[meteorite-list] Meteorite Men invite, and thanks

[Dave Gheesling]

Fun show fellas, and congrats on the series!
Dave
www.fallingrocks.com 

-----Original Message-----
From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
[mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of
meteorhntr at aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 3:04 PM
To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Subject: [meteorite-list] Meteorite Men invite, and thanks



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




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