[meteorite-list] Orientation, the 1000th re-hash

From: Dave Gheesling <dave_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2008 16:37:32 -0500
Message-ID: <4494D7E2D19147DFBECCF32D3C82F167_at_meteorroom>

Graham & List,
It's fantastic that you're doing this, Graham! And thanks for your support
of the concept. I have had similar concerns re: security, but have never
had a single problem (knock on wood). Cataloging your collection with
photographs is a great step to increase security. I've heard the same
response from many dealers and serious collectors when asked about the
concern of having a specimen or specimens stolen (at least the valuable
ones): "What are they going to do with it?" Museum paintings are a good
analogy, as a stolen piece would be difficult to market for obvious reasons.
But on the other hand they do get stolen from time to time. They are almost
always recovered, so perhaps it's good PR in the long run? Just kidding, of
course, but using common sense (i.e. laying out the ground rules for
touching/handling specimens up front, being sure you never leave the
specimens unattended, etc, seems to work just fine. Also, when loaning
pieces to local museums there are some good things to sort out up front, and
if you'd like to discuss off line I'll be happy to share what little I
know...
Best,
Dave

-----Original Message-----
From: ensoramanda [mailto:ensoramanda at ntlworld.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 3:09 PM
To: dave at fallingrocks.com; Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Orientation, the 1000th re-hash

Hi Dave and all,

I agree that the point of the picture is showing the enjoyment on the
face of the student, and in a way the enjoyment you get from showing
your collection to others. As a collector it is one of the most exciting
parts. At any opportunity I am ready to pack up some of my prized pieces
and take them along to display them or show them to other folks,
especially youngsters.

I am spending the whole day on this coming Saturday at a local
University on their open day, showing prospective students meteorites
and hoping to excite and inspire them to study meteoritics.

Are there any other members of the list willing to show or share there
experiences of showing off their collections to the public.
There are obvious problems involved in doing such shows and I would be
interested in how others have solved problems of display and security.

Keep up the good work Dave.

Regards

Graham Ensor, Nr Barwell UK

Dave Gheesling wrote:

>Michael and List,
>I never saw a meteorite when I was a kid, either, and I often wonder what I
>might have done differently in life had that not been the case. My
schedule
>doesn't allow for a lot of free time either, but it's a priority and I just
>do the best I can with it. Definitely worth the trouble...
>All the best,
>Dave
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Michael Farmer [mailto:meteoriteguy at yahoo.com]
>Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 12:03 PM
>To: dave at fallingrocks.com; meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Orientation, the 1000th re-hash
>
>Dave, no problem, I think the attack on you was not
>justified, I know that the photo did not show any hint
>of orientation, and perhaps more photos would have
>been good but a request for more photos or explanation
>would have been better. I got a call from Morocco
>today at 5 am about a large oriented meteorite, I
>yawned and told them to email me photos, oriented and
>morrocan-oriented are two very different things. They
>now describe everything as oriented. I applaud your
>outreach work, I wish I had more time to do some of
>those things. The important part of that photo was the
>look on that kids face! He was clearly thrilled at
>holding a huge meteorite. I never saw a meteorite when
>I was a kid.
>Michael Farmer
>--- Dave Gheesling <dave at fallingrocks.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>>Mike and List,
>>Mike, thanks for getting this debate -- which
>>emerged for all of the wrong
>>reasons -- onto some quality ground. There is
>>absolutely no doubt that the
>>term "oriented" is abused and that this is a
>>problem. It's great to have
>>watch dogs out there, but rabid and presumptive dogs
>>are not much help. I'd
>>be curious to hear what you think about the piece in
>>question when you see
>>the images I sent you off line (those on my site
>>were taken quickly and with
>>bad lighting, as it's a pain to move that piece
>>around). There are
>>certainly degrees of orientation, but -- and this is
>>important -- a few
>>seconds of oriented flight is modifying a
>>pre-existing shape (and these are
>>obviously not all consistent, thus Lafayette is not
>>always the result). Had
>>I known in advance that this would be such a
>>sensitive matter, I'd have
>>either changed the caption (again, the photo had
>>little at all to do with
>>the stone itself) or included other images to show
>>orientation. Have a
>>great day, everybody...
>>Dave
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
>>[mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com]
>>On Behalf Of Michael
>>Farmer
>>Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 11:27 AM
>>To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>>Subject: [meteorite-list] Orientation, the 1000th
>>re-hash
>>
>>Come on people, this has been a pet peeve of mine
>>for
>>many years. I go on eBay, or I see the Rocks from
>>Space photos all the time, with meteorites claimed
>>to
>>be oriented. Half of these people would not know
>>what
>>oriented was if it fell an embedded in their heads!
>>Dave's stone is nice, not highly oriented, but
>>oriented with the photos on his website. The photo
>>in
>>Rocks from Space showed nothing to suggest
>>orientation.
>>
>>
>>So, let's see some examples on eBay right now!
>>A fine flight-oriented Sikhote-Alin that belongs to
>>me, you can clearly see the hundreds of flow lines
>>emanating from the bullet-nose, flowing back, all in
>>the same direction, which proves the direction of
>>flight to all but the dimmest of collectors. Notice
>>how I take the time and pay for the extra photos?
>>This
>>shows the attributes I want to show on the stone.
>>
>>
>>
>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140211035108
>
>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>http://cgi.ebay.com/Oriented-Sikhote-Alin-METEORITE-with-Rollover-Line_W0QQ
i
>
>
>>temZ180217699381
>>Take this one for example, small rollover rim, but
>>not
>>the slightest hint of orientation, NOT ORIENTED.
>>
>>Here is an oriented Gao stone, note the nice cone
>>shape, and the massive rollover lip and bubbles on
>>the
>>back to prove it! Lipping alone does not make
>>orientation. I have see blocky meteorites with a lip
>>on one side.
>>
>>
>>
>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=350030529345
>
>
>>And then there is this one, not the slightest hint
>>of
>>orientation, just a typical rounded complete Gao
>>stone.
>>
>>
>>
>http://cgi.ebay.com/ORIENTED-Gao-Guenie-Meteorite-Burkina-Faso-3-6-Grams_W0
Q
>
>
>>QitemZ200203882988
>>
>>
>>
>>
>http://cgi.ebay.com/UNCLASSIFIED-Meteorite-Oriented-Individual-84-40g_W0QQi
t
>
>
>>emZ120214504213
>>Here is another one, old chondrite, just becuase it
>>is
>>rounded, does not make it in any way oriented!
>>Please
>>people, this is pitiful.
>>
>>If you are selling a meteorite, you have the duty to
>>properly photograph it to present the stone as it
>>is.
>>Saying it is oriented, and then being too cheap to
>>pay
>>for multiple photographs shows that you do not care
>>about the piece, do not care about your product, and
>>are likely lying about the orientation part.
>>Every time I sell an oriented meteorite on ebay, you
>>will get 6-15 photos showing all sides, aspects,
>>flow
>>lines, lipping, nosecone etc.
>>Buyer beware, if the seller does not show you these
>>things, then do you really think you are going to
>>get
>>them?
>>Michael Farmer
>>______________________________________________
>>http://www.meteoritecentral.com
>>Meteorite-list mailing list
>>Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>>
>>
>>
>http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>
>
>>______________________________________________
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>>Meteorite-list mailing list
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>>
>>
>>
>http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>
>
>
>
>______________________________________________
>http://www.meteoritecentral.com
>Meteorite-list mailing list
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>
Received on Tue 04 Mar 2008 04:37:32 PM PST


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