kbobam

You're in the right place! ( :

Whatever it is I'm watching had this right in front of it. ( : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeqIJzhA_T4

This really is a fun subject! They're all great to see, and I thought the idea of sulphides (and presumably other similar marbles) having optical properties where 'what you see isn't what you get' was very interesting. I probably should have considered the possibility of this phenomenon, since I so frequently get the 'reverse effect' when I take photos where there's reflected 'stuff' on the surface of the marble which was so far out of the picture that it couldn't possibly be there! And it's kind of ironic that most people would consider cut or otherwise broken mibs to be 'worthless', when they're not only interesting and informative, but for several reasons they're pretty rare by definition. How many mint Golden Rebels are out there? And how many of them have been perfectly 'sliced in two'? It wouldn't be entirely unreasonable to say that the '1' marble is kind of 'common' next to the '2/2' one! ( :

Paul, in an indirect way these photos reminded me of a shot I posted here years ago that involved some Pelts, an anvil, and a hammer. It was met with a combination of fascination and downright horror. I think you may get a similar response from these! The third shot, in particular, is beautiful. Humble opinion. I'd put a poster of that on my wall anytime! ( :

The modern ones mess with everything! Personally, I think it's a commie plot! Forgive me. Old habit from an old guy. And honestly, even when I was younger I never met a so-called Communist I didn't like. Please replace that term with whomever we're supposed to be hating now!

I forgot to ask. Are other people getting spell-check warnings about "lightbulb"? I'm going to assume that we're being requested to write "light bulb" instead. 99% of the time I don't like the spelling and grammar changes I've seen in modern times, because they're almost always completely stupid. But I'm going to make an exception here, because in this case it's the traditional way that's less logical. A 'light bulb' is any sort of 'bulb' that's not as 'heavy' as average. A lightbulb is a specific object. To hell with it. From now on I refer to them with the even older term "incandescent lamps". And the modern energy-saving squiggly units, which clearly aren't bulbs at all, will be called "fluorescent fudge-ups"

My solution to the lightbulb situation was to turn on switch 1 and then go get coffee or whatever. When you get back you turn switch 1 back off, turn on switch 2 and immediately open the door. Although I've been straining my brain trying to come up with an amusing reason why my approach is somehow better, it looks like it's basically the same thing.

I was just thinking about something that isn't quite a 'riddle', since there's no clear-cut answer. Although sometimes, at least in English, we use that word for this sort of situation. If you take the traditional situation of wondering whether a tree that falls down in an unpopulated forest makes a 'sound', no one is going to say "That's a fascinating philosophical inquiry!" They're going to say "Gee! That's one heck of a riddle!" Now that I've bored you to death with that introduction, I'll tell you what I'm thinking about. What happens in situations where you're wondering whether you should say something? Or maybe not. At some point, I came to the conclusion that the fact that you're thinking about it in the first place is a very good reason to say nothing. I still believe this makes a lot of sense, although obviously I don't always do it here! Why embarrass yourself? Or possibly do worse harm! I guess because saying things can sometimes do a lot of good. It's a real conundrum. Or riddle, maybe. ( :

I'm not a big purple/pink fan, but that marble is really beautiful! (The background's starting to get a little too much in focus, though!)

Haven't checked out cigar boxes yet, but I can somehow feel how what you said makes perfect sense. ( :

I forgot to say the other evening that I thought the original "What're y'all in for?" post was not only really fun it itself, but the different responses were incredibly interesting for various reasons. My gut is telling me that most of us felt like the humor had a 'first part' and 'second part'. But for half of us (maybe?) the parts are reversed! It all depends on which part you 'got' first, or if you're most comfortable thinking in a 'linear' left to right way. Personally, I laughed at the "A Salt!" and "Battery!" idea almost immediately. So that was the 'first part' for me. But understanding the washing machine joke came much later, at which point I laughed so loudly I almost made a mess in my pants. P.S. My approach to the lightbulb riddle doesn't need a ceiling or lack thereof.

They're also 'at hand' for photos. Where you've clearly shown that the colors look really good against the black! ( : And the cigar tray foam looks promising! It looks like it would be very efficient for getting a larger number of marbles in a given-size container than the 'bumpy foam'. Although, as you pointed out, some people might prefer to keep their marbles more separated. Seems to me that both the foams could be very useful for different situations. Another thing about the cigar foam is something you reminded me about that I'd forgotten. A buddy of mine who has no other interest in cigars once told me that he thought certain cigar boxes were pretty cool artistically, and that he'd 'collected' a few of them. So if you're willing to accept that some people who like marbles might also have some degree of a more 'general' overall 'collecting nature', then nice marbles in nice cigar boxes might have a particularly enjoyable 'double whammy' effect for them.

I think I have it. Since I don't know how to do Steph's 'invisible ink' trick, I'll wait before saying anything. Edit: I guess there's no reason not to go so far as to say my answer is "Yes. There is a way."

Sounded like a good explanation to me, Winnie! Although I'm not so sure about 'wit' now. I was guessing that maybe the words were similar to English. 'Geld' sounded like 'gold', so maybe it meant gold, money, or anything valuable. I was thinking 'wit' was just like a simple English 'with', but maybe it's more complicated. 'Wassen' looks like it sounds pretty close to 'washing', and if you're only talking about your clothes, then 'washing' and 'laundering' are the same thing. I like the idea of laundering 'black money' (like the words on this page) into 'white money' (which you now can't see on this page even though they are still there!) When I lived in New York City, I knew two different types of rich people. There were those who were very rich and made it obvious to everyone. But there were also those who were 100 times richer than the others. These people kept their wealth 'private'. They didn't act too 'flashy' in public, and they knew how to make most of their money 'on paper' disappear! So there would be no taxes! And it was all completely legal and fell under the term "tax avoidance" rather than the technically illegal "tax evasion". This was very smart, and I admired them for it. But when you think about it, this is no different than what the criminals often do. So I'm going to suggest that it's completely wrong to charge criminals with their "tax avoidance". Charge them for their 'crime', but don't be hypocritical and somehow make the other 'rules' different for them. It makes no sense, and it's wrong. ( :

Oh gosh and ha! I've always thought the overall concept and title of the TSOYJADMANOSANT thread was one of the best ever! I'm not sure why I haven't been here for a while. Great marbles here from everyone as always! I'm cracking up about the 'moderator mind-reading' because I was just looking at the 'I have a new camera' post and thinking about maybe saving the photo and seeing if the EXIF data was in it to show me what camera it was. But then I read the next two messages where you guys saved me the trouble! Oh shoot. Do we now no longer have 'post numbers'? One of these evenings I'll probably complain loudly about that, but not now. (I still apologize in advance.) Although in most cases I'd rather refer to a post number than re-post someone's photo, since I'm late in responding I guess it won't be as bad as my pet-peeve about seeing immediate copies of photos from the previous message. So I'm going to try to copy and paste the two photos I'm feeling like responding to, bdiwpye. (That last word(?) is only there to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition.) I think these are way beyond "alright"! Although most of them are at least a little fancier, they remind me of some of the earliest JABOs which were so striking in spite of their simplicity of design. Similar to Pelt Baseballs in a way I can't quite explain other than to say that some marbles could be more 'outrageous', but wouldn't be as good if they were. Looks like you and the new camera are working really well together! This shot is a 'textbook' example of a good marble photo. (And of course it doesn't hurt that this marble would probably still look pretty good even in a bad photo.) The 'background' is the big clue here. Although there're many aspects to a good marble photo, focusing close-up is most people's biggest problem. The way the background is in perfect focus at the very bottom of this photo, and slowly blurs and eventually turns into complete 'nothing' as you get to the top, is a good indication that the focus is also on the closest part of the marble, which is exactly where it should be. When you see marble photos where the background is completely in focus, it's almost a sure bet that the marble is blurrier than it should be. I apologize if I'm telling you things you already know. Just wanted to put this great example 'on the record' for everyone. Going to add a Nikon link to your new camera in case anyone's interested. Although they're emphasizing that totally insane 83x zoom range which doesn't really apply to marbles, you've shown here that this camera can also be really good with tricky close-up shots in the right hands. And that zoom range is certainly a wonderful thing to have in terms of being 'ready for anything'! ( : http://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/compact-digital-cameras/coolpix-p900.html

A and a to everyone!

The link looks like it will be fun. My quick look at it is telling me that some of the questions will be easy and some will make me crazy for weeks.

Ha! These are good! This one made me think of "jumping the shark". I know this isn't the way most people would interpret it. Steph introduced me to this expression a while back, Although I was very familiar with the 'concept', I didn't know there were words to describe it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark This one is the best representation of 'me' on the inside. Unfortunately, this one shows my 'outside' best!

I underestimated him. He's super duper cool! Didn't want to side-track before, but I also really like your cloudy seamless gray background and/or the way you shot it. Years ago I went whole-hog and bought a large piece of expensive heavy-duty top-notch canvas (there's quality stuff in a sailing town like Annapolis) and did a custom hand-painted 'five shades of gray' dye job on it, as well as installing industrial grade grommets for hanging purposes. It was pretty impressive in itself, but I never got the 'look' from it that you have here. Which is what I wanted. P.S. Steph, I never got a chance to say that the 'sparkpug' just about killed me!

Some of you are aware that for several reasons I recently had the worst birthday ever. I hate the thought that you may feel badly about this. Luckily, I just found a gift idea that could make us all feel really terrific about my next birthday! The cost of the camera body should, of course, probably be divided among several people, although one lens and several of the large memory cards could also be sent by those wishing to make a more individual and personal contribution. It's hard to tell when the bargain prices shown here might go up significantly! You may want to 'lock in' your order before Passover! Thanks in advance! ( : http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1244709-REG/hasselblad_h_3013742_h6d_100c_medium_format_dslr.html

You know, maybe instead of bitching about the lack of antenna hole with my 'constantly driving into a tunnel' cell phone, I should have considered this. I may have not seen the forest for the trees here!

Stanley is super cool! But I'm feeling a little thrown-off by something. In the first shot he looks like he's doing the classic "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" animal 'head tilt'. But not in the other photos. I could be making this up. The hellish sobriety I'm temporarily obligated to deal with is definitely unhealthy and has been known to cause me to 'see things' that aren't really there. ( :

I'm definitely getting old. How could I forget about THEM? ( :

Sunday! The day when I 'cringe' a little and look to see how embarrassed I need to be about the 'Saturday Night Rant'! Not bad. I feel okay about this one. A little bit 'excited' as always, but I still think the general 'gist' here is worthwhile. ( :

Nice outdoor shots! Bright sunlight can be a little tricky, but when you get it right like these, it's really great for the kinds of transparents that can benefit from the 3D effect. This effect can also be done with artificial lighting, if you get a really bright bulb and position it about 93,000,000 miles away. (Actually, there are several people here who're skilled enough with lights to probably do this. I'm just not one of them. )