[meteorite-list] Meteorite Men invite, and thanks

[meteorhntr at aol.com]

Hey List,

It is with great pleasure that  I invite all of you to sit down tonight and 
to take a journey to Canada with  Geoff Notkin and myself on Science 
Channel (9pm Eastern) on our first episode of  our first season of "Meteorite Men" 
the Series. 

I haven't seen the  episode myself yet, but some of our friends in the 
production office have, and  it promises to be a fun adventure and (don't tell 
anyone I said this, but) we do  find some meteorites in this episode.  

Geoff and I are keenly aware  that this TV series might be the best 
opportunity for the meteorite collecting  community to put our best foot forward 
and show the world a glimpse into what  makes our passion of collecting so 
exciting.  Of course we have to mix the  geeky science with a little humor and 
drama, or people won't stick around for  the end of the show, and won't come 
back next week.

I want to give a HUGE  amount of credit to our LMNO Productions team.  We 
have had over 95 people  working on this show on the production side, not to 
mention the hundreds of  people working over on the Science Channel and 
Discovery Network to make this  happen.  Millions of dollars have been invested 
to bring this episode to  air, and it is very humbling realizing that while 
Geoff and I have our faces on  screen, NONE of this would be possible 
without the team behind the scenes.  

And, I would be remiss to not take the time to thank ALL of you that  have 
supported me over the last 18 years when I have tried to eek out a living  
in this crazy business.  If it weren't for the scientists who study these  
rocks, if it weren't for the collecting customers that buy a piece here and a  
slice there from me,  tonight would never have become a reality.   

I have to give a huge shout out to Blaine Reed who was my one and only  
customer for the first 6 years of my meteorite career.  In a business of  "buy 
low and sell high," somehow, Blaine had a philosophy of "How much can I  
afford to pay Steve for what he brings me?" as opposed to "How cheap can I get  
these rocks from Steve?"  Blaine, if it weren't for you buddy, I would have 
 been out of this business before I even got into it.  I owe you a big  
Margarita at the Birthday Bash, and every Birthday Bash from here on out.   In 
fact, anyone who likes this show tonight, buy Blaine a drink before you 
offer  me one, ok?

Of course kudos have to go out to THE Meteorite Man Bob Haag,  who blazed a 
trail through a jungle that we all are enjoying the fruits of  now.

Harvey Nininger, Oscar Monnig, Glen Huss, H.O. Stockwell, just to  name a 
few, are pillars that hold the roof over all of our heads now. 

I  have to thank my amazing wife, Qynne, and the two greatest daughters a 
guy could  ever hope to have, Lauren and Kelsey who have shared me and my 
time with this  calling.

A big thanks goes out to Phil Mani who on a gut feeling  supported the 
Brenham adventure a few years back, which was one domino in the  series to fall 
that led to all of this. 

There is a huge amount of credit  and thanks that needs to be extended to 
the 8n8 crew that inadvertently  journeyed with me to the Alpha site several 
years back which ended up being in  our pilot episode.  All of you guys are 
getting your financial return on  the project, but also know from me that 
you guys also deserve a monster sized  "Thank You."  You are appreciated more 
than you will ever know.

And  personally, I have to give the greatest amount of credit to my hunting 
partner  Geoff Notkin. If it weren't for Geoff's talents and true 
gentlemanly qualities,  none of this, and I mean NONE of this would have happened.  
For some  reason, one guy hunting rocks on TV is not enough to make anyone 
take a second  look.  And even two guys hunting for space rocks is not enough  
either.  Geoff's ability to articulate WHY these amazing visitors from  
space are so special adds an element that I don't think anyone else in the  
meteorite world could have been able to do.  Of course there are others  that 
can talk about why meteorites are great, but Geoff will get his fingernails  
dirty, jump in a hole, get excited with the rest of us, and still be able to 
 articulate to the audience why he is, so excited, and why the viewers at 
home  should be too.

You might notice in the written descriptions about the  show where 
sometimes it might say "Steve Arnold and Geoff Notkin..." and other  times it will 
say "Geoff Notkin and Steve Arnold..." I suppose the powers that  be want to 
give us equal credit in flip flopping our names from time to  time.  And 
while ego might want one's name to show up first, I really do  like it when 
Geoff's name is first, because I know I could be replaced in this  show far 
easier than he ever could.  In fact, I am certain without Geoff,  none of this 
would be remotely possible.  Geoff, thank you.  I am so  proud to count you 
as a dear friend, first, and as a hunting partner  second.  Cheers ol' chap! 

The more that happens, the more I see  that we are one big "organism" that 
depends on itself to sustain itself.  I  found myself so excited for Shauna 
Russell today as I watched the video of her  digging out the Springwater 
meteorite.  Yes, she is a competitor of mine in  our field, but she is also a 
colleague in the field of rescuing these rusting  messengers before it is too 
late.  Congrats Shauna.  We all should be  excited for her.  Competition 
makes us all sharper.  So a big "thank  you" goes out to the other dealers and 
hunters in our community, that compete  with passion with and even against 
us, but still compete fairly.

We live  on a big planet.  There are plenty of meteorites for all of us to  
find.  And the "Meteorite Men" series is undoubtedly going to increase both 
 collectors and hunters alike.  It is my desire that in the end, many more  
meteorites will be found, more collectors will be generated to support the  
expeditions of us all, more kids will be encouraged to follow a vocation of 
 being scientists and more meteoriticists will be entering the field, and 
more  funding will be provided for research, curating and displaying 
meteorites world  wide. 

Our goal isn't to get more of the limited sized pie, but to help  make the 
pie much bigger for us all.

Add everyone up that gets credit for  the new series, and we are easily 
into the thousands.  

It is  Geoff's and my desire that we do you all proud.  Of course, as the 
saying  goes, "If you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one."  
So, the  bottom line is: the network wants to please enough people so that 
the  advertising revenues will justify the money invested in the project.    
Some of America will undoubtedly not be impressed.  Some in the meteorite  
world too will undoubtedly not be impressed.  For that we are  sorry.   But, 
we are doing our best, and we want to thank everyone  that has helped make 
tonight a reality.

If I could do it, I would give  ALL of you a Harvey Award!

Cheers!

Steve  Arnold