I don't have a clue about blow molding or glass blowing. In another thread, I was mostly joshing Jesse about not finishing the insides of his vessels, but I like his style and that of most folks here. Just look at the twists and turns his "gambit" has led to. We enjoy a similar serendipity from many other thoughtful threads posted by turners who think and provoke others to do so. They are also willing to try out their innovations, sucessful or not. Turners like Charlie, George, Robert, the Leos and so many others.
IMHO, rcw survives and is alive and well because it allows a woodturner to have some space outside the box. There is, of course, a need and a place for pictures, questions and supportive praise along with authoritative comments about maple bowls and more advanced work, but the unfettered questions and suggestions, brainstorms and out of the box threads here seem to have a special interest for many of us. There is no penalty for woodturning heresy on rcw. In fact opinions contrary to established turning dogma are welcomed and avidly discussed, pro & con. Some that seemed outrageous have led to useful information.
If we must suffer the occasional rude, inappropriate or vulgar post like that of bob&carole's latest, in order to enjoy this freedom, so be it. It's easy to delete them or maybe enjoy a sense of superiority.
I think we owe many thanks to those here that push the envelope and to the others that open it and post their thoughtful opinions (often contrary) of the contents. Sorry I got out of the box only to get up on a soapbox. Forgive. :)
I think over the years I have learned more here, seen the limits stretched farther and have been entertained more about woodturning than anywhere else.
Over the years there have been some real characters here, some are gone, and some still stick their heads in every once in a while like Ruth Niles. I still remember when she was turning on the old Sears monotube about 8 - 9 years ago. Now she is a nationally known turner, and I am sure her busy schedule as much as anything keeps her from posting like she used to.
And like others, she has other venues that she posts to and keeps up with. I actually still like this meeting place better than some of the others simply because it is unmoderated. A lot of the time, it just seems like a more honest forum than the moderated blogs or hosting sites.
I'm always hoping for new blood, and always hoping for some of the readers of this newgroup to jump in. The new blood is good and keeps the interest level up.
Thanks for bringing this up, Arch. Like many, I sure feel like you have been a real valuable asset with your musings to get us to think a little more about what we are doing and how we are doing it.
Oh, I finish them- I just don't like doing it much! :)
That is precisely why I'm still active here, and no longer participate in the Wreck. Seems like new ideas over there are greeted with a snort of derision and a trainwreck's worth of thread deviation that always leads back to politics. Don't get me wrong, politics are important- and worth talking about, but it's a PITA to try and sift through a hundred posts about current events to find the three posts that actually have something to do with the original woodworking related posting!
That's just spam, and there's not much of it here compared to most forums. It's a nice quiet little corner of usenet with an amazing signal to noise ratio.
Agreed. I'm always amazed when I take a moment to stop and contemplate the value of the internet in general, and usenet in particular. Even with all the chaff that inevitably crops up on such an open-ended system, there is endless information availible for the picking. There is no other time in human history when so much could be learned so easily, and at so low a cost- considering that mere literacy has been the sole province of an small elite throughout most of human history, it boggles the mind. It hasn't even been more than a blink of the world's eye since paper was rare, and books had to be copied by hand by cloistered monks.
This form of communication, more than anything else, is ensuring the continuation of widespread literacy, and that benefits us all. Even with a thousand grammatical mistakes, a million acyronyms and syntax that looks like pigdin, the lowliest post or blog forces people to deal with the written word- it's a vast improvement over what I remember from my youth, when many of the people around me would proudly proclaim that they didn't read *anything*, and there were far too many folks who would slowly muddle through the most simple of sentances or even signs whilst moving their lips and sounding each word out.
While I still see that from time to time, I have never encountered it with anyone who is even marginally computer-literate. Don't get me wrong- this isn't an attack on those who have a hard time with written language. Quite the contrary, actually- I've known a lot of people who had trouble with literacy but were otherwise amazingly talented in one way or another. When they stretch those literary bones on-line from time to time, it gives us all the possibility of the benefit of learning from them, which would otherwise have been either impossible or very unlikely- few people will ever write a book, but most can handle the occasional letter to the world at large!
And, there is the added benefit of being able to talk with like-minded people. While I make small talk at work to pass the time, without having all the forums of the internet to read and jaw on, I would have lost my grip on sanity quite a while back (though some may say that happened long ago anyway.) While I really enjoy the landscape, freedom and low cost of living associated with being in a sparsely populated area, the people I am surrounded by are the children of farmers and factory workers, many of whom have continued in those same lines of work. When I talk with most of them about making *anything* in my spare time, all they see is more work and drudgery- and don't even want to hear about it.
Face-to-face conversations around here are about weather reports, drinking stories and gossip are all there are to be had- and my lack of interest in any of those things doesn't make me many buddies, even though I am owed a lot of favors and treated with a somewhat rediculous level of respect by most. It's kind of like always being everyone's dad- the first one people come to when they have a problem, and the last one to be invited to the party.
It's actually really nice when someone points out that I've said something idiotic, or am holding an irrational or erronious belief. It's constant peer-review, and forces you to remain honest with yourself. A guy can't learn anything from yes-men and synchophants, and learning and making are the *only* two things I am about. (I shudder to think what a psychologist might make of that, but luckily for me, I don't put much stock in them.)
Nothing to forgive, Arch. I think we all enjoy your musings!
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