"}, {"response": 66, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (19:11)", "body": "Is it very light? Might it be amber??? Scan it by all means!"}, {"response": 67, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (19:13)", "body": "The dark spot is an inclusion of some sort. If it is light in weight and amber it might be a creature or leaf. If it is another inorganic sort, it is what is known as a flaw in diamonds and other precious gems. Interesting!!!"}, {"response": 68, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (19:14)", "body": "marcia, could it be just a rock? *grin* i'm gonna scan it in a few minutes just to spare you the suspense!"}, {"response": 69, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (19:26)", "body": "k, here are the scanned images. one side: other side: and i tried to scratch glass and it didn't....."}, {"response": 70, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (19:27)", "body": "It could evem be part of a beer bottle...*smile* (There is no such classification as \"rock\"...gotta know what it might be...I am driven to know such things!) Go Wolfie, Go! Scan, Woman!!!"}, {"response": 71, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (19:28)", "body": "Looks like a bit of already-sucked-and-discarded Hallowe'en candy! Hmm...I'll bet it does not scratch because it is rounded. Will a kitchen knife scratch it? (Be careful, dear...!)"}, {"response": 72, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (19:32)", "body": "all these scientific experiments! lemme try....... there was some scratching from the knife. but it didn't cut into the stone and couldn't tell if i was merely removing dirt!"}, {"response": 73, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (19:34)", "body": "there's stuff inside but it was hard to show you on the scanned image. if i hold it up to light, i see bubbles and stuff."}, {"response": 74, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (19:38)", "body": "You mean you did not lick it clean??? What kinda Wolf are you?! *lol* wash the little thing and report back."}, {"response": 75, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (19:39)", "body": "Bubbles...hmmm...sounds like stained milk glass or glass slag. Any manufacturing of glassware going on around you anywhere? Last century?"}, {"response": 76, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (19:41)", "body": "Too bad there is not an easy way to rig a light box for your scanner bed...like the ones on which you review photographic slides...Hmmm..."}, {"response": 77, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (19:50)", "body": "what do i wash it with? soap and water or a jewelry cleaner? it's probably just a big piece of glass that didn't get beaten down to a sand pepple yet. there's also a dark line through it. but can't tell you for sure about bubbles because it's kinda milky."}, {"response": 78, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (19:52)", "body": "ok, i cleaned it with soapy water and the slight knife marks are still there."}, {"response": 79, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (19:56)", "body": "Get a tiny flashlight and put the pebble on top and turn it on. What can you see now? It sounds like it is about the hardness of glass (which is also the hardness of knife steel). Wash it when you wash your hands unless you think there is something stuck to it...that is why I keep old toothbrushes. To scrub little things with."}, {"response": 80, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (19:57)", "body": "Ok, of the knife made discernable but not deep marks, it is almost certainly glass."}, {"response": 81, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:06)", "body": "now that the AM thinks i'm crazy...it has orange colored striations through it."}, {"response": 82, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:10)", "body": "Oooh...interesting. Hmmm.. thinking... This is the first time I have done remote rock identifying - I think it is exciting. (I know - the house male here thinks I am odd beyond belief.) Could they be stains? If they are semi-regular it might be onyx."}, {"response": 83, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:12)", "body": "I have my Rockhounding Manual in hand and I find that there is incidences of agate (banded is like your stone but probably harder than yours), jasper (dull red-brown) and petrified wood (does not look like that to me.) Hmmm..."}, {"response": 84, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:13)", "body": "i don't know, but it's definitely inside the rock. and i dropped it while trying to examine it and can't find it! (i have a wood laminate floor and it blends in quite well). the AM is trying to fix my keychain flashlight as the other one's light was blinding as it escaped the edges of the rock! will keep looking and try to give you better details. don't know how to zoom with the scanner either!"}, {"response": 85, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:13)", "body": "What county are you in, and what is the next state closest upstream?"}, {"response": 86, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:16)", "body": "got the rock back (it went under the computer desk!). i don't know how you can tell what it is or isn't from that picture i scanned!"}, {"response": 87, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:19)", "body": "ok, i found the rock off the gulf of mexico off of port aransus texas. there were lots of pepples and broken shells as the breakers were quite strong."}, {"response": 88, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:29)", "body": "Ah....not in Lousiana...looking...since it was ocean-borne, and there are bubbles in it (they are rare in nature because of the way rocks form, I am guessing on just that evidence that it is glass - that and the hardness and translucency. I would guess also that the striations of orange visible might either be due to its original form and intended to be there as ornamental, or it is due to internal fractures which gathered sediment which (such as oxides of iron) which made the discolorations. The secon I think is unlikely. I think you have a pebble of OLD glass - perhaps from early American or Spanish settlements - hand blown (the only kind they had). It is a nice pebble to keep! But it will not polish...etched glass just does not work that way."}, {"response": 89, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:34)", "body": "hmmmm....interesting indeed! thanks for your research!"}, {"response": 90, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:37)", "body": "How am I telling what this specimen is? Looking at it and your discription allows me to eliminate a lot of things. Your hardness test was precise enough to allow me to ascertain it was about 5 to 5 1/2 on Moh's scale of hardness (check Geo 16 Diagnostics) which is about what window glass is and just a little softer than a steel blade. The bubbles were the most telling detail - as I said previously, because they are seldom found in nature except in rare cases and are really tiny (microscopic). Do I get a passing grade? Its translucency also aided me. You could even have the remant of a broken marble, but I doubt that. I think it is a broken piece of colonial milk glass..either Spanish or American which has been rounded by ages in the harder quartz sand."}, {"response": 91, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:40)", "body": "My pleasure! Over here we hardly ever find anything but coral (sand is crushed shell and coral if it is white) or lava or peridot sand. I once found a small chunk of granite washed up where we launched our sailboat. I still have it. How did it get here? Probably as ballast stones in saliling ships!"}, {"response": 92, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:43)", "body": "i think it's way cool!!"}, {"response": 93, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:44)", "body": "*beaming* Me too!"}, {"response": 94, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:45)", "body": "now you got me digging through my older shell collections. i have a few crystal pieces that i got in kansas but can't remember where i put them. also found this beauty that's in the shape of a boot! (it's a rock not a crystal). i'll scan it real quick for you...."}, {"response": 95, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:52)", "body": "here's the boot:"}, {"response": 96, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:53)", "body": "Understand, but it could be made of rock crystal which is a real semiprecious stone. The clearest and purest form of glass on earth formed naturally. (I am enjoying this very much!)"}, {"response": 97, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:55)", "body": "well, you know, it would help if i ftp'd it over first!!"}, {"response": 98, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:56)", "body": "sorry, didn't mean to post it twice!"}, {"response": 99, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (20:59)", "body": "Yep...then they both show up! Do you think this just happens to look like a foot rather than being off of a leather doll of great age which had procelain hands, head and feet? If it is natural is it translucent at all and is the surface granular or smooth in texture?"}, {"response": 100, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (21:01)", "body": "give me 15 minutes to eat dinner - I shall return!"}, {"response": 101, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (21:16)", "body": "i'm gonna fill in the details on that piece and then i have to give over the pc to the AM (he's got some stuff to do too).... ok, the boot is smooth with some jagged spots on it. it is granular looking and has some pitting going on. haven't done the knife or glass test yet but can't scratch it with my nail. it has light and dark grey spots on it. i've had it for over 16 years and can't remember if i found it in a gravel road or what. it appears to be the same on both sides although on one side the \"ankle\" is smooth and the other is bumpy. what is interesting, besides the symmetry, is the indentation where the achilles is over he back of the foot and before the beginning of the calf. if this was nature made, it's amazing. it never occurred to me that it could be a petrified dolls foot. and now i've got to go. thanks for your help marcia and for spurring on my interest! oh, and i've still got to find a jeweler's glass and a black light. tried a black light bulb but it wasn't the same."}, {"response": 102, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (21:27)", "body": "Thanks Wolfie for the interesting posts...like a treasure hunt. More on the doll's foot tomorrow, then?! I'll be here."}, {"response": 103, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (09:30)", "body": ":-) Hey, this was real fun reading! You two will get the Indiana-Jones-Treasure-Hunters-Award for this one! Those stones are interesting. I got a box full which my parents collected, there are amethysts between and garnet and other stuff. My sisters lives at the north sea and always finds these precious ambers...I never had the luck to find something worthy at the shores..."}, {"response": 104, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (16:58)", "body": "me either!"}, {"response": 105, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (18:16)", "body": "Make that three of us...I found broken stuff in the Atlantic as a child, and out here there is more different stuff because of being in coral reef territory, but there is still no amber or anything close to it washing up around me. Hi Isabel! Happy you enjoyed our little fun evening of detective work. I really had a great time with it! Thanks again, Wolfie...time to get to the little foot again?"}, {"response": 106, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (18:41)", "body": "yeah! and i found a couple other interesting rocks mixed with my earliest collection of land shells. let's do one rock at a time! so what is your theory on my boot?"}, {"response": 107, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (18:47)", "body": "Does it seem like it is old eroded porcelain or does it seem hard enough to be stone? If it is stone it could be almost anything, but it could also be part of a figurine. I am still opting for the doll foot."}, {"response": 108, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (18:52)", "body": "i have no idea about eroded porcelain."}, {"response": 109, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (19:06)", "body": "How hard is it? Try your knife and window again"}, {"response": 110, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (19:08)", "body": "1. scratches glass 2. knife scratches rock"}, {"response": 111, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (19:12)", "body": "Huh! hmmm....does it seem to be of some sort of glass, as well?"}, {"response": 112, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (19:14)", "body": "Can you see light through it? (get out that flashlight again!)"}, {"response": 113, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (19:14)", "body": "i don't know! the residue from scratching with the knife made me think of sand and the scratch left a white mark."}, {"response": 114, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (19:15)", "body": "as to the light, no, it's opaque..."}, {"response": 115, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (19:30)", "body": "Hmmm...turn over a coffee mug or plate and find where it is not glazed. Does that scratch whichever?"}, {"response": 116, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (19:45)", "body": "it didn't leave a discernable mark, but did draw on it (like chalk). the unglazed portion of the mug left a white mark on the boot."}, {"response": 117, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (19:54)", "body": "..engraved white mark on the boot?...that means it is harder than the boot. Unglazed porcelain is hard - about 7... so it is used as a diagnostic for streak (Do you have some polished hematite which has a dark metallic luster and is often made into beads? Try that on your unglazed porcelain.)Do you have a stee life handy? Try that...it is 6 1/2."}, {"response": 118, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (19:57)", "body": "that's what i used, a steel knife....i have a polished black stone ring but am not sure if it's hematite. actually, the white mark is gone now after i rubbed my finger over it."}, {"response": 119, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (19:58)", "body": "the scratch from the knife is still there, i can feel the indentation with my nail."}, {"response": 120, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (19:58)", "body": "I'm guessing it is just slightly harder than glass but enough to scratch it. Pure forms of silica would react like that but would be clear and without inclusions. Thinking.... Do you recall from whence this little footie came?"}, {"response": 121, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (20:01)", "body": "Ok softer than 5 1/2 so likely not glass or silica of any form. (Your black stone is probably onyx if it does not have a metallic luster) Try a penny - which scratches which and how much (I am guessing it will scratch the penny which is 2 1/2.)"}, {"response": 122, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (20:08)", "body": "the black stone is in the form of a ring--it's not onyx....ok, now to find a penny...is my little boot gonna get all ruined from all these experiments?"}, {"response": 123, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (20:09)", "body": "ok, it scratched the penny, but we expected that, right?"}, {"response": 124, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (20:12)", "body": "(back to the ring, i think it is hematite....it's black with a silvery lustre and very smooth.)"}, {"response": 125, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (20:26)", "body": "ok, i tried the hematite and boot scratching thing and neither scratched the other....."}, {"response": 126, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (20:47)", "body": "No, find something tiny and unglazed to use on the underside of your stone ring (it will scratch your ring, so use it on the inside.) If you don't wish to do this I will tell you what happens. (I have a pair of them and wear them as guards on a jade or carnelian ring made the same way)"}, {"response": 127, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (20:49)", "body": "Put that boot somewhere in a safe place until I can think of other things to try. I am having to look through my texts now to see what it might be."}, {"response": 128, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (20:51)", "body": "are you talking about using the boot on the inside of the ring? i did and no marks."}, {"response": 129, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (20:53)", "body": "ooohh, making marcia do some deep research!! thanks, girl, for your help and patience with me and my rocks!"}, {"response": 130, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (20:55)", "body": "'night! *hugs*"}, {"response": 131, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (21:12)", "body": "Break a dish or somethiing really badly chipped. Take the bigest piece you can slip into the inside of your ring and see what color streak it scrapes off...just the tiniest scratch will suffice. If you do not wish to do that I will tell you in the morning what your results would have been and why. Meanwhile hitting the books for boot ID, and downloading lava pix for Travel/Hawaii ... G'night, Wolfie! *hugs*"}, {"response": 132, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan  5, 2000 (17:26)", "body": "Don't know quite where to put this little story but it IS a rock we are talking about and not old enough for Paleo... Woman Carries 'Fossil' Fetus for 49 Years TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan doctors operating on a 76-year old woman discovered a ``fossilized'' fetus in her abdomen conceived 49 years ago a phenomenon recorded only three times in history, hospital sources said Wednesday. The Veterans General Hospital said doctors on December 31 found a 20 gram (0.7 ounce) lithopaedion, the rocklike remains of a fetus hardened by calcium buildup, in the abdominal cavity of a woman surnamed Wu. The baby appeared to have died in the 20th week of Wu's pregnancy when the fetus moved from her womb to her abdomen. The hospital said their research yielded only three known lithopaedions, and the earliest case dated back to 1582, when a 28-year old fetus was found in French woman."}, {"response": 133, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan  5, 2000 (19:14)", "body": "(Wolfie is not going to be happy with me as this is linked to her collecting conference, but it IS a rock...)"}, {"response": 134, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jan  5, 2000 (19:18)", "body": "it is an interesting rock to say the least. how could she not have known?"}, {"response": 135, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan  5, 2000 (20:30)", "body": "Some people are dead from the neck up, I think! No sense, no feeling and all those old adages must be true!"}, {"response": 136, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan  5, 2000 (20:34)", "body": "Don't think I'll put one of those on my wish list...Yeesh!"}, {"response": 137, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jan  5, 2000 (20:55)", "body": "euw! well, on the subject of rocks, i received my mom's package with the photo albums and guess what was in there? the mysterious kansas rock pictures. yup, tomorrow i'll scan and post them for you to marvel over. yes, am gonna keep you in suspense! :)"}, {"response": 138, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan  5, 2000 (21:02)", "body": "Yes! I remember. Big'uns, if I recall correctly...! Waiting patiently...well...as patiently as I can...*sigh*....Yippee!"}, {"response": 139, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jan  6, 2000 (20:17)", "body": "ok, here's the link to the mysterious kansas rock formations: http://www.spring.net/~bayou/rocks.gif"}, {"response": 140, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan  6, 2000 (20:23)", "body": "For the time being it is http://206.97.234.70//~bayou/rocks.gif except for the fortunate few who can still get in the old way... Oh my! They look like fossilized butter rolls which you peel to eat (I cannot think of their real name...) They are just sitting around like that with all those layers? Never thought they'd look like that in Iowa! Thanks, Wolfie!"}, {"response": 141, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jan  6, 2000 (20:28)", "body": "iowa? kansas, marcia! *heehee* they're absolutely huge. we climbed on some of them. can't even remember what the site was called. a bunch were perfectly round and others were flatter. they all had that butter roll look though."}, {"response": 142, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan  6, 2000 (20:41)", "body": "Absolutely amazing! Funny thing I can never remember the midwest because whenever I flew over it the states were not painted different colors like on my map and I could not tell where I was. They could have at least painted the edges a different color...*sigh*"}, {"response": 143, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jan  6, 2000 (20:44)", "body": "the midwest looks like a patchwork quilt to me....(check out my post in linens)"}, {"response": 144, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan  6, 2000 (22:00)", "body": "I did...and noted that I am to \"talk\" to Terry which I shall do straight away. *hugs*"}, {"response": 145, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jan  9, 2000 (08:20)", "body": "Talk to me, talk to me."}, {"response": 146, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan  9, 2000 (11:52)", "body": "Wolfie and I would like an Arts and Crafts Conference, unless you think it is too much and would be more properly a Topic in another conference. This would be handmade things from crocheting and knitting to doll-making, teddy bear making and tapestry to name a few. Pottery, woodworking and glassblowing also come to mind. Or should this be under the Art Conference? Not all of it is art however...sewing of clothes and design of same...lots of cross-overs to be linked if it is a separate conference. Let s know. Thanks! When you have, time, of course! *hugs*"}, {"response": 147, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan  9, 2000 (17:05)", "body": "...or just plain CRAFTS would probably be better..."}, {"response": 148, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jan  9, 2000 (19:32)", "body": "yeah, cuz then it wouldn't be confused with the arts and if we run across topics that would serve a purpose (and it's ok with ree ree) we could link them up. i've got a bunch of ideas for a crafts topic! (and terry, i want to send something to help with the bills but it will have to wait until payday. always tell myself that i'm gonna do that and i forget, so maybe this way, i'll be more apt to remember *grin*) speaking of rocks, i saw a show today on emerald mining. how tempting it must be for those miners to want to walk off with something. guards were all over the place (i think they were in mexico or someplace else where they speak spanish)--no offense but i can't remember where they were. they were 300 feet below the surface and air had to be blown in. i'd be so scared!"}, {"response": 149, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jan  9, 2000 (20:07)", "body": "oh, thanks terry *smoooooooch* (and to you, marcia for taking the ball and running with it)"}, {"response": 150, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 28, 2000 (20:25)", "body": "Museum Sues Indians Over Meteorite Ownership NEW YORK (Reuters) - The American Museum of Natural History sued an American Indian group Monday to block its claim to the 15.5-ton Willamette Meteorite, one of the museum's oldest treasures and a centerpiece of its newly opened planetarium. The suit seeks a court ruling that the museum is the rightful owner of the largest meteorite ever found in the United States. It also seeks a ruling that it does not have to repatriate the extraterrestrial object to an Oregon Indian group that alleges that the gigantic meteorite is a holy tribal object that brought messages from the spirit world long before the arrival of white men. The museum's lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court a little over a week after the much touted opening of its sleek $210 million Rose Center for Earth and Space on Manhattan's upper West Side. The metallic iron meteorite, which is believed to have fallen to earth 10,000 years ago from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, holds a place of honor on the main floor in the planetarium's astrophysics hall. It has been viewed by countless scientists, teachers and schoolchildren for nearly a century. The lawsuit alleged that the meteorite's ownership history dates back to at least 1855 when various Indian tribes voluntarily ceded the meteorite, which was once located in the upper Willamette Valley in Oregon, to the United States in exchange for reservation land and other considerations. In 1905, the Supreme Court of the State of Oregon ruled that the meteorite belonged to the Oregon Iron and Steel Company as owner of the land on which the object was found. The company sold the meteorite to the American Museum of Natural History the next year for $20,600. Almost immediately after its purchase, the museum began to study the object and it has been on almost continuous display since 1906. According to the lawsuit, the current ownership dispute began during the fall of 1999 when representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon visited the museum. The federally recognized group consists of a number of tribes from the Upper Willamette Valley, including the Clackamas which ceded the meteorite in 1855, the suit said. At the end of their visit, the representatives submitted a written claim for repatriation to the museum stating that the meteorite is a sacred object. It filed its claim under the federal law known at the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, known as NAGPRA. The law was written for the preservation and repatriation of Native American cultural and religious artifacts. To obtain repatriation of a sacred object, a tribe must show that it is a sacred object, that the tribe owned or controlled it and that the museum does not have a right of possession, the suit said. The museum alleged that the Oregon Indian group did not meet these requirements."}, {"response": 151, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 28, 2000 (20:28)", "body": "Gee, perhaps I was not talking loud enough in the post before last...?!"}, {"response": 152, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar 14, 2000 (20:23)", "body": "are we people sue happy or what? who can own a meteorite? sheesh!"}, {"response": 153, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 14, 2000 (20:27)", "body": "I'd sure like to have one, but I must not! They belong to everyone as far as I am concerned! Greed once again rears its ugly head...!"}, {"response": 154, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 14, 2000 (20:29)", "body": "Of course, all of the famous legendary swords were forged out of meteroitic iron. Iron from the gods made them invincible - and we still remember the names today - as in Excalibur..."}, {"response": 155, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar 14, 2000 (20:29)", "body": "well, it's one thing if you happened across a piece, kinda like the berlin wall, but to sue for ownership? this world has become quite greedy. i'd love to just see one in person (already landed and no damage done safely inside a scientific museum) *knock on wood*"}, {"response": 156, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 14, 2000 (20:33)", "body": "*lol* Me too!!! Exhibit A...."}, {"response": 157, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 14, 2000 (20:34)", "body": "(Sometime, when I am not cooking supper, remind me to tell you why you knock on wood!)"}, {"response": 158, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar 14, 2000 (20:43)", "body": "it's from an old myth, right? anyway, i don't like tempting fate, God, or whatever...."}, {"response": 159, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar 14, 2000 (20:43)", "body": "you guys are just eating supper? and you're still posting?"}, {"response": 160, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 14, 2000 (21:36)", "body": "Nope - I took off about 15 minutes to eat and another 10 to clean up the dishes and kitchen...and I am back at it. As I write itis 5:36pm and we watched the local evening news while consuming my homemade pisghetti."}, {"response": 161, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Tue, Mar 14, 2000 (22:01)", "body": "I think I only just missed you! It's 4 am here and I'm working already."}, {"response": 162, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 14, 2000 (22:52)", "body": "You so not sleep much. It is almost 5am and I have kept you from doing anything constructive =) It is just going on 7pm yesterday here!"}, {"response": 163, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Mar 15, 2000 (01:53)", "body": "(shh I went back to bed for a while afterwards ;-) but I'm back working again now - it's 7.50 am and I've got a meeting at 9.30 which I'm not ready for! My sleep patterns are all over the place just now. I napped yesterday afternoon which I don't usually do)"}, {"response": 164, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 15, 2000 (10:04)", "body": "(Shhh...so are ours. R wanders in the night and ends up in the back bedroom if he does not start there...I just get up and read.)"}, {"response": 165, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Mar 15, 2000 (12:43)", "body": "(I'm really gonna have a problem when I move my desk back in - won't be able to get up at night and work!)"}, {"response": 166, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 15, 2000 (13:25)", "body": "That is currently my problem. He built my computer station into the corner of the bedroom...and when he is in here trying to sleep for the night, I cannot be on the computer. Maybe I should leave him in the back bedroom....=)"}, {"response": 167, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Mar 15, 2000 (19:14)", "body": "ok, so tell me the story about the knocking on wood (i think i've heard it but right now, can't remember a thing)"}, {"response": 168, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Wed, Mar 15, 2000 (19:18)", "body": "What is the story of knocking on wood? It's one of those things you hear and don't really pay attention to, one of those old bromides."}, {"response": 169, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 15, 2000 (19:30)", "body": "Well, it all has to do with the world tree and the Celts who gave it to the Norse. The roots reached to the gods of the underworld and the branches reached into the heavens. By knocking on the tree, you are praying for the gods of both to heed your comments and help you!"}, {"response": 170, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 15, 2000 (19:31)", "body": "Ygsdrill or something like that...(gotta look that up, too...)"}, {"response": 171, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 15, 2000 (19:36)", "body": "Funny thing about old bromides and nursery rhymes and folk tales. Somewhere, way back..there was real meaning behind the words..."}, {"response": 172, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Thu, May 24, 2001 (01:06)", "body": "My downstairs bathroom is now sporting a pile of rocks ....from the cornish beaches. A mixture ...my favourite is granite with white quartz lines that look as if they've been dribbled across it. Looked for geodes but didn't find any except in the shops. I really just picked paintable items for their looks ..."}, {"response": 173, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, May 24, 2001 (08:51)", "body": "Where do you keep these rocks? In a box? On a shelf?"}, {"response": 174, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Thu, May 24, 2001 (12:58)", "body": "On the shelf behind the loo ..in an artistic looking pile ..they'll stay there til I'm ready to paint them .. collected some nice driftwood too."}, {"response": 175, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 24, 2001 (19:09)", "body": "I have a bunch of Great Lakes granite \"beach pebbles\" which look very like the Cornish variety in a wicker basket on my guest room bureau to keep the breezes from removing the bureau scarf. I gave some of mine the \"wet look\""}, {"response": 176, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, May 26, 2001 (15:24)", "body": "do you do that with varnish? i remember us talking about a similar project for shells (which i've not even tried yet)..."}, {"response": 177, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 26, 2001 (22:42)", "body": "yuo take the cheapest colorless clear nail polish you can find. Pour half or 1/3 into another glass container and cap. To the polish bottle add acetone or polish remover to the top and shake well. Coat stones/shells. The more polish per thinner, the shinier the glaze. You can also use spray clear urethane if you find some on sale. Any clear stuff will suffice but hth polish deal is more controllable as to the luster of the finish."}, {"response": 178, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 26, 2001 (22:46)", "body": "'twould be nice if I learnt how to type, too...*sigh* Sorry!"}, {"response": 179, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, May 27, 2001 (13:52)", "body": "thanks marcia!!"}, {"response": 180, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 28, 2001 (22:08)", "body": "It's cheap and works well. That's my kind of useful household hints!"}, {"response": 181, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, May 29, 2001 (09:45)", "body": "mine too!!"}, {"response": 182, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 15, 2001 (23:29)", "body": "Marble Greece is located between the Ionia Sea and the Aegean Sea, and is slightly smaller then Alabama. It is comprised of very mountainous areas and lots of islands. The structure underlying Greece is \"Marble\". The climate is mild and makes it a vacation paradise. The historical landmarks make it necessary to visit from an architectural standpoint and for general education. Greece rates highly on literacy at 95% and is one of the highly advanced nations in the world, besides being one of the oldest to explore marble. The first marbleworks were started probably in the Cycladic islands in the centuries of 3000 B.C. Hellas is a celebration in word and picture of a beautiful, rugged land, its diverse peoples of antiquity, and their unique civilization which gave birth to the finest elements in our own. The story of the ancient Greeks is known to most persons today in the form of a few highlights: the Acropolis of Athens, the philosophers and sculpture and playwrights of classical Greece, the precious heritage of the Olympic games. Marble contributes considerably to the mineral wealth of Greece. Greece provides rare varieties of marbles which can scarcely be found elsewhere and which have greatly contributed to the history of civilization. Hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of white Pentelic marble or the white marble of Zasteni Magnissia, or the bright-white of Paros, known as \"Lykhnitis\" which were quarried and used by the ancient Greeks and Romans, to create the masterpieces of sculpture Pheidias, Hermes of Praxitelis and many others. The exploitation of the Greek marble deposits goes back to the sixth century B.C. They were among the first civilizations who noticed the unique properties and uses of marble. The Greek marble coming from the islands of Naxos and Paros in the Cicladi were commercialized also in the Asia Minor, North Africa and at Rome. In the Delphi area, the site of the sanctuary of Pythian Apollo at the foot of Mount Parnassus is extremely impressive. Much of this area was built with marble dating 4th to 6th century B.C. Parian marble was used about 6th century B.C. as Ionic columns in the portico of Athenians, a temple. Sculpturing Schools flourished in this period and works of art became second nature. The Greeks transformed marble into objects of art never considered before and probably since. From other Greek islands came the white marble which was sculptured for the famous Winged Victory (305 B.C.) discovered at the Samothrace now conserved at the Museum of Louvre in Paris. From the ancient quarries of white marble in the mountains of Penteli, Pentelico marble was used for the Parthenon, constructed in 447-432 B.C., the Erechtheus and the Propylaea on the Acropolis of Athens. In the Kavala area, the white veined marble, which is still quarried today, are in the remains of the ancient town of Philippi in Macedonia, founded by Philippus II, father of Great Alexander. Larisa, known as ancient green was used for the columns of the ancient temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. These columns were later used for the construction of the columns in the church of St. Sophia in Constantinople, erected in 350 A.D. and which now is a mosque. The Romans favored the Cipollino marble quarried in Karystos. http://jbmatthews.home.mindspring.com/Articles/GREEK%20SPEECH.html"}, {"response": 183, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 15, 2001 (23:32)", "body": "More Marble Areas of Greece that produce are Drama/Kavala area well known for its white and white-gray marbles; Ioannina for its beige; the Argolis area for beige, brown, and red; the Attica area for white Pentelikon and ash-blue marble; Crete for its greys; Naxos for the whites; and Volos for the pinks; Attikai for Pentelikon & Agia Marina; Evia Island for Cippolino and Red Eretria; Larissa for Verde Antico; Argolida for Breccia and Red-brown; Arcadia for Black; Chios Island for Brown; and Kriti Island for Onyx;As you can see the utility of many parts of Greece are used for mining and quarrying marble. The six main marble regions of Greece are Drama-Kavala-Thassos which can be considered the Carrara of Greece. Near Kozani and Veroia are well known whites and colored marbles. Ioannina, for beige marble and similar to the Trani area of Italy. The black marble of Farsala, the grey of Larisa, the white of Volos, the rose of Pteleos Volos are among some extracted from the Larisa-Volos regions. Attica and the Pentele mountains for white. (It should be noted that in the Athens area in 1976, a fall in production of marble occurred due to the closing of some quarries for environmental reasons.) The Argolis region is the newest and one of the most dynamic areas for extraction of beige, brown, and red marbles. Many other areas have opened up such as Thrace, Crete, Lesbos etc. An abundance of marbles and limestones such as Cipollino of Evia, the black rudist-bearing limestone of Vitina, the breccia of Mycines, the multi-colored breccia fantasia of Syros, compete against the colored marbles of other countries. Probably the three most widely known marbles today in use are Tinos Green, Pentelicon white, and Thassos White. They are very versatile. Even though the Greeks have an ancient history and use of marble the modern processing started in 1960. From that moment, the number of quarries and marble cutting and process factories started to increase and to be modernized with new and more modern equipment. This was due to the tremendous increase in world building demands and the growth of the rich oil bearing nations who wished to expand their palaces and domiciles. In 1983 Greece started a 5 year development plan that would triple primary quarry production of marble and increase marble exports by a factor of 10 by 1988. This program was established for the expolitation of the marble bearing places, aiming at a higher primary production and exportation. This was to include an intense exploitation program of 12 specific marble-bearing areas. A 128 million dollar investment, half for the production and half for the processing and sales. At that time their primary exports were to the Middle Eastern markets. The main Greek marble to be exported for years has been Pentelikon, which was used to build the Parthenon and Tinos, a very Green serpentine marble. Today they are also known for their white from the island of Thassos, as well as pinks, greys, blacks, reds etc. Greece has so many colors to select from that it would satisfy most any architect or buyer. In most cases their marbles are more true marbles then those of other countries claiming the softer limestones as marbles. Thus the material lends itself for flooring applications. Development of the stone industry over the last 20 years has created a \"new stone age\". At production well over a million and a half tons of marble, Greece has increased well over 10 times its production in the last 20 years. Still, marble only accounts for 0.3 per cent of teh total GNP and 0.9 per cent of the Greek exports. This is due to the efforts made by the Associations, Government support, Investors and marble factories, and of course the advancement in marble production technology. Stone has progressed from cubical, to thin panels. We have progressed from 3/4\" to 3/8\" tiles, now to panels of 3-4mm thick with various backings which can be used in elevators, furniture, raised floors and other applications. One only has to consider that out of all the countries which quarry and use stones only 9 exceed the average annual production of one million tons, a smaller quantity than the production in the Carrara area alone. The total quantity produced by these nine countries, Italy, Spain, Greece, India, Brazil, USA, Portugal, France, and China, adds up to around 20 out of the certain 28 million tons quarried throughout the world in 1990: equal to 70% of the total production. The use of stone for claddings has and is currently undergoing a great evolution too. From slabs directly applied to the structure first with mortar and then with mechanical fixings to the creation of prefabricated panels. In a very short time techniques have gone a long way and precast panels have transformed from \"strong back\" to curtain wall (a finishing module made of metalic structure, stone, glass, insulating materials and interior finishings, ready to be installed. Material is being cut thinner and thus the demand for til"}, {"response": 184, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 15, 2001 (23:34)", "body": "Pink marble??????? Volos has pink marble??? I don't think I have ever seen pink marble... or green marble... It must be very beautiful. You don't want to know what they did to make lime for cement with ancient glories now reduced to holding bricks together."}, {"response": 185, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 15, 2001 (23:37)", "body": "and I have marble bathroom tiles which I clean with rubbing alcohol. They are not from a quarry though... \"cultured\" marble. Man made stuff. All marble should become Nike of Samothrace and not bathroom floors. *sigh* I better never get near Greece. I will stuff my pockets until my clothes fall from the weight."}, {"response": 186, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Tue, Oct 16, 2001 (18:08)", "body": "Marcia, have you ever been in Paris and seen Berenike of Samothrace? It's so extraordinary. She is so beautiful standing at the top a of grand staircase. Although, she is hard marble the feathers on her wings and the drapery of her garment give the illusion of looking so soft. The sculptor was a genius. Berenike really looks as though she's just just pausing to turn before she takes flight."}, {"response": 187, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 16, 2001 (20:54)", "body": "Nope, but I have seen the Elgin Marbles (Parthenon marbles) in the British Museum and a positivly stunning marble statue from Greece's Golden Age in the Metropolitan. It stands at the head of the stairs... and you can see light through her diaphanous clothing. I can see it in my mind as though I had seen it yesterday! Have you seen Nike? My dad did and he was overwhelmed by her beauty."}, {"response": 188, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 16, 2001 (20:57)", "body": "I've seen pictures of her standing illuminatd at the top of a very dark flight of stair. It must be staggering to see. Some day..."}, {"response": 189, "author": "tsatsvol", "date": "Wed, Oct 17, 2001 (13:42)", "body": "The Hermes of Praxiteles. The statue is dated to 343 BC and is made from Parian marble. It is the only original work of Praxiteles, that has survived and it was found at Olympia, intact on his base, several meters under the ground. Its height is 2.10 m. It was dedicated to the sacred Altis from the Eleians and Arcadians to commemorate their peace treaty. Later it was moved to the temple of Hera, where it was found in 1877 AD. The sculpture, \"the diamond of Olympia\" , represents Hermes, the messenger of the Gods, holding the small Dionysos, who tries to take something from his hand. http://www.sikyon.com/Olympia/Art/olymp_eg09.html Talking about Greek marbles and ancient Greek art, I will help you with this statue that is very beautiful and very detailed. I have seen this before enough years and I remain astonished. John"}, {"response": 190, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 17, 2001 (14:38)", "body": "Remarkable! Just like the veiling on the status in the Metropolitan in New York City. It is beyond human genius to see light through the fine details.... and the sheen on the stone is absolutely perfect. I will hunt up a picture of it. Thank you for your post and image. Like noses on alabaster sarcophagi, the parts that are the most delicate never seem to survive intact. I assume all Greek men look like their Gods (with all parts intact!)??!"}, {"response": 191, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 17, 2001 (14:53)", "body": ""}, {"response": 192, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 17, 2001 (14:54)", "body": "There is no reference to my most special statue...*sigh* I'll post this one instead. Nike of Samothrace, 240-190 BC (Paris, Louvre)"}, {"response": 193, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 17, 2001 (14:59)", "body": "The above image of Winged Victory (Nike of Samothrace) http://harpy.uccs.edu/greek/sculpturefemale.html"}, {"response": 194, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 17, 2001 (15:19)", "body": "The Hermes sculpture John posted is pretty cute from the back, too. I wonder who got to polish him?! (Yes, I know! But you guys look...!)"}, {"response": 195, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 17, 2001 (15:30)", "body": "How many have been to the summit of the Acropolis in Athens? Tell me how magnificent it is. It is on my \"to die for\" list. How sad that automobile emissions are so corrosive to marble... We destroy the very best of our heritage (not to mention what the Turks did storing ammunition in the Parthenon!)"}, {"response": 196, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Tue, Nov  6, 2001 (17:05)", "body": "Marcia, sorry to have take so long in repling to your query. Yes, I have seen Nike (Winged Victory). She really is more beautiful than one can imagine. I had an art history professor who insisted that she be referred to as \"Berenike\", as she was the \"bringer of victory\". \"Nike\" simply means victory. I think that (Bere)nike is an aspect of the goddess Aphrodite. Speaking of Aphrodite, also in the Lourve is another revered Greek beauty, Venus de Milo. She's even older than Nike, but she looks really great for an old broad. I've been to the summit fo the Acropolis in Athens. You have to see it, Marcia. Even it's current state, the Parthenon, is magnificent. I definite must see. John, thank you for posting the Praxiteles Hermes. It is exquisite. It's tragic that only one work by Praxiteles remains. The world is poorer for the absence of the majority of his work."}, {"response": 197, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov  6, 2001 (19:15)", "body": "*sigh* Greece has much to entice me and I have NO marble in my rock collection. I'm working on finding a way to get there and what to do with myself when I do. Cheryl, you have seen much beauty. I have scoured the net looking for the statue I remember from my youth at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. I suspect it was 1) on loan from another museum or colletion and 2) not Greek but rather a later Roman copy of a lost Greek statue. I'd be envious of your bountiful optical memories if I did not cherish you quite so much~ Thanks for sharing your memories! John! Surely you have gone past the Acropolis as often as I have the Statue of Liberty or the Kilauea Volcano and scarcely look anymore. Take my eyes and heart next time you are in Athens..."}, {"response": 198, "author": "tsatsvol", "date": "Wed, Nov  7, 2001 (05:54)", "body": "Hi all, Thank you Cheryl and Marcia & Wolfie. Now I have something interesting: Meteora is located near the village of Kalabaka north of the valley of the River Pinios in Thessaly - Greece. The landscape is dominated by a series of pinnacles of sedimentary rock deposited during the middle Cenozoic. The Meteora sequence is made up of Oligocene and Miocene conglomerates and marls which were gently folded in early Miocene time. Later faulting created a series of horst and graben structures. The faulting, and subsequent erosion of the softer marls, have created the spectacular scenery of the region. The site of Meteora is only 145 km. far from Volos that is, an hour and half by bus and it is the most significant sightseeing for the passengers of the cruisers that reach the port of Volos. Meteora is from the biggest and most important group of monasteries in Greece after those in Mount Athos. We can locate the first traces of their history from 11th century, when the first hermits settled there. You can find more here: http://www.port-volos.gr/index.cfm Regards John"}, {"response": 199, "author": "tsatsvol", "date": "Wed, Nov  7, 2001 (09:56)", "body": "This is a photo of a rock in Meteora. You can see a monastery on the top. John"}, {"response": 200, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov  7, 2001 (14:19)", "body": "Thank you, John! Not only do you have the most splended marble, you probably also have fossils. Is there anything which captures my imagination that Greece does not have? I think not (other than gently erupting volcanoes.) Horst and graben structues a easy to find in Hawaii. I guess they are in any place which experiences frequent earthquakes. Greece has certainly had some monumental earth-moving events! The monks on Mt Athos are active in Amateur Radio and have a world wide appeal to those collecting QSL cards. Unfortunately I have only heard the US end of the DX pileup which occurs each time they fire up the rig. Thank you for posting the picture of where they dwell. Beautiful. Like all of Greece, I think!"}, {"response": 201, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Nov  7, 2001 (18:49)", "body": "thanks for the site, John, those pictures are great, and i love the monastary on top of the rock!"}, {"response": 202, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov  7, 2001 (21:00)", "body": "In the case of the monastery, I guess you plan ahead when you do your shopping for food. None of that running out for Chinese food or having pizza delivered if hunger strikes at odd hours. Mail delivery must be difficult, too. It is actually an excellent place for uninterrupted contemplation."}, {"response": 203, "author": "tsatsvol", "date": "Thu, Nov  8, 2001 (08:10)", "body": "This is the monastery Grigoriou in Athos. You can find enough photos of the monasteries of Athos here (select \ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd on the left and click on each small photo in the right): http://www.ert.gr/skyview/ John"}, {"response": 204, "author": "tsatsvol", "date": "Thu, Nov  8, 2001 (08:14)", "body": "I am sorry for the Greek language in this site. John"}, {"response": 205, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  8, 2001 (14:04)", "body": "I love seeing the Greek language in this site. I am the one who is sorry for not knowing how to read it. Thank you for posting this most marvelous picture and where to find more. Thank you also for letting us know which link to follow. *Sigh* I wish my Greek (non-existent) was as excellent as your English, John. As to the monasteries on promonontories, it is easy to imagine how they were created. Those on islands which have houses right up to the edges of the cliff are the ones which amaze me. Do the cliffs erode much in Greece? I suspect they are slowly eroded. We dare not do this sort of building in Hawaii or California. I get acrophobia just thinking about white-washing the buildings, not to mention washing windows or fixing the roof. No wonder I am not a monk on Athos!"}, {"response": 206, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  8, 2001 (14:06)", "body": "For an entire page of little images on which to click: http://www.ert.gr/skyview/mones.html"}, {"response": 207, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  8, 2001 (14:09)", "body": "Incidently, I asked Ginny, who travelled to Greece several years ago, if the entire country was so bounteously endowed with antiquities. She assured me it was. I fear I would contract a serious case of exopthalmia in such circumstances. I would not dare to close my eyes lest I miss something. Tbank you again, John. You live in Paradise, not I."}, {"response": 208, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Nov  8, 2001 (20:09)", "body": "great aerial view of the monastary--now that i think about it, it would be a great place for a prison (though i'm glad the monks live there and not inmates)"}, {"response": 209, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  8, 2001 (21:19)", "body": "Yes! Lovely Monastery in a most magnificent setting - like an inlay of enamel in a large sapphire. I am bewitched. Devil's Island was not nearly as lovely a place. The French used it as a prison. Molokai, in the Hawaiian Archipelago got all the lepers. Islands are very potent isolation mentally and in actuality."}, {"response": 210, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul 10, 2002 (21:53)", "body": "I should soon photograph my newly found rocks and tell you about them. I have a group of limestone fossils and a group of geodes. It is really far too easy to find them here in Kentucky!"}, {"response": 211, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul 10, 2002 (21:55)", "body": "It also helps to have a great guide, and that is exactly what I had!"}, {"response": 212, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jul 16, 2002 (19:14)", "body": "can't wait to see those pics!!"}, {"response": 213, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 25, 2002 (00:57)", "body": "I have discovered that there ARE no rocks in the part of Illinois I was in. There is dirt. Not fertile stuff. Just dirt with lots of corn fields and soybeans fields and hog growing places. But the only rock I saw was road gravel on the main farm lanes which appeared to have been imported for just that purpose from some plece else. What I did find was highly convoluted granite that was admixed with cherts in some instances and schists in others. And these were the larger ones. Most were quite tiny and showed signs of both glaciation and being water-tumbled into rounded shapes. Alas."}, {"response": 214, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Aug 25, 2002 (08:24)", "body": "Where I am in Cedar Creek, TX there are no rocks. When the crew my swimming pool they bet me a case of beer they would find rocks. They always find rocks, they said. They didn't find rocks. Maybe a cannonball now and then, but no rocks. Now, down by the creek there are rocks, but they get washed in from somewhere else. There are a few rocks up on the hillside from the Great Flood of '81. The Memorial Day Flood scattered some rocks on the hillside."}, {"response": 215, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Aug 25, 2002 (10:44)", "body": "Terry, is it too late to connect this topic with Geo Rocks?"}, {"response": 216, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Aug 25, 2002 (16:38)", "body": "No, this can be done."}, {"response": 217, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 25, 2002 (17:24)", "body": "Thanks, Terry! I have some overlapping but that is ok. Now I can share my new and growing rock collection with Wolfie's conference! I'll be posting images soon. Alas, I leave here tomorrow for the trip home, but will return here ASAP."}, {"response": 218, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Aug 25, 2002 (21:15)", "body": "marcia, be safe!! *HUGS*"}, {"response": 219, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Aug 25, 2002 (21:40)", "body": "Keep us posted!"}, {"response": 220, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 25, 2002 (22:05)", "body": "Absolutely I will keep you posted. Geo has the finest most supportive people on earth and I would never keep from them what is happening in my life. Back to California for now. I shall return! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 42, "subject": "Maps", "response_count": 24, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (19:39)", "body": "thanks to marcia who scoped out these websites. i took the liberty of cutting and pasting them over here. enjoy! http://www.mapshop.com/wallmaps/Custom-wall-maps.htm http://www.galaxymaps.com/Default.htm http://users.netmatters.co.uk/clsgraphics/maps.htmlhttp://users.netmatters.co.uk/clsgraphics/maps.html"}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (20:01)", "body": "Oh Wolf! What a great idea. We might link the intro posts here just in case Stacey gets lost when she returns, or did you do that already?"}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (21:40)", "body": "You mean when the czarina of woo hoo returns?"}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (21:55)", "body": "She should be back after the 11th (that is the message I got from her Email at work). WooHoo, Stacey, are you returned to us yet?"}, {"response": 5, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Aug 13, 1999 (09:48)", "body": "no, i didn't link anything, don't know how to do that yet *grin*"}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 13, 1999 (10:46)", "body": "OK...as soon as I get off this little laptop and onto the main PC, I'll do it."}, {"response": 7, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 13, 1999 (12:44)", "body": "Wolf, all I did on Intro was to say to come here for further map discussions and put the url down for here to make it easy."}, {"response": 8, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Aug 13, 1999 (14:28)", "body": "oh, well if that was all there was to it.....thanks marcia!!!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 13, 1999 (17:19)", "body": "Yeah, it takes the RG (Resident Genius) to put a hot link on your topic proper."}, {"response": 10, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Aug 13, 1999 (18:12)", "body": "*grin*"}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 13, 1999 (18:19)", "body": "*hugs* and *grin* I am glad to see you here - everything is dead on the Spring right now, and I feel like I am talking to myself. Happy Friday, Wolfie!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug 14, 1999 (00:50)", "body": "This Url will allow you to get MapQuest newsletters in Email or plan trips, learn about discounts on travel...and more! http://www.mapquest.com/"}, {"response": 13, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Aug 19, 1999 (15:09)", "body": "Woo WoO! I'm not lost anymore... I found the maps!"}, {"response": 14, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 19, 1999 (15:16)", "body": "You might want to check the last few comments in the Intro topic where we first had the map discussion. While you were gone we posted a few things before Wolf got the brilliant idea that we needed a map collection, too."}, {"response": 15, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Oct 31, 2000 (08:03)", "body": "My favorite map these days is the plastic laminated map of Austin, no more torn up paper maps! I wish more maps came out this way, that seems to be the trend."}, {"response": 16, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 31, 2000 (19:59)", "body": "They have loads of them here like that, but they are so stiff...Actually, I think they are place mats... Is your Austin laminate flexible to roll up, or how do you store it in your vehicle?"}, {"response": 17, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Oct 31, 2000 (20:25)", "body": "the laminated maps i've seen are prefolded. but you can get them in all sizes folded or not."}, {"response": 18, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Thu, Jun 14, 2001 (11:15)", "body": "Oh? I got a laminated map of Mali when I was there ..but that is placemat size and stiff. brought a lot of maps home with me .. they are SO difficult to get there ..like a lot of other things ....Made a photocopy of the local school area for some of the teachers we were working with .. they were thrilled. there is no electricity at the school so they cant make copies of anything themselves."}, {"response": 19, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 14, 2001 (20:23)", "body": "yeah, look in your local bookstore--they should have a good selection."}, {"response": 20, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 14, 2001 (21:58)", "body": "There are several good sources of maps on the net. I am still tracking down a map of New Zealand, but I think I will not be satisfied till I have their equivalent of the USGS quadrangle maps or the UK's Ornance Survey. Rob I do know they are working on it. I wonder if a good map until they get the one I want finished?!"}, {"response": 21, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jun 15, 2001 (09:09)", "body": "I think the ideal thing for maps would be to have a section where you had those pull out displays like they have in stores. Maps take up so much space on walls, there's got to be a better way to display a lot of maps. Once, I had the entire 20' by 12' section of wall in topographic maps, I had them all mounted and juxtaposed them on the wall. They ended up being stolen when I put them in storage a few years back so I'll have to try this all over again."}, {"response": 22, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jun 16, 2001 (09:59)", "body": "they must've looked great all mounted and stuff. we have the world and the US tacked up in my son's room. don't think those will get stolen if i put them in storage!! but you almost need a rack, like terry said the bookstores have, and just pull out the one you need."}, {"response": 23, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 26, 2001 (22:41)", "body": "k, another map site for collecting antique maps: http://www.davidrumsey.com/"}, {"response": 24, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 18, 2002 (17:16)", "body": "The best thing about http://www.mapquest.com is the satellite option of a real photo of the place you want to check. Unhappily, they do not yet have The Big Island online yet. I always thought having those wall-mounted swing out maps like some libraries have would be totally cool. Since I have been visitng the mainland, I have learned to love using Delorme maps. Archaeologist approved! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 44, "subject": "Counterfeit Coins.  (Chinese and other asian)", "response_count": 4, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Aug 13, 1999 (09:51)", "body": "never heard of counterfeit anything being worth much. email some pics and i'll post them here."}, {"response": 2, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Oct 31, 2000 (08:04)", "body": "Never heard from bdh did we?"}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Oct 31, 2000 (17:57)", "body": "nope!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 31, 2000 (19:56)", "body": "maybe, busy counterfeiting coins...?! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 45, "subject": "Mish Mosh", "response_count": 26, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Sat, Sep  4, 1999 (19:07)", "body": "Hello Wolf! Could anyone explain why and for what use one need`s a tea-mill. I bought one at a fleemarket,because it looked so nice, but I don't know what to use it for.Why should one grind tea? Oh, and a magpie is a bird that collects shiny things."}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep  4, 1999 (21:16)", "body": "i don't know....hmmm....grind coffee beans, maybe....as a child, my mom had a coffee mill that sat on top of the fridge. don't think we ever used it. it could just be a decorator item, you know, to add atmosphere or something"}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (00:44)", "body": "I am guessing that if it is old, it dates from when tea was sold in whole leaves, and the mill course-ground it for tea ball steeping. If it is modern, I will hit the books in the morning. Hi Isabel!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (05:41)", "body": "So, what do we have here - a crowd of the WORST mish moshers (from German Mischmasch, mixed-up, assorted stuff, no?) of the whole Spring! Plus an innocent new Springizen..."}, {"response": 5, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (10:03)", "body": "New - yes, innocent? - no! The teamill looks like it is fifties or sixties style, maybe they sold tea in whole leaves then? It has nearly the shape of an hourglass (that thing with the sand in it?), it's black plastic with a stainless steel lid and crank. In the middle it's clear plastic with a scale... I don't no were I have it since last moving. If I find it again, I'll try to scan it for you. It looks nearly like spice mills you can buy nowadays, maybe I could use it for dried herbs? Have been at a fleemarket today and bought a wonderful collier with glittering stones - the ones, that look like diamonds, but are just glass? Swarowski-crystals? Darn, how are they called? It's just beautiful, tough!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (11:20)", "body": "Where are there flea markets with such lovely things for sale? Here, all of the stuff looks like it should have been thrown away in the first place!!!"}, {"response": 7, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (11:28)", "body": "Good fleamarkets: Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, Denmark (Ho Faerse Market, in Ho near Blavands Huk)."}, {"response": 8, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (11:30)", "body": "And the last one is without doubt the best I've ever been to!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (12:27)", "body": "Yes. Berlin. Bought nice jewellery there once! Jet stuff..."}, {"response": 10, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (12:28)", "body": "I guess the ones in London are pretty good too, esp Petticoat Lane. Some times they become the victims of their own success and the things they offer for saye are freshly minted antiques for sale to the unwary, or real stuff with very high prices. Delighted to know of your good ones, and more than a little jealous of your access to such good \"stuff\". I still want to know where Isabel found a Swarovsky crystal collar ... I am visiting that place!!!"}, {"response": 11, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (12:47)", "body": "It's not the REAL thing, I mean it's not made by Swarovsky...I just know no other word for those cut glass-stones. But you may find them on every fleemarket... There's always somebody selling old jewellery, with the occasional new piece among that.(mostly fancy and glitzy stuff; for real jewellery, like gold and precious stones, you have to go to antique markets and have loads of money!)"}, {"response": 12, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (14:37)", "body": "costume jewellry, yup.....i don't know what to think about some of the gaudy pieces i've seen being sold as antiques! alex, mish mosh has always been in my vocabulary but i don't know where i got it--most probably from oma and opa!!"}, {"response": 13, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (17:52)", "body": "So you have German grandparents? There are many traders, that tell hourlong stories about what it's supposed to be - but sometimes it's just crap they tell. But if you keep looking around, and keep asking people, you get an eye for things and learn a lot (It never harms to ask, even if you can't afford it: be honest and tell them you can't afford it, but you like to know what it is, maybe because you haven't seen something like this before...A good dealer will tell you) I also can't afford REAL antiques, that cost REAL money..."}, {"response": 14, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (18:15)", "body": "isabel, i'm half german (mom is full-blooded)...don't speak the language anymore, but can pick up what is being said."}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (18:18)", "body": "Definitely use that teamill for dried spices. I used a little electric coffee mill for the same thing - but it messes it up for further use for coffee! (Which is ok - I do not grind my own!)"}, {"response": 16, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (18:23)", "body": "hey, that's a great idea!! hi marcia!!! *hugs*"}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (18:59)", "body": "hi Wolfie...*hugs right back* (it works really well for dried stuff!)"}, {"response": 18, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (19:05)", "body": "hmmm....i usually buy my spices already chopped up. we've (i say we, but actually the alpha male) only just started buying fresh herbs like cilantro and parsley. isabel, where are you from again?"}, {"response": 19, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (08:40)", "body": "Haven't told ya yet, have I? :-)) Thanks for your tip, if I ever find that darn teamill again, besides the other thousand things I miss since I moved, I'll try it. Besides, I startet grinding my coffee fresh every day and brew it with hot water about two or three years ago. It tastes wonderful and I can't drink machine-made coffee anymore, brr! I buy my coffee at a small coffee-roasterie. (Is that the right word in english? Don't know exactly...) Hey at least You've found out that I'm no native english speaker! But, wasn't that obvious?"}, {"response": 20, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (08:43)", "body": "OOOPS! What happened to the clocks in the background? It's all so yellow around here! Don't write yellow posts! They cause great misunderstandings! *grin*"}, {"response": 21, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (10:50)", "body": "isabel, read constructive critisism (can't spell today) and you'll understand! you know, i speak english and i'd call the coffee place the same thing!"}, {"response": 22, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (21:39)", "body": "speaking of mish mosh, just came out of my daughter's room and man, can't believe she has all that stuff! and what's worse, none of that can be categorized as mish mosh, either! AND i'm responsible for giving her all that stuff. oohhh, just came up with some more ideas for topics......"}, {"response": 23, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (21:52)", "body": "I saw...going to post right now. (Don't look under her bed, ok?)"}, {"response": 24, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Wed, Sep  8, 1999 (11:38)", "body": "Resp. 21 ...if you knew what easy words I have to look up in the dictionary. *big big sigh* That's one reason why I'm here at spring - improve my english - maybe I've lost it with the other stuff under my bed or behind the cupboards or it's still packed up in boxes in the basement (ooops, I don't have one!)."}, {"response": 25, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Sep  8, 1999 (19:47)", "body": "see, that's what happened! the movers plopped your stuff in someone else's basement!"}, {"response": 26, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Thu, Sep  9, 1999 (07:24)", "body": "Hey, at least I didn't let them pack my brain. Just found my cerebrum back. So I'm at least able to move forward! Isn't that great! *Softly humming: \"Move a-head, and your ass will follow\" (FSK-Song)* collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 46, "subject": "Apples and Bovines", "response_count": 17, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep  4, 1999 (18:31)", "body": "well, i know someone with apples, but i'm nuts about roosters and ivy. no, my kitchen doesn't look like anything french country out of Better Homes and Gardens, but it would be neat if it did."}, {"response": 2, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Sat, Sep  4, 1999 (18:34)", "body": "One of my former colleagues at the last high school I taught in (crosstown from the one I presently teach in) collects anything in \"cow.\" Her last name is Irvine--and everyone, including herself--calls her \"Mrs. Bovine.\" Hi, Wolf ( canis lupus )!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep  4, 1999 (18:38)", "body": "hi mrchips! how strange! i knew a gal in grade school who loved horses. the funny thing about this gal was that her jaw made me think of a horse, especially when she opened it and laughed! i felt bad for thinking that about her, but a horse's mouth was unmistakeable in hers!!!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Sat, Sep  4, 1999 (18:53)", "body": "I've been called another part of the horse's anatomy once or twice!!! ;) Actually, Wordsworth was described as having an equine face--but what a poet he was--especially in his early years."}, {"response": 5, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep  4, 1999 (21:18)", "body": "well, she definitely had an equine face (sounds much nicer, somehow, that way)...when she opened her mouth, all you saw were teeth and gums *laugh* hey, people probably say i look like a dog *heehee*"}, {"response": 6, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Sat, Sep  4, 1999 (23:16)", "body": "And I'm a new species of bear ( ursa pacificus )"}, {"response": 7, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (05:26)", "body": "Yo, good doggie, here's a nice milk bone for ya! And the nice furry friend over there - a honey-dripping waffle! (John, it's actually raw fish looking like a waffle, so it's gonna be ok if you accept this token of appreciation!) Equine face - we call it (a bit rudely, but that's our -non-existent- charm) \"Pferdegesicht\", and the nominees are: Prinz Billie's (the english kid's) new step-ma (BTW, MA is the chinese word for horse... hehe) and the fourth or twentyeigth wife of our curent chancellor (not the HUGE guy, the new one, the easy-livin' weasel)."}, {"response": 8, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (07:02)", "body": "You mean the brilliant cellist is actually YO YO HORSE???!!!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (11:44)", "body": "Ma is a widely spread family name, as is Wang (king), or Li (plum). But these names don't have \"meanings\" for the chinese, they are just names. Same as nobody would immediately relate horseshoes to a Mr Smith, or wooden beams to John Carpenter..."}, {"response": 10, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (20:21)", "body": "something like that...."}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (21:31)", "body": "i would, isn't that how folks got their surnames? you know, like johnson, etc? it would be something like john the carpenter and it eventually became john carpenter....am i the only one who thinks curiously?"}, {"response": 12, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (21:53)", "body": "Exactly! Mine were needle-makers, who decided they needed to sell more so they decided to invent turning the ragged edge under and sewing it in place. Thus, hemming the garment. Check your flat sheets. The little tag says whatever the dimentions \"before hemming.\""}, {"response": 13, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (21:55)", "body": "Then there are the ones like my GreatGrandmother who was Mary Overton - her surname came from where her ancestors lived - like Ford (stream crossing), etc."}, {"response": 14, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (22:18)", "body": "hmmmmm....gonna go check them sheets now *grin*"}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (22:56)", "body": "Let me know what you find!"}, {"response": 16, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (23:13)", "body": "Any male named \"Johnson\" had better be hung in equine proportions!"}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (23:19)", "body": "Ladies, are we into investigations? I am a researcherm but the only one I know is Dr Jerry and he teaches Psychology here. Not going there...not even a little! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 47, "subject": "Roosters", "response_count": 5, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (21:46)", "body": "ok, i like roosters. unfortunately, my galley kitchen is too small to have all sorts of rooster stuff laying around (no pun intended, although, roosters don't lay anything but hens)...*oooops* anyway, do have two pieces, one's a rooster wind vane. it's not an actual wind vane cuz then it would never fit in the kitchen, but it's made of metal and shaped to look like a flat wind vane. the other piece is a clock that i saw and had to have. of course, it's a cheap clock that i found at wal-mart but hey! the ambiance is what i'm talking about here!"}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (22:02)", "body": "You would not believe where people here collect roosters. There is a law against chicken-fighting in Hawaii, but you can own the fighting gamecocks. There are a few homes around Hilo with their whole yard devoted to little houses for these proud little cusses with the bird staked out front of his house in each case. They are not good eating. Not pretty. A pain to mow around. So they are there just because the owner of the house in whose yard their little houses sit just likes to have them around crow ng at all hours of the day and night. Very odd indeed!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (22:24)", "body": "so is owning gamecocks a status symbol? don't see myself as owning a real live rooster. the only one i've ever run into in someone's back yard was MEAN! my friend's dad came out with a belt to stop the rooster from coming after us. we were retrieving eggs and he didn't like it one bit. and talk about stink! they also raised rabbits to eat and i learned from them that mama rabbits eat their young if left in the cage with them. so how in the heck does a wild mama rabbit raise her young? do they kick 'em out after a day or two? and speaking of rabbits, they make excellent housepets and are better than cats, i hear. they can be potty trained and you don't need to worry if you own dogs, rabbits can handle themselves quite well. c'mon terry, open that animal conference for me, got the furry critters on the brain!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep  7, 1999 (00:00)", "body": "Hey, you were stealing his progeny...his dynasty...his heirs! These mean buggers get rapier sharp steel hooks strapped to the backs of their legs as weapon with which they eviscerate their competition. I am not really positive about this, but I truly think they are not raised for an honest living...but do not know... Rabbits and rats do better in the wild because they do not worry about population density as they do in their cages. They can only see the four walls and figure they will starve if they let the little ones survive. Give 'um more room!!!"}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep  7, 1999 (00:02)", "body": "So, to answer your question (got side tracked by the bunnies) - you bet having a stable of fit fighting chickens (Filipino variety) is a huge status symbol in some cultures in the islands. collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 48, "subject": "Shells", "response_count": 54, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (21:02)", "body": "i make a point to collect sea shells whenever i'm at a beach. my faves are scallops, welks, and sand dollars. of course, the sand dollars are always broken up so i call them fifty cent or quarter pieces! the larger shells are in my curio cabinet. i recently made a wreath with a bunch of smaller shells. used a grapevine wreath with spanish moss covering 3/4's of it and then hot glued shells onto it. left it that way and hung it up. note: shells are heavy so use a heavy type glue and a strong hanger. i glued a piece of coat hangar onto the back. it turned out really nice for its simplicity."}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (21:07)", "body": "another note: it is important to remove any remaining parts of the critter that lived in the shell (esp. welks) as they will stink very badly! i used a q-tip because i could bend it to fit into the spirals. also, soaking them in bleach will kill any remaining bacteria and the smell. i mix bleach with water (kinda like when doing the wash). let them soak for a few days, then rinse, and let them dry. you can take some varnish (clear, matte or glossy) and coat your favorites if you like. i leave mine in their natural st te but out of the sun (due to bleaching). there are lots of books out there for quick identification but i haven't actually purchased one yet. will get some links to post here as soon as i can."}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (21:59)", "body": "OOoh, Wolf, May I link this to Geo as well? I ama malacologist from way back and have an extensive collection which are kept is several plastic cases with clear drawers (which crafters use and in which men keep their screws and other widgets) Mine are all catalogued and labelled and the log kept in a book. I have lovely spider whelks from Kwajalein Island in the Solomons and fun things like that which students used to bring back to butter up the professor via his wife. It worked for me!!! I put a wir cage of hardware cloth over my shells to be cleaned and our carnivorous ants pick them clean. Then I soak them in a dilution of bleach ( no stronger than 1/3 bleach to 2/3 water or your will etch the calcium of the shell.) Then dry them in the sun and that is it!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (22:00)", "body": "I have lots of field guides to shells - one of the best being in the Peterson series. I highly recommend it."}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (22:07)", "body": "Ah Wolfie, I couldn't wait - so we are linked for our third time ...yippee!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (11:47)", "body": "And Marcia is a malawhat?"}, {"response": 7, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (12:51)", "body": "Was es das?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (12:52)", "body": "Malacologist - seashell studier rather than just a collector."}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (17:02)", "body": "cool! i like being linked. so i have a question, ms malacologist: are shells of a certain type all marked the same (i.e., rusty stripes against a white background) or are they individualized? and exactly what kinda critter can squeeze into a sand dollar?"}, {"response": 10, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (18:26)", "body": "Just as plants have family, genus and species, so do shells. The gastropods include the whelks and conches, and under these are individual species which differ quite widely. Bivalves are the clams, musssel and oyster families and there are many genera under each classification. Snd so on...*grin*"}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (18:31)", "body": "Links are cool and edgy. I like'um! Sand dollars (of which I have no specimen in my collection since I have never been where they live) are related to sea urchins, and the critter who lives in it is pretty simple and very flat. They have mouth parts extending out of the central aperture of the flat side of the \"shell\" and when they are live, there is varying amounts of \"felt\" covering it depending on the species."}, {"response": 12, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (18:37)", "body": "cool! i found various sites for shells and all of theirs were shiny and pretty. mine are rather dull. i'm afraid to take anything to them (like my drummel buffer bit)....have learned that i own 4 sundials! i have a ton of scallops with varying patterns. and have a couple of really ugly shells that i think are oysters. is there a way for me to buff it up to find the beauty?"}, {"response": 13, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (20:54)", "body": "Aha! No, get the cheapest colorless nail polish you can find and thin it to about 1/2. Lacquer your shells and they will be lovely and shiney, too! Works for beach pebbles as well, if you like the \"wet\" look!"}, {"response": 14, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (20:57)", "body": "Oysters can be wire-brushed if you are talking about the outside. Otherwise, try them wet and see if that improves the color. If so, lacquer them as well. I have some wee teeny sundials and one about the size of a nickel. Flattened gastropods and Really pretty!"}, {"response": 15, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (20:58)", "body": "what do i thin it with? (ok, i'll hush and go now *grin*)"}, {"response": 16, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (21:00)", "body": "and about the oysters, are they supposed to be pretty underneath all that dark stuff?"}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (21:05)", "body": "Don't go...I forgot to tell you acetone or the cheapest polish remover you can find. Make that dilution 1/3 acetone and 2/3 polish for shells. For stones use 1/2 to 1/2."}, {"response": 18, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (21:07)", "body": "Nah - Oyster shells are only pretty inside if they are pretty at all, and after they have been cooked, forget it! The insides of oyster shells are what the animal secretes to make pearls so it is pretty soft. If it has been in the surf it is almost beyond salvaging except as an example of an oyster shell."}, {"response": 19, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (10:58)", "body": "Yummy! oh, eh...sorry!"}, {"response": 20, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (11:47)", "body": "Malaco-, eh, cool! I only knew \"mala-djusted\"... ;=}"}, {"response": 21, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (18:04)", "body": "i think mine were in the water awhile so they must be hopeless. i'll try scrubbing them and see what happens!"}, {"response": 22, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (20:14)", "body": "Next time AM takes you for seafood, save one of the raw shells - the prettiest one inside (the outsides are a total loss anyway!)"}, {"response": 23, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (20:19)", "body": "he doesn't do oysters, at least that i know of. the AM is into clams! and those shells aren't very pretty (and have been cooked!).... (and look at that forget button *grin*!!!)"}, {"response": 24, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (20:27)", "body": "Bummer - someone is Looziana must eat'um raw... Isn't it Purty?! *smiling broadly* We dood it!!! Mahalo plenty, Dear!"}, {"response": 25, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (20:38)", "body": "not a problem!! sorry about the white border...will keep at it though. i shall go and dream of shells and rocks! maybe this weekend i'll scan a few more rocks and start on some shells. it'd be neat to have some eye candy! (but i promise, terry, i'll keep em small, or post them somewhere else to save space *smile*)"}, {"response": 26, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (21:02)", "body": "Keep 'um small or send them as files and we can discuss them. Those you have done so far don't amount to much at all - bet there is junk email in boxes unread and undeleted amounting to far more than that! It is surprising how much I could tell about that glass pebble from your descriptions and analysis when I could see it. The boot remains unknown to me. Cannot find anything like it. Does it feel heavy enough to be stone?"}, {"response": 27, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (21:05)", "body": "Yaknow, even with the white borders, now that Visto is red, and my horzibars are white, it looks very nice...with the complete set up there. I am all happy and content with the elegant new look along with the most endearing original look..."}, {"response": 28, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Nov  4, 1999 (20:17)", "body": "here's an interesting link: http://www.ma.iup.edu/MathDept/Projects/CalcDEMma/SeaShellCode.html and here's another: http://www.susqu.edu/facstaff/b/brakke/complexity/LAVELLA/seashell.htm"}, {"response": 29, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  4, 1999 (20:26)", "body": "Susquehanna University?! Near Penn State (relatively, that is) for the second one. Thanks, Wolfie, and more *hugs* for using the Geo link...it looks better if there is traffic in here. And, you can admire your buttons *grin*"}, {"response": 30, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Nov  7, 1999 (16:14)", "body": "and another link: http://www.seashellworld.com/seashells.htm"}, {"response": 31, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov  7, 1999 (16:23)", "body": "Ooooh, Splendid. I can ID shells as well as rocks. Have you found one you cannot identify?"}, {"response": 32, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Nov  7, 1999 (16:46)", "body": "they do rocks there too? didn't notice that. clicked on sundials but only one kind was shown. will do more looking though!"}, {"response": 33, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov  7, 1999 (17:51)", "body": "No, but I do *grin*"}, {"response": 34, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar  7, 2000 (19:03)", "body": "i finally got a shell identification book. it's one of those eyewitness handbooks and it has lots of info. there's are all shiny and pretty and mine are, well, they're glued to a grapevine wreath *grin* (which fell down and still hasn't been fixed)....."}, {"response": 35, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar  7, 2000 (19:29)", "body": "Hey, there's a good excuse to go back to the seashore to look for goodies. Winter throws the best ones up on the beaches - I miss beach combing...! I know how to make your old matte-finished finds look all shiney, too!"}, {"response": 36, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar  7, 2000 (19:32)", "body": "we've talked about the nail polish and stuff, but how do they polish it?"}, {"response": 37, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar  7, 2000 (19:50)", "body": "It dries shiny. Not all that different from what the snail secretes - at least in the old days before plastics and epoxies. There is no other way that I know of to bring back the polish from an sand-abraded sea shell."}, {"response": 38, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar  7, 2000 (20:02)", "body": "well, you could wax them or oil them but they get sticky with oil...."}, {"response": 39, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar  7, 2000 (20:05)", "body": "i dunno....maybe i'll just leave them alone for now....."}, {"response": 40, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar  7, 2000 (20:11)", "body": "That or flock them up one side and down the other - if we're still talking wreath, here! (Where is that Crafts conference?!)"}, {"response": 41, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar  7, 2000 (20:12)", "body": "...or paint 'um green for St Patrick's Day or red, white and blue for just about any reason... Or, of course, just leave 'um alone for now..."}, {"response": 42, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar  7, 2000 (20:12)", "body": "i know, right! gotta run, have that big test in the am.....*HUGS*"}, {"response": 43, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar  7, 2000 (20:15)", "body": "*Hugs* wolfie - knock 'um dead!!!"}, {"response": 44, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Dec 29, 2001 (23:06)", "body": "well, this place has been empty. marcia, my shells are still unvarnished. and i found a snail shell this past week while putting down my daffodil bulbs and it has been added to my collection."}, {"response": 45, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 29, 2001 (23:19)", "body": "Wow!!! All I get this far inland is slugs and african parasitic snails. Occasionally I have seen a Giant African snail and they are the size of a dinner plate! Absolutely frightening! I'll have to get some photos of my more rare Hawaiian shells. Some are quite beautiful."}, {"response": 46, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Dec 30, 2001 (12:14)", "body": "that african snail sounds terrible! it would scare me half to death to see something like that on my back porch. mine are common shells. this one is about an inch across, typical brown color. whomever lived in it has moved on to bigger and better things (unless a bird or something got him) but the shell is completely clean. the shell is the consistency of a fingernail (what a comparison)."}, {"response": 47, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Dec 30, 2001 (23:13)", "body": "That is exactly like our parasitic snails. Keep them safe - they are highly beneficial! Ours were imported to eat the Giant ones. They are carnivors (the little pinkish-brown ones whose shell you found)"}, {"response": 48, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 31, 2001 (18:34)", "body": "you're kidding me!!! carnivorous snails? that sounds so unreal!!!!!!! *LAUGH* will have to take a moment and scan a few of mine in for you guys to see (as soon as terry figures out why FTP won't let me transfer any of my files)"}, {"response": 49, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 31, 2001 (19:24)", "body": "*sigh* Yes, Please. I have a scanner a year and a half old I have not even unpacked. I need space for it! As soon as I take down my little trees... Move a stack of books, then move a little teak chest... *sigh*"}, {"response": 50, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 31, 2001 (23:25)", "body": "*SIGH* i know the feeling sweetie! *HUGS* i just spent 2 hours cleaning out my daughter's room and we're still not done unpacking (2 more rubbermaid boxes to go)"}, {"response": 51, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan  1, 2002 (15:12)", "body": "Oh Wolfie, if you ever figure out how to get rid of a pack rat and his packings, let me know! I am so frustrated and disgusted. He has felt my contempt and general unhappiness with the situation..."}, {"response": 52, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Apr  1, 2002 (13:01)", "body": "picked up a whole mess of scallops at the Bolsa something beach in Huntington Beach on Sat. it was really cold but all four of us combed the beach in bare feet! actually found a couple that were 3 inches across. scallops are my fave to collect (besides the spirally ones). will have to take a pic and post them for you to see. have just removed them from their bath and am waiting for them to dry. oh, and found some really neat rocks too (a couple will house small bromeliads)"}, {"response": 53, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, May 27, 2002 (19:39)", "body": "we have made a few more expeditions to the bolsa chica state beach and found more scallops, those the last couple of times, we didn't find much. though i must say that yesterday, after passing by some sea weed that washed ashore, we found two cowries--haven't meastured them yet but they're over 2 inches. cowries are not native to the beaches of california so they've really made a long trip over here. from one of my shell books, they're found mostly in the indo-pacific. just goes to show what the currents can do! if you have any good websites or reference books to help me identify them, please recommend away!!!"}, {"response": 54, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jan  8, 2005 (12:20)", "body": "Haven't been in here inawhile! All my shells made it to Texas in good shape. Despite some concerns with the packers. I've made my powder room the display area but there's just not enough room (yet! I've got plans). A student in one of my classes said that in Ohio, it is bad luck to keep seashells indoors. It's OK to keep them but not inside. Anyone else hear that? I'm not a believer, just want to know if this is a true superstition or something this girl's mom made up to keep those shells outside. collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 49, "subject": "Classic Amateur Radio Gear", "response_count": 121, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov 22, 1999 (09:22)", "body": "That should be Collins not Collings above. I have an Atlas 210x with the drop in base. And I have a (not classic) MFJ tuner to go with it. It's the backup for my Yaesu FT-100, FC-20 combo. I got my G5RV antenna up this weekend and it works like a champ on 20 and 40, haven't tried the other bands yet. Oh, and I got on 80 meters at night and was able to talk to folks around Texas pretty well."}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 22, 1999 (13:49)", "body": "I had for amany years an HRO (National) with all of the bands in separate \"drawers\" which plugged into a large slot at the bottom (these were big units!) This was my Dad's primary tranceiver. It was a lovely piece of equipment. Also had a war surplus AVR war surplus for which my Dad had built a metal box to house it. This went to college with me and I snaked an \"invisible\" antenna out the window on my dorm room and got called on the carpet for it. But, from central Pennsylvania, I could get the world! Terry, are you ever on when it is night in Hawaii? I'd love to hear you sometime... I have had no success in getting you in the afternoon, and in the morning I cannot turn on my gear at 3am when I share the room with a guy who already thinks I am far too interested in Texas as it is!!!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov 22, 1999 (22:55)", "body": "I don't get on during the day much, I'm on 3825 (80 meters) right now talking to a guy in Houston in a mobile. If I get on during the day, it will be on 21.332 (15 meters); that was our old Farm frequency for talking to Guatemala when we were running medical supplies and soy products to the Huichol Indians."}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 23, 1999 (13:24)", "body": "The higher bands are just too noisy for me to hear you during the day - even in the dawn/dusk period. I have entered the two frequecies into the memory of my sw radio, and will be monitoring...(Was not able to get on last night. Try again, please, when it is dark here!)"}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 24, 1999 (11:53)", "body": "I was on 3.825 last night for about an hour talking to Ed in a mobile near Houston."}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 24, 1999 (12:19)", "body": "About what time? If it was before about 10pm your time, I cannot hear you for all the QRM."}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 24, 1999 (14:34)", "body": "It was at various times though the night, there were quite a few folks on that frequency, mostly around Texas. Tell me a frequency you can hear sometime and I'll get on there and talk."}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 24, 1999 (14:56)", "body": "Give me an hour and I will try for a frequency. Propagation is miserable this cycle and there is an uncommonly high amount of 'noise' even in the evenings. The 14MHz band was open at this hour 10:40am HST (2:40 Austin), but there is still a huge amount of QRM. 21.375 was and 21.393 was coming in but I could not understand either one of them. Perhaps farther into the winter we might have more success?! In order for me to hear the mainland with any clarity at all it has to be late afternoon or later, depending on the day."}, {"response": 9, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 24, 1999 (15:04)", "body": "With the Rockies and the Sierra in the way it is sometimes very difficult to hear mid-America. Can hear Florida ok sometimes... Have you ever heard Hawaii? Our local ham net is on 7088 daily at 0200 zulu (4pm here). I guess if you cannot hear them I cannot hear you."}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 24, 1999 (15:27)", "body": "What time is that here."}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 24, 1999 (16:06)", "body": "You are four hours ahead of us so it is 8pm in Austin."}, {"response": 12, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Thu, Jan  6, 2000 (21:14)", "body": "Howdy Terry and Marcia and all Classic gear on this end is: Collins R390A (main station receiver) Hammarlund SP600 (backup) Plus an S Line and KWM2A kicking around Lots of AM activity around here in the Great Lakes region with plenty of boatanchors on the air. Hope to put the Heathkit DX100 back on the air or better yet, get hold of a 400 watt T368 military transmitter to burn up the ozone. mike aka cosmo AA9IL"}, {"response": 13, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan  6, 2000 (21:34)", "body": "Oooh, Mike, good stuff! I should post the updating solar image here so you can check out the sunspots and figure out whether you are gonna get some good DX or just QRM... Come and check often - as I said, it updates automatically. Aloha!"}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan  7, 2000 (15:50)", "body": "That's cool, the sunspots. How's the activity level on hf now and what's the prognosis for the next month or so? I see a lot of sunspots anyway."}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan  7, 2000 (16:25)", "body": "I'll check for you (have lots of places to check) and get back to you and post it here. Actually I could post that daily or semi-daily or weekly, even and make it a regular post. I am just as interested as you are. Today it is a little better than it has been for some time. The 14 MHz band is open but there is a bit of QRM. 18 MHz band is terrible but I can understand the discussion. the 13 M band is so quiet I cannot hear anyone using it. SW non the 13 M band is the clearest and no QRM at all. I will try later - it is noon here now and not the best time to try. Off I go to get the prop numbers and forecast."}, {"response": 16, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan  7, 2000 (17:10)", "body": "From: http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/2000-arlp001.html 2000 bulletins: General \ufffd DX \ufffd Keplerian \ufffd Propagation 1999 bulletins: General \ufffd DX \ufffd Keplerian \ufffd Propagation 1998 bulletins: General \ufffd DX \ufffd Keplerian \ufffd Propagation 1997 bulletins: General \ufffd DX \ufffd Keplerian \ufffd Propagation 1996 bulletins: General \ufffd DX \ufffd Keplerian \ufffd Propagation 1995 bulletins: General \ufffd DX \ufffd Keplerian \ufffd Propagation ARLP001: Propagation de K7VVV SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP001 ARLP001 Propagation de K7VVV ZCZC AP01 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 1 ARLP001 From Tad Cook, K7VVV Seattle, WA January 7, 2000 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP001 ARLP001 Propagation de K7VVV For the first propagation bulletin of the new year, we will review some of the solar numbers for 1999. Currently we are moving toward the peak of solar cycle 23. Activity is not as high as we had hoped, and current projections place the broad peak of the cycle some time later this year. We can see a broad progression of the current cycle by reviewing annual solar flux averages. The average daily solar flux in 1996, 1997 and 1998 was 70.8, 80.9 and 117.9, and for 1999 it was 153.7. The average daily solar flux for the four quarters of this year were 136.7, 145, 157.6 and 175.2 for the quarter just ended. This indicates a steady upward trend. Monthly averages of daily flux values for September through December were 135.7, 164.8, 191.5 and 169.8. So what does the short term outlook say? Projected solar flux for Friday through Sunday is 150, 155 and 160, and the projected planetary A index is 10, 8 and 12. Beyond the weekend it looks like quiet geomagnetic conditions for January 10-19, moderately unsettled around January 20 and 21, then quiet again until January 26 through the end of the month. The most active days should be around January 27 and 28 due to recurring coronal holes. Solar flux should rise until January 16 and 17, peaking around 205, the drop below 150 by January 25. If you want to graph data from these bulletins, you should try WA4TTK's graphing program. The solar flux and sunspot database has just been updated, so it now covers 11 whole years, from January 1, 1989 to December 31, 1999. You can download the software and the data from http://edge.net/~scraig/sol.htm . Then starting with this bulletin and for every bulletin after this, you can use the WA4TTK freeware to import the data automatically from the bulletin text and display it graphically. Sunspot numbers for December 30 through January 5 were 88, 91, 69, 69, 77, 102 and 100 with a mean of 85.1. 10.7 cm flux was 135.6, 130.1, 129.9, 132.9, 133.1, 134.7 and 136.5, with a mean of 133.3, and estimated planetary A indices were 8, 27, 27, 14, 13, 12 and 15, with a mean of 16.6. Path projections for this weekend are to Japan for the JA International DX CW Contest. From Seattle, WA, 80 meters 0700-1730z, 40 meters 0600-1830z, 20 meters 2030-0430z, 15 meters 2200-0200z, 10 meters 2230-0030z. From Salt Lake City, UT, 80 meters 0700-1600z, 40 meters 0600-1700z, 20 meters 1530-1630z and 2100-0430z, 15 meters 2130-0130z, 10 meters 2230-0030z. From Omaha, NE, 80 meters 0700-1500z, 40 meters 0600-1630z, 20 meters 1500-1630z and 2100-0200z, 15 meters 2130-0030z, 10 meters 2230-2300z. From Dallas, TX, 80 meters 0630-1430z, 40 meters 0600-1500z, 20 meters 2000-0300z and 1430-1530z, 15 meters 2130-0130z, 10 meters 2200-0000z. From Newington, CT, 80 meters 0700-1330z, 40 meters 0600-1400z, 20 meters 2030-1030z and around 1630-1730z, 15 meters 2200-2300z. From Miami, FL, 80 meters 0700-1300z, 40 meters 0530-1330z, 20 meters 2100-0100z and 1230-1300z, 1430-1530z and 1630-1700z, 15 meters 2130-0000z, 10 meters around 2230z. From Cleveland, OH, 80 meters 0700-1430z, 40 meters 0530-1600z, 20 meters 2100-0130z, 0600-0900z and 1500-1700z, 15 meters 2130-2300z, 10 meters possibly around 2200z. NNNN /EX \u001a"}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan  7, 2000 (17:16)", "body": "I also subscribed to their bulletin via email service so I can be more prompt with the information posts."}, {"response": 18, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan  7, 2000 (17:26)", "body": "This web page has specific charts for specific areas of the US http://www.arrl.org/qst/propcharts/ FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 05 - 31 JANUARY 2000 SOLAR ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM LOW TO MODERATE LEVELS DURING MOST OF THE PERIOD. OCCASIONAL TO FREQUENT C-CLASS FLARES AND ISOLATED M-CLASS FLARES ARE LIKELY THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD. IN ADDITION, THERE WILL BE AN INCREASED CHANCE FOR ISOLATED MAJOR FLARE ACTIVITY DURING 08 - 26 JANUARY WITH THE EXPECTED RETURN OF OLD REGIONS 8798 (S13, L = 171) AND 8806 (N19, L = 115). THERE WILL BE AN INCREASED CHANCE FOR A PROTON EVENT AT GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT DURING 08 - 26 JANUARY. THE GREATER THAN 2 MEV ELECTRON FLUX AT GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT IS EXPECTED TO BE AT MODERATE TO HIGH LEVELS THROUGH 05 JANUARY. NORMAL TO MODERATE LEVELS ARE EXPECTED DURING 06 - 27 JANUARY. FLUXES ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO MODERATE TO HIGH LEVELS DURING 28 - 31 JANUARY. GEOMAGNETIC FIELD ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO BE AT QUIET TO UNSETTLED LEVELS THROUGH 26 JANUARY, BARRING AN EARTH-DIRECTED CME. ACTIVE TO MINOR STORM LEVELS ARE EXPECTED DURING 27 - 30 JANUARY DUE TO RECURRENT CORONAL HOLE EFFECTS. 3 DAY FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY (AS OF 2000 Jan 06 2210 UT) Solar Forcast: SOLAR ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO BE LOW. Geomagnetic Forcast: THE GEOMAGNETIC FIELD IS EXPECTED TO BE QUIET TO UNSETTLED."}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan  7, 2000 (17:30)", "body": "http://hfradio.org/propagation.html was the source of the above post. If you want to see solar images under all conditions and filters: http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/images/latest.html"}, {"response": 20, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan  7, 2000 (18:41)", "body": "For today's (every today) propagation report in full with images and links to various interesting and pertinent sites: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html#today"}, {"response": 21, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan  7, 2000 (20:05)", "body": "I'm sorry, Wolfie, I did not know this was linked to your conference and I posted lots and lots of stuff which I should have kept in the radio conference. I promise to do better!"}, {"response": 22, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  7, 2000 (20:10)", "body": "it's ok!"}, {"response": 23, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan  7, 2000 (20:19)", "body": "At least you know today's solar flux and how to find it in the future...*grin*"}, {"response": 24, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (16:06)", "body": "There is God in Heaven! An old Ham-buddy of mine just presented me with my very own boat anchor - a Hammerlund HQ - 100 Communications Receiver - and the owner's manual for same! I am delighted out of my mind and cannot believe I again have a radio which is worthy of the 60' trap dipole on the roof. Happy Me."}, {"response": 25, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (16:08)", "body": "Oh...and propagation is off the scale (realtively) - just in: SFI=231 up from 210 | A=3 down from 4 | K=2 down from 3 at 2100 on 21 March. SAF: moderate, GMF: quiet to unsettled Aurora Level: 3 More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html"}, {"response": 26, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (21:55)", "body": "The newest \"Boat Anchor\" in my life - my Hammerlund HQ 100A - is now captured for posterity on the net - but it is someone else's Looks the same, of course, but the size is deceiving. It is 9\" deep X 9 1/2\" high X 16\" long and is in a sturdy metal box the top of which is perforated to allow for cooling of the 10 tubes inside (yes, tubes!) Next comes the smoke test...!"}, {"response": 27, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (23:15)", "body": "Oh, yes, this lovely instrument is a tranceiver. That means I can send as well as receive - but one must have a license to send and I do not have one for these frequencies. Good old KH6ORS (old rusty submarine)! Bless his kind heart for getting this rig up and working well enough for me to operate. Take a bow, Corky!"}, {"response": 28, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (23:17)", "body": "I wonder if he ever got the National HRO which I inherited from my Dad on the air...*sigh* If anyone could, he could!"}, {"response": 29, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Sat, Apr  1, 2000 (23:42)", "body": "Fine business on the new boatanchor! Good luck with the HRO as well - I have an HRO 50-T1 needing some touch up work on the front panel and also a re-alignment. One thing to remember with the old gear is that you might have to replace the bypass caps and resistors. Thats in the queue.... Right now, rig number 1 to get the 'works' will be my Collins R390A - Its in reasonably good cosmetic shape but stands to get a re-alignment and some mechanical work - right now, the rig works great but I want to do the complete restoration. Second on the list will be the SP600 which will need all the paper bypass caps replaced - some of which are very challenging to get to. These old radios are great to operate and nothing sounds like AM on a tube rig. Im still looking for some heavy iron for transmitting."}, {"response": 30, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr  2, 2000 (00:03)", "body": "Fine Business, yourself, Mike. There is a glow and the aroma of a tube set (providing it is not of melting Bakelite) which evokes a sentiment like Mom's home cooking. Very satisfying and almost visceral in enjoyment. The sound has to be experienced to be appreciated. To me, there is no better rig than then HRO with those \"drawers\" for the bands, and fine tuning with a knurled knob which has not been excelled. That is one sweet transceiver, and was the one my Dad used every morning for a cw sked during my entire life at home as I was growing up. He took care of it amost better than he did his kids (...not really, but we never went near it unless he was there.) Cosmetics is always difficult on those black crinkle-finished boxes. This Hammerlund has what looks like cast aluminum - matte dark gray. No finish to be cosmetic. Not even any corrusion! I post ARRL current propoagation and DX information Radio topic 32 just in case you left your issue somewhere but you have your laptop on your next DXpedition. How \"heavy iron\" are you talking? What is your fantasy Rig (providing you can get a spare transmitter tube for less than your house cost)? 73's and 88's"}, {"response": 31, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Sun, Apr  2, 2000 (19:09)", "body": "Hi Marcia Those black crinkle HRO's are nice - knew a guy that had one for sale a long time ago - I bought the HRO 50 T1 from him which has the hammer-tone gray body. Out of curiosity, is your radio an HRO 5? As far as dream radios go, Im looking for a T368 which is a 400watt transmitter (am and cw) - this rig is about 800lbs and was a replacement for the old BC610. For a while, Fair Radio in Ohio was selling them for about $700. They have become very popular with the AM crowd and their price has gone up - I saw one advertised for $1600 which is kinda silly but Im sure the guy sold it.... Here in the Great Lakes region, there is alot of AM on 3885 and you will hear everything from Johnson desk kilowatts and Collins KW1's to homebrew rigs. Winters are the best time to listen to 75 and 160 around here when the OF's rag chew. Still planning on using the R390A for the main receiver. That rig is rock stable and sounds good too. Its a pain to tune around though with a mechanical MHz and KHz knob - not exactly good for spinning up and down the band. The SP600 is good for band touring with a big weighted flywheel tuning configuration that makes it easy to zip around the bands. Anyway, good luck with with all the new toys. 73 de Mike AA9IL"}, {"response": 32, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr  2, 2000 (21:03)", "body": "Believe it or not, when the HRO was delivered to me after my father's death it was not in working order. An old friend was given it - power supply, drawers and rig - the entire lashup. I knew if anyone could get it working again and would appreciate it, he would. He returned the favor by giving me this Hammerlund which is not as intimidating. I do not recall the model of the HRO, but I will ask KH6ORS when next I see him. If you are in the Great Lakes area, you can set up the water as a ground plane like we do here on peninsulas for field day. They get remarkable results using that method while waiting for the antenna riggers to get the long lines into the palm trees. I hope you succeed in getting your dream rig. But, talk about an boatanchor...! It figures out to about $1/pound. How big is it and are we talking rack and all? Cannot imagine an 800 pound tranceiver...so I am going to hunt it down on the net and see what I can find. E-Bay sells a load of antique and newer tube Ham radios. Have you checked there (of course, you have!)? I know about pains to tune. I also bestowed my old AVR on KH6ORS...yanked out of a WW2 boat or plane and sent to college with me years later. It had NO dial so I had to learn the position of the butterfly condenser to know where the stations were I wanted to hear. *sigh* The good old days...! 73 Marcia"}, {"response": 33, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Sun, Apr  2, 2000 (22:40)", "body": "Not sure if I have ever seen an AVR receiver. One of the old radios that I searched for was an ARC 5 receiver. It was about as basic as they came and required the gain and bfo to be built into a press- in accessory box. It ran off of 28 volts which powered a dynamotor. These sets covered 190khz to 550khz, the am broadcast band, 160meters, 80 meters, and 40 meters with each set covering one range. These sets were used in military aircraft (WWII vintage) - after the war, they were perfect novice rigs. Back in the 'good old days', there were whole city blocks of stores that sold ARC 5's, ART13's, BC348's BC610's and tons (literally)of other military surplus radios for pennies on the dollar. Of course, this was long before I got into ham radio but I was able to find my set(s) at ham fests and word of mouth. These sets are fun to operate and there is nothing like firing up a 50+ year old radio and making a contact. 73 de AA9IL Mike"}, {"response": 34, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr  2, 2000 (23:01)", "body": "This old AVR (I am sure of the initials but will check on the net for more info) had a long square bar on the lower left which was pushed in or yanked (Yup!)out in three steps to change from low to medium (am broadcast) to high band (that was how it was designated then)...and a bfo and volume and one tuning knob with 119 turns from pin to pin. I counted them one long night of listening with an old headset which just about covered my entire head. I could get the entire world on it and learned the fine art of dx-ing and keeping logs with it. I thought I had invented a new hobby Hi! It also had two antenna terminals on the front. They were push-in affairs which opened little holes into which you inserted the antenna wire. One for the lowest band (on which I never heard anything - ever!) and the other for the two upper bands. The first time I was handed my son's Sony digital SWR I thought it was a joke. But, he was my son and the grandson of my dad, so I knew it wasn't a joke. However, as you say, gim e a solid old tube set and fire it up to make contact. That is still a thrill. I hate when a signal comes in poorly on a digital and there is nothing to tweak. Gotta have at least 10 knobs to fiddle with before I am happy! 73 Marcia"}, {"response": 35, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr  2, 2000 (23:04)", "body": "The AVR did not have a \"case\" as it ws built directly into the front panel of the aircraft (I am pretty sure they were used for aircraft). My dad took sheets of crinkle black finished metal and fabricated a box for it, drilled cooling holes in the lid (which I was instructed to leave ajar if I was to listen to it for any length of time) and holes for the various knobs and toggle switches. Suddenly, I am overcome with nostalgia!"}, {"response": 36, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Apr  3, 2000 (16:10)", "body": "hey, what's with all the numbers and stuff before your names? are those radio call signs? (like ham radio operators--or is that what we're talking about?)"}, {"response": 37, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr  3, 2000 (18:08)", "body": "Do you mean 73's and 88's? 73 = best regards; 88 = Love and Kisses. It is shorter when sending code to use those than spelling it all out. Mike's call sign as a Amateur Radio Operator is AA6IL"}, {"response": 38, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Apr  3, 2000 (20:29)", "body": "yup, that's what i meant!"}, {"response": 39, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (06:17)", "body": "My callsign is ka6atn, the 6 means I got my ticket (license) in Calfornia, it doesn't mean I'm *from* California. I get that sometimes when I give my call around here (where there are 5 calls), \"oh, what part of California are you from?\""}, {"response": 40, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (15:23)", "body": "I wondered about that...but there are so many retired military out here with home calls that I was not surprised at yours."}, {"response": 41, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (06:36)", "body": "Yeah, I can see a lot of Calif folks migrating to Hawaii."}, {"response": 42, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (06:38)", "body": "with their 6 calls. What is the number designation for Hawaii?"}, {"response": 43, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (16:28)", "body": "Usually 6. We are in Region 13 which for novice class = KH6 or WH6 Technician/general = KH6, NH6, or WH6; Advanced Class = AH6 Extra Class = AH6, KH6, NH6, or WH6 I note by your call that Mike (aka Cosmo) is AA6IL means he has an advanced class license. My information is a few years old so this might be a little different now. I also know those who retain their old call even though they qualify for advanced class and higher calls."}, {"response": 44, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (16:37)", "body": "However, Looking through my log book for the local hams I know, there are N6, H6, WA6, K6, KB6 (military)WA6, KJ9U (a guy on Oahu), A6J (a guy down the street) and an occasional KA6. You would be right at home here with your call, Terry. I suspect those anololies are old calls which came to Hawaii with the retirees when they moved here. Btw, it is the young generation which leaves, like my son, to get a good job which pays a living wage."}, {"response": 45, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (19:52)", "body": "Hi Marcia and gang My old call from my novice days was KA5WOT which I kept even when I passed my Advanced (in Texas during my college years...). When I moved to Illinois, I passed the Extra and got AA9IL - now-a-days people can request vanity call signs but AA9IL was luck of the draw - I do have folks come up to me after hearing my call and asking how did I manage to get that call while living in Illinois. I joke that if I lived in Wisconsin, I would have to wait for AA9WI for my new call. Yea, its nothing like having lots of controls to mess with when tuning in a station. The R390A has mechanical MHz and KHz tuning knobs with a mechanical counter display. When you turn the knobs, a bunch of gears and cams turn on the inside which move coil slugs up and down and also tune the oscillator - mucho fun for the gear heads.... I wish I could find a RACAL RA17 which is a UK boatanchor in league with the R390A - it clocks in over 90lbs and has a unique tuning system as well. The RCA AR88 was another big heavy receiver that is quite rare here but would be fun to have to hold the table down. These radios have which todays modern solid state boxes just dont stack up to. I do like modern govt surplus surviellance receivers though mainly because of their 'covert spook' heritage. Something quite fun listening to VHF/UHF bands on a radio that came out of a govt listening post. BTW, just got back from a visit to Austin for a week of business/ vacation. It was nice to be home and even take in the Bob Marley fest at auditorium shores which made me feel like I was in my slacker days of old.... 73 de AA9IL Mike"}, {"response": 46, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (20:01)", "body": "Can you even get good gov't surplus nowadays that does not have the guts all rearranged so you cannot hear the \"good stuff\"? I have heard enough interesting stuff with an old scanner in the middle of the night in the Los Angeles area. Overheard two guys planning the removal of many TRW files from the building nearby. I had no idea where it was at that time, but never heard anything about it later. I guess they do not announce these things if they can help it - or perhaps it has not yet been discovered...! I am envious of your trip to Austin...*sigh*"}, {"response": 47, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (23:32)", "body": "Hi Marcia and gang You can find mil surplus radios quite often at the local ham fests. In most instances, the gear is complete but sometimes it is 'demil-ed' which means boards, EPROMS, CPU's, etc have been removed or damaged. For the most modern radios, this pretty much makes them inoperable and good luck finding any documentation or even a company that will fess up to building the set especially if it was made for the 'agency'. Modern, exotic, surviellance receivers are available on the surplus market but they can add up to several thousand dollars. These sets were made by Watkins Johnson, Racal, Harris, etc. Many times these sets are purchased surplus via govt auctions or DRMO sales - these sets will probably increase in price by a couple of hundred percent when they reach the surplus dealers. Most of the sets I have are 60's and 70's era hybrid radios that are manual tuning and comprise of tubes and transistors. The frequency range covers 20-1000mhz and some sets include a spectrum display to show a frequency span around the center frequency. Neat stuff but the Icom PCR1000 can do all the things the modern sets can do and then some - plus they do not cost $20-$40000 new. The 60's era sets are not too expensive and they still fall into the boatanchor category. 73 de AA9IL Mike"}, {"response": 48, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (23:47)", "body": "Thanks, Mike. Really interesting. I would not be surprised if you would not find some interesting people calling on you if you did manage to get one of the top-of-the-line surveillance equipment into your ham shack. Even more likely if you had a tower in the back yard. Gotta hand it to our military. Only the best manufacturers will do - at our expense, of course! I am all to aware of the gutted modern stuff out there. Worthless. Not even good for parts. Wouldn't we all like an Icom 1000 under the tree this Christmas (or for Mother's Day, for that matter!) *wishful thinking sigh*"}, {"response": 49, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Apr 24, 2000 (07:18)", "body": "Next weekend is Belton, Mike, are you going?"}, {"response": 50, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Apr 24, 2000 (07:58)", "body": "And what should I be looking for in the way of classic gear?"}, {"response": 51, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 24, 2000 (13:55)", "body": "What is Belton? (or is it a Where?)"}, {"response": 52, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Apr 24, 2000 (17:38)", "body": "It's a town North of Austin where they have a swap meet. See http://www.repeater.org (our website) for details."}, {"response": 53, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Tue, Apr 25, 2000 (20:57)", "body": "Greetings Marcia, Terry, et.al Nope, was in Austin last weekend - if I could have only scheduled my trip for this week then I could make Belton. As far as gear goes, you cant go wrong if you find a nice big rig like a National HRO, Hammarlund SP600, or a Collins rig. R390A's are nice but, like classic Jaguars, you either need to be very mechanical or know a guy that did field depot repairs on them during their stint in the military. Hallicrafters are nice rigs too, and more common than the above and, for casual listening, are just fine. Collins and Drake are good rigs but you will have to either luck out and find a 51S1 which covers shortwave and the ham bands or be ready to buy a bunch of crystals since the rigs only cover a section of the band based on what crystals are plugged in them. Regarding the spook radios, I think my neighbors would be a bit suspicious if I put up a tower with a bunch of log periodic and discone antennas so the house would look like an embassy listening post.... 73 de Mike AA9IL"}, {"response": 54, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 25, 2000 (21:07)", "body": "Oh yeah...you could get a few life-sized GI Joes armed at the four corners to make them truly paranoid..."}, {"response": 55, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Apr 25, 2000 (21:29)", "body": "Is the 51S1 a Drake or Collins? What Drake rig is the ultimate classic Drake?"}, {"response": 56, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 25, 2000 (21:37)", "body": "OOoh, My faves, Drake!"}, {"response": 57, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 25, 2000 (21:41)", "body": "Have any boat anchors, ka6atn?"}, {"response": 58, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 25, 2000 (21:43)", "body": "uh...Mike...we're really alright. We are just having attacks of Spring Fever..."}, {"response": 59, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Apr 25, 2000 (21:48)", "body": "ATlas 210x and drop in base."}, {"response": 60, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 25, 2000 (22:33)", "body": "That'll suffice very nicely..."}, {"response": 61, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Tue, Apr 25, 2000 (22:57)", "body": "The 51S1 is a Collins rig - they go from $600 up.... if you can find one.... For Drake equipment, look for an R4C - it is a ham bands rig but you can plug in different crystals to get other bands. This is the same as the Collins S line. There is a neat trick you can do with the Collins receiver with ham band only crystals - the radio uses a preselector for peaking the tuning - on some bands, if you tune the preselector at odd places, you can hit the right image and listen to short wave broadcast bands. 3's and 8's de Mike Radio Free Cosmo"}, {"response": 62, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 25, 2000 (23:12)", "body": "Back to sanity for my name... Do you know how long-lived crystals are? I have some old scanners and the crystals which go with them. It has been absolute ages since they were used. Hmmm...not familiar with the 3's but I am checking (book across the room) *sigh* My Big Drake was stolen and it is through the kindness of KH6ORS, the Hammerlund replaces it - but this is a whole nuther kettle of fish."}, {"response": 63, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 25, 2000 (23:15)", "body": "Ok...where did I get the 77?! 73, of course...*head on keyboard*"}, {"response": 64, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 25, 2000 (23:19)", "body": "I appreciate your subtlety, Mike. I might have left that up there for an embarrassingly long time...*sigh* See? I told you all Amateur Radiomen were Gentlemen! Every last one of them! *hugs* and Mahalo..."}, {"response": 65, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Wed, Apr 26, 2000 (21:44)", "body": "-grin- no problem.... Regarding crystals - they should age and possibly detune over time - thats why radios that use crystals sometimes have a small trimmer capacitor to tweek the xtal back on frequency. Oy, I only have 3 more weeks of school then I'll have some time to fire up the R390A for long periods of time to listen. I need to fire up the SP600 too since its been dormant after I got the '390. Although, spring is finally here up north and Im gettin the hankerin to do some microwave contacts across Lake Michigan. Too many interests in this hobby.... Plus, there are some ham fests coming up as well. Time for more new junk.... 3's and 8's de Mike AA9IL Radio Cosmo International"}, {"response": 66, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 26, 2000 (21:57)", "body": "That sounds great. I post the prop and dx reports weekly as arrl sends them to me let me know some time what freq's you use and I will try to hear you - even though you'd have to be up in the middle of your night - 1am your time before I could hear you (7pm our time)...but you are not in Texas, huh?! No matter how big they say it is, it is not big enough to see Lake Michigan from there!!! 3's 'n' 8's Marci"}, {"response": 67, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Wed, Apr 26, 2000 (22:42)", "body": "Actually Lake Michigan is just a bit north of Dallas (we Texans call it the Red River, tho....) WARNING! TX BS rising to dangerous levels! WARNING! Anyway,... If I am on HF, I would be found on 30 Meter CW around 10.115 to 10.125mhz or 20 Meter CW near 14.060Mhz. With the sun spots coming along, there should be good DX conditions in the early evening through the morning - plus you have to stay up late after the East Coast goes to sleep or get up real early when the west coast is asleep to work the exotic stuff. Actually, Im looking forward to Amsat P3D which should provide good DX windows to the Pacific when the satellite is parked over there. During the winter months, I hope to be running good old AM on 75 meters with the rest of the Great Lakes crowd around 3885khz. 3's n 8's de Mike AA9IL Radio Free Cosmo"}, {"response": 68, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (12:51)", "body": "Not going to be able to determine much about you if you just use CW other than if yor ar QLF (which I seriously doubt. You should talk to Terry via CW to get his speed up enough to to upgrade to advanced. Ever do EME stuff? How deep is the TX BS getting? And can one tell the difference between that and the normal TX stuff? Or the normal BS ?"}, {"response": 69, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (13:31)", "body": "Bob called a bit ago, we're going to Belton on Saturday monring for the swap meet (see http://www.repeater.org ) and we're taking my van so we can bring back a new antenna for our 442.15 repeater. I'll be on the lookout for classic gear."}, {"response": 70, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (16:19)", "body": "Sounds good, Terry! Say Aloha to Bob and get him posting again! We have repeaters all over the coasts and across the mountains on the islands. Line-of-sight is just about local only with these mountains. Have fun and remember stuff so you can tell us swap-meet deprived and we can dream."}, {"response": 71, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (20:21)", "body": "Sure, I'll try and remember stuff."}, {"response": 72, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (20:27)", "body": "Happy Hunting!"}, {"response": 73, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (20:29)", "body": "thanks, I'll keep an eye out for bargains."}, {"response": 74, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (22:56)", "body": "Hi Marcia and gang TX BS is a special grade above just normal old BS Regarding CW, you can tell quite a bit about a brass pounder (or a bug twitcher as the case may be....) by their 'fist' Of course, nothing beats good ol' AM - 100% modulated (plate, naturally) out of some heavy iron.... For CW, I want to master the use of my Vibroplex Blue Racer bug and get to the point where I can copy 35 - 40 wpm while drinking coffee and playing poker like the Radiomen of old. My regular key will be a an early 1900's era spark key that I will be restoring - it has a firm feel to it although my WWII era British Admiralty key has a distinct sound all of its own. Good luck at Belton and get some neat toys - I missed you and Bob on the repeater when I was in Austin - maybe next time. Also, Marcia, hope you can find a good swap fest on the Islands! 3's n 8's de Mike AA9IL Ah, to be monitoring the traffic on 500khz on a tramp freighter off the Canary Islands...."}, {"response": 75, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 28, 2000 (00:09)", "body": "Your oldie - is it a sideways contact or like my Dad's old brass key from when he was in college - looked like a stapler to me but nothing came out when I tried to staple something once in my callow youth (shh...don't think he knows.) You wanna be one of those guys like the old farm wives who could churn milk with one foot, rock the cradle with the other and nurse a third while watching that supper did not scorch. Good reflexes and lots of practice is all it takes...!"}, {"response": 76, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 28, 2000 (00:11)", "body": "In can monitor traffic from under a palm tree and hear both the freighter and anything else I care to grab out of the air, propagation permitting! 3's and 8's Marcia"}, {"response": 77, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Sun, Apr 30, 2000 (22:43)", "body": "Hi Marcia The bug is a semi automatic sideways key that generates dots and manual dashes. The old spark key is the traditional pump type key. I rescued the spark key at an antique store on Portobello Road in London - the previous owner 'tried' to clean the key with a steel wool pad and pretty much ruined it as a collectors item - I decided to clean up the brass properly and buff out the scratches - when Im finished, I will have a classic old key that looks good and is functional as well. Then the key will once again send signals into the airwaves. Nothing beats sitting under a palm tree. I like the old maritime radio op stuff - must have done that in a previous life..... 3's n 8's de AA9IL Mike"}, {"response": 78, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (00:00)", "body": "In the evenings when the frangrance of the night blooming jasmine scents the air for miles and the breezes come down off of the heights of our twin 13,000-foot mountains, it is lovely, indeed. A tall cool one in the non-functioning hand and a brass pump key in the other on a sturdy table beside the boat anchor of your dreams...life can be sweet, indeed! My dad had a fine fist, indeed, and I miss old W2CWR on the air every morning at 6am to have a hal-hour sked with his college buddy W3RM. It kept them both up on their speed though they seldom used it with anyone else. My dad could read the crickets at night (or pretended to us that he could!) 3's n 8's from Hilo"}, {"response": 79, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (02:04)", "body": "Aloha Mike, You might have some really interesting DXing mid week due to the following: It should make the propagation numbers rise dramatically! Look for Aurorae too. Space Weather News for May 1, 2000 A coronal mass ejection (CME) from a small sunspot group was recorded by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory on April 30, 2000. If material from the eruption is heading toward Earth, as animations of the CME suggest, then the shock wave will probably arrive late on May 2nd or sometime on May 3rd. Forecasters estimate a 30% chance of active geomagnetic conditions at middle-latitudes on May 3, 2000. For more information, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 80, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (02:11)", "body": "I post this stuff daily in Geo conference - usually topic 24 - and in New conference topic 36. I don't like to post duplicates, but lots of people think reading stuff in Geo is gonna be deadly dull. Well, I'm not, and neither is it! In fact, I have updating weather maps for all over the world in Geo 14, Earthquake maps which update, too, and solar image direct from NOAA http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/geo/24.41 In fact, there are very few conferences here I have not written in - just sometimes a little naughtier in some and more serious in others. 3's n 8's Marci"}, {"response": 81, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (02:31)", "body": "Me again Mike. I created a new Geo topic just for Hams and those to whom solar propagation is important http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/33/new Btw, anyone want me to post the Keplerian Data which I get from ARRL every so often? 3's n 8's Marci who is going to bed!"}, {"response": 82, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (08:51)", "body": "Sure, post it!"}, {"response": 83, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (12:09)", "body": "Will do so when the next set arrives. I will post it in the DX topic unless someone perfers it elsewhere...?"}, {"response": 84, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (18:25)", "body": "The next set of Keplerian Data is due tomorrow, but I posted last week's in DX Information - Topic 32 of this conference. If you'd like it elsewhere or not at all, please let me know!"}, {"response": 85, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (22:05)", "body": "Hi Marcia This is a bit of a stray from the boatanchor thread but another interest of mine is in VLF, ELF, and down. There is an interesting club called the LWCA (Long Wave Club of America) - there is a 'Sounds of Natural Radio' section which deals with sferics, whistlers, dawn chorus, etc. There are some experimenters who monitor the SLF frequencies for signals generated by Mother Earth (earth quakes, the magnetosphere, etc...) This is much more suited for the Geo section where I can move this thread to. The only radio I have that goes down that low is a Watkins Johnson set that tunes down to 6khz. Have never heard anything down there except for Omega navigation. There is also FSK and CW signals from the Navy which uses the low frequencies to transmit to subs. I think there was once an ELF transmitter in Wisconsin who's antenna covered lots of miles. There are man made signals from 1khz down to 1hz no doubt but you do not read about them in the paper... 3's and 8's de secret agent mike"}, {"response": 86, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (22:38)", "body": "Oooh! Great stuff, Mike! you can also hear distant lightning as it strikes the ground, with the right frequency terraphones. Love this thread and no one has discussed anything like it in Geo, though that is why I set up Geomagnetism (topic 27) wanna continue there? I'll paste these two posts there and continue. 3's n 8's Marcia, who's delighted..."}, {"response": 87, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, May  2, 2000 (07:24)", "body": "Great material. I'd never heard of long wave natural signals like this before. Fascinating."}, {"response": 88, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  2, 2000 (12:58)", "body": "We're taking the conversation to Geo 27 when Mike can get online again (this evening, perhaps?!) That is what the GeoMagnetism is about when you asked me what it is. A whole topic full of good stuff awaits your perusal!"}, {"response": 89, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Tue, May  2, 2000 (22:16)", "body": "Greetings Marcia and all Ok, moving the whistler stuff to Geo. We will now return to the vintage radio hour, already in progress..... 3's n 8's de Mike AA9IL"}, {"response": 90, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  2, 2000 (22:21)", "body": "*tweaking* *ooching fine tuning* Thank heavens for old time radios one could look into and understand. Geo had her control file eradicated and I (and a magician behind the scenes)am trying to get my buttons back on and my wallpaper! Scary to have all of that programming disappear. (Spring was frozen for about 2 hrs)"}, {"response": 91, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  2, 2000 (22:22)", "body": "*hugs* Mike! It is good to see you!"}, {"response": 92, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May  3, 2000 (23:09)", "body": "Aloha Mike, Reading over your posts, I neglected to follow up on your comment about marine ops. I have followed two kinds for years, the scanner CG channels. They berthed the QEII on channel 16 while I listened and stood 20 feet away from the dock edge. I also watched as a Russian freighter set out to sea. They hauled down the hammer and sickle and raised a hand-sewn new Russian flag and listened to them tell about it! It was the day of the revolution and they had gotten word of it. It was incredible! We cheered them on as they steamed away. I have listened to my dad dx the marine operators along the Eastern Seaboard, too. My sisters and I used to hold our noses and say \"Wilmington Marine Operator\" just the way they did. I can still hear it inside my head. Are they still in operation? Or are you talking about Ham bands with which the ships converse at sea with home base? I am most interested in any of these transmissions. I listened to the two Coast Guard Cutters as they traversed the North Pole (am I remembering correctly - not sure where my log is right now!)"}, {"response": 93, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Thu, May  4, 2000 (22:36)", "body": "Greetings and back to radio... Regarding marine radio ops - these are the ops who handled maritime traffic in the 600 meter band (500khz). There were also shore stations which handled traffic with the ships and also monitored the international distress frequency. On this frequency, there were mandatory silent periods to listen for distress signals. I have read in email posts that an interesting exchange would take place between the shore stations and ships - a radio op would send a single 'dit' where another op would respond with a 'dit' - soon there were a flash flood of 'dits' which would then disappear as quickly as it started. Those were the days of the real radio men. Now-a-days, its all modern satellite stuff - efficient but not very exciting. Although I completely missed that era, I try to recreate it a little bit with the classic radio collecting and operating. 3's and 8's de AA9IL Mike dit dit....."}, {"response": 94, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May  4, 2000 (22:38)", "body": "Aloha Mike, How about generating your own lightning and amazing the kiddies on your block. Build a VandeGraf generator. They had a huge one in the British Museum of Science on Cromwell Road, and it made such a loud noise it scared my 14 yr old son until he discovered what it was. Then he wanted one of his very own. It would make a nice addition to your Foucault Pendulum and Spielhaus Space clock when you include the Tesla coil and other goodies you are planning. A room-sized orrery would be nice too. In the ceiling, of course. And, a good-sized telescope with a dome to house it in on the turreted third floor?! Sounds wonderful! 3's n 8's Marcia"}, {"response": 95, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May  4, 2000 (22:45)", "body": "You slipped your comment about marine radio in under my fanciful thinking. You are still a little kid, then?! Is all marine ops other than the ones I mentioned done with cw? No wonder it went out of favor. I miss the person to person quailty of my early childhood (could ony hear it on vacation when we were at the shore.) You are close enough to the Great Lakes you should be able to pick up some marine voice traffic. There is still a lot out there but on the standard Ham bands or just outside of it as is the Aircrafe traffic over the Pacific. That is good listening, as well."}, {"response": 96, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May  4, 2000 (22:47)", "body": "Gotta get off the University computers and attend this banquet. People are beginning to read over my shoulder. Aloha, Mike - I'll be back tomorrow!"}, {"response": 97, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Fri, May  5, 2000 (22:27)", "body": "Hey Marcia Better watch out for the shoulder surfers - great way to get passwords though.... Regarding radio traffic on the great lakes - there is still plenty of signls to be heard with all the shipping traffic. An interesting magazine that has alot of coverage of vintage gear is called 'Electric Radio' - there was even a story the end the use of CW for marine radio traffic. There is an email list called 'boatanchors' which has alot of good exchanges about vintage radio operating. I have been on this list since '94 or '95. There is also a neat magazine I have been reading titled 'Great Lakes Cruiser' which has plenty of history of all the shipping in the Lakes as well as the ports and maritime lore. Neat for us armchair sailors - maybe I can find an ice breaker or light ship on the surplus market dirt cheap.... 3's and 8's de Mike AA9IL"}, {"response": 98, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May  6, 2000 (11:56)", "body": "Aloha Mike, (and all other owners of massive humidity-arcing big rigs of the wheel-less kind...) Are any of those 'zines online? I really do not need another subscription, but it sounds fascinating. My cousin was a captain on the Great Lakes (and a gratuate of New York Maritime Academy) Yup! Know about shoulder surfers - but thanks for the heads-up. They were mostly intrerested in what I was telling your about my experiences with Marine radio - but it is disconcerting and really rather rude... Just what you need to go with your boat anchors - a real boat. Even the smallest of them will take up a huge amount of room in your back yard, or if you berth it, vast amounts of money while it deteriorates. However, I think your comment was more fanciful thinking than planning. It Would be fun to have one, though!"}, {"response": 99, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May  6, 2000 (12:02)", "body": "...and when you get your ship, make sure the Radio Room is completely stocked with the good old glow in the dark tube type radios. Gotta keep Mike busy and Happy! Let us know what happens along these lines and how the Tesla coil is coming...*grinning eagerly* 3's n 8's Me in Hilo"}, {"response": 100, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Sat, May  6, 2000 (22:10)", "body": "Greetings Marcia and shoulder surfers Well, the lightship is a bit fanciful thinking but I have had ideas of parking a boat off shore from Chicago and doing a pirate radio program in the tradition of Radio Caroline, Radio Newyork International, etc. As far as radio gear goes, most likely will have the latest marine SSB stuff - probably SGC which also transmits on the amateur bands as well. I guess for old times sake, I could have a small boatanchor radio in the corner as well - I would have to have a rather large ship to hold the really big radios I would like to own - plus they would have to be welded down so as to not tip over in the high seas (or rough Lake Superior for that matter....) The Tesla coil project is in queue for the moment, right now, the primary projects is the assembly and integration of some 2, 3, and 5 ghz transverters so I can do some propagation studies over Lake Michigan - that way, I can combine radio with a day trip to the local state beach near Wisconsin. 3's n 8's de AA9IL Mike"}, {"response": 101, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May  6, 2000 (22:52)", "body": "Aloha Mike, The shoulder surfers have backed off 1) they do not have a clue of what we are talking about and 2) they have noticed that they have been discovered and that it is considered rude by certain people who are the prime user of the surfed screen...*grin* Actually, one older guy was just looking as he had never seen anyone use a computer, let alone a woman, let alone one he things is a babe. What can I say?! With Tesla technology can't you move your Nantucket Light Ship (midwest) to another place like Philadephia - or have you not read all about that? (betcha have!) Pirate radio... Yesssss!!!! Please email me or whatever when you get on the air. I love this stuff! (yesh, my email in here works) Weld them down so confiscating them in raids will be more difficult! Make the FCC work for their money! 3's n 8's M is sunny and balmy Hawaii"}, {"response": 102, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May  6, 2000 (22:55)", "body": "Man! Can tell I was in the sun all day at Baseball. Musta burnt my brain. Sorry for the mistypings!"}, {"response": 103, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Sun, May  7, 2000 (18:34)", "body": "It was hot here too - must be Summer... When I was in college, you did not cruise the comp sci or engineering building looking for babes - my, how things have changed. The pirate radio gig is a bit aways - need to get a ship first. Yep, have heard about the Philly Experiment - another topic to add to Geo. Well, gonna fire up the R390A for a while to burn the cobwebs out. Might get to do some listening too once I get my silly work finished. 3's n 8's de Mike Radio Free Cosmo"}, {"response": 104, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, May  7, 2000 (18:49)", "body": "I think the Philly Experiment would fit nicely into the semi-lunatic fringe collection of Earth Mysteries, which is where the serious and taken seriously are discussed when they are not posted elsewhere... I still think we need a Sonic Earth or whatever. Would you like to create a topic which would encompass your ELF and SETI and other listening projects? Please? 3's n 8's Marcia in HOT and sunny Hawaii - summer is definitely here!"}, {"response": 105, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Sun, May  7, 2000 (22:12)", "body": "Hi There I guess I can put together something related for geo - like natural radio signals or somesuch - not quite sure if SETI would fit in there or if that is more of the science/physics or radio territory. We could group the whole thing into geo as well. Could try it there and see what the reaction is. (If it was pure radio astronomy, I would place it in the Astronomy or Radio section) 3's n 8's de Mike Radio Free Europa"}, {"response": 106, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, May  7, 2000 (22:25)", "body": "There is no astronomy conference but I do have topic 24 which is Beyond Planet Earth where I post everything extra-terrestrial... You sure you don't want a topic which is inclussive - like Auditory Earth or something which implies the Earth is emitting radio waves which can be detected... HAve at it - My conference is at your disposal and I am delighted you are interested! Eager, even! 3's n 8's Marcia the eager host in Geo"}, {"response": 107, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Mon, May  8, 2000 (20:06)", "body": "Ok, hows this for a topic name: \"Gaia Magnetosphere\" Kinda tribal rave-y with scientific overtones.... 3's n 8's Mike"}, {"response": 108, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  8, 2000 (20:47)", "body": "Love it - and it looks wonderful. I considered naming the entire conference Gaia, but thought it would be misunderstood. Welcome to Geo, Mike! *Hugs* of appreciation! M"}, {"response": 109, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May 17, 2000 (16:36)", "body": "Gentlemen, how high does this Solar Flux Index go? It bgan the week below 130! SFI=262 up from 259 | A=21 up from 16 | K=2 at 2100 on 17 May. SAF: moderate, GMF: quiet to active, Aurora Level: 4 More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html 3's n 8's Marci"}, {"response": 110, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 18, 2000 (00:34)", "body": "Putting this in here - if it updates, it goes in Geo 35 for mike"}, {"response": 111, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun  3, 2000 (20:07)", "body": "Nope, didn't ! Did not think it would considering what it is showing...*sigh*"}, {"response": 112, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Tue, Jun  6, 2000 (21:00)", "body": "Regarding Silly Americans and Heavy UK radios Just got back from holiday across the pond. Aside from jet lag, I did manage to get a new boatanchor in the mail.... (currently gathering dust in some customs house...) It all started after a night of fierce dancing at the Wag Club near Picadilly Circus in London. Lots of cool old 60's Motown and garage bands mixed into a phat and funky beat until 2:30am. 6:30am.... Oy - I get up and plod through cold and rainy streets to the tube stop for the ride to Liverpool station. The station is pretty empty with the exception of some clubbers making their way home - got on the Great Eastern Line and made my way to Ipswich for a radio rally/car boot sale. I was too wired to sleep so I contented myself to watch the damp country side roll by. It was still pissing rain when I was close to my destination and I heard over my 2 meter radio that the boot sale was canceled but the rally would still go on with a smaller bring and buy sale inside. I put out a call for my friend Sam G4DDK to let him know I had made the journey so he could pick me up and give me a ride to the rally. Ham fests and radio rallies are kind of neat since you dont really know what kind of goodies are going to show up. Although this was a subset of the planned sale, there was still some interesting items for sale - saw an old ARC 5 receiver, a nice TCS6 receiver, and a 'Tail End Charley' test set (whatever that was...). I snatched up a 70's era Racal Squadcal military backpack radio. Of course, the prize of the trip was a Racal RA17 hf shortwave receiver in storage at Sam's QTH. After a nice visit, a drive by the BT research facility, and a viewing of Bawdsey Manor (airbourne radar R&D during WWII), the RA17 and me were dropped off at the Ipswich train station for the trip back to London. Now, comes the fun part - lugging back a 44 kilo (67 pound) tube radio. Lucky for me I brought along a luggage cart which simplified things somewhat but it was still a challenge hauling the #&%!@ heavy beast up and down stairs in the various tube stations. Finally, after a long train ride, multiple tube transfers and a half a mile walk back to the hotel, the death march mercifully ended. The radio was hooked up to the mains and fired up - it came to life and I listened to some shortwave for a few minutes. The RA 17 is a classic tube set that uses a unique tuning system. (subject of another post) Of course, its big and heavy and has lots of knobs to fiddle with. I called up the shipping company to arrange pickup, fainted from the sticker shock, and bid my new toy farewell for its journey across the sea. When I see the big wooden crate at the front door, the R390A and SP600 will have to move over a bit for the new boat anchor. 73 de AA9IL Mike"}, {"response": 113, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun  6, 2000 (21:25)", "body": "Oh Mike! If it had been anyone but you, I'd be envious out of my mind about your trip across the pond to the Sceptered Isle. How amazing that your Boat Anchor fired up straight away - and without a lot of snapping and zapping as the humidity is driven out of the contacts. So, a ruptured disk later and possibly a hernia as well, wans't it worth it?! Good Business! What have you discovered about the rest of the goodies you got? 3's and 8's Marcia"}, {"response": 114, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun  6, 2000 (21:26)", "body": "Been at this too long today.......make that Fine Business and I am going back to Geo....*sigh*"}, {"response": 115, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Jun  7, 2000 (10:08)", "body": "I'm looking forward to hearing about this \"unique tuning\". Great scores, Mike!"}, {"response": 116, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Wed, Jun  7, 2000 (21:32)", "body": "Hi All Ok, rather than me make up some stuff, here is the description from \"ShortWave Receivers Past & Present\" Second Edition by Fred Osterman: Racal RA17 description p 259 \"Ranges: 1-2, 2-4, 4-8, 8-16, and 16-30Mhz. The left tuning knob is for khz and the right tuning knob is for Mhz. The kHz dial is a 6 foot 35mm film scale yielding very high accuracy (+/- 1khz). Stability improved in later production. First communications receiver to use the famous Barlow-Wadly loop drift cancelling system. Heavy duty cast aluminum chassis. Light battleship gray.\" I will have to dig around the RA17 web sights for more detailed info. I do have a jpeg of the monster that can be added to this thread - is it a matter of copying and 'dropping' into the response box? A little bit more detail on the tuning - you set the MHZ knob to the desired range, then peak a preselector for max noise. The khz tape move across a window to indicate frequency - this type of tuning readout is similar to some of the Watkins Johnson receivers I have that use a film tape for frequency display. Last check on the tracking number is that the radio has not left the UK so my guess is its still gathering dust in some customs warehouse. Kind of reminds me of the government warehouse seen at the end of \"Raiders of the Lost Ark\" 73 de Mike"}, {"response": 117, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Fri, Jun  9, 2000 (22:06)", "body": "Its Here! Its Here! 67 pounds of hunka-hunka radio. What a boatanchor. Tomorrow, the conversion from 220v to 110v then fire it up. Details to follow..... 73 de AA9IL Mike and the Racal RA-17L"}, {"response": 118, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun 10, 2000 (00:26)", "body": "Awesome, Mike!!! Light that sucker and listen for Aurora even if you can't see it....lotsa noise, as I recall!"}, {"response": 119, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Thu, Oct 26, 2000 (21:06)", "body": "Hot Dawg! Two radios away in the queue before I can send the R390A in for full factory restoration. Next come the RA17 and SP600. Three tube radios will keep the room warm during winter. (3 tube radio night....) 73 de AA9IL Mike"}, {"response": 120, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 26, 2000 (22:00)", "body": "*sigh* there goes the 700MHz computer..."}, {"response": 121, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Mon, Jan 31, 2005 (03:02)", "body": "What's the latest cosmo? collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 5, "subject": "Links and other resources", "response_count": 10, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wer", "date": "Wed, Jan  6, 1999 (21:38)", "body": "SWAPPERS & COLLECTORS PAGES http://swappers.simplenet.com/home.htm Everything For Collectors! Bookstore, Phonecardstore, Special Offers, Search Engines, Links, Lists, Newsgroups, Message Board, Chat... Free Ads! ******************************** * Join our mailing list! * * http://swappers.listbot.com/ * ********************************"}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Feb  5, 1999 (09:45)", "body": "White's Guide http://www.whitesguide.com"}, {"response": 3, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Feb  5, 1999 (23:01)", "body": "I'll take a look as soon as I get a chance..."}, {"response": 4, "author": "daniel", "date": "Fri, Feb  5, 1999 (23:35)", "body": ""}, {"response": 5, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Feb  6, 1999 (11:37)", "body": "hi daniel, don't be shy...."}, {"response": 6, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sat, Feb  6, 1999 (14:56)", "body": "is the the same COL Daniel that we have heard so much about?"}, {"response": 7, "author": "wer", "date": "Sun, Feb  7, 1999 (12:58)", "body": "the url for the site I mentioned in response number one has been changed to: http://swappersandcollectors.com/ and don't forget about the everpopular http://www.ebay.com/"}, {"response": 8, "author": "wer", "date": "Sun, Feb  7, 1999 (13:23)", "body": "http://www.collectors.org/"}, {"response": 9, "author": "wer", "date": "Sun, Feb  7, 1999 (14:26)", "body": "http://www.collectorsweb.com/"}, {"response": 10, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, May 20, 1999 (11:47)", "body": "Nice three-part article. Basically all kinds of collecting-ressources (as links), even mentions 8-track collectors (Stacey!) and beer collectors (Stacey!), nothing on slide-rules, though (Ray never told us if he had to put them in the garage, right?): http://www.netguide.com/Snapshot/Archive?guide=Hobbies&id=853 http://www.netguide.com/Snapshot/Archive?guide=Hobbies&id=853 http://www.netguide.com/Snapshot/Archive?guide=hobbies&id=890 collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 50, "subject": "pokemon", "response_count": 28, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov 22, 1999 (16:37)", "body": "the cards ARE expensive. had this theory that the cartoon has subliminal messages in it making the kids go crazy over pokemon. (which stands for pocket monstor, i've heard). my theory was based on the fact that there was a japanese cartoon out that would cause some kids to freak out because of the sequence of colors used and the speed at which they used them."}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 22, 1999 (16:50)", "body": "Taked to the other inhabitant of the place and he said it stood for pocket man. I like pocket monster better...it is trying to relieve you of all your money. About speeding colors and such, kids can go into seizures from sitting too close to the TV trying to watch all of the flashing stuff on cartoons nowadays. I am sure they will have some truly unfortunate incidents with kiddies at the movie. The excitement level of going to see it on a huge screen must add to the problem as much as the sound level does. It is deafening in there!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 22, 1999 (16:52)", "body": "BTW, are those cards really gold GOLD?! If so, they Are expensive. Even foil..."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov 22, 1999 (22:58)", "body": "My new roommate in Cedar Creek, Wingbow (who is native Hawaiian/Chinese massage therapist) took her son, Oma, to a Pokey Mon convention today. She hasn't made it back yet, but maybe I could talk Oma in to posting here about a subject he knows vastly more about than I do."}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 23, 1999 (13:06)", "body": "Excellent idea. Where in Hawaii are Wingbow's roots? Say Aloha to her for me!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov 23, 1999 (18:02)", "body": "Oma is an affectionate form of grandma in Germany! and the $1.99 with the purchase of a value meal pokemon trading card is 23K gold plating over (i don't know what). it can't be worth much considering the total price is roughly $6 (with the purchase). and 23K is a strange mix anyway."}, {"response": 7, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 23, 1999 (18:15)", "body": "Never heard of anything done in 23K gold. Almost pure but not quite?! Interesting."}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 23, 1999 (18:26)", "body": "Oma is Hawaiian for an oven (roasting), or with different accent ('oma), it is a high official."}, {"response": 9, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Nov 30, 1999 (17:29)", "body": "Maybe 23K is how much RAM the game thing has...?"}, {"response": 10, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 30, 1999 (17:58)", "body": "LOL"}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov 30, 1999 (20:47)", "body": "*haha*"}, {"response": 12, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 30, 1999 (21:07)", "body": "(Here's where my \"I miss Alexander\" comment should have been posted rather than in Barbie...Basketball poisoning over the weekend I guess...)"}, {"response": 13, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov 30, 1999 (21:13)", "body": "it happens... hope you're meeting your deadline alex!"}, {"response": 14, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  2, 1999 (17:39)", "body": "There was a cover story in Time Mag a few weeks ago about Pokeman and whether these pocket monsters were a bad thing or a good thing. Am working my way through it between making soup and other things...will report back."}, {"response": 15, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Dec 11, 1999 (20:19)", "body": "there has been speculation on the kind of message Pokemon is sending to children. well, i found an article in today's local The Times newspaper that probably doesn't help: Pokemon creates wave of violence- by Meki Cox of The Associated Press Philadelphia--Now that the innocent game of Pokemon has become a nationwide craze, children are coming to blows over the trading cards. In the last week in Philadelphia, for example, four children from one middle school were arrested for attacking other students to steal Pokemon cards. A 14-year-old student in Quebec was recently stabbed during a fight over the cards. Even adults are committing Pokemon violence. On Thursday, a North Carolina man was charged with assault for allegedly punching a Burger King cashier after he did not get a Pokemon toy with his meal. \"There are Pokemon card sharks out there,\" said Philadelphia police officer Charlie Sarkioglu. \"This is worse than the Cabbage Patch Kid craze because now it's the kids who are actually fighting each other instead of just the parents.\" Pokemon--popularized by a Japanese video game depicting tiny monsters--has become so popular among children ages 5 to 13, some say it's bigger than past obsessions with Beanie Babies or Star Wars. The card game involves a host of imaginary creatures, each with their own set of special powers. The goal is to win as many cards as possible. The cards cost $3 a pack, but rare cards can can go for more than $200. Pokemon has become so distracting, schools from coast to coast have banned the games and trading cards. Sarkioglu, who visits elementary schools to give children tips on how to avoid getting robbed, said many kids tend to think they need the cards because they are so popular. At Philadelphia's Wilson Middle School on Monday, two boys punched and threw a trash can at an 11-year-old boy in a bathroom. The attackers ran off with two Pokemon cards and 75 cents. They were charged with robbery and suspended for five days. Tony Ward's 10-year-old son and his friend were robbed of $60 worth of cards Sunday in Philadelphia. He said he wishes his son wouldn't trade cards anymore. \"But he insists on having them,\" Ward said. \"Hopefully he has learned his lesson and won't carry around as many cards anymore. I tell him when he goes out he has to be more street smart now.\" End of article. isn't that ridiculous? a 10 year old insisting he have Pokemon cards! i took my son's away because he couldn't leave the house without them and was having fights with his sister over them. the interest in the cards for him is subsiding but he still looks at the games and magazines."}, {"response": 16, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 11, 1999 (20:47)", "body": "The TIME magazine article came to the conclusion that they in themselves are not the problem - it is the lack of parenting - AGAIN - which rears its ugly head. And, some of the parents seem to be a lot of the problem. I am so happy my son was not a follower of the crowd and that he is too old for stuff like this. How sad...we seem to have lost a few niceties and values along the way! Brava, Wolfie, for putting the right attitude forward for your son to see. He might not like it now, but you just did a real favor to him and I am proud of you! *hugs*"}, {"response": 17, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Dec 11, 1999 (20:58)", "body": "be careful with the too old stuff, i've got barbies and some beanies. but pokemon, i just don't see it. at least star wars fights and wins over evil and doesn't use magic to do it. and besides, the pokemon characters are ugly!! tim understood and got his cards back. but then he left them in his blue jeans and they were washed and dried and now not worth a darned thing!"}, {"response": 18, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 11, 1999 (21:10)", "body": "I have been an ardent disliker of Japanese cartoons. Way too violent and moisy and the sounds they make to appear they are concerting some effort to do things is ludicrous. Don't like the drawings or colors, either. Grouch...grouch...I guess I just am a traditionalist. Oh My!!! Poor Tim!!! He must feel just awful about now. Interesting how everyone has to eat at Burger King on Thursday nights (is it?) now...! ..a fool and his money...and all that!"}, {"response": 19, "author": "LauraMM", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (12:06)", "body": "Burger King is now recalling ALL the Pokemon toys that they sold (25 million worth $22 million). A 13 month old choked on the toy. My question is why did the baby HAVE the toy to begin with? It's not for children under 3 and it is clearly marked. Anyway, as the mother of a pokemonaholic (and it stands for pocket monster), I am sick to death of Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Charizard, and Ash (the trainer). For Xmas, yes, I relented and she received from Santa Claus Pokemon Red, Pokemon Blue Gameboy games. She received the Yellow for her birthday. From her grandmother she got Pikachu slippers. Okay, I'm finished ranting. Thought I'd come over and join in. ;)"}, {"response": 20, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (13:41)", "body": "Hi Laura! Welcome to the compulsive conference. These things (can't call the creatures exactly) are strange-looking and unattractive. Must be hype driving it. I haven't even seen one I'd like to cuddle with (were I still a kid). Yeah, I know...picky...picky...picky!"}, {"response": 21, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (15:04)", "body": "well, i hope the child is ok. probably got it from the hands of an older bro or sis. my kids didn't get pokemon games from us but did get a couple of keychains. we downplayed the whole thing."}, {"response": 22, "author": "LauraMM", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (15:22)", "body": "Wolf, the child died, that is why they are recalling them."}, {"response": 23, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (15:35)", "body": "Where were the kid's parents?"}, {"response": 24, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (20:20)", "body": "ohmygosh, i didn't know. how sad."}, {"response": 25, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (22:08)", "body": "Curious...I had not heard that."}, {"response": 26, "author": "LauraMM", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (07:30)", "body": "This is from CNN: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Safety official: Burger King recall of Pokemon toy not thorough enough December 28, 1999 Web posted at: 9:36 PM EST (0236 GMT) MIAMI (AP) -- A massive recall by Burger King of a Pokemon toy blamed for the death of a 13-month-old girl is not comprehensive enough, a federal safety official said Tuesday. Burger King issued a recall for millions of plastic balls that hold Pokemon toys given away in children's meals. The voluntary recall follows the Dec. 11 death of a Sonora, California, girl, who was found in her playpen with half a ball over her nose and mouth. Miami-based Burger King is recalling -- at most -- about 25 million toys, said Kim Miller, a company spokeswoman. But Russ Rader, a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission spokesman, said Burger King should recall millions more of the balls. \"We have been told by Nintendo, which licensed the Pokemon character to Burger King, that the distribution is probably more than 70 million,\" said Rader. Miller said the restaurants issued the toys with two meals, one marketed for children 8 years and older, the other for those under 7 years old. She said the balls are only a threat to children 3 years old and under. Burger King said consumers should take the balls away from children under the age of 3 and discard them or return them to a Burger King restaurant for a free small order of fries. Rader said all the balls should be recalled because older children who got the Pokemon ball may have younger brothers and sisters who could be endangered. The balls are used to pack several types of Pokemon toys. They measure from 23/4 inches to 3 inches in diameter and can be opened by pulling their two halves apart."}, {"response": 27, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (09:42)", "body": "thanks for the info, laura....how terribly sad."}, {"response": 28, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (19:37)", "body": "Thanks from here, too. I have Reuters ticker running across the top of my screen and it tells me all sorts of stuff I do not need to know, but did not cover that story. How tragic. Imagine if it were one of our own... collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 52, "subject": "Madame Alexander", "response_count": 19, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (14:28)", "body": "Well, and here he is - the Spring's very own MADAME ALEXANDER POTATOHEADED PORCELAIN EDITOR DOLL! OK, what shall I wear today?"}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (16:42)", "body": "got my lillian vernon catalog in today and guess what's on page 3? the 2000 madame alexander valentine doll and for $74.98. is that a good price?"}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (16:43)", "body": "oooooo, wait, and on page 17 is her easter doll who comes with her very own bunny!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (17:25)", "body": "Her very own bunny?! Is there a Barbie who is a bunny? as in Hefner?"}, {"response": 5, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (19:06)", "body": "yup, think there are two of 'em *grin*"}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (19:19)", "body": "let me guess...One dressed as Gloria Steinem and one as a real person? Meow!"}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jan  3, 2000 (19:47)", "body": "went surfing today and came across the following website: http://www.alexanderdoll.com do note that if you type in http://www.alexanderdolls.com you'll get a collector site which includes other dolls and antiques."}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan  3, 2000 (19:59)", "body": "Wolfie, are you still able to Web into Spring? Lucky you!!! I am still in glorious black and white telnet (and I know I could change the color of my type!)...it's just not the same. Thanks for the URL, thought!!! *hugs*"}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jan  3, 2000 (20:46)", "body": "well, whenever you get to surf in, you'll have to go and take a look. wonder why some folks are having probs. hmmmm..."}, {"response": 10, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan  3, 2000 (21:33)", "body": "go read inner 41. Terry just posted...he and a friend on AOL are succeeding in getting in on the web but I get the same 404 message as before! I am profoundly sad!"}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jan  4, 2000 (11:35)", "body": "been there and read that. lemme try typing in the url and see what happens...."}, {"response": 12, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jan  4, 2000 (11:36)", "body": "that works too. and somebody better do something about that spring cam with the garbage can on fire. (couldn't access the sound file to see what was going on)."}, {"response": 13, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan  4, 2000 (13:09)", "body": "Here I am!!! See, but no purty pictures to entertain us - still this is so much easier to do than telnet...*grovelling in gratitude*"}, {"response": 14, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Jan  5, 2000 (10:23)", "body": "OK, so I'll wear a bunny suit, or did you say I should wear 2000 bunnies?"}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan  5, 2000 (17:03)", "body": "*giggle* I am, sitting here trying to imagine you in each case...I had a bunny suit when I was tiny but I grew and it did not...so no more bunny suit *sniffle* On the other hand, those bunnies all over you (especially if they are of the Hefner issue) - despite the staples in their tummies - are more than likely more to your liking (especially if you have outgrown your bunny suit!)"}, {"response": 16, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jan 13, 2000 (12:33)", "body": "Oh, but the dearies 'd bleed all over my white Armani, no? Oh. I get it. It were only fictive staples and fictive bleeding. That's ok, 't was only a fictive Armani, too."}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 13, 2000 (13:28)", "body": "*lol* You mention the pain and mess on your vanity suit but nothing about the pleasure I imagined in having all that feminine pulchritude draped around you...!"}, {"response": 18, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Jan 16, 2000 (04:55)", "body": "No, rather \"dripping all over me\", yak! Honestly, I wished I had an Armani, so I could sell it to get the car fixed."}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan 16, 2000 (19:22)", "body": "Oh my dear, If we are wishing, make it for a Rembrandt and you could have a brand new car plus other goodies if you sell it collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 53, "subject": "Porcelain Dolls (General)", "response_count": 9, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (20:28)", "body": "Laura introduced the topic of porcelain dolls. Here's what she has to say: I know that I always wanted to collect Porcelain Dolls when I was younger, but mom couldn't afford them. So now I get to live my dream through my daughter. Who has a couple of absolutely gorgeous porcelain dolls. She also has the Josephina: American Girl Doll and would like the Samantha doll. These dolls are very well made and have a doll hospital. The children also learn about the time period that these girls are from (Josephina is from Mexico (now New Mexico) and 1824). Does anyone else collect dolls like this?"}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (20:32)", "body": "and marcia responded with: My mother had some and my middle sister inherited them. They have doeskin bodies with porcelain heads, hands and feet. Another has a muslin body stuffed with kapok (guessing) with similar porcelain adornments. That sister had the only granddaughter so I guess it was appropriate."}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (20:49)", "body": "All right, Wolfie!!! You've been busy!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (20:53)", "body": "yupper!"}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (22:10)", "body": "Lookin' good!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "LauraMM", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (11:04)", "body": "I love the background. Does anyone have the Marie Osmond dolls? my friend Lynn collects them. they are adorable."}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (16:24)", "body": "thanks *grin* i don't own any porcelain dolls but see marie's on qvc from time to time."}, {"response": 8, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (15:27)", "body": "I want pictures!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (21:27)", "body": "mulch might be a good idea! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 54, "subject": "American Girl", "response_count": 10, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (20:30)", "body": "Laura introduced the topic of porcelain dolls to the collecting conference and the American Girl series. here's her post: I know that I always wanted to collect Porcelain Dolls when I was younger, but mom couldn't afford them. So now I get to live my dream through my daughter. Who has a couple of absolutely gorgeous porcelain dolls. She also has the Josephina: American Girl Doll and would like the Samantha doll. These dolls are very well made and have a doll hospital. The children also learn about the time period that these girls are from (Josephina is from Mexico (now New Mexico) and 1824). Does anyone else collect dolls like this?"}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (22:14)", "body": "Could someone describe what these dolls are like? The name is not familiar to me. I guess I do not collect so I do not know, but I'd like to..."}, {"response": 3, "author": "LauraMM", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (07:25)", "body": "Here is a picture of Josephina, the doll that my daughter Rebecca has They are beautiful dolls, a bit on the pricey side."}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (09:44)", "body": "do they all come with stories about them?"}, {"response": 5, "author": "LauraMM", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (10:59)", "body": "Oh yes, they all do. Here's Felicity Here's Kirsten Here's Addy Here's Samantha Here's Molly"}, {"response": 6, "author": "LauraMM", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (11:00)", "body": "Here's Molly;)"}, {"response": 7, "author": "LauraMM", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (11:02)", "body": "They also have baby dolls"}, {"response": 8, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (16:27)", "body": "cute! how many does your daughter have?"}, {"response": 9, "author": "LauraMM", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (07:34)", "body": "Beck's only has Josephina and the Baby doll. (Xmas gifts both) The starter set for the dolls is a whopping $300. Now you can purchase a doll with a book for $98. Like I said they are pricey. She pretty much destroyed Josephina and if I get her another one, I told her she has to take good care of it."}, {"response": 10, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (08:53)", "body": "a starter set? wow! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 55, "subject": "Designer Dolls", "response_count": 5, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "LauraMM", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (11:12)", "body": "I guess Marie Osmond dolls belong here, but here is one of them. They are adorable Queen Bee"}, {"response": 2, "author": "LauraMM", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (11:15)", "body": "And more"}, {"response": 3, "author": "LauraMM", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (11:16)", "body": "I like these two!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (16:35)", "body": "those are the ones i've seen-her rendition of raggedy ann and andy. are her designs expensive?"}, {"response": 5, "author": "LauraMM", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (07:38)", "body": "They can be. I think they range from $100 and up. She did an exact replica of the Donny and Marie Dolls from the 70s (remember those? :)), and I think they fetched a pretty penny. collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 56, "subject": "Fashion Dolls", "response_count": 3, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (15:49)", "body": "my really old sister ('cause I refuse to admit I even know about this doll) had a dressmaker doll about 1/2 the size of Barbie. Her arms unplugged from her torso. Anyone ever see one of these in a museum or whatever? Never named them because they were just to hold up your sewing creations."}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (16:00)", "body": "a dressmaker doll? no head? does she have any identifying marks on her back? and speaking of dressmaker forms, you can use a barbie who's lost her head to hold those beautiful gowns she wears-like a mannequin (thanks to millers for that tip)!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (16:34)", "body": "Head is there. mannequin is not. I recall her face and painted-on hair was strictly rudimenatary (spelled wrong but I cannot go back to fix it) Her head I think did come off so you could slip clothes over her head...but perhaps not. I do not recall a name on her..will ask my ancient sister to see if she remembers. *grin* collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 57, "subject": "Pez Dispensers", "response_count": 9, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jan  2, 2000 (13:49)", "body": "since i was a military brat and spent a lot of time in germany, i didn't get the beauty of pez until i was much much older. let's say that i got my first pez dispenser at halloween last year. wonder if i still have that bad boy. will have to look. i don't know what makes pez dispensers valuable or if they have to be NRFB (never removed from box) or something. but, i'll look for some links and post them up for you."}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jan  2, 2000 (13:52)", "body": "here's a cool site: http://www.pezheads.org/"}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan  2, 2000 (14:31)", "body": "When I first got into webbing and browsers my son gave me his bookmarks to start with. This one was in there: http://www.best.com/~spectrum/pez/bodyparts.html"}, {"response": 4, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jan 13, 2000 (12:28)", "body": "Odd you didn't know Pez when you where over here, Oh Furry One! I knew 'em, and had some, of course they were not considered collectibles... They came as Disney and Warner cartoon characters, I seem to remember Speedy Gonzales and Daffy Duck (or Donald D.?), maybe Bugs Bunny. Pez comes from Austria, I think."}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 13, 2000 (13:24)", "body": "Definitely Bugs, but never Donald Duck - he is a Disney Character (unless there is another merger or buyout or whatever!) Wiley Coyote and Roadrunner are also known as are Popeye and that whole set unless the latter were Oriental knockoffs"}, {"response": 6, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jan 13, 2000 (17:56)", "body": "picked up sylvester and tweety the other day (they went in a care package for our deployed). nope, don't remember pez in germany. ok, so they come in a plastic bag now (some do). does the value go down because you broke the bag and ate the candies that come with them?"}, {"response": 7, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 14, 2000 (17:28)", "body": "Nah! Not if everyone does it! And, you can BET that everyone does it!!!"}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 14, 2000 (17:39)", "body": "If I dared to collect anything with edible parts, I'd be posting in the SpringArk creepy crawlers topic. We have ants who can eat through foil packaging and can crawl up the threads of a peanut butter jar while the lid is screwed on tight. Betcha none of the Pez dispensers come with the edibles intact!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Jan 16, 2000 (05:03)", "body": "You girls wanna see http://www.pez.com/ . And they had Disney ones, too, just their list doesn't give manufacture dates. :=/ collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 58, "subject": "Rods, Reels, and Lures", "response_count": 19, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (17:22)", "body": "Spring is happening and this topic should be hot as soon as the males in the group find this topic. Maybe we should put an ad in Porch 56 ??? And for the Topic concerning Models. My male cousins and male son made them but not any females I knew. Hmmm.... And, tins rust in Hawaii so we don't collect'um."}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (17:26)", "body": "But, since I was the last chance for a son and I was not, I was a tom-boy instead. I climbed trees, dug my own worms for bait, and made my first fishing pole out of a broom handle and an old wooden spool from my mother's sweing box. I put little screw-in eyes up the pole to carry the fishing line, but turning that spool was really slow work. My father took pity on me and finally allowed me to have his childhood fishing rod and reel - real metal and all that! I fished forever with that one and never looked back at the green-painted broom pole."}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (17:33)", "body": "i dug for worms too! still do once in a while. we usually go to a bait store for worms and minnows. and he has a ton of rods (even the ones my dad gave him)! and always looking for the perfect reel. i don't care. give me a pole and worms and i'm good to go!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (18:11)", "body": "There you go! You're my kinda fisherperson. The stuff they have out here catch 1000 pound (456Kg) marlin and the hooks alone look like the ones on a hall-tree for hanging up winter coats (except these have barbs and points on them which are frightening to behold.) The Reels are the size of large coffee cans or bigger. The kids still go to the bamboo patches and cut their own poles - the best kind! Does you son fish, yet? Mine did for a while when he was tiny, but he could not stand to hurt the fish's mouth so we got him a dip net and let him play with the guppies in our \"moat\" - the one with the crayfish and bullfrogs..."}, {"response": 5, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (18:47)", "body": "he gets \"bored\"...."}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (18:53)", "body": "He's a kid - what does he know?! I just put a plug for us in Porch 56. Modesty has gotten us nowhere...we gotta go out, rope 'um and bring'um back alive to they can read and post something!"}, {"response": 7, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (13:42)", "body": "I once spent three weeks in the Netherlands, bathing various things but never caught anything. No fishing for me, after that. I mean, I can cook mussels and like peeling the small but tasty (and these days probably poisoneous) shrimps. That gotta suffice."}, {"response": 8, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (13:50)", "body": "I fished in the Thames as a kid and come from a fishing (and poaching) family. Caught lots of roach but nothing very big. the next brother to me (there are two of them) gave me a telescopic rod, a nice reel and lures to take to Africa.(the only present I can remember him ever giving me) I never did catch anything but I daren't tell him. I stood up to my waist in the sea with my best bikini on and they still ignored me. Others didn't but that's another story!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (17:39)", "body": "Poor Maggie! The fish were so astounded at your vision that they hung around with mouths agape and bit at nothing. Try a tatty old shirt and jeans next time. The men here go out on the breakwater and \"soak worms\" and talk story. They catch nothing and come home 8 hours later all sunburnt and tired but happy for the day away from the kids. They often use seaweed for bait here - a special kind, of course! Alexander, you are in good company. I never caught anything I could eat, either - except for the time I was 'forced' to go crabbing in the ooze of the Chesapeake Bay..."}, {"response": 10, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (20:10)", "body": "yeah, my hubby is sometimes reluctant to take me with him on the boat. we fuss at each other because i'll have found a hole (and i'm at the back of the boat) and he's in control of the trolling motor. so we'll go scooting and i'm sitting there trying to keep my lure in the hole. so we fuss but we have great fun and we're all by ourselves. he scared me once when we got stuck on a sandbar on the red river (louisiana's red river)..."}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 23, 2000 (12:06)", "body": "Dare I ask how he scared you when you got stuck on a sandbar? Under those circumstances, most men take cahrge and are sure they will have us home safe and sound in a flash with the ingenuity which came with the why-chromosome. In circumstances like that I tend to be a true believer!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Mar 23, 2000 (17:41)", "body": "oh yeah, but with that comes the urge to curse and carry-on. i was scared because i didn't want to swim the red river with the terrible under-tow!"}, {"response": 13, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 23, 2000 (18:01)", "body": "Gotcha! I discovered that the only safe place is in someone else's husband's boat. The Captain Bligh factor is kept in check when a non-related lady is aboard! That is being captive and abused and terrified at the same time. Not a good combo! *hugs*"}, {"response": 14, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (04:37)", "body": "Ow, don't diss old Bligh, Marcia! He's in the same league as my buddy Niccolo M. - a reasonable chap with a bad rep. I saw a special on the Bounty mutiny, and they suggested from the Bounty's logs - kept somewhere in an archive in Australia, I believe - that Bligh's prob seemed to have been: He was too kind. Yesssirnmaamthatsright - on a trip of that length (couple years?), he dealt out much less corporal and other punishment to his crew than was custom at that time. Apparently, this gave folks the idea the could get away with things... It's the romatic view of the mutineers that history propagates, not the facts - which have been researched only recently, it seems, and are not very widely known. And as to him being an able sailor - when abandoned in this little boat, he sailed off into the nothingness, working hard for weeks, and finally gained land (Australia? New Zealand? Batavia?), after getting the vessel through some very dangerous waters, etc. They showed the route he must have sailed on the map - it was thousands od sea-miles, and he could have easily missed land. He didn't. Seems he didn't lose anybody, either. I remember having been extremely impresed by this feat. Wolf, I thus assume you would have been safe if Bligh and you had been stranded on that sandbank."}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (12:12)", "body": "Good point! Thanks for a history lesson I had not heard, though that he survived in that little boat for so long and continued his naval career after returning to England, I did know. Perhaps I should have said Blackbeard or Captain Queeg?! Anyway, being crew for one's own husband is not the best of all worlds...according to the local ladies who did just that!"}, {"response": 16, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Mar 25, 2000 (13:04)", "body": "*grin* thanks for that history alex!"}, {"response": 17, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Mar 26, 2000 (13:05)", "body": "Ladies, you're welcome! Tune in again next week when we'll find out that Attila was a nice guy, Joe Stalin liked to help old grannies cross the street, and Helmut Kohl an honorable man."}, {"response": 18, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sun, Mar 26, 2000 (13:08)", "body": "Hi alex, nice to know you're around. It's a pretty dull sunday evening."}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar 26, 2000 (18:03)", "body": "...Alexander...does that promised post belong in the FairyTale conference?! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 59, "subject": "Sports Memorabilia", "response_count": 11, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 20, 2000 (20:06)", "body": "Where is John when we need him - he has all sorts of good stuff from sports. I just collect him! *grin* Most of what I have now is from various UHHilo Vulcan teams. Important to local folks but nothing to the greater world outside of Hilo."}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 20, 2000 (20:08)", "body": "Oh..I forgot to enumerate. I have a signed softball and two signed baseballs. Loads of Penn State stuff, of course...pennants, mascot miniatures, a Barbie in cheerleader outfit...a teddy bear which plays \"Fight on State\"...lotsa stuff."}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Mar 20, 2000 (20:14)", "body": "i've got two signed baseballs from our very own captains. i knew you'd have some sports stuff, marcia!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 20, 2000 (20:48)", "body": "Gotta think - I must have some more (and you are gonna get some too...*grin*) I used to have a baseball signed by all of the New York Giants Baseball team when they played at the Polo Grounds. My mom threw it away while I was in college...*sigh* It was Willie Mays' rookie year, too...*bigger sigh*"}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 20, 2000 (20:49)", "body": "Wolfie which team captains signed your baseballs???"}, {"response": 6, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (17:34)", "body": "no, the team captains didn't sign them, i meant to say from our very own minor league team, the shreveport captains. i put the balls away and haven't a clue who signed them! maybe i'll be pleasantly surprised one day *grin*"}, {"response": 7, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (18:13)", "body": "Wow!!! You have a REAL beseball with REAL players' signatures on them!!! Hang on to'um...some of those players could be famous one day and you will have a real treasure!"}, {"response": 8, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (18:48)", "body": "oh yes, already a couple were signed on to the major leagues but i can't remember who they are...."}, {"response": 9, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (18:58)", "body": "Oh Wolfie!! They are still young. When they show up on the 6 PM news will be the time you will look at the ball again!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (06:34)", "body": "I have a Michael Jordan card in a baseball uniform. That's my entire collection."}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (11:25)", "body": "House Male is related to Honus Wagner, but we do not have a baseball card for him...unfortunately. Anything Michael Jordan can only appreciate. Our Athletic Director at UHHilo has a signed Jersey of Jordan's hanging framed on his office wall! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 6, "subject": "Conference news and business", "response_count": 19, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jun 12, 1999 (17:08)", "body": "ok people, we need to get those ebayers and auction fanatics to come on over here to expand their reaches for whatever it is they collect. the more people who know about it means more resources for everyone! i'm gonna see if donna brown will put a link for our barbie topic somewhere on her site."}, {"response": 2, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jun 12, 1999 (18:56)", "body": "lookit, Wolf, collecting participants... *applause*"}, {"response": 3, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Jun 13, 1999 (04:19)", "body": "Hey-Ho!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Jun 13, 1999 (09:55)", "body": "Put your hands together, everybody!"}, {"response": 5, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Jun 14, 1999 (12:49)", "body": "(clap)"}, {"response": 6, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Jun 15, 1999 (13:59)", "body": "don't you Germans pound the table with your fists or something???"}, {"response": 7, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Jun 15, 1999 (21:54)", "body": "if they don't use their fists, then they would have to use something, yes..."}, {"response": 8, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Jun 16, 1999 (02:49)", "body": "Huh, no, majority claps their hands politely. Academic circles knock with their knuckles, e.g. in university after lectures. No-gooders like me just draw what they carry around, and shoot into the air (or, ceiling). And yell. (Which we actually don't do at all; but my, you folks got some funny ideas on people here. Just because we're all two-headed doesn't mean we're looking any funny...)"}, {"response": 9, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jun 16, 1999 (09:26)", "body": "*laugh*"}, {"response": 10, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Jun 16, 1999 (15:54)", "body": "WHO'S LAUGHING?!"}, {"response": 11, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jun 17, 1999 (09:42)", "body": "ME!!!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jun 17, 1999 (10:57)", "body": "WELL OKAY! GO ON!"}, {"response": 13, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jun 17, 1999 (10:59)", "body": ""}, {"response": 14, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jun 17, 1999 (15:30)", "body": "*laugh*"}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul 21, 1999 (21:49)", "body": "Now that we have ascertained that - what else is new in collecting and stuff? I suppose dust collecting comes under another category altogether...hmmm..."}, {"response": 16, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jul 22, 1999 (09:13)", "body": "I have some you could add to your collection Marcia... be glad to send it your way!"}, {"response": 17, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul 22, 1999 (10:25)", "body": "yeah, i've got lots of dust bunnies under my sofa!"}, {"response": 18, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jul 22, 1999 (10:50)", "body": ">ours are dust kittens... >they're made mostly of grey cat hair from Tahja and Rafikki and when the girls were little and we'd colect these dust/fur balls we used to collect enough to ma ke a third kitten practically!"}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul 22, 1999 (11:32)", "body": "I am underwhelmed by your generosity...I am sure they would get along with the dust elephants I seem to be accumulating. Sheesh! I guess I am growing mine from the molting of the chest-thumper residing here. It is absolutely everywhere. Thnaks for your most kind offer, but.... collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 60, "subject": "Models", "response_count": 0, "posts": []}, {"num": 61, "subject": "Model Trains", "response_count": 13, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 20, 2000 (18:37)", "body": "Yup! I was the third and last child - a third daughter. For my 4th Christmas my father got me an electric train set which ran around the Christmas tree each year. I was not allowed to play with it until I was quite a lot older. It is now in boxes in storage above my closet in the bedroom."}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Mar 20, 2000 (20:16)", "body": "my dad was always fiddling with model H trains. i used to be able to tell the difference just by looking at the different model sizes! when we lived in kansas and had a basement, he had a piece of plywood with the train tracks and everything. i remember him putting together houses and stuff. it looked great!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (17:13)", "body": "The train with which I was gifted were made just prior to WW2 - which makes them older than I am, in case anyone wondered - and are HO gauge. My Dad put a heavy duty rheostat on it and that little engine still goes. The last time it was out, David was in college and brought a fellow Geologist home with him for Christmas. It was lovely and the kids had such fun with it crawling around under my 7' tree. I have engine, coalcar, refrigerator car, gondola, boxcar and caboose on my train."}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (17:35)", "body": "HO, i was thinking about that last night and that's the model size i was referring to! my dad had several sets of those things and my brother fiddled with the n scale. we had a train that we got our son and put it around the christmas tree too. it was way bigger than ho and i don't think we kept it."}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (18:18)", "body": "(thought it might be the gauge - a mistype, huh?! *hugs*) There is a little wee gauge one which was about 1/4 size of the HO but not sure if it made any longer. They were adorable! I never did see one up close, so I have no idea how well-made it was or if it was just a cheap toy. Anyone familiar with that one? Those N gauge huge ones were not very good for home use. The layouts which did them justice were just too huge."}, {"response": 6, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (18:49)", "body": "i thought the n gauge was smaller than HO....hmmmm....my brother's were smaller than dad's......"}, {"response": 7, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (19:00)", "body": "There was a huge gauge with a scale up in size at least twice that of HO...ugly to me. Wonder what it was. How were the n gauge ones?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (19:03)", "body": "You know, since we are having no help but our own and the master of the Spring is building the second Ark or whatever, we just might need to hunt up info in the web *gasp* Guess everyone has lost interest (I am feeling really bummed because I cannot get my boat anchor lashed up - no counter space. And the house male just looked at it and said \"WHAT is THAT?! ...and left the room.)"}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (17:57)", "body": "will do some checking......"}, {"response": 10, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (18:33)", "body": "Good...I would if I knew where to look (trains-r-us?!)"}, {"response": 11, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (04:54)", "body": "N is nine millimeters track width. The perfect size for small installations... There is something smaller (z ?), but the models lose too much detail in that size."}, {"response": 12, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (12:15)", "body": "Thanks, Alexander. They must be the ones I am thinking of. Very cute and precisely what we need in the smaller homes of today. I actually thought about getting one for under my tree...but I do not need more stuff!"}, {"response": 13, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Mar 25, 2000 (13:06)", "body": "thanks for clarifying the scale, alex! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 62, "subject": "Tins", "response_count": 3, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (07:45)", "body": "Well, Wolfie, another new one i see. To start us off - I have quite a nice collection of old looking tins in my kitchen, mostly in use rather than just decorative. I started years ago with a large flour tin that has a brown antiquy printed design on it. Since then I have acquired several other usually as gifts from friends."}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:33)", "body": "i love boxes and tins. mine are being used for everything since i have no space to display them, might as well put them to use."}, {"response": 3, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (04:22)", "body": "I have open shelves in my kitchen instead of cupboards, so my tins look nice as well as useful. collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 63, "subject": "Tea Pots", "response_count": 27, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar 25, 2000 (17:13)", "body": "Oh gee, I have some but do not collect them.. I guess I attract them. The neatest one I have is of Japanese porcelain and looks very English with tiny pink flowers around the rim of the lid and the little cups-with-no-handles. It does not much look like a Western tea pot. It is also quite small and has a projecting porcelain handle out the side. You pour from this pot sideways. It really is a lovely little set which was a gift. The cups hold only about 1/4 cup when filled correctly - only half full."}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Mar 25, 2000 (19:09)", "body": "probably for very strong tea. turkish coffee comes in tiny cups because it's so strong. the first skim is good, but as you move further down the cup, the thicker the sediment!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar 25, 2000 (19:16)", "body": "No, it is just served that way in sips. Green tea which is pretty weak compared with western teas. You only fill them half full so you don't burn your fingers!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Mar 25, 2000 (19:28)", "body": "good point!"}, {"response": 5, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sun, Mar 26, 2000 (12:52)", "body": "I don't collect teapots but of course I have several. My two favourite ones are: A Bodum glass one which is very easy to clean. It has an internal removable chamber where the tea goes and a plunger which keeps the tea below a line and stops it stewing. I use it all the time. A Gambian one which was a leaving present. It is red enamel and tiny. It sits on top of a little charcoal burning stove and is used to make tea with Chinese gunpowder tea which is served in little glasses."}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar 26, 2000 (16:48)", "body": "Maggie, I love the sound of that glass teapot. My favorite vessels for use in drinking tea are the glass ones set in silver holders which seem to be of Russian origin (please correct me if this is not right!) I guess, I love glass in almost any form. I have even heard of people drinking a glass of coffee...wish I had thought to ask him to elaborate...*sigh*"}, {"response": 7, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar 26, 2000 (16:49)", "body": "Is that glass teapot like the ones they use in French restaurants which make the most highly caffeinated coffee?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Mar 26, 2000 (18:54)", "body": "i've had tea in glass cups. it was really milky (goat's milk or camel's milk). not too bad, really...."}, {"response": 9, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar 26, 2000 (19:22)", "body": "What country were you in to have camel's milk in your tea? Wow!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Mar 26, 2000 (20:16)", "body": "kuwait city...."}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar 26, 2000 (20:31)", "body": "Yikes!!! Were you in the Gulf action? I had no idea you were so well-travelled!!!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Mar 27, 2000 (09:29)", "body": "not in the gulf-action, more like the after-effects...i was there in 98."}, {"response": 13, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 27, 2000 (11:15)", "body": "Ah! I thought maybe you had taken one of those high adventure holidays which features unusual places and even more unusual food. How did it taste? I guess you could you tell that it definitely was not cow's milk..."}, {"response": 14, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 27, 2000 (11:16)", "body": "Btw, Wolfie admiration grow s by leaps and bounds here! *hugs*"}, {"response": 15, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Mar 27, 2000 (17:01)", "body": "well, it was sweet. i ate american food (dining halls on the base). we went to mcdonald's which uses beef not camel or goat or anything else. i couldn't tell you about any other restaurant. i did see the meat markets on my drives into the city. kuwait was wonderful and kuwait city was beautiful. a city of contrasts though."}, {"response": 16, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 27, 2000 (17:26)", "body": "Fascinating! Cannot imagine eating camel - gnawing or whatever you do to thangs which are so strangy that you can't eat'um. Kuwait is rich. Some other theaters of operation might not have been quite so nice!"}, {"response": 17, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Mar 27, 2000 (18:35)", "body": "they had certainly been busy rebuilding after the war. i only met two kuwaiti men and both were very kind and considerate towards me. one man made me sit down because he didn't want me to stand too long. right next to him too. i showed the appropriate courtesies, of course, so as not to offend, but had no trouble at all. most of the vendors were from other countries, like pakistan, india. the kuwaitis own all the land and stores and the \"outsiders\" held the labor positions. but they were happy for it. not one bit of grumbling. and the one kuwaiti man that i actually had to deal with it did not treat me as an outcast. in fact, we had a lengthy conversation concerning his angel fish!"}, {"response": 18, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 27, 2000 (21:32)", "body": "Your Pretties are back again, Wolfie!!! How nice that your visit went so well and you did not show them the bottoms of your feet (or shoes)"}, {"response": 19, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Tue, Mar 28, 2000 (00:53)", "body": "Nice colours! Hi wolfie!"}, {"response": 20, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar 28, 2000 (09:53)", "body": "yeah, i figgered it was about time i got the decor back up to speed!"}, {"response": 21, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 28, 2000 (14:46)", "body": "Looks purty! Worthy of the Hostess =)"}, {"response": 22, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (07:43)", "body": "http://www.bodum.com/products/tea/shincha/shin1874.htm Marcia check this link out and you'll se a picture of my glass teapot."}, {"response": 23, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:10)", "body": "How neat, Maggie..it even shows how it works! Thanks. I really like that. Is it quicker to brew tea that way or does it just keep it from getting rank from having the leaves in for too long?"}, {"response": 24, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:34)", "body": "that is way cool, thanks maggie!"}, {"response": 25, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (04:26)", "body": "I don't know about quicker, but i like it. Yes, the plunger system means the teabag or leaves gets pushed down and doesn't sit in the tea making it stronger. We have very hard water here and everything gets coated with calcium deposit (called fur), and the teapots become very brown inside with tannin. The glass one I have doesn't have the spout - it has a lip like the one in the how to picture. this makes it very easy to clean. I just bleach the inner sort of sieve every now and again. I wouldn't be without mine."}, {"response": 26, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (22:16)", "body": "Next I'm gonna ask the big question. Since I usually make my tea in the microwave, I have a special teaball and all, I'd really like one of those. Are they very costly? We have no calcium or other things in our water. This island is too new to have a reef and that would be about the only source of calcium here. No limestone or chalk."}, {"response": 27, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Apr  8, 2000 (11:39)", "body": "I think mine was about \ufffd16. I had to search for it though. I think you may be able to buy from the site. The original one I had was more like a jug than a t-pot, these new designs are much nicer. collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 64, "subject": "Restaurant Toys", "response_count": 5, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Aug 29, 2000 (19:57)", "body": "does anyone know anything about McDonald's Happy Meal Toys being made with child labor?"}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug 30, 2000 (00:05)", "body": "not I ... did you check Google.com??? I thought your topic was about those young guys behind the counter...*grin*"}, {"response": 3, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Aug 30, 2000 (07:58)", "body": "country of origin????"}, {"response": 4, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Aug 30, 2000 (07:58)", "body": "um er, toy boys again dear???"}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug 30, 2000 (14:36)", "body": "*grin* Just asking is all... collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 65, "subject": "Gemstones", "response_count": 17, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul  1, 2001 (14:54)", "body": "*SMILE* You knew I would be one of the first to post here. Excellent topic, Wolfie! Lets see, most of my gemstones are set in mountings, but I have some unmounted and some in the raw state. Amongst the latter is the ubiquitous amethyst, smoky quartz (sometimes know as smoky \"topaz\",) opals of various sorts, \"native\" gold (natural pure ore in nugget form still in the matrix rock), native copper, black coral, malachite, lapiz lazuli, native silver, gem turquoise, amber, imperial topaz, garnets in various forms, tiger-eye, jade in various forms and colors... (I have to go check the collection and report back)"}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul  1, 2001 (15:00)", "body": "Oh, and an emerald-cut Alexandrite-in-waiting. Various gem Spinels are also in my cut but not set collection. So is gem diopside."}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul  1, 2001 (17:55)", "body": "all of my stones are mounted: amber, aquamarine, sapphire, diamond, ruby, jade, topaz... wish list: ALEXANDRITE (natural stone)"}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul  1, 2001 (18:10)", "body": "i've considered purchasing jewelry just for the gem itself regardless of metal (i'm a gold person but gold can be so expensive).... am looking for opals that aren't so milky. the stones here seem to all be milky and then any fiery ones seem fake. do yourself a favor and invest in a good gemstone book (a couple) and a loupe or other strong magnifyer (you can find similar items in gardening catalogs for looking at pests). never be ashamed or afraid to question a jeweler, this is your investment! i spoke to one who didn't understand the difference between gemstones that were mined in different places. oh, and let me add to the list of what I own, my tanzanite (it's a dark purple, not like the lilacs being sold today)....look for a stone that changes to slate when you view it from an angle."}, {"response": 5, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 26, 2001 (22:26)", "body": "labradorite is in my collection now. what an interesting piece of rock! *grin*"}, {"response": 6, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 26, 2001 (22:27)", "body": "oh yeah, and another item to add to your collection--a black light to test for inflourescence (boy i hope i spelled that right)"}, {"response": 7, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul 10, 2002 (21:33)", "body": "fluorescence?! Indeed a good test to use. Excellent advice about the gemstone book and loup. KNOW your stones before shopping and you will get the best out there for what you can afford. Opals tend to go in crazes. First was the milky one (ugh!) then the fire opals from Australia (gorgeous and expensive) and back to the milky ones. I have a bluish floating opal pendant which is lovely. I'd love to have a real one much larger in the blue cast. It is a baby blue color!"}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul 10, 2002 (21:35)", "body": "If citrine counts, I have a new addition to my list - a large geode of citrine I found in a creek bed last week. Talk about being lucky...!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jul 16, 2002 (19:14)", "body": "the only australian opals i've seen are triplets."}, {"response": 10, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul 16, 2002 (19:25)", "body": "Same here, Wolfie. I've only seen pictures of the real thing...*sigh*"}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jul 16, 2002 (19:37)", "body": "but even the triplets are beautiful!! i don't like the milky ones either!!!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 18, 2002 (17:18)", "body": "I wonder what and where my next one will be. Far different from what I anticipated just a few months ago before coming to the mainland. I am more likely to find specimens than to wear cut stones, but that is wonderful, too!"}, {"response": 13, "author": "lance8", "date": "Wed, Apr  2, 2003 (21:30)", "body": "If anyone would like cut and polished stones to purchase, I know a possible source. It's ACNTV. It's on TV in some areas, and on Sattelite in others. It's also at . I have purchased some from them, and have found that the mixed packets can be avarage, but some are well worth the money. I got a small cab ruby and a small emerald that would retail for what I paid for a set of 30 carats worth of small mixed stones. But, a lot are not good. The opals I got are all milky. So, with caution,(caveat emptor!), they might be a source if you do not want rough."}, {"response": 14, "author": "lance8", "date": "Wed, Apr  2, 2003 (21:31)", "body": "BTW, I am not working for ACN, just a reasonably satisfied customer."}, {"response": 15, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Apr  4, 2003 (17:06)", "body": "We have some lemurian quartz for sale, have you ever heard of this? http://www.lemurianquartz.com"}, {"response": 16, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  8, 2003 (18:38)", "body": "i know i haven't!! lance, are the loosestones worthy of a setting? have added tourmaline to my collection (pink variety). earrings, pendant, and ring. very lovely....but i still want an alexandrite!!! *LAUGH*"}, {"response": 17, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr  9, 2003 (18:10)", "body": "We are selling some pink lemurian quartz at http://lemurianquartz.com . . . if you want to see the inside stuff: http://lemurianquartz.com/ebayquartz will show you the unlinked to stuff. This is the only place you'll have a link to it. collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 66, "subject": "Lladro", "response_count": 2, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (20:02)", "body": "http://www.lladro.com (available in different languages)"}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr  6, 2002 (15:28)", "body": "I was given the most lovely little Lladro butterfly on a flowering branch by a lady I met in Drool. It has a very special place on my enclosed lighted display stand for my mineral collection and other treasured objects. collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 67, "subject": "Porcelain Flowers (General)", "response_count": 3, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Aug 15, 2001 (20:55)", "body": "Just learned about Charles Sadek and his Andrea collection. He does everything from dinnerware (china) to flowers to animals. I work with a lady who loves his flowers."}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Aug 15, 2001 (21:00)", "body": "the following link will take you to Charles Sadek's Andrea collection. A Sadek websit is in work but not fully up and running yet. http://www.wdsullivan.com/Andrea.html"}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 26, 2001 (22:31)", "body": "The Sadek website-- http://www.sadek.com/ I'm sory to say that they're still not up and running! collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 68, "subject": "Barney Ebsworth, Art Collector", "response_count": 75, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (10:33)", "body": "NEWS RELEASE 3 March 2000 For Press Inquiries Only (202) 842-6353 NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART ACQUIRES SHEELER'S \"CLASSIC LANDSCAPE,\" DOVE'S \"MOON,\" AND THOMPSON'S \"TREE\" GIFTS FROM MR. AND MRS. BARNEY A. EBSWORTH Washington, D.C. -- It was announced this week by Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art, that the Gallery has acquired from Mr. and Mrs. Barney Ebsworth of Saint Louis, Missouri, Charles Sheeler's Classic Landscape (1931), a masterpiece of precisionist painting; Arthur Dove's Moon (1935), an outstanding example of abstraction inspired by nature; and Bob Thompson's Tree (1962), a hallucinatory scene inspired by Goya, that is evocative of folk art and the artist's African heritage. The Ebsworth collection is considered to be one of the premier private holdings of American modernist art. Both paintings can be viewed in the exhibition Twentieth-Century American Art: The Ebsworth Collection, on view in the Gallery's East Building, 5 March through 11 June 2000. \"This is only the most recent example of how the Ebsworths have been steadfast friends of the Gallery, which has benefited especially from their keen interest in our twentieth-century American paintings,\" said Powell. Sheeler (1883-1965) was a master of both painting and photography. Classic Landscape depicts a scene from the Ford Motor Company's River Rouge Plant near Detroit, which the artist had visited in 1927 on a photographic commission from the company. Sheeler called the subject \"incomparably the most thrilling I have had to work with\" and went on to produce several watercolor and oil paintings inspired by the River Rouge Plant. Classic Landscape is the best known of these and has been exhibited widely. It is a work of remarkable clarity and order, with extraneous details suppressed and the forms of buildings and other structures expressed as boldly simplified geometric forms. To Sheeler, this industrial scene was comparable to the highest architectural achievements of the classical past. Dove (1880-1946), a resourceful and imaginative individual and artist, was among the artists championed by renowned photographer and art dealer Alfred Stieglitz. After a highly experimental artistic phase in the 1920s and grinding poverty in the early 1930s, Dove returned to his family home in Geneva, New York. With support from collector Duncan Phillips, Dove entered a very productive period, during which he painted Moon. A tree covers the glowing moon with shades of brown, yellow, green, and red ranging in intensity from pale muddy tones to richly saturated hues. Painted with short, thinned, almost translucent brushstrokes over hues of different intensity, the surface appears luminous. Thompson (1937-1966), an African American artist and Kentucky native, has been likened to a meteor for his brilliant but brief life in art. He received his formal art training at the University of Louisville and continued his career in New York City and Europe. He started out as an abstract painter, but later shifted to figurative expressionism. Tree, executed during his time in Paris in 1962, is a fauve-hued painting derived from Goya's fantastic and moralistic etchings, Los Caprichos (1799). Thompson morphed Goya's figures, except the angel, into primitive animalistic forms, emphasizing their bestiality and sexual violence. Barney Ebsworth has been a member of the Gallery's Trustees' Council and co-chair of its Collectors Committee since 1996. In 1997 the Ebsworths gave the Gallery Or (1973), its first work by Pat Steir. In 1998 they funded the purchase of another painting by the same artist, the lyrically beautiful Curtain Waterfall (1991), and made a partial and promised gift of Georgia O'Keeffe's Black White and Blue (1930), one of the finest works from a rich period in her career."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (10:34)", "body": "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Linda Williams, SAM Public Relations (206) 654-3166; email: pr@SeattleArtMuseum.org Outstanding Collection of American Modernist Art Comes to Seattle Art Museum Twentieth Century American Art: The Ebsworth Collection Aug. 10-Nov. 12, 2000 SEATTLE, Nov. 9, 1999\ufffdA wide-ranging and exciting cross-section of American painting from the World War I era through the 1960s will be on view in Twentieth-Century American Art: The Ebsworth Collection at the Seattle Art Museum, Aug. 10-Nov. 12, 2000. Collected by Barney A. Ebsworth, an executive who resides in St. Louis and summers in Seattle, the more than 70 works in the exhibition include masterpieces by Alexander Calder, Willem de Kooning, Arthur Dove, David Hockney, Edward Hopper and Georgia O\ufffdKeeffe. A small number of exceptional sculptures and works on paper will also be on view. The Ebsworth Collection comes to Seattle from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it can be seen from March 5-June 11, 2000. The Seattle Art Museum will be the only other venue for the exhibition. \"We are very pleased to be able to present this exciting collection on the West Coast,\" says Trevor Fairbrother, SAM\ufffds Deputy Director of Art/Jon and Mary Shirley Curator of Modern Art. \"Barney Ebsworth has had an uncanny ability to recognize major art before it is fashionable, and his collection is outstanding.\" In recent years, Ebsworth has collected works from the 1950s and 1960s, including important works be Andy Warhol and Wayne Thiebaud. The Ebsworth Collection is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and curated by Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr., Senior Curator, and Franklin Kelly, Curator of American and British Painting. In Seattle, the installation and programming will be overseen by Trevor Fairbrother. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog, which will be available in February 2000. It includes an essay by Professor Bruce Robertson of the University of California, Santa Barbara, as well as entries by Cikovsky, Kelly and other staff of the National Gallery."}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (10:34)", "body": "20th-Century American Art: The Ebsworth Collection August 10 through November 12, 2000 On view at the Seattle Art Museum from August 10 through November 12, 2000, Twentieth-Century American Art: The Ebsworth Collection includes more than seventy works from one of the premier important private collections of American modernism. The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., organized the exhibition and published the catalogue; SAM is the exhibition\ufffds only other venue. Visit the National Gallery of Art web site for additional online resources about this exhibit. Barney A. Ebsworth, who splits his time between St. Louis, Honolulu, and Seattle, first became interested in art while he was stationed in Paris during the Korean war. Originally interested in European art, Mr. Ebsworth began collecting American modernism in the early 1970s, a relatively new field of collecting at that time. In nearly three decades, Mr. Ebsworth has amassed a collection that is recognized as one of the top 200 world-wide. He and his wife, Pam, are both enthusiastic patrons of the arts: they have made many gifts to museums nation-wide, including a 1980 glass and steel Christopher Wilmarth work they gave to SAM in 1998. The Ebsworth collection covers the period from the seminal 1913 Armory Show in New York through the late 1960s. Beginning with William Glackens (1870-1938) and ending with David Hockney (b. 1937), the collection includes several dozen major paintings in addition to a number of works on paper and a group of sculpture. Many of the works in the Ebsworth collection show the influence of European painting on American modernism. One of the earliest works in the exhibition, Glackens\ufffd Caf\ufffd Lafayette (Portrait of Kay Laurell) (1914) recalls the style of Renoir. Andrew Dasburg (1887-1979), who submitted four works to the 1913 Armory Show, created Landscape (1913) after the style of C\ufffdzanne. Profoundly changed by the Armory Show, artists like Stuart Davis (1894-1964) completely shifted their painting styles. Influenced by cubist works he saw at the groundbreaking exhibition, Davis began creating works that used the flattened shapes of synthetic cubism. A trip to Paris in 1928 provided him with his signature subject matter of boldly colored Parisian street scenes. The Ebsworth collection also includes works by several artists in the circle of Alfred Stieglitz, photographer and owner of the galleries 291 and An American Place. These artists, including Arthur Dove (1880-1946), Marsden Hartley (1877-1943), John Marin (1870-1953), and Georgia O\ufffdKeeffe (1887-1986), all had a common interest in abstraction based on natural forms. Among the paintings from this group in the exhibition are O\ufffdKeeffe\ufffds Black White and Blue (1930) and Dove\ufffds Moon (1935). Edward Hopper (1882-1967) figures prominently in the Ebsworth collection, with two oil paintings and a watercolor. Among these works is one of his most famous canvases, Chop Suey (1929). In quintessential Hopper style, the painting shows city-dwellers in the interior of an urban building\ufffdhere, a second-floor Chinese restaurant. Like many of Hopper\ufffds figures, the two women seem disconnected despite their physical proximity. The work of several Precisionist painters also appears in the Ebsworth collection. Most prominent of these artists is Charles Sheeler (1883-1965), four of whose paintings are included in the exhibition. Sheeler, both a photographer and a painter, spent six weeks at the Ford Motor Company at River Rouge near Detroit. He made a photographic portrait of the plant; he also became interested in using similar subject matter in painting. Sheeler based Classic Landscape (1931), paired here with its 1928 watercolor, gouache and graphite study, on one of his River Rouge photographs. This work demonstrates Sheeler\ufffds ability to combine precisely rendered realism with formal abstraction. The Ebsworth collection also includes the work of several important post-war artists, including Jasper Johns (b. 1930), Franz Kline (1910-1962), Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), and Robert Rauschenberg (b. 1925). Members of the New York School, both Kline and Pollock were important figures in the Abstract Expressionist movement. Johns and Rauschenberg were pivotal figures in the birth of Pop art in the 1950s. The Pop art works include paintings by Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Wayne Thiebaud (b. 1920), and a painted plaster relief by Claes Oldenberg (b. 1929). The work of these artists, representing, respectively, a Campbell\ufffds Soup Can, a Bakery Counter, and a muscular arm that recalls the Arm and Hammer symbol, used familiar imagery in an attempt to break down the hierarchy between the \"high art\" of painting and the \"low art\" of consumer goods. Sculpture is an important component of the Ebsworth collection. There are outstanding works by Alexander Calder, Gaston Lachaise (1882-1935), Elie Nadelman (1882-1946), Theodore Roszak (1907-1981), and John Storrs (1885-1956). The sculpture dovetails with the paintings a"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (10:36)", "body": "http://yp.washingtonpost.com/E/E/WASDC/0001/65/62/cs1.html The Collection of a Century: Home-Grown Modernists By Jo Ann Lewis Special to The Washington Post Thursday, March 2, 2000 Consider the risk: For 30 years, one by one, you collect the best American modernist paintings (1913-45) money can buy \ufffd O'Keeffes, Hoppers and Sheelers when you can get them, and Aults, Guglielmis and Slobodkinas when you can't. You figure someday you'll give them all to an unspecified museum. But first, the ultimate test \ufffd museums want to take a harder look. And the best paintings are removed from the walls of your sunken living room and cozy den and shipped off to the National Gallery of Art, where they're hung like Old Masters in six tall galleries usually reserved for such crowd-pleasers as Calder and Gauguin. Can these paintings \ufffd many still scorned as knockoffs of European avant-gardists like Picasso, Braque and Mondrian \ufffd survive such public scrutiny? Just such a collection \ufffd \"Twentieth-Century American Art: The Ebsworth Collection\" \ufffd goes on view Sunday in the National Gallery East Building. And, chances are, it will change a lot of musty preconceptions. This isn't the first time St. Louis travel tycoon Barney Ebsworth's collection has been subjected to the museum test. In 1987 there was an exhibition at the St. Louis Art Museum and then one in Honolulu. But much has changed since then, including major acquisitions that expand the collection well beyond its original parameters, which covered American modernist painting from the 1913 Armory Show to World War II. The collection now encompasses such postwar masters as Gorky, Pollock, de Kooning, Johns and Rauschenberg, who finally put American art on the world map. There are also some large showpieces that Ebsworth may have felt were needed to bolster public presentation of his collection, among them Andy Warhol's \"Campbell's Soup With Can Opener\" (1962), Wayne Thiebaud's delicious, frosting-slathered \"Bakery Counter\" (1962) and David Hockney's gigantic portrait \"Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott\" (1968-69), which hangs in Ebsworth's office. \"I haven't abandoned American modernism; it abandoned me,\" says Ebsworth as he walks through his show, explaining his newly expanded purview. \"I can no longer find paintings from the period that are good enough. And I want only the best.\" Trim, sunned and recently retired from Intrav, the luxury travel and cruise ship business he sold to a Swiss firm for $115 million, Barney Ebsworth, 66, flew in this week from his winter digs in Honolulu to celebrate what is, in effect, his international coming-out party. For though he's known to American museum curators as a potential lender \ufffd and is now listed among the world's top 100 or 200 collectors of American art \ufffd he has, until now, kept a low public profile. And it's never been clear exactly what he owns \ufffd apart from his most famous paintings, starting with Edward Hopper's dreamy, nostalgic scene of two women seated in a Chinese restaurant, titled \"Chop Suey\" (1929). A standout even in the Whitney Museum's recent \"American Century\" show, that painting was also shown here at the National Museum of American Art in 1993, along with several other Ebsworth masterworks by Marsden Hartley, Charles Sheeler, Arthur Dove and Joseph Stella. Ebsworth is a longtime supporter and former commissioner of NMAA. But now, for the first time, the whole collection is out for the world to see and for museum curators to start dreaming and drooling over. Some of the National Gallery's dreams have already come true: Ebsworth and his wife, Pam, revealed this week that they are giving three paintings to the gallery, including Dove's darkly romantic, nature-inspired \"Moon\" (1935) and Sheeler's precisionist masterpiece \"Classic Landscape\" (1931), a sleek, machine-age painting of the Ford Motor Co.'s then-new River Rouge assembly plant near Detroit, where the Model A was built. The painting is based on a Sheeler watercolor that Ebsworth bought long ago, thinking he could never own the painting. The watercolor and the painting hang together in this show, both inspired by Sheeler's earlier photographs of the new Ford plant, which he'd been commissioned to take for advertising purposes. Ebsworth has served on the National Gallery's Trustee Council and co-chaired its Collectors Committee since 1996, and he has made other gifts to the institution, including Georgia O'Keeffe's \"Black White and Blue,\" one of his two important O'Keeffe abstract paintings. He has also donated a work by contemporary American artist Pat Steir and paid for the purchase of another for the museum. At last night's opening, he was to announce yet another gift \ufffd the huge, enigmatic painting \"Tree\" (1962), by the African American artist Bob Thompson, who died in 1966 at age 29. Scrubbed Honesty It should be said up front that there is nothing grandiose about this show or the 74 paintings and the handful of sculptures in it. Rather, the lesser-known wo"}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (10:50)", "body": "Ebsworth gets $81 million from Intrav sale to Swiss Cynthia Vespereny Barney Ebsworth will get $81.55 million in the sale of Intrav to a Swiss firm. Intrav, the deluxe travel company Ebsworth founded in 1959, is being purchased by Kuoni Reisen Holding of Zurich, which will pay $21.32 per share for Intrav, or $115 million. Ebsworth controls 3.825 million shares, or 74.8 percent of the company. The deal means an instant bounty of $4 million for Paul Duynhouwer, Intrav's president and chief executive officer, although most of his stake in the company is in stock options that normally vest over a period of years. Duynhouwer owns 46,000 shares valued at $981,000 under the deal and holds options on 260,000 shares. They would be valued at more than $3 million after paying $2.5 million to exercise the options. An incentive stock plan provides for accelerated vesting in the event of a change in control of the company. All options will be vested by the end of September, when the deal is completed, said Intrav spokeswoman Vanessa Tegethoff. The sale means a paycheck of $1 million for Chief Financial Officer Wayne Smith II, who owns just 400 shares but has options for 100,000, valued at $982,000 after paying $1.15 million to exercise them. Richard Hefler, senior vice president of sales and marketing, holds options on 28,000 shares. He can make $60,000 by exercising options granted since 1997 on 8,000 shares. The exercise price on the remaining 20,000, issued in 1995, could not be determined. Officers of Intrav could not be reached for comment. Intrav closed at $20 July 20, far from its 52-week low of $13.50. Among company directors, William H.T. Bush will get $405,000 for his 19,000 shares. Bush, the brother of former President George Bush, is chairman of Bush, O'Donnell & Co., an investment adviser in Clayton. John Biggs Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Union Bank, will receive $42,600 for 2,000 shares, and Robert Chapman, chairman and chief executive officer of Barry-Wehmiller Cos., will get $12,800 for 600 shares. Ebsworth, who serves as chairman, will leave the company after the sale. Intrav's management will stay, and no layoffs are expected, said Tegethoff. Intrav will remain in St. Louis, she added. Intrav, which owns the Clipper Cruise Line, caters to affluent, sophisticated travelers looking for unusual trips. Among its offerings are around-the-world trips aboard the Concorde and African safaris. The Clipper Cruise Line features small vessels, which are attractive to travelers who already have done big-ship cruises. Kuoni Reisen said it hopes to strengthen its position in the United States through the acquisition. It currently has a sales office in Atlanta. Intrav went public in 1995. It reported earnings of $666,000, or 13 cents per share, on revenue of $25.9 million for the quarter ended March 31, compared to $985,000, or 19 cents per share, on sales of $26.7 million in the year-ago period."}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (10:53)", "body": "3/6/2000 St. Louis article: Barney Ebsworth sold his travel company, Intrav, a year ago, but he's still taking his art collection on the road. Ebsworth and his wife, Pam Ebsworth, have given the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., two major 20th century American paintings: Charles Sheeler's \"Classic Landscape\" and Arthur Dove's \"Moon.\" The paintings are part of the couple's collection of more than 70 works of art, which are on loan for an exhibit at the National Gallery that opens March 5."}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (10:55)", "body": "Art Appreciation A black-tie dinner at the East Building of the National Gallery of Art celebrated the museum\ufffds most recent exhibition of artwork from one of the premier private holdings of American modernist work\ufffdthat of Barney Ebsworth, an esteemed member of the Gallery\ufffds Trustees\ufffd Council and co-chair of its Collectors Committee. Entitled \ufffdTwentieth-Century American Art: The Ebsworth Collection,\ufffd the exhibition of over 70 important paintings, sculptures, and drawings features such renowned artists as Georgia O\ufffdKeeffe, Edward Hopper, and Jackson Pollock, mixed in with the works of lesser-known talents like George Ault and Francis Criss. The result is a dramatic retrospective of the evolution of American Modernism. The exhibition will be on view through June 11, when it will then travel to the Seattle Art Museum."}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (10:57)", "body": "Charles Sheeler, Classic Landscape (1931) Oil on canvas, 25 inches x 32.25 inches. The Collection of the Mr. and Mrs. Barney Ebsworth Foundation. William Carlos Williams Classic Scene A power-house in the shape of a red brick chair 90 feet high on the seat of which sit the figures of two metal stacks--aluminum-- commanding an area of squalid shacks side by side-- from one of which buff smoke streams while under a grey sky the other remains passive today--"}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:00)", "body": "Occasionally, the bidding in this sector was much more bullish. Christie's $180,000/250,000 estimate on a tiny, early Rauschenberg 'Combine' painting, for instance, was totally disregarded, mainly by St.Louis collector, Barney Ebsworth, who paid $1.3 million for it."}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:01)", "body": "Twentieth-Century American Art: The Ebsworth Collection A lively discussion between collector Barney Ebsworth and Franklin Kelly, curator of American and British art, on the Ebsworth collection, one of the premier private holdings of American modernist art. 11 March 2000 Sorry about the above broken gifs, I'll fix 'em later. Terry"}, {"response": 11, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:04)", "body": "Barney made the 1998 ARTnews list of the top 200 art collectors in the world."}, {"response": 12, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:04)", "body": "Ebsworth Collection: Twentieth-Century Art In America By: Robertson, Bruce // Other Seattle Art Museum // Other Brock, Charles Hardcover/Clothcover//Illustrated 312 pages This book showcases the extraordinary collection of modern American masterworks assembled by Barney A. Ebsworth, a St. Louis businessman. Publisher: Harry N. Abrams Inc ISBN: 0810966999 More General - Art titles: Previous | Index | Next OUR PRICE where delivery is to: USA/Canada: US$49.50 Australia/NZ: A$138.50 Other Countries:US$79.70"}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:05)", "body": "Die US-Schifffahrtsgesetze k\ufffdnnten die \ufffdbernahme der Luxusreisenfirma verhindern VON NADJA SIEBENMANN Z\ufffdrich - Wenige Wochen nachdem die Fusion zwischen Kuoni und First Choice gescheitert ist, schl\ufffdgt der Schweizer Reisekonzern erneut zu: Kuoni will den hochprofitablen US-Luxusreisenverk\ufffdufer Intrav kaufen. Im Gegensatz zur gescheiterten Fusion mit First Choice hat Kuoni hier die Zustimmung der Aktion\ufffdre auf Sicher: Firmengr\ufffdnder Barney Ebsworth, der 75 Prozent der Intrav-Aktien besitzt, hat der \ufffdbernahme, die rechtlich als Fusion abgewickelt wird, zugestimmt. Die notwendige Zweidrittelmehrheit ist somit bereits \ufffdberschritten. Doch die geplante Fusion mit Intrav enth\ufffdlt eine andere Knacknuss, die ausgerechnet das Kerngesch\ufffdft des amerikanischen Luxusreisenveranstalters betrifft: das \ufffdusserst lukrative Business mit Kreuzfahrten in den Gew\ufffdssern vor den amerikanischen K\ufffdsten"}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:08)", "body": "'CLIPPER' PARENT INTRAV ACQUIRED BY A SWISS COMPANY: INTRAV, the St Louis, United States (US) based parent company of Clipper Cruise Line (CCL), was sold on 16 September to a Swiss group Kuoni Travel Holding Limited of Zurich for $US115M. INTRAV was founded in 1959 and today specialises in 'top of the market' escorted tours, including private-jet adventures, African safaries and small-ship cruising as conducted by CCL in remote areas such as Antarctica. According to Kuoni, INTRAV is highly profitable and in 1998 reported a turnover of $US126m, an operating income of $US10.3M, and a net income of $6.8M. Forecasts for 1999 are said to be \"excellent\". While INTRAV is a small company by US standards, industry observers in North America believe that the entry of a European company into their market is significant. Analysts see great potential for growth in US tourism to all parts of the world over the next decade as 'baby boomers' reach retirement age. Growth is anticipated as being particularly strong for relatively small-scale, remote area, operations offering natural 'experiences' with less crowding and high 'exclusivity', something INTRAV has specialised since its establishment. INTRAV founder Barney Ebsworth established CCL in 1982 and the two operated as separate companies until late 1996, when INTRAV having gone public the preceding year, bought CCL. Clipper first marketed Antarctic tours in 1993. While CCL's Antarctic operations are not likely to change signficantly in the short term, the company says that INTRAV and it \"have a slate of innovative adventures planned for 2000 and beyond\". These could involve additional activities in Antarctica. CCL currently operates four vessels, two of whom are scheduled to operate in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic region in 1999-2000. One, the 5,000 tonne 'Clipper Odyssey', will conduct a single voyage to the Auckland Islands in the New Zealand sub-Antarctic in February. 'Odyssey', built in 1989 as the 'Oceanic Grace', was purchased by the company earlier this year and can carry up to 128 passengers. She visited the same region last season as 'Oceanic Odyssey'. The other Clipper vessel is the 122-passenger 'Clipper Adventurer'. It is scheduled to conduct nine Antarctic voyages between 13 November and 29 February. Seven of the nine are to the Antarctic Peninsula from either Ushuaia, Argentina, or Stanley in the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), while the other two also include visits to South Georgia and the South Orkney Islands. 'Clipper Adventurer' has operated in the Antarctic since 1994 , first as the 'Alla Tarasova', and for the past two seasons under its present name. Following its purchase of the vessel in 1998, CCL spent some $US16 million in refurbishing it for voyages to all parts of the world. The Kuoni Travel Group was established in 1906 by Alfred Kuoni a Swiss citizen and in addition to INTRAV, has holdings in nine European countries, Asia and India. Kuoni appointed one of its staffers, Ian Coghlan, as Chief Executive Officer of both INTRAV and CCL. He replaces former CEO Paul Duynhouwer who will be the majority owner and CEO of New World Ship Management Company, LLC, which has been formed to operate all four Clipper vessels, including the Bahamanian-registered 'Clipper Adventurer' and 'Clipper Odyssey', which operate in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions. Duynhouwer has the majority stake in CCL's other two vessels which are both US registered. [ANAN-6/02]"}, {"response": 15, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:10)", "body": ""}, {"response": 16, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:13)", "body": "Falcon Mummy Case Egyptian, Ptolomaic Period, c. 332-30 B.C. Wood with polychrome and gilding Gift of Barney A. Ebsworth in honor of Sam and Mary Cooke, 1992 (6896.1)"}, {"response": 17, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:21)", "body": "AYNE THIEBAUD AMERICAN, BORN 1920 BAKERY COUNTER, 1962 OIL ON CANVAS 139.4 x 182.6 cm (54 7/8 x 71 7/8) CREDIT: COLLECTION OF Mr. AND Mrs. BARNEY A. EBSWORTH"}, {"response": 18, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:23)", "body": "Sheeler, Charles Classic Landscape 1931 Oil on canvas 24 3/4 x 32 1/4 in (63.5 x 81.9 cm) Mr and Mrs Barney A Ebsworth Foundation"}, {"response": 19, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:25)", "body": "Egypt, Thebes Third Intermediate Period, 22nd Dynasty, 945-880 B.C. Mummy Cartonnage of Amen-Nestawy-Nakht, Priest of Amon, Son of a Pa-di-Amen linen, plaster, and pigments 66 inches long Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Barney A. Ebsworth for the children of St. Louis 109:1989 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amen-Nestawy-Nakht, a priest of Amun at Thebes, was given a very proper burial. His important position is reflected in the beautifully executed cartonnage, or painted plaster case, covering his linen-wrapped body. The style of painting evokes the beautiful reliefs and painted images so popular in New Kingdom tombs with elaborate coiffures, sumptuous detail, and fancy drapery. The sarcophagus of Amen-Nestawy-Nakht was discovered around 1860 in the Necropolis of Thebes, in what was then called the Valley of the Nobles. It still contains its mummy. ."}, {"response": 20, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:28)", "body": "9/14/2000 20th-CENTURY AMERICAN ART: THE EBSWORTH COLLECTION Over 70 works, mostly modernist, collected by Barney A. Ebsworth, who started out collecting 16th- and 17th-century Dutch paintings, but got discouraged when he realized that all \"the great pictures [were] gone.\" There must have been some goodies left from the postwar era; Ebsworth acquired a nifty set of works--no real masterpieces, though--by (among others) de Kooning, Sheeler, and Hockney. Through Nov 12."}, {"response": 21, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:32)", "body": ""}, {"response": 22, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:34)", "body": "Operator: Clipper Cruise Line Year Built / Last Refurbished: 1984 / 1992 Length / Tonnage: 207 / 99 Number of Cabins / Passengers: 51 / 102 Officers / Crew: American / American Operating Area: Year-round USA and Caribbean Review by Mark H. Goldberg, TravelPage.com, Cruise Editor, and Christopher E. Smith, TravelPage.com, Associate Cruise Editor Good things do come in small packages....so it follows that a good cruise can be had on a small ship....and I like to call Clipper Cruise Line's vessels the Rolls Royces of the \"explorer ship\" class....that is, the kind of ship not suited to traveling the oceans, but designed for protected coastal waterways, rivers, canals and lakes. When it comes to service, accommodation and food, Clipper is the cream of the crop. Founded in 1982 by Barney A. Ebsworth, of St. Louis, Clipper quickly became known for taking 100 passengers at a time in style to some of the most remote and least visited ports in North America....places barred to any ship over 100 tons. That's what sets Clipper apart from the others....their cruises offer a pace similar to a leisurely motor trip where you are in charge of your itinerary. Clipper always docks close in to the main attractions of any port. So without muss or fuss, wander ashore....enjoy the scenery at your pace.....and breath a sigh of relief that where ever your ship takes you, the local color won't be tainted by 6 or 700 other passengers destroying the mood. No atrium, no casino, no techno colored cocktail lounge and no ballroom await you on the NANTUCKET CLIPPER or YORKTOWN CLIPPER. But then again, those things aren't available in your car, and since a Clipper Cruise is very similar to an ultra luxe motor trip, you wouldn't want to see them here anyway. But the one lounge on board is one of the finest living rooms you could ask for. Dubbed the Observation Lounge on both vessels, it is just that....with huge always clean windows with views to both sides and forward, I cannot think of a better location to enjoy the endless scenery you will enjoy on a Clipper cruise. The sofas are comfortable and designed for you to linger a little longer, and there's plenty of room to accommodate everyone for a port lecture, cocktail party or folklore presentation. As Clipper Cruises says, \"naturalists and historians replace variety shows and bingo.\" You will find that the decor is soothing, restful, and has been finished to a high quality.....a lot of thought went into the design of the room, and as it is the one indoor venue aboard (not counting the dining room), that thoughtfulness is much appreciated. Of course, there is a small bar off to the side, and it is well stocked with a full selection of wines, beers and spirits priced between $2 and $5 per drink but people like me who never developed an appreciation for the products of the distiller's, brewer's or vintner's arts will also be happy to know that the bar also serves coffee, tea, juices and soft drinks. There's no charge for these soft drinks....I think that's a real nice Clipper touch... Ever mindful that many passengers will prefer to be outdoors on a Clipper Cruise, there is a narrow but useful wrap around promenade deck, where, during certain hours of the day, you are invited to work off some calories. So rest assured that while on board Clipper's ships, you needn't be resigned to a sedentary lifestyle. To that extent, these ships have no elevators. With so few passengers carried, you can expect a high level of quality, and because the ship is in port more than not, freshness of ingredients is always assured. The cuisine is decidedly American in nature....no, not burgers and franks, but regional cuisine of the highest order, thoughtfully presented and always delicious. Clipper chefs are graduates of America's most prestigious cooking school, the Culinary Institute. You cannot expect a never ending menu with selection after selection, but if you are at all fussy about what you eat, or your doctor has put the red light on certain food groups, Clipper, with advance notice, will be happy to accommodate you in any way they can.....but please don't ask them for pickled hummingbird wings or chocolate covered ants."}, {"response": 23, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:36)", "body": "All meals are prepared to order and served a la carte.....there is never any skimping or cost cutting in these dining rooms. By the way, your meals are served in one sitting....and because Clipper attracts a fair number of singles and often sails with less than three persons booked into rooms that can serve as triples, couples who want to eat alone can often be served at a four top doing double duty as a table for two... Since the line has an open seating policy, you might want to know that Breakfast is served at 8:00AM, Lunch at 12:30PM and dinner at 7:00...Since early-risers tend to predominate aboard these small beauties, catering crew sets up a buffet in the Lounge early every morning so anyone waking up before the dining room opens at 8:00AM can eat. A few hours later a soup and sandwich buffet in the lounge attracts any number of people who want only a light bite at midday and every fan of the grape will be glad to know that the ships' wine lists feature bottled wine priced between $15 and $30 per bottle. Would you care for an inside cabin? Sorry.....Clipper Cruises wouldn't do that to you, especially on any of their scenic trips. So even in their least expensive digs, expect an outside view with two portholes. The cabins are cozy, beautifully fitted and comfortable.....but you'll prefer your cocktail party for a dozen people be held in the lounge....these cabins aren't designed for that. But they are designed for comfortable sightseeing...that is, most cabins have large windows so even if you cannot get out of bed at the crack of dawn, you can sightsee while you head rests on your pillow. All the cabins have showers in their admittedly tiny private bathrooms, all cabins have two lower beds (sorry, honeymooners), and all some have an upper pullman for a \"fifth wheel\". There is sufficient drawer and closet space, but don't overpack....besides, the onboard atmosphere stresses comfort, not formality, so a sport coat or cocktail dress is suggested only during the Welcome Aboard and Farewell parties. Though there is no laundry on board, the cruise director will bend over backwards to get your emergency cleaning done by a shoreside laundry, time permitting of course. So back to the cabins, for a moment. What's the best one to reserve? Well, some cabins have their doors opening out to the promenade deck....others are accessed by an inside corridor. Some have views onto the deck, with others right against the ship's side. The three least expensive cabin types have beds parallel to one another, while the three highest graded cabin types offer beds in an \"L\" shape."}, {"response": 24, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:39)", "body": "My problem in deciding which cabin to select comes from the fact that all of them are good. There's no such thing as a bad location, and you are never far from anything on a Clipper. Be it my imagination or not, there seems to be a sense of extra space in the cabins fitted with the \"L\" shape beds. But because the most important feature to me on any ship is having a view, I'd be happy in any cabin here. And any of you who share my passion for collecting those nifty miniature toiletries..you know...the distinctly packaged soaps and shampoos will be pleased to find that Clipper has not forgotten to accommodate your hobby...the bathrooms are stocked with these little items and replenished as needed...Forgot your razors or other sundry item and need something while the ship is underway? No problem..the cruise director is able to help out and provide you with it. These Clipper ships are perfect extensions of a country club...ideal for people who love to golf (some Clipper cruises are themed as golf cruises and passengers always get good tee times at a nearby course when a Clipper is in port.) Anyone who ever answered to the name \"preppy\" ought to love a Clipper cruise. Most passengers are over 40, couples predominate....though cerebral 20 or 30 somethings might feel at home here too. A BIG HINT...if you choose Clipper, you might do well to leave the kids at home because the ships have no facilities to amuse them, and Clipper passengers tend not to coo over a stranger's infant. If you like bright lights, big show lounges, great production numbers, constant amusement and entertainment, these boats are not for you. A perfect Clipper passenger? ME!!!"}, {"response": 25, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:39)", "body": "In a few words.....Clipper itineraries are the greatest!!! Designed for the \"been there, done that\" travel set, each itinerary offers ports or in some cases stops where nature's wonders are the highlight. In the winter, cruises either seven or eleven nights will deliver you to some of the Caribbean and Central America's most exotic and off the beaten path ports. As the ship has no on board pool, passengers are invited to take a dip in the warm ocean, stepping right into the drink from the side of the ship. Snorkel gear is provided, so don't forget a swim suit. Other voyages offer days of exploration on the Orinoco River of Venezuela. The eight night Costa Rica itinerary takes all the headaches out of visiting that scenically stunning country."}, {"response": 26, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:40)", "body": "During the spring, summer and fall, one of the Clipper ships pokes around the Sea of Cortez, makes Alaska cruises that will fulfill the naturalists among you, or visits in depth the San Juan Islands and out of the way ports in British Columbia. Pleasing choo choo enthusiasts, Clipper has come up with some fun rail/cruise adventures, which include destinations as far inland as Santa Fe, New Mexico! For east coast denizens, do not despair! In a variety of cruise lengths and seasons, Clipper comprehensively visits every worth while port from Jacksonville, Florida to the Great Lakes. Whichever Clipper itinerary you select, be assured that you will given plenty of time to really get to know a region. Only on a handful of Clipper trips does the ship remain \"at sea\" all day, and when it does, the passing scenery will be fascinating. Do you have to be physically fit ..."}, {"response": 27, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:40)", "body": "to get the most out of your Clipper Cruise? Well, it doesn't hurt, but even couch potatoes like me can have a fantastic time. But to get the most out of the trip, you should be prepared for a fair amount of walking.....but always at your pace. Clipper Cruise Line is a nonsmoking world now. You are invited to puff away outdoors, but that's the only place on board where you can do so. We love the well scrubbed all American crew, young, eager, and thoroughly capable...You didn't ask but I'll tell you anyway...tips are pooled and shared among crew (not officers) and the Line recommends an amount of $9 per person per day...Give more if you like...these people really do work hard and sure do appreciate it! A Clipper cruise is not recommended for first timers or anyone in search of anonymity....crew and fellow passengers get to know everyone by name in no time ....most people love that. Similarly, newcomers to travel might not be able to fully appreciate the point purpose and experience of a Clipper cruise, but anyone culturally aware and thirsty for knowledge ought to really enjoy it. The brochure rates don't look cheap, but tally up the costs for a air or motor trip to some of these places...making sure you've put into your budget first or deluxe class accommodations and fine dining every meal...suddenly, a cruise on Clipper looks pretty affordable, for what you get."}, {"response": 28, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:41)", "body": "The above from http://www.cruiseserver.net/travelpage/ships/cl_nantuck.asp"}, {"response": 29, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:42)", "body": "http://www.artnet.com/magazine/news/tully/tully5-20-97.asp The most exciting moment in that overbaked sale, however, was the record set for Wayne Thiebaud's delightful and pastry-rich Bakery Counter (1962). It went for a record $1.7 million (est. $650,000-$850,000) to savvy St. Louis collector Barney Ebsworth. New York dealer Allan Stone first sold it in 1962 for $3,000."}, {"response": 30, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:43)", "body": "\"There was an article about Build-A-Bear in the newspaper and Barney Ebsworth with Windsor Capital, saw it and called me, saying he wanted to invest in the company,\" she states. \"His call changed our destiny and has taken us to the next level.\" The other partners, Walnut Capital and Kansas City Equity Partners, followed. http://www.stlcommercemagazine.com/archives/april2000/cover.html"}, {"response": 31, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:44)", "body": "Ebsworth One of the minor miracles of art history is that, in the space of a relative instant, American artists moved from the back of the bus to the driver's seat of the 20th-century modernist movement. While our countrymen reacted with shock and outrage to the contemporary European paintings shown at the 1913 Armory Show in Manhattan, by the 1940s New York was the recognized center of the avant-garde. The extremely high-quality collection of Mr. and Mrs. Barney Ebsworth of St. Louis provides a splendid overview of American art throughout this vibrant evolutionary period and beyond. Twentieth-Century Art: The Ebsworth Collection is on display at the National Gallery of Art through June 11. The show features the work of artists like William Glackens, Andrew Dagsburg and Preston Dickinson who owe a manifest debt to their French counterparts. But we quickly encounter works by Americans who, while assuredly working along the same art historical continuum, forge off in new directions, developing styles we associate with them, rather than their influences. There are the oddly undulating neighborhoods of Charles Burchfield: a little scary, a little funny, a little disturbing, but absolutely unique, and the pared-down images of Arthur Dove and Georgia O'Keefe that tend to keep a foothold in visual reality, but explore the formal, abstract elements of art. Then we come to Pollack and de Kooning, New York School artists who helped establish America's creative primacy through their boldly-gestural, energetic abstract expressionist paintings, and then on to the likes of Andy Warhol, Wayne Thiebaud and Claes Oldenburg who took over with their deadpan images from popular culture. You'll see them all here, along with a few works of less renowned artists, but of equal talent. While the Ebsworths have not set out to create a comprehensive catalog of 20th-century American art, they have assembled an engaging synopsis of its highlights. http://www.jrnl.net/news/00/May/jrn0070500.html"}, {"response": 32, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:46)", "body": "http://www.newartexaminer.org/archive/junerubin.html The last two collectors we visited, Donald Bryant and Barney Ebsworth, have much in common. They are very successful businessmen, living in the exclusive Ladue section of the city, are listed in Artnews as top world collectors, and consider their collecting a kind of stewardship. Though they both are forthcoming\ufffdmuch like Donald Trump, the New York City real estate mogul\ufffdabout the art of their deals, their styles differ. Bryant is a titan. His no-nonsense approach is that of a man totally in command. He likes to talk about first options, those deals in which he comes out on top, negotiating with artist's estates, and his extreme patience in waiting (sometimes for years) for the artwork he wants. On the other hand, Ebsworth, somewhat more reticent, likes to talk about \"the one that got away.\" After passing a large Gaston Lachaise sculpture situated at the entrance of the Barney Ebsworth home, our minds still boggled from the Bryant collection, we were welcomed by our host, his wife, another art dog named Lily Langtree, and a silver tray holding mimosas. Ebsworth, who is in the travel business (he once owned Royal Cruise), after an all-too-quick introductory tour of his collection, which he described as concentrating on Modernism from 1913 to 1970, gave us free reign to explore as we would. The first and second floors were open to us, the third, verboten. Once again, we were regaled by a collection of Who's Who. Wherever we turned, paintings by O'Keefe, DeKooning, Pollock, Tooker, Birchfield, Hopper, Sheeler, Lautrec, Bierstadt, Marin, Gorky, Johns, Hockney, Thiebaud, and Warhol, to mention only a few, jumped out at us. In a kind of general consensus, we agreed to be absolutely stunned by the beauty of Joseph Stella's Tree of Life of 1919 and totally enamoured of an Alice Neel pastel of a young man sleeping. The surprise of this visit was a clandestine trip to the third floor where Ebsworth's wife Pamela (upon my pushy request) revealed Marsden Hartley's homoerotic self-portrait of the artist posing as a bleeding Christ in the Crucifixion. In wandering into a room to get a closer view of another painting, I ended up in Ebsworth's closet. It was most impressive: I counted 37 suits and 39 pairs of shoes before I stopped. Ebsworth, whose modus operandi is, \"I try to get the best and then I try to top it,\" is something of a storyteller. His observation that curators and many dealers may be looking but aren't seeing, followed by numerous stories of paintings being mis-described and hung upside down, was particularly telling. It was his off-hand mention of the Hartley painting (though one of his favorite paintings, he hides it to placate his wife who finds it much too violent) that triggered my seeking it out. The Ebsworth collection will be traveling to the National Gallery of Art and the Seattle Art Museum next year. While I was smitten with Saint Louis and would certainly love to return (my actual viewing time at the museum and exposure to the city were far too short), it was the private collections that moved me, that set me to thinking about the nature of collecting, the fervor of private collections versus the muted coldness of public ones. Visiting these private collections, each assembled by a single intellect (if not eye), and fueled by individual desire, reminded me not of the Museum of Modern Art's languishing, permanent, committee-chosen, textbook collection (which few of us writers had visited in years), or for that matter, the Whitney Museum of American Art's, but of the many smaller, more personal museums where local minds hold sway. The Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester and the McNay Art Institute in San Antonio come to mind. By virtue of the size and the nature of its collection, The Saint Louis Art Museum may fall into this category too. It is in these museums and even more so in private collections that passion is given a running chance. It is here where surprises ring out, idiosyncracies are common, perversities permitted, new names discovered, old names in unexpected styles resurface, and paintings still breathe life. Ed Rubin is a writer on the arts and National Field Director of Audits & Surveys Worldwide in New York."}, {"response": 33, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:49)", "body": "Washington University Olin School of Business Distinguished Alumni Award: Barney A. Ebsworth BSBA'56 Chairman Windsor, Inc. St. Louis, Missouri"}, {"response": 34, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:51)", "body": "http://www.kcstar.com/projects/canyonsuite/content/file/whatswrong.html Barney Ebsworth, a prominent art collector and a friend of both O'Keeffe's and Kemper's, came over from St. Louis for the dinner. Ebsworth had expected to marvel at some of O'Keeffe's first mature masterpieces. What came over him instead was a rather creepy feeling -- that these weren't O'Keeffes at all. \"I was very afraid,\" Ebsworth said. \"But it was a little late for me to say anything. They were hanging on my friend's walls.\" (KC Star article about the selling of the Canyone Suite)"}, {"response": 35, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:52)", "body": "http://www.tfaoi.com/newsm1/n1m223.htm The Collectors Committee Since 1975 the Collectors Committee has made possible the acquisition of one hundred eighty-nine works of art. Approximately half of the committee's acquisitions have been works by living artists. The committee was formed in 1975 under the leadership of Ruth Carter Stevenson, chairman of the Gallery's Board of Trustees from 1993-1997. It is currently chaired by Barney A. Ebsworth and Doris Fisher, both major collectors of twentieth-century art. Ebsworth, from St. Louis, is the owner of INTRAV, a travel company, and Clipper Cruise Lines. Fisher, who lives in San Francisco, is co-founder with her husband, Donald, of The Gap."}, {"response": 36, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (11:54)", "body": "Yet there were lots that went so far above their estimates that even the experts seemed baffled. Robert Rauschenberg's \"Untitled\" (1954), one of the artist's earliest examples of his Combine series, was estimated at $180,000 to $250,000. It sold to Barney A. Ebsworth, a St. Louis collector for $1.3 million. As dealers were leaving the sale, many said they were confused about the evening's results. \"It was too bad the estimate on the Twombly was so greedy,\" said Charles Cowles, the SoHo dealer. \"But the market is sure strong for good pictures.\" http://www.tamu.edu/mocl/picasso/news/nytimes11109.html"}, {"response": 37, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (12:14)", "body": "j http://law.touro.edu/2ndCircuit/Pre95/91-9250.html TRAVELLERS INTERNATIONAL, A.G. and WINDSOR, INC., Plaintiffs-Appellees, - v.- TRANS WORLD AIRLINES, INC., Defendant-Appellant. Also in 1986, Travellers and TWA both experienced changes in management. Carl Icahn completed a takeover of TWA and became its chairman and chief executive officer. Later in the year, Gerald Herrod, the founder and chairman of Travellers, decided to sell his business. After Icahn turned down the opportunity to purchase Travellers, Herrod sold the company to Windsor, Inc., a Missouri-based company owned by Barney Ebsworth The business relations between TWA and Travellers soured early in 1987. Icahn implemented an aggressive policy to control costs and increase revenue margins in an attempt to reverse TWA's fortunes. TWA considered that the fees paid to Travellers for designing the Getaway brochures, and the costs of producing and distributing them, presented a cost-cutting opportunity, and that TWA would substantially increase its margin on pre-packaged tours if it brought the Getaway program \"in house.\" In a contentious meeting held on August 5, 1987, Icahn offered to buy Travellers for the same price Ebsworth had paid in 1986, and Ebsworth refused. According to Ebsworth's testimony, Icahn then turned the conversation to Travellers' precarious reliance upon TWA as its \"only customer\" and threatened to cancel the joint venture agreement unless Ebsworth sold his company to TWA."}, {"response": 38, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (12:15)", "body": "SigEp Citation The Fraternity's recognition of a brother who has excelled in his career field. The Citation, an embossed scroll, is awarded to a select few alumni at each Grand Chapter Conclave. Barney A. Ebsworth (1989), Missouri Beta, Washington University-St. Louis, '57; Founder, Chairman, Intrav, international travel company. (1989), Missouri Beta, Washington University-St. Louis, '57; Founder, Chairman, Intrav, international travel company."}, {"response": 39, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (12:15)", "body": "The New York Times reported that Barney A. Ebsworth, the St. Louis collector, was the buyer of an early, small and fine Robert Rauschenberg at the auction for $1.3 million, way over its estimate of $180,000 to $230,000. http://www.thecityreview.com/f99c20e.html"}, {"response": 40, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (12:16)", "body": "Dragon Tales - September 20 - October 3, 1998: The Church ... ... a year of rehabbing, the Alec W. Ebsworth Memorial House at 7062 Emma is ready for occupancy. The house was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Barney A. Ebsworth in 1997. ..."}, {"response": 41, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (12:18)", "body": "AUGUST 2000 August 10, 5:30pm - LECTURE - Conversation with Barney Ebsworth: Opening Night Lecture - In conjuction with the exhibition, \"Twentieth Century American Art: The Ebsworth Collection\", Mr. Ebsworth will discuss his collection with Trevor Fairbrother, Deputy Director of Art/Jon and Mary Shirley, Curator of Modern Art. Tickets: $7, students/seniors $2. Seattle Art Museum, Plestcheeff Auditorium, 100 University Ave, Seattle, WA, tel (206)654-3100. [May 00]"}, {"response": 42, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (12:19)", "body": "Kuoni/INTRAV Deal Finalized ST. LOUIS, September 16, 1999 \ufffd Swiss-based Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd. today finalized its $115-million acquisition of INTRAV, the U.S. luxury tour operator, and its subsidiary, Clipper Cruise Line, which are based in St. Louis. Effective immediately, Ian Coghlan will become CEO of both companies, replacing Paul H. Duynhouwer, who has acquired a majority stake in Clipper\ufffds two U.S.-flag ships, the Nantucket Clipper and the Yorktown Clipper. In addition, Duynhouwer will be the majority owner and CEO of New World Ship Management, LLC, formed to operate all four Clipper ships, including the U.S.-flag ships, as well as the Bahamian-registered Clipper Adventurer and Clipper Odyssey. Coghlan was educated in the U.K. and joined Kuoni in 1985 in the finance department. He soon moved to the tour-operations side of the business with responsibility for costings and yield control. Coghlan became deputy managing director of Kuoni U.K. in 1998, and took overall responsibility for finance, information technology, personnel and administration functions for the U.K. subsidiary, which is headed by Managing Director Peter Diethelm. The INTRAV acquisition marks Kuoni\ufffds first major entry in the U.S. market under the newly formed Strategic Business Unit (SBU) for the U.K. and North America. Peter Diethelm, member of Kuoni\ufffds group executive board and head of the SBU, remains executive chairman of Kuoni U.K., chairman of the two Kuoni Caribbean hotels, and president of INTRAV. INTRAV\ufffds founder and former chairman, Barney A. Ebsworth, 65, has retired to devote his time to his collection of art, which is considered to be among America\ufffds best. The Kuoni Travel Group, which also has holdings in nine European countries, Asia and India, is based in Zurich, where the company was established in 1906 by Alfred Kuoni, a Swiss citizen. In 1998 Kuoni won the \"World Travel Award\" as the world\ufffds leading tour operator, which is awarded based on votes cast by travel agents worldwide. More information on Kuoni can be found on their corporate Web site at http://www.kuoni.com , or on their U.K. Web site at http://www.kuoni.co.uk . INTRAV, founded in 1959, offers discerning travelers a wide array of deluxe, escorted tours, which include \"beyond-first-class\" private-jet adventures such as Around the World by Private Concorde, small-ship cruises, and African safaris. Clipper, formed in 1982, is known for it substantive worldwide itineraries aboard its comfortably appointed small ships, and has been named one of the top-ten cruise lines in the world for the past four years by the readers of Cond\ufffd Nast Traveler magazine. Both companies have a slate of innovative adventures planned for 2000 and beyond. Brochures and more information on INTRAV and Clipper\ufffds programs are available by contacting either company at 7711 Bonhomme Ave., St. Louis, Missouri 63105, INTRAV telephone: (800) 456-8100, Clipper telephone: (800) 325-0010, or on the companies\ufffd Web sites at http://www.intrav.com and http://www.clippercruise.com . # # #"}, {"response": 43, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (12:21)", "body": "TWENTIETH-CENTURY AMERICAN ART: The Ebsworth Collection: Mr and Mrs Barney A. Ebsworth of St. Louis, Missouri, have bought paintings and sculptures to please themselves. More than 70 works from their collection, described as \"one of the premier private holdings of American modernist art\" tell the story of the development of such art from the 1913 Armory show in New York to the 1960s. From William Glackens to Andy Warhol, via Georgia O'Keeffe, Suzy Frelinghuysen, David Hockney and Jackson Pollock. National Gallery of Art, Fourth Street at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington D.C. 20565 USA. Tel. +1 202 737 4215. Until 11 June. k"}, {"response": 44, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (15:58)", "body": "7/26/99 St Louis Business Journal Ebsworth gets $81 million from Intrav sale to Swiss Cynthia Vespereny Barney Ebsworth will get $81.55 million in the sale of Intrav to a Swiss firm. Intrav, the deluxe travel company Ebsworth founded in 1959, is being purchased by Kuoni Reisen Holding of Zurich, which will pay $21.32 per share for Intrav, or $115 million. Ebsworth controls 3.825 million shares, or 74.8 percent of the company. The deal means an instant bounty of $4 million for Paul Duynhouwer, Intrav's president and chief executive officer, although most of his stake in the company is in stock options that normally vest over a period of years. Duynhouwer owns 46,000 shares valued at $981,000 under the deal and holds options on 260,000 shares. They would be valued at more than $3 million after paying $2.5 million to exercise the options. An incentive stock plan provides for accelerated vesting in the event of a change in control of the company. All options will be vested by the end of September, when the deal is completed, said Intrav spokeswoman Vanessa Tegethoff. The sale means a paycheck of $1 million for Chief Financial Officer Wayne Smith II, who owns just 400 shares but has options for 100,000, valued at $982,000 after paying $1.15 million to exercise them. Richard Hefler, senior vice president of sales and marketing, holds options on 28,000 shares. He can make $60,000 by exercising options granted since 1997 on 8,000 shares. The exercise price on the remaining 20,000, issued in 1995, could not be determined. Officers of Intrav could not be reached for comment. Intrav closed at $20 July 20, far from its 52-week low of $13.50. Among company directors, William H.T. Bush will get $405,000 for his 19,000 shares. Bush, the brother of former President George Bush, is chairman of Bush, O'Donnell & Co., an investment adviser in Clayton. John Biggs Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Union Bank, will receive $42,600 for 2,000 shares, and Robert Chapman, chairman and chief executive officer of Barry-Wehmiller Cos., will get $12,800 for 600 shares. Ebsworth, who serves as chairman, will leave the company after the sale. Intrav's management will stay, and no layoffs are expected, said Tegethoff. Intrav will remain in St. Louis, she added. Intrav, which owns the Clipper Cruise Line, caters to affluent, sophisticated travelers looking for unusual trips. Among its offerings are around-the-world trips aboard the Concorde and African safaris. The Clipper Cruise Line features small vessels, which are attractive to travelers who already have done big-ship cruises. Kuoni Reisen said it hopes to strengthen its position in the United States through the acquisition. It currently has a sales office in Atlanta. Intrav went public in 1995. It reported earnings of $666,000, or 13 cents per share, on revenue of $25.9 million for the quarter ended March 31, compared to $985,000, or 19 cents per share, on sales of $26.7 million in the year-ago period."}, {"response": 45, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (16:00)", "body": "Ebsworth exhibition an American beauty Collection surveys nation's outstanding modernists Thursday, August 10, 2000 By REGINA HACKETT SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER ART CRITIC A cool, silver-gray can opener lined with black shadows rises diagonally across canvas space, its blunt edge buried in the cool, silver-gray lid of a Campbell's soup can. In 1962, when Andy Warhol painted it, its impersonal banality was remarkable. Today, the opposite is true. Far from being banal, Warhol's soup cans have acquired a high art luster, and this example, in casein and pencil on linen, has a vulnerable, homemade quality. Instead of being oddities, Warhol's cans are cornerstones of the contemporary era. \"Campbell's Soup With Can Opener\" is the first thing visitors see upon entering \"Twentieth-Century American Art: The Ebsworth Collection\" at the Seattle Art Museum. The exhibit comes to Seattle from Washington D.C.'s National Gallery of Art, where it opened earlier this year. Pam and Barney Ebsworth are St. Louis collectors who spend summers in Seattle and specialize in American modernism. That's a phrase that irritated Jackson Pollock, to whom it certainly applied."}, {"response": 46, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (16:01)", "body": "National Gallery gets 2 major works Wednesday, March 1, 2000 The Associated Press WASHINGTON -- The National Gallery of Art said Tuesday that it has received two major 20th century American paintings as gifts. One, Charles Sheeler's \"Classic Landscape,\" is a famous image of the Ford River Rouge plant near Detroit. The other, Arthur Dove's \"Moon,\" illustrates the painter's role as a pioneer of abstract art drawn from nature. They are part of the collection of Mrs. and Mrs. Barney Ebsworth of St. Louis that goes on show at the gallery Sunday. The collection will be on view through June 11 at the gallery and Aug. 10 through Nov. 12 at the Seattle Art Museum. The Ebsworth collection covers American art since 1913 -- paintings, sculpture, and drawings. It includes works from such leading figures as Georgia O'Keeffe, Alexander Calder, Andy Warhol, and Edward Hopper. Ebsworth, a wealthy businessman who has retired from the travel industry, has been collecting art for 30 years. He is a member of the gallery's Trustees' Council. The Ebsworths have given the gallery two other works in the past, and have made a partial and promised gift of another, by O'Keeffe. http://www.bergenrecord.com/morenews/art01200003018.htm"}, {"response": 47, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (16:06)", "body": "Warhol's soup can among American work on show at National Gallery By Carl Hartman Associated Press WASHINGTON -- Andy Warhol painted dozens of Campbell's soup cans, but the one included in a National Gallery of Art show that opens Sunday may be unique: A can opener sticks boldly out the top. It belongs to the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Barney Ebsworth. He is a retired St. Louis businessman, who for the past 30 years has collected American art from the early 20th century to 1969. Jeffrey Weiss, the gallery's curator of modern and contemporary art, sees the can opener as important. \"Part of the point of that is that Warhol sometimes was able to bring a certain kind of emotional impact to these images that seem otherwise completely neutral and deadpan and blank,\" Weiss said in an interview. \"He's got this kind of happy consumer image, but the can opener opening it makes it feel like it's being invaded or violated in a way.\" Some of Warhol's soup cans are actual size: one series of 32, Weiss said, illustrates each of the Campbell varieties -- but Warhol had no commercial connection with Campbell's. The 32 paintings are designed to be mounted one after another on one wall. Big ones like the six-foot tall painting in the Ebsworth collection are rare. Weiss said he knows of just four or five of them. Ebsworth is giving the gallery two of the more than 70 works being shown. He's keeping the Warhol, which has been exhibited in Britain, France, Italy, Germany and the United States. The gifts are Charles Scheeler's \"Classic Landscape,\" a view of the Ford Motor Co.'s River Rouge plant near Detroit, an up-to-the-minute industrial site when it was painted in 1927. The other is \"Moon\" by Arthur Dove, typical of his work derived from nature. Dove was a pioneer of abstract paintings, producing them before many European artists. Ebsworth's collection harks back to 1913, the landmark year when a show at New York's Lexington Avenue Armory gave the American art world its first big taste of work by Pablo Picasso and other artists working in France. Except for Briton David Hockney, the current show is devoted entirely to Americans, some heavily influenced by Paris, others determinedly independent. There's Edward Hopper's \"Chop Suey,\" two flappers from the 1920s at a table in a Chinese restaurant; major work by Georgia O'Keeffe, marking her shift from the Atlantic Coast to the colors and forms of New Mexico; and one by Jackson Pollock, the man some called \"Jack the Dripper\" because of his special technique. Pollack has said the most important paintings of the last 100 years had been done in France, and there couldn't be such a thing as isolated American painting. One of the earliest paintings in the show is William Glackens' \"Cafe Lafayette,\" which looks much like the work of Pierre Renoir. One of the most recent is by Hockney, who has lived in the United States for decades and is closely identified with southern California. ------ \"Twentieth Century American Art - The Ebsworth Collection\" will be at the National Gallery through June 11. Admission is free. It will be on view at the Seattle Art Museum, Aug. 10 through Nov. 12. from http://www.virtualtexan.com/news/doc/1047/1:ENTNEWS64/1:ENTNEWS640310100.html"}, {"response": 48, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (16:07)", "body": "Little-known delight A trip to the capital's prestigious National Gallery of Art is very much in order for a quite wonderful exhibition: The little known but delightful collection of 20th Century American art belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Barney Ebsworth of St. Louis. Up through June 11, it includes such cherished pieces as Edward Hopper's \"Chop Suey\" and Georgia O'Keeffe's \"Sunrise,\" as well as Charles Sheeler's marvelous \"Landscape\" painting of Ford's River Rouge plant in Michigan, Wayne Thiebaud's tasty pastry painting \"Bakery Counter\" and O. Lous Guglielmi's surrealist deconstruction of the Brooklyn Bridge, \"Mental Geography.\" The Gallery is at 4th St. and Constitution Ave., N.W.; phone is 202-737-4215. http://cgi.chicago.tribune.com/travel/bits-bytes/story/0%2C1720%2C0003260099%2C00.html"}, {"response": 49, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (16:07)", "body": "http://ipomaven.123jump.com/rep/t/trav.php3"}, {"response": 50, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (16:11)", "body": "Outstanding among the many gifts to the collections were . . .a partial gift of a Georgia O\ufffdKeeffe painting, Black, White, and Blue from Barney Ebsworth. http://newsdesk.si.edu/annual-reports/smithsonian-year-1999-in-html/08aor.doc/odyframe.htm Smithsonian"}, {"response": 51, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (16:28)", "body": "They simply must have a Thomas Paquette, and one day they all shall. Of that I have little doubt. It is irrevelant that I know him through cyber-mail and his website - he is worthy on many levels and is well represented in collections thoughout the world. Barney is no collector if he has't at least one. I'd select several of his many styles of painting as it has evolved. *Sigh* If only I didn't have to eat..."}, {"response": 52, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (19:41)", "body": "What is the Thomas Paquette website, do you have a url, Marica?"}, {"response": 53, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (19:45)", "body": "I'm not sure how old Barney was when this picture was taken, it looks like around when he was twenty. He graduated from Mizzou, I think, in '59 and I graduated from U of I in '69. I have a few family pictures that I got from my sister when mom passed away last year. This is one of them."}, {"response": 54, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (21:12)", "body": "thanks for linking this up with collecting, terry!"}, {"response": 55, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (21:14)", "body": "Sure, it qualifies!"}, {"response": 56, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (23:01)", "body": "Sheesh, I thought this was in Art Conference. Sorry for my out-of-place post"}, {"response": 57, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (23:10)", "body": "It is the art conference, it's linked to collecting."}, {"response": 58, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Aug 18, 2001 (13:54)", "body": "This topic is linked to art, travel, business and collecting which are all relevant to the topic. Some pictures of Barney's (and my) family from the early days in St. Louis. Here's our whole family (well mostly). Top row. Left to Right. Grandpa Ed Frauenthal. Uncle Alec Ebsworth (Barney's Dad) Middle row: Uncle Harold King and wife Ann (my mom's sister), Aunt Lou, Grandma Frauenthal, Aunt Bern, Aunt Bernice (Barney's mom). Front Row: Alice Ann (my sister), me?, Cousin Carol King, my mom Virginia Walhus holding Corky King, and Barney's twin sister Muriel. Maybe Barney took this picture? I'm thinking that this may have been at the granparents house on Wydown or over at Uncle Alec and Aunt Bern's. I'm not sure."}, {"response": 59, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Aug 18, 2001 (14:02)", "body": "The above picture shows the Ebsworths, Barney in the front and Muriel in back in white with the reddish shirt (just behind Barney). The white haired gentleman in the back with glasses holding a glass is Uncle Alec, Barney's dad and that's Aunt Bern, Barney's mom on the right. Looks like Aunt Lou peeking out. I'm not sure who the two little girls are in the picture, maybe Muriel's children."}, {"response": 60, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Aug 18, 2001 (14:08)", "body": "Our family loved to play scrabble. In the back, that's grandma Frauenthal, Gonnie, me and my Grandpa (Barney's Uncle Ed), you can barely make them out but that's my sister Alice and my mom (Barney's Aunt Ginny) in the front. I wonder who's birthday it was? I see Happy Birthday letters laid out on the table. We had great times at these scrabble games, it was moms, grandma and grandpa's favorite game."}, {"response": 61, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Aug 18, 2001 (14:11)", "body": "Here's one more for now, I've got more! This is Alice Ann (my sister), Gonnie, and Cousin Carol King. Nice shot of them."}, {"response": 62, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Aug 18, 2001 (17:22)", "body": "Now that I take a second look, it looks more like we might be playing bingo or monopoly."}, {"response": 63, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug 18, 2001 (22:57)", "body": "It is really neat to see your pictures. I remember you and your wagon. Now we get to see Terry as a growing intellectual. I think I would have gotten on with you very well. No one will play Scrabble nor Trivial Pursuit with me!!! *Sigh* Thanks for sharing your illustrious family!"}, {"response": 64, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Aug 19, 2001 (18:32)", "body": "Charles Demuth (1883-1935) Apples c. 1925, watercolor on paper 11 3/4 by 18 in. Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, F. M. Hall Collection 1944.H-244 \"Demuth above all was a master watercolorist for whom line, edge, and the nuance of tone meant most. The influence of Rodin is clear in the scribbled line and loose washes of this early work. Like his close friend [John] Marin, Demuth instinctively felt at home with watercolor and could absorb a wide variety of influences (including Marin's) while finding his own way.\"2 Demuth's oeuvre has been separated into three categories: one branch involving the human figure in the cabaret and vaudeville theater, and because the artist was an intellectual and an avid reader, \"intensely real\" illustrations of the characters of novels and stories. A second branch of his art emerged in Bermuda (1916-17) where he made a series of landscapes, representing a purely intellectual approach to the subject using the Cubist device of lines and planes. This method of painting was continued later in his career in architectural subjects. A third major category of the artist's work, the flower and still-life paintings (such as Apples, in this exhibition), seems to combine the two phases. Cubist techniques were utilized in the still-lifes in which \"the progression of color intervals follow the firmly penciled linear contour of form.\"3 http://sheldon.unl.edu/HTML/ARTIST/Demuth_C/TO.html"}, {"response": 65, "author": "autumn", "date": "Wed, Aug 22, 2001 (21:59)", "body": "Very interesting, Terry! You indeed have an illustrious family, and I love seeing those old-time photos of a bygone time."}, {"response": 66, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug 22, 2001 (22:59)", "body": "Terry, did you notice how Autumn called them Old Time Photographs? *sigh* so much for respect for elders from the kids of Spring! *;)"}, {"response": 67, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Aug 22, 2001 (23:35)", "body": "Whoa, whoa. Elders? I'm still just a kid."}, {"response": 68, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 23, 2001 (00:52)", "body": "Me too!!!"}, {"response": 69, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Aug 26, 2001 (20:53)", "body": "Aw, they just remind me of the photos we have in our photo albums from when we were kids! Dorky clothes and glasses are what always stand out."}, {"response": 70, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov  8, 2001 (00:24)", "body": "Had a brief talk with Barney on the phone, he had open heart surgery about two weeks ago but he's doing well. He's been exercising. He has a new home under construction in Washington. I invited him down for a visit to our place next week and he was going to check with Pam about coming down. I'm hoping he can make it before he heads off to Hawaii for the Winter."}, {"response": 71, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov  8, 2001 (00:30)", "body": "WWF Board to Congress: Keep Defense Bill Focused on Defense U.S. Newswire 25 Sep 15:45 WWF Board to Congress: No Time for Partisanship; Keep the Defense Bill Focused on Defense To: National Desk Contact: Michael Ross of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), 202-778-9565 Email: michael.ross@wwfus.org Web site: www.worldwildlife.org WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Board of Directors of the World Wildlife Fund, at its annual meeting in Washington D.C., today, unanimously approved the following statement: \"Recognizing the gravity of the national security situation affecting the United States and all Americans, we applaud the effort of President Bush and the Congress to mobilize our national response to the terrible events of September 11. \"In this time of national need, we should put aside unrelated and divisive issues and focus on strengthening our national security and protecting the safety of all Americans. Now is the time for unity, not the pursuit of narrow ends. \"We therefore express dismay at the efforts of some to rush to Senate approval a complex package of energy legislation that has not yet been considered by the appropriate committees of the Senate. This legislation (H.R. 4), approved in the House earlier in the summer, has been proposed as an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill currently under discussion in the Senate. \"The terrorist attacks our nation has suffered should not be used to prematurely cut off debate on the many difficult energy policy issues raised by H.R. 4. Increasing subsidies to U.S. energy companies will not increase our safety nor will relaxing environmental rules or drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. However, these and other provisions of H.R. 4, would, if enacted, result in unnecessary environmental damage to our nation. \"As a nation, we hold only 3 percent of the world's reserves of oil, yet we consume almost 25 percent of the world's daily production. As long as this is the case, we will remain dependent on world oil markets, and we will pay the world price for oil, whether it is produced domestically or abroad. The safest and fastest way to increase our energy security is to improve the energy efficiency of our cars, trucks, homes, factories, and offices, and to increase the role of renewable non-petroleum sources of energy in our economy. \"We urge the Senate to consider carefully the long-term implications of these energy policy issues as part of an orderly process of the consideration of energy matters, rather than in midst of the present crisis.\" --- The following is a list of the World Wildlife Fund Board of Directors: The Honorable Bruce E. Babbitt, Mr. Edward P. Bass, Mr. Richard C. Blum, Ms. Julia Carabias, Mr. David Cole, Dr. Jared M. Diamond, Mrs. Barney A. Ebsworth (Pamela) , Mr. Marshall Field, Ing. Jose Maria Figueres, Mrs. John H. Foster (Lynn), Ms. Kathryn Fuller (President), Mr. William T. Lake, Mr. Melvin B. Lane, Mr. Gary Larson, Ms. Shelly Lazarus, Mr. Hunter Lewis, Mrs. John F. Mars (Adrienne) (Secretary), Ms. Mora McLean, Ms. Leslie A. Miller, Mr. Paul F. Miller, Jr. (Treasurer), The Honorable Wendell Mottley, Dr. John C. Ogden, The Honorable Hazel O'Leary, Dr. Gordon Orians, Ms. Anne Pattee, The Honorable William K. Reilly (Chairman), Dr. Alison F. Richard, Mr. Gerald E. Rupp, Mr. Alan Seelenfreund, Mr. Roque Sevilla, Mrs. Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff (Anne), Ms. Linda Stone, Mr. George H. Taber, Dr. John Terborgh, Mr. Thomas Tusher, Mr. Rodney B. Wagner, Mr. Robert H. Waterman, Jr., Mr. Stephen Wolf, Mr. Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala II, The Honorable Russell E. Train (Chairman Emeritus), Mr. Joseph Cullman 3rd, (Honorary Director) KEYWORDS: ENERGY POLICY, DEFENSE POLICY, POLICY, POLITICAL -0- /U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/ 09/25 15:45 Copyright 2001, U.S. Newswire"}, {"response": 72, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  8, 2001 (00:48)", "body": "***Hawaii for the winter*** Do tell?! Maui, I'll bet. Too bad he does not like active volcanoes and cool climates. I wish him a speedy recovery and a long and healthy life!"}, {"response": 73, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov  8, 2001 (06:40)", "body": "Honolulu, actually. at the very Southernmost tip. about 225 miles from Hilo. Kaalawai Beach is nearby. Waikiki just to the North and a bit West. I believe this may be the Diamond Head area, but I've never been to Hawaii. There's a Diamond Head road that runs along the coast nearby."}, {"response": 74, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Nov  8, 2001 (21:10)", "body": "check out those pics!!!"}, {"response": 75, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 13, 2001 (17:06)", "body": "the top aerial photo is Diamondhead on Oahu at the east end of Honolulu and Waikiki Beach. Inside those little building is Berkheimer Tunnel from whence issues all of our state-wide civil defense messages. Driving though the crater is not very exciting becuase it is so shallow and you cannot see outside for some sense of where you are. In the photo, to the left of Diamondhead is a grassy park with a bandshell in it. That's where the great rock concerts are held. The little buildings near it are Kapiolani Park Zoo. collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 69, "subject": "In Search Of...", "response_count": 3, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (20:09)", "body": "let us know about that thingamajig you want to add to your collection or to finish a set or whatever! ok, i'll start....can anyone tell me the name of those british head deals? they're almost like caricatures of different people (fictional) and are small enough to hang on the wall. i recall a friend who had several of these things and i never did learn what they were called. (nooo, not shrunken heads or voodoo masks or anything). i don't even know what they were made of. most were the faces of old men with pipes and beards and stuff."}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (21:02)", "body": "Ooooh Wolfie, I want a Moon rock and a Mars rock and a nickel-iron meteorite"}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (21:04)", "body": "I 'll also entertain a raw ruby, sapphire, diamond and emerald..... collecting conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 7, "subject": "Comics", "response_count": 0, "posts": []}, {"num": 8, "subject": "Cookbooks", "response_count": 57, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jan  7, 1999 (13:40)", "body": "i love cookbooks. have too many of them and only use one or two."}, {"response": 2, "author": "wer", "date": "Thu, Jan  7, 1999 (13:42)", "body": "how many do you have, Wolf?"}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jan  7, 1999 (13:45)", "body": "i lost count. and then there's the recipes i clip out of mags, so i have no clue!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "wer", "date": "Thu, Jan  7, 1999 (13:48)", "body": "how about linear feet of shelf space to hold them all?"}, {"response": 5, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jan  7, 1999 (15:33)", "body": "I think this is leading to the fact WERs collection dwarfs yours..."}, {"response": 6, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jan  7, 1999 (15:58)", "body": "i think so too! but you're a chef, wer!! that's not fair *grin*"}, {"response": 7, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jan  7, 1999 (23:52)", "body": "(that is not where I was going... I was actually trying to hold a conversation and keep it on topic but am once again shown how inadequate I am in that arena...) What are the titles of the ones you use the most, Wolf?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (08:33)", "body": "ready for this? Betty Crocker. my husband has several cajun cookbooks and i have a bunch of better homes and gardens cookbooks. oh, then there's the cake bible, my german cookbook, holiday cookies cookbook (which is the one i use making gingerbread). The Cake Bible Rose's Christmas Cookies Pirate's Pantry Cajun Revelation The Chesapeake Cookbook Crockery Cookbook Eating Healthy 1990 Best Recipes (BH&G) 1989 Best Recipes (BH&G) Best Holiday Foods & Crafts (McCalls) Homemade Cookies America The Majestic, Pictorial Cookbook Fast Fixin' Kids Recipes Hors d'Oeuvres The Cuisines of Germany What to Cook"}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (08:34)", "body": "wait, you asked me which ones i use most. none of them. my husband cooks for us (and isn't that just the greatest)!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (11:10)", "body": "I asked that cause you said you use only one or two earlier... I wonder if Ree would will me here Boer cookbook... or maybe we should do a Spring cookbook..."}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (12:57)", "body": "i like the idea of the spring cookbook! you could add that to food and we could all share our favorite recipes! wer, you're a genius!!!!!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "wer", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:07)", "body": "*blush*"}, {"response": 13, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:22)", "body": "you're so vulnerable when you blush *grin*"}, {"response": 14, "author": "wer", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:27)", "body": "yeah, yeah, yeah... it's done, the topic's up..."}, {"response": 15, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:28)", "body": "does that mean you're not vunerable anymore?"}, {"response": 16, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:29)", "body": "good deal!"}, {"response": 17, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:29)", "body": "(stacey, you slipped me, now that sounds so funny!)"}, {"response": 18, "author": "wer", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:31)", "body": "with the right weapons, all of us are vulnerable..."}, {"response": 19, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:36)", "body": "weapons??? *sigh* that's NOT how you're supposed to use it WER!"}, {"response": 20, "author": "wer", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:37)", "body": "use what? praise or blushing?"}, {"response": 21, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:38)", "body": "that's so violent, i thought getting someone vulnerable was a little more subtle!"}, {"response": 22, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:38)", "body": "Wolfie got slipped again, methinks!"}, {"response": 23, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:39)", "body": "now this conversation really makes sense *lol*"}, {"response": 24, "author": "wer", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:41)", "body": "doesn't it just!"}, {"response": 25, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:48)", "body": "shoulda put in 'screwed'..."}, {"response": 26, "author": "wer", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (13:53)", "body": "hmmm..."}, {"response": 27, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (15:09)", "body": "and/or philosophy..."}, {"response": 28, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (07:50)", "body": "Nobody's been here for a while I see. Well, I'm doing penance right now for all my cookbooks. We're doing the sort out and I don't want to let any go. But - i hate cooking, well, ordinary things anyway. I particularly love chinese cookbooks, and my favourite and most used is my jungle camp cookbook."}, {"response": 29, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (14:05)", "body": "Do all of the recipies in your jungle camp cookbook begin \"take a large pot big enough to fit two missionaries\"...?! I seem to see a huge kettle in my mind with the handle entwined in sticks and suspended over an open fire. I have a real Chinese cookbook which is only slightly translated. It is funny to read but just about impossible to use for cooking. Even with our large Chinese population and produce in the stores readily available, none of the things they use are in the places I have been. *sigh*"}, {"response": 30, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (14:22)", "body": "Maggie - thanks for bringing this place back on topic. The children were teasing each other, it appears. I wonder if I will ever find one in which this poor man was left alone to let his intelligence show rather than....oh, never mind! Sometimes it gets very frustrating...*growling menacingly*"}, {"response": 31, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:14)", "body": "hey! i thought only i growled!! i've got a complete german cookbook, which i love, but it doesn't come near to duplicating my oma's recipes. the german potato salad that i'm used to doesn't contain bacon."}, {"response": 32, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:14)", "body": "and german chocolate cake doesn't contain coconut either (the kind i'm used to)...."}, {"response": 33, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:23)", "body": "Only in modern times did coconut come into cooking in the western world. It was too hard to obtain...but, then...so was chocolate. Over here we use Macadamia nuts *grin* Nuthin compares with home cooking of someone who has done it for ages and modified it each time she made it. I know...My mother's recipes I am still trying to modify to figure out how she got the particular flavor she did. Nope...I growl when I feel the need, too"}, {"response": 34, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:28)", "body": "luckily, mom gave me the german potato salad recipe and the german black forest cake (my fave). but the bread dumplings in the book is the same, thank goodness and so are the birds (thin breakfast steak rolled with mustard and pickle, simmered in a pot for several hours, delicious and melts apart)....oh, and spaeztle, which i have my very own press....i use a low fat/cholesterol recipe, but the real one is very thick, rich, and hard to press through that contraption. (spaeztle are flour and egg noodles) oma still uses a knife and board to make the noodles."}, {"response": 35, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:29)", "body": "oh, plus we're from swabia which probably alters some of the recipes."}, {"response": 36, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:29)", "body": "Only wilted greens with hot dressing has bacon in it. The German potato salad shouldn't have it...I'll see what I can find here."}, {"response": 37, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:32)", "body": "right! the swabian recipe is made with potatoes (duh!), oil, herb vinegar, and vegetable broth (dry) and served hot. it can be eaten cold but hot is better! but the dry vegee broth sold here isn't the same. oma has sent me packages with the stuff in it but am trying to find a site that sells it in dollars and not marks (maggi-nestle has the stuff on their website but it's german and they don't plan to offer a translation-i emailed and asked) and then the fondor sauce, which you can use to season everything."}, {"response": 38, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:36)", "body": "Ooo...I'm getting really hungry! We had veal birds, but veal tends to be tough for me."}, {"response": 39, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:39)", "body": "we didn't have birds very often (and for those who don't know why they're called birds, they look like bird bodies when you cook them up, round and plump, not made out of birds, no way)"}, {"response": 40, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (16:54)", "body": "Yup! decapitated birds...rather an odd name, actually...! We had them for dinner and they had bread stuffing in them at Penn State (whose dorm cooking was excellent and the food fresh off the pastures outside the buildings.)"}, {"response": 41, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (18:55)", "body": "you didn't have to worry about preservatives, huh? bet you knew why it was taking so long to get the dinner to you! *laugh* we often joke that when we eat out, the meal is taking so long cuz they had to catch the fish, pluck the chicken, or get the cow!!"}, {"response": 42, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (00:59)", "body": "*lol* We think they have to catch the chicken, make it lay the egg, hatch that sucker and feed it till grown before we get it at some places we eat. Not at Penn State. Green milk in the spring, onion milk a little later on...ah yes!"}, {"response": 43, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (04:06)", "body": "Hey Wolfie, my colleague who lived in the gambian village (she was a nurse) was Schwabisch. her parents came to stay once and although i can understand some German I couldn't understand a word they said!! the other nurse was swiss german, but they spoke Engish together because E. refused to speak high german! I did a whole round of the village once with another swiss german friend before she realised shed'd been speaking in german to me all the time. I guess I answered in the right places!!! Talking of chickens - we had a load we got as free gifts from the supermarket (rmember that story?) well H who was about 9 at the time made her dad a little hood to put over the chickens head when he was executioner, we couldn't stand to see the imploring eyes! Too soft i guess."}, {"response": 44, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (18:16)", "body": "And all this while I though you grabbed the chicken by the head and spun it around your head till its neck was wrung. Was someone telling me tall tales?"}, {"response": 45, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (18:09)", "body": "don't think so, they still do it that way....."}, {"response": 46, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (21:50)", "body": "Good...I like to know that what I think is so really is so! I have never done it and think I'd have to have starving children to do it, but I'm sure we know those who have. My grandmother, for one (but I did not know her)..."}, {"response": 47, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Apr  8, 2000 (11:29)", "body": "Can you really imagine my very english husband swinging a chicken around his head?? Sorry, it was the machete every time!"}, {"response": 48, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr  8, 2000 (15:57)", "body": "Now that I know Tony a little better and have conversed with him, I imagine he would think the entire process a bother and rather brutish for his tastes. Poor Dear that he is...it is their time-honored chore. I think plucking and singeing off the feathers is not much better!"}, {"response": 49, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Apr  8, 2000 (16:23)", "body": "Boy did he struggle with that one! (It sort of ranked with (culturally appropriate) holding hands with his men friends as he walked them out of our compound and along the street - quick look over my shoulder to make sure he's not looking!)"}, {"response": 50, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr  8, 2000 (22:11)", "body": "Oh My!!! That would hit up against the male-appropriate and inappropriate behavior. I am sure he was most uncomfortable. Old time Japanese think kissing is disgusting. They just have not kissed the right guys, apparently *lol*"}, {"response": 51, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sun, Apr  9, 2000 (02:36)", "body": "I guess it's a different perspective if you're a guy!!! *grin* It was culturally appropriate for me to hold hands with my friends too, but that didn't cause me any problems. I'll tell you more elsewhere! My jungle camp cook book was my first US cookbook. I'd never used cups for measuring before, only scales. I got converted. for African village living it was ideal. My favourite recipe I used while living in a village in Cameroon was Navaho fried bread. I also baked real bread using a milk can laid on my paraffin stove with a piece of metal inside to lay the bread dough on. Somewhere I've still got the 'cook book' I wrote out from someone's copy I borrowed. There's an updated one now, but it's not called the same. I use it the most, even here. Sorry no iron pots, I won't say about the missionaries!"}, {"response": 52, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr  9, 2000 (13:50)", "body": "LOL....I won't be seeing you in a huge pot, then? Good! The cookbook sounds interesting!"}, {"response": 53, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sun, Apr  9, 2000 (14:17)", "body": "I got both my girls a copy. Is there somewhere to post recipes I have a few that I could write up. (now is this thesis avoidence technique? - I'm good at that!)"}, {"response": 54, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Apr  9, 2000 (18:20)", "body": "you could visit the food topic...."}, {"response": 55, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr  9, 2000 (18:44)", "body": "Yes...In The Spring Cookbook http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/food/42"}, {"response": 56, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Apr  9, 2000 (19:01)", "body": "we're gonna have to publish that thing. i'd buy a copy...."}, {"response": 57, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 10, 2000 (00:12)", "body": "So would I. The closest thing I have is Cooking Under Way which is cooking on a stove on a sailboat for long distance sailing. That's where I got the recipe for the homemade yogurt and that reminds me I promised the recipe to Stace some time ago. Gotta get on that. collecting conference Main Menu"}]}]}