Alan

What do you need to know?

The idea is a single marble".

Early Drew Fritts

Still on green adventurine:

Ann: I use a Canon G5 for most of my marble photos - and a DSLR for special photos. The key in camera selection for marble photos is the minimum focal length (its in the specifications) in the macro mode - and how well the macro mode works. Take a marble to the store when shopping for cameras - use the macro mode and see how well the camera focuses without too much fuss. You can also use close-up filters (I use Hoya) - but they are more fussy and not needed in most photos. An expensive camera is not necessary. Quality optics and lighting are FAR more important than resolution.

I have an idea to loosen things up and "get back to marbles". Proposal: This is a progressive marble photo thread - sort of a play on the "Color of the Month" threads. Rules: I'll post a marble photo. The next poster chooses one color from the preceding post's photo and posts a marble photo that must have that chosen color present in it. The next person in line chooses any color in that preceding photo and posts their own photo with that color...etc etc. Single marble photos only (unless they are the same colors) - vintage or contemp. Have fun!

Folks seeing red - what browser are you using? (I'm seeing black - Firefox).

No overlap seen here:

I think the new version looks great. It has a clean, uncluttered and fresh look. Good choice!

Link to lot #310152902923

Just thought that I would mention that we had one month that started as a complex combination and no-one posted anything because few if any people had one marble with those colors.

New Philly show - 2008. I think Zaboo has one too. Thread

The term "aventurine" that is used within the collecting hobby has become a quasi-mystical substance - as if there was a barrel at the factory that said "Aventurine" on the side. The truth is - the substance is simply an excess of the metal salt colorant used in the marble....excess to the point that it wouldn't dissolve into the batch glass any further. This - the colorant powder just sat in the glass as a solid. Once the marble was produced the excess metal colorant flakes reflect light. The flakes you see are the colorant that didn't dissolve.

"Aventurine" can show up in any width color band. The sun will tell the tale (when you are once again graced with its presence).

Keep in mind that aventurine is esentially tiny, undissolved crystals of metal colorant. The easiest way to notice it is to take the piece into sunlight and slowly rotate it. You would pick up fine reflection in the color.

Values and morals are taught and learned in the home (or not). The Internet is merely a reflection of society and the world as a whole. Both have their seamy side. Parents either instill the necessary morals and values to deal effectively with both - or they don't. Parents either monitor a child's use of the Internet and where they go and who they associate in the world - or they don't. Given the extreme rarity of kids playing or collecting marbles these days - I would guess that the statistical potential of a young, impressionable mind spending much time at that other place is far less likely than the chance of being struck by lightning. Stamping out speech on the Internet is like trying to do the same in the real world. Its like the "Whack-a-Mole" game at the fair....hit one and he pops up elsewhere. If someone is stating something illegal or subject to civil action in the courts - then they are subject to prosecution or lawsuit, as appropriate. There have always been and will always be those whose ideas are in stark contrast with ours. This will be true long after we have shuffled off this mortal coil. I'll also note that there are people who thrive on stirring the pot and the attention that they receive when people react to what they say or do. Give them attention, become incensed with what they say or do and rail at their ideas at the top of your voice - and one simply feeds the fire and provides the incentive to continue this behavior. It is the attention and the reaction that they crave. Remove these and you remove the motivation and reward. I do not suggest that their behavior is acceptable - just that one must rise above their level and attempt to understand their motivation and the reward that they seek. I do not go to that place. If someone there posts that I am a fool, or that my feet smell, or that I look funny, or that my mother wears combat boots - I could care less. (My mother doesn't wear combat boots, by the way). I don't need to go there to know that it is a dump. I have much better things to do with my time in this life than engage riffraff to defend myself standing knee-deep in their manure at a place that doesn't matter. "Dost thou love life? Then waste not time; for time is the stuff that life is made of." Benjamin Franklin

David: If you want someone to argue with - you'll need to find that person elsewhere. I do not understand this holy Crusade. You have been battling Scott for 10 or more years and seem to believe that you will somehow succeed changing Scott's mind or behavior in any fashion by posts of this nature . I believe that you are mistaken. I see no good coming from dragging this garbage here - but I do see the harm. We disagree on this point - but that is okay. I have no axe to grind and will not be pulled into such behavior or conflicts myself. I don't have a dog in your fight and don't want one. Respectfully, Alan

So why drag this very unpleasant battle here? Why is this thread needed? Isn't the 3-page unpleasant thread that we already have on this subject enough? You and Scott have been battling each other for a decade that I am aware of. I'm not taking sides - just stating the fact. Why not leave the unpleasantness where it is? Dragging it here just infects this Board with the very qualities that you condemn. Is this a marble collecting board for enthusiasts - or is it to become a battleground for personal grudges, personality contests and furtherance of "I am right and you are wrong" arguments? I believe that members that wish to visit that site and read vile statements are capable of finding it. Bringing the fight here to simply point at it does no service to those of us that have no interest of seeing such things. Most of us (I hope) come here for marbles - not to watch the bickering, name-calling, egos and personality contests that some people feel compelled to engage in.

I believe that he stopped a few years when he didn't feel well.

Nice box. I like 'em.

Since you like Gerry's work - I went out and took some new photos for you! Alan