Cash and Treasures Program on the Travel Channel

Chris,

I think it,s more a case of the producers thinking that the rest of us have never seen the inside of a school or any other form of education. These days, this seems to apply to more than just this program.

Doug

Tim Fisher,

In your post you made reference to M. A. G. M. A. as a source for locating authentic NC gemstones. I have tried an internet search for this with no luck. Could you elaborate a little more? This is all new to me and I would like to avoid wasting time in salted areas. I live in Florida so our mineral resources are pretty limited here. I can be reached at A66AU@aol.com.

Thank you for your time.

The producers probably should hire those guys from the tourmaline mine. They did a pretty good job of salting the finds and making them look real.

This is the type of hype that gets everyone in trouble in the end...Case in point: My family has always been in the Rock/fossil business, (for over 60 years). In the late 80's and early 1990's, I was making and ok, (not great), living from dinosaur fossils. Then came Sue and the hype that the media put with her....of course, everyone came out believing that all dinosaur fossils were worth a gazillion dollars, and thats why us "shady characters" collected them. As we all know, sh%$* rolls down hill, and I was at the bottom. I had collected parts of many dinosaurs over the years, and it so happened that I had sold to a fossil broker parts of an Allosaurus Fragilis (Jurassic meat eater), that he concocted and made into a complete skeleton..(after adding numerous casted missing parts) to fill it in. I had previously had many dealing with the great folks at the Black Hills Institute, and were on thier records that were confiscated by the gov. Hence, the investigation began....to make a long, long, long, (8 years), story short, because of Media Hype, it was alleged that said Allosaurus was worth millions, and irreplaceable as a scientific object! (side note..I, on many occasions had try to show the powers that be dino skeletons in the ground and was met with disinterest as they seem to be more interested in what is overseas)...After paying my "debt" to society, the sites that I have shown them are still left untouched and undoubtedly forgotten.

These shows are there for one reason...Sensationalism, nothing else! Facts don't sell unless they are twisted one way or the other..bordering on Fantasy! Trouble is that when all of the hype is gone, the public that has been caught up with dollar signs in thier eyes will have totally different effect on the mineral community. The gov. will get more involved, sites will be made off limits because of "scientific value", (they use this umbrella when nothing else seems to stir up the public in general), and in the end, the Mineral collectors will be deemed a Black Market society, much as the Archaeological crowd, the Paleontology crowd, and so on before....

So Sorry for all of the Rambling...
Rocky Barney

Bob Brown, try WNCrocks.org thats their homepage.

I tried WNCrocks.org and all I get is "Error: Can't find website WNCrocks.org"

try [www.wncrocks.com]

woops

HOLD up a second.

Tight scheduals be DAMNED! Ask anyone who had the fortune/misfortune of being in one of MY films this summer, we hit FOUR locations EACH DAY and most of the time I didn't even know where I was going, just the fact that there were minerals to be found in that district. I drove to Bancroft Ontario, spent 3 days there and filmed an entire video of the district. Plus, my videos have a disclaimer that reads..."Don't tresspass, ask permission, don't litter, pick up litter even if it isn't yours, fill in your holes, don't be an idiot, don't dig over your head, be careful, tell people where you are going, take a friend or two, make sure you can come home alive. Don't even THINK about reselling rocks you just found and leave some for the next collector. If you don't agree to this, remove the DVD and use it for a drink coaster."

So, C&T producers, take a look, follow those rules...oh wait, that would be a pretty boring show, wouldn't it. I don't think MY collecting videos are that boring...well, then again I do have the attention span of a large sized gnat, as opposed to the normal sized gnat.

Anyway, all mean justin sarcasm aside, I hope nobody from this show gets hurt. That would be the WORST THING IN THE WORLD for our hobby, and the person involved!

I've seen this show once so can't say one thing or another about it really, but those of you who are dissatisfied with the show might be interested in writing in and offering consultation services.

Hi Jenna,

I wrote to them close to 10 times over the last two years. Guess how many responses I've gotten?

Less than the amount of hosts the show has had. Two less.

So, they don't care. At all.

Not even the slightest.

Isn't that comforting?

Post Script...
I wasn't even my normal smart mouthed self either...I was really nice!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2008 01:10PM by Justin Butt.

My name is Brad Newport. I was the second part of the petrified wood episode. I can tell everyone my part of the episode was real. Iwas the one who ate the worm.

[Ed: adverts removed]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2008 10:24AM by Jolyon Ralph.

P.T. Barnum said it best:

You'll never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the public
(or something roughly similar to that).

Henry Barwood

Brad,

I don't think anyone questioned the authenticity of the Petrified Wood episode. What concerned us is that one big no no was put into action, filmed and then PUT ON NATIONAL TV as if it was a GOOD THNG TO DO. I'm sure that you know better than to dig over your head, but in the part before they get to your ranch they dig into a dirt and rock filled wall, over the top of their heads, even having to dodge falling rocks and dirt because of this. It might seem cute to someone who doesn't know better, but as most any rockhound worth their salt knows, you don't dig overhead. It only takes a small falling rock to crack you on the head and make the rest of your life the least fun in the world. Or, getting covered up by dirt, might sound like nothing, but what happens is the force of the dirt falling on top of you pushes the air out of your lungs and you breath back in dirt, which doesn't look nearly as heavy as it actually is. Might sound like a long shot, yet I can think of one person who is dead because of just this very scenerio, out on a field trip and without the common sense to not follow this rule.

Your ranch looks like fun though. I didn't see any overhead digging there!

Steve Voynick(sp)...."you can kiss the face, you can tickle the ribs, but never scratch the back"....also, "the mine can make you dead, the company (read stupidity) can kill you"

Justin I couldnt agree with you more. Safety has to be practiced especially on tv. We dont want people going and doing stupid stuff. Like digging over your head,in a trench that looks like you could be buried alive in.I dont know what the expert was thinking.But I can tell you we practice safety at the holleywood Ranch.My son is young but he is very safe when it comes to machinery.I really liked the film crew when they came to my house. But if they are in such a rush that they cannot practice saftey. They should make the show an hour instead of a half.

Henry Barwood,

Actually, your quote most closely resembles that of Elsa Maxwell:

"No one ever went broke in Hollywood underestimating the intelligence of the public."

And H. L. Mencken said something similar:
"No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public."

The American people have their circuses. Now if they could only afford bread.

The last part of my career was spent in sales/marketing for a large corporation. In our business we used technical magazines to advertise our products.

On television, loud voices and sensationalism prevail. Keep in mind America has become a country of couch potatoes who need to be awakened from their TV induced slumber and then, to get their attention, need to be screamed at and entertained by a twenty something who knows little about the topic.

Recently, I saw a program called the "Top 25 Places to See". Every commentator who appeared on screen was a twenty something who could never have travelled to all the locations featured. I found it to be quite annoying, Many of these programs are produced by independent companies who are not held accountable for accuracy.

On "Cash and Treasures", which I found entertaining and informative, I was shocked when she got into the bucket of the front end loader and was lowered into the pit. Cable TV is loaded with stunts like hers and seems to be directed toward people who need a "rush".

Either way, most of what we see on TV is what it is: edited and blown out of proportion.

I don't lose sleep over something I can not change or control. I simply turn off the TV and look at my minerals or browse Mindat and the web.

Justin did you see her sitting in the the trackhoe bucket, My keen sence of smell tell me someone gona get hit by a nice fine. As my MESA and DMME training says, its not a man lift.

well i oops I thought we were being imformed, My g daughter and i are new to this, we live in Iowa so not much here ive heard of except keokuk geodes. Is the upper mich copper mine for real? trying to find a place to take her.just to find neat rocks , we dont care of excellence just some neat rocks to collect.