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Matt_Zukowski
Site Admin
Joined: 10 Apr 2009
Posts: 707
Location: Alaska
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Posted: Feb 14, 2015 21:33 Post subject: Re: Tucson Show 2015 |
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The first picture is the chair I periodically sit in at night while I sip beer and watch the stars turn across the sky. I am 50 minutes N of Tucson, in part because I want to stay somewhere with dark skies. |
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The view from my porch. If you look closely, in the center of the picture is a red bird that I think is a cardinal. |
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The cardinal? in a tree and a blue bird of some sort in the feeder. |
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Someone went to great trouble to carve this one. It took a lot of time to carve out the ball at the center of what appears to be the sun. I am told that the ball points directly to where the sun sets on winter solstice. With the care and non-random orientation, I think it is safe to say that this one had some meaning and was probably not graffiti or random drawing. |
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This one looks like some sort of braiding or weaving pattern - perhaps a tutorial? |
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4900
Location: Barcelona
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Posted: Feb 15, 2015 14:39 Post subject: Tucson Show 2015 - Coverage |
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Atlanta Airport 02/15/2015
As this time Tucson was so well covered for others (mostly by Matt ;-) that I should be grateful because it gave me the chance to maintain a reasonable high amount of work in Tucson without the mandatory compromise to publish posts to keep people informed. Thanks Matt, thanks Jean, thanks to everybody who published posts here!
Many more posts will come, I'm sure, specially from Gail The magic of Tucson, 2015. Gail Spann report and I will also publish in about a week my final conclusions about the Show, information about the new finds, as well as my favorite specimens in the Main Show, so stay tuned! ;-)
More to come...
European correspondent of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show™
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One example of the quality of the exhibit cases of the Main Show could be this extraordinary Azurite from Chessy-les-Mines, France, by its luster and sharpness.
Photo: Jordi Deusedes |
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Matt_Zukowski
Site Admin
Joined: 10 Apr 2009
Posts: 707
Location: Alaska
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Posted: Feb 15, 2015 21:07 Post subject: Re: Tucson Show 2015 |
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Today was the last day of the Main show. The main show was very crowded with many full parking lots. I only saw one new case, that of a new find at the Rowley Mine, AZ.
I drove past the I-10 hotel shows on the way to the Main Show and it looked crowded. I didn't go in to see if the people were all there packing up, or if there was any selling still going on. I also had an errand to do at the Inn Suites and it looked to me like everyone was packing up.
Mineral: | Wulfenite |
Locality: | Rowley Mine, Theba, Painted Rock District, Painted Rock Mountains, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA | |
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Mineral: | Wulfenite |
Locality: | Rowley Mine, Theba, Painted Rock District, Painted Rock Mountains, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA | |
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Mineral: | Wulfenite |
Locality: | Rowley Mine, Theba, Painted Rock District, Painted Rock Mountains, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA | |
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Mineral: | Wulfenite |
Locality: | Rowley Mine, Theba, Painted Rock District, Painted Rock Mountains, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA | |
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Mineral: | Wulfenite |
Locality: | Rowley Mine, Theba, Painted Rock District, Painted Rock Mountains, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA | |
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Mineral: | Wulfenite |
Locality: | Rowley Mine, Theba, Painted Rock District, Painted Rock Mountains, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA | |
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Mineral: | Wulfenite |
Locality: | Rowley Mine, Theba, Painted Rock District, Painted Rock Mountains, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA | |
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Mineral: | Wulfenite |
Locality: | Rowley Mine, Theba, Painted Rock District, Painted Rock Mountains, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA | |
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Mineral: | Wulfenite |
Locality: | Rowley Mine, Theba, Painted Rock District, Painted Rock Mountains, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA | |
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And with this, my last post for this show, I bid Tucson goodbye. |
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GneissWare
Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Posts: 1287
Location: California
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Posted: Feb 15, 2015 21:23 Post subject: Re: Tucson Show 2015 |
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Matt,
Thanks again for a outstanding show report!!!!
Bob
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keldjarn
Joined: 18 Feb 2008
Posts: 157
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Posted: Feb 16, 2015 01:57 Post subject: Re: Tucson Show 2015 |
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Matt,
I have really enjoyed your report and photos from the Tucson shows. Thank you for the great effort! I visited the shows for 2 weeks myself, and I am impressed by how many venues. dealers and photos of interesting specimen that are included in your report! Except for a few important specimens at high-end dealers who did not allow photos, I believe you have truely captured the mineralogical essence of Tucson 2015.
Knut
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Tobi
Site Admin
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4110
Location: Germany
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Posted: Feb 16, 2015 12:02 Post subject: Re: Tucson Show 2015 |
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Dear Matt,
I agree with the guys: ALL THUMBS UP FOR YOU!
Tobi
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Fiebre Verde
Joined: 11 Sep 2013
Posts: 942
Location: Paris Area
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Posted: Feb 16, 2015 13:44 Post subject: Re: Tucson Show 2015 |
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I felt almost relieved when I saw the red chair, the cardinal and the mineral-free landscape.
You have done a superb job Matt!
It's one thing to take pictures for yourself at a mineral show. But it's another thing to do it for a demanding community such as the FMF folks.
Now the frustration of not having been there is almost gone!
Thank you.
Gerard
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chris
Site Admin
Joined: 12 Jul 2007
Posts: 538
Location: Grenoble
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Posted: Feb 16, 2015 14:26 Post subject: Re: Tucson Show 2015 |
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Thanks to all folks that posted photos. Hope you enjoyed the show.
Cheers
Christophe
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Don Lum
Joined: 03 Sep 2012
Posts: 2858
Location: Arkansas
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Posted: Feb 16, 2015 17:06 Post subject: Re: Tucson Show 2015 |
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A big THANK YOU to everyone who posted pictures of the Tucson Show. It takes a lot of time and effort. On Valentine's Day several of the venues had signs posted that the parking lots were full.
Don
_________________ hogwild |
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Ed Huskinson
Joined: 15 Apr 2009
Posts: 318
Location: Kingman, Arizona
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Posted: Feb 17, 2015 15:36 Post subject: Re: Tucson Show 2015 |
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Missed a bunch of e-mails, am just now getting around to viewing them. Someone needs to stand a little closer to their copy of Dana's system, in that the formula posted on the label for Azurite is incorrect. As everyone knows, Azurite is a carbonate, not an arsenate.. Just picking nits.
More later,
Ed
_________________ La respuesta está en las rocas!! Estudiadlas!!
Ed |
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4900
Location: Barcelona
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Posted: Feb 21, 2015 15:22 Post subject: Tucson Show 2015 - My 10 favorites from the Main Show |
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Barcelona 21/02/2015
Already in Barcelona and slowly reconnecting my neurons, here you have my 10 favorites of the - all wonderful - specimens displayed in the Show Cases of the Main Show.
I can't find my papers where I listed from who were each show case of these specimens. If someone can let me know by MP then I will add it to the images. Thanks in advance.
More to come...
European correspondent of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show™
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I left for the end this show case which minerals do not have (or want to have) the same quality as those of others, but the idea and the nice concept of honoring ALL those women who have had breast cancer has placed it on my list. |
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Do you want to know more about this - rather sophisticated - idea? just read the text...
All photos: Jordi Deusedes |
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Jean Sendero
Joined: 20 Dec 2009
Posts: 270
Location: Hudson Heights, Quebec
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Posted: Feb 21, 2015 15:54 Post subject: Re: Tucson Show 2015 |
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Thanks Jordi.
I like the idea of listing our 10 best or most appreciated.
Something for next year.....
I am told the blue year. This year, the META was a case filled with great specimens, filled with blue minerals. Thinking forward bunch.
Cheers
Jean
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4900
Location: Barcelona
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Posted: Feb 21, 2015 15:54 Post subject: Tucson Show 2015 - Some personal thoughts |
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OK, here I am sitting in front an empty white computer screen and I'm not sure if I can translate in written text the kind of dementia that is Tucson.
"Gigantic" "Crazy" "Excessive" - all of these words and much more can be used to describe the phenomenon of Tucson, but no one can really understand what Tucson is without being there and feeling (and in some way suffer) its thumping intensity. Tucson is beyond comparison with any other mineral show. Neither Munich, Denver nor Ste. Marie can compare with this hungry monster chewing up all of the dreams, money and hopes of so many collectors.
What I can say about Tucson 2015?
Can I describe the good feelings of many dealers (compared to previous years) or the desperation of others?
Can I describe the phenomenal purchases that some wealthy collectors made in Tucson or the disappointment of many other humble collectors who can afford almost nothing that they really like?
Can I describe the physical impossibility to attend all of the events or the pleasure from attending some stupendous parties, talks, social events, awards or ceremonies?
Can I describe the kind of unnatural bubble which is Tucson moving away from the real world, or the pleasure of being for some days outside of the common troubles of our daily life while enjoying a kind of communal excitation?
Sorry, but after more than 25 years attending this show I can't find a proper way to describe what Tucson really is, so this year what I will do is to try to simplify and summarize my thoughts about the most popular topic in Tucson every year: "Why hell the are prices so high?" ;-)
I am a dealer and a collector as well so for many years I guessed that the mineral world of the collector was perhaps going in a wrong way and that this wrong way could bring to all us to a kind of collapse, mental or economic. From time to time, and mostly in the European shows, I still have this pessimistic feeling, but the dynamism of regular Internet sales and the brutal energy of the Tucson Show tends to clear my mind of this negative feeling and, although I'm not totally sure about it, now I am starting to believe that this hobby seems to be influenced by the same market laws that influence many other major hobbies, and that currently the number of buyers of very fine specimens seems to be quite higher than the real number of fine specimens in the market. Very elevated prices for these fine specimens are now with us and maybe will not decrease in the future. Another topic is why so many lesser specimens have such inflated prices, but this is another story…
So, are there no chances for the not very rich collectors, like myself? Well, yes, there are still some chances, but instead of remaining immobile complaining about too high prices what we should do is work harder, looking at all dealers, all stocks, all boxes, all remote places, in fact doing everything in order to try to find something available within our limited possibilities. Just walk and walk and walk and walk and watch and watch, and watch again, to finally find something we like that we can afford.
No more complaints! Collectors, move your asses and work, the reward is there! Do many prices look too expensive to you? Forget these prices and search for something with a better balance! In Tucson you can play this game because the show is so huge that everybody can have a chance, but you must forget your dreams to acquire a "Master Piece" for a cheap price for the same reason that you can't purchase a Picasso for a modest price. Due to the different style of the new wave of collectors (many quite young but very rich) who seem to consider minerals as "natural art," you are in the same league with art buyers, even if you do not like it. Thus very high prices for the best, with just some very limited opportunities to find bargains, and only if you have a really extensive knowledge of what you are collecting.
I disagree with the feeling that many collectors have who believe that dealers have a kind of wonderful life doing almost nothing. Myself and many other dealers that I know work extremely hard, we do not have a peaceful and easy life at all. For me, after a monumental effort for more than a month, an effort that most people will never experience, I'm finally back at home, exhausted, missing greatly my "normal life," and with just a little money in my pocket after paying the never ending invoices that such a large show generates. Then, you may ask, why do I do this? Am I a masochist? Of course not. I do this for the rewards I derive. Together with "some money" I also brought home to Barcelona some, not many, but some, lovely rocks that I will add to my collection and, in fact, this is the same reason why so many collectors attend Tucson year after year, and this is our real reward.
Forget the easy-funny images published in this and other Forums or social net sites supply. They are just the "tip of the iceberg," the reality of the Tucson Show is much more complex and sophisticated than this and only if you attend Tucson can you discover what I'm talking about. So why don't you discover this overreaching bazaar at least one time? Believe me, it is an experience and you will never forget it!
Jordi
PS:Thanks to John White for editing and clarifying this text to try to make comprehensible to English readers the efforts of my overwhelmed, non-English, brain.
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Roger Warin
Joined: 23 Jan 2013
Posts: 1177
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Posted: Feb 21, 2015 17:28 Post subject: Re: Tucson Show 2015 |
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The connoisseur's choice and the conclusion of a great humanist philosopher.
Can I translate your text for the members of my club?
Many thanks,
Roger.
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Woody Thompson
Joined: 08 Mar 2010
Posts: 60
Location: Maine
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Posted: Feb 21, 2015 17:52 Post subject: Re: Tucson Show 2015 |
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Jordi, thanks for the grand overview of Tucson - with many bits of wisdom from your experience there!
P. S. That rhodochrosite from Japan is really wonderful !!!
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4900
Location: Barcelona
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Posted: Feb 21, 2015 18:05 Post subject: Re: Tucson Show 2015 |
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Roger Warin wrote: | The connoisseur's choice and the conclusion of a great humanist philosopher.
Can I translate your text for the members of my club?... |
Sure Roger, it will be a great honor, but who is the "great humanist philosopher"? ;-) probably John, my original text was dreadful! ;-) ;-)
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Dehne
Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 11
Location: Hobart, Tasmania
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Posted: Feb 21, 2015 21:29 Post subject: Re: Tucson Show 2015 |
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Jean Sendero wrote: | Thanks Jordi.
I like the idea of listing our 10 best or most appreciated.
Something for next year.....
I am told the blue year. This year, the META was a case filled with great specimens, filled with blue minerals. Thinking forward bunch.
Cheers
Jean |
_________________ Dehne McLaughlin
Hobart
Tasmania
Australia |
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John S. White
Site Admin
Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Posts: 1295
Location: Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted: Feb 22, 2015 07:02 Post subject: Re: Tucson Show 2015 |
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I too like the idea of showing one's 10 favorites. Perhaps more of us should do this at the end of all major shows. My selections for Tucson, however, would be very different from my bosses' (Jordi) 10, except perhaps for the rhodochrosite. Note the dominance of European minerals in his selection.
_________________ John S. White
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John S. White
Site Admin
Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Posts: 1295
Location: Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted: Feb 22, 2015 11:16 Post subject: Re: Tucson Show 2015 |
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Here is one of my favorites from the main show. The amethyst in the back from Artigas, Uruguay. Sad to say I did not take other photos of favorites.
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_________________ John S. White
aka Rondinaire |
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Gail
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 5839
Location: Texas, Lone Star State.
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Posted: Feb 22, 2015 11:47 Post subject: Re: Tucson Show 2015 |
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Gene and Roz Meirien collection. I took photos, 5,000 or so. Am cleaning out my 43,000 previous photos to speed up my computer right now. Will post shortly.
_________________ Minerals you say? Why yes, I'll take a dozen or so... |
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