A Few Thoughts |
table of contents |
By Duke Heath
I received less input on the education issue than any other issue in the five years I have edited M-Ark. The input has been falling off sharply this past year. I hope it picks up. It may be that the newsletter has become obsolete with the increased popularity of the chat room. Topics can be discussed in almost real time in our Yahoo group room. The immediate feedback is great. We must consider whether or not the printed form has become an expense our group no longer needs or wants.
I want to express my appreciation to Bill Westerman for finally consenting to write an article on photography for me. I only regret that the degradation of the images published in the article from the process I use does a great injustice to the wonderful, thought provoking pictures he sent me. To really appreciate his incredible skill with a camera one must see the actual pictures.
Bill's work was on display at the First Annual Invitational Photography Show in Eureka Springs during October. If you failed to catch him there, I believe he is planning even bigger shows in the near future. I strongly recommend you take the time to experience Bill's work.
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Congratulations are in order for Bruce Crabtree! His screenplay "The Old Fart Society" won a Certificate of Merit in the 2003 International Screenplay Competition conducted by the American Screenwriter's Assn. and Writer's Digest. Way to go Bruce! Bruce's third novel, "The Lady and the Ranger/ A Tale of the Texas Rangers" has just returned from the printers. It covers the end of the Reconstruction era and reinstatement of the Rangers. Bruce is wholesaling them for $12.00 plus shipping. Anyone interested should contact him.
This issue was originally scheduled to be about natural catastrophes, but as I began researching volcanos, I kept finding more and more that interested me. I had previous commitments for articles on Tambora and Vesuvius but they never materialized. At the last moment, I came up with an interesting look at Vesuvius but nothing on Tambora. Somewhere during the search I came across the Great Chicago Fire and sent my alter ego, Cat Daddy Stevens, back in time to report on the subject. I hope you enjoy his report on this amazing fire. Perhaps he will travel through time again for us in the future. Please let me know if you found the stories interesting and if you like having our own time traveler to write for us. I thought it was kind of neat to have a first hand report.
The topic for the next issue will be the death penalty. I hope that getting back to controversial topics will generate additional input. I sent out a request for input for this issue and received only a complaint about the e-mail. This is your newsletter. If it is to continue past the next issue I need more input. Please share your thoughts with me on this issue as well as the future of M-Ark
It is a busy time of the year. Because real life duties take precedence over the newsletter, we will have to wait until the next issue for the next Gerry's Grumblings and Don Wyatt's The Funny Farm.
I want to thank our great web master Maags MacLoch for graciously accepting my request far a tech column. Please send questions and input. I also appreciate Guy Rosenschein coming through with another essay for us. His article this month is very thought provoking. I look forward to his article on the guillotine for the next issue.
At the time of this printing, the schedule of meetings is tentative. Please check the Arkansas Mensa website calendar for current status on meetings, testing dates, and a planned get together for the weekend of November 28-30 at Petit Jean Mountain. Again, please check the website for details.
I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! In case input does not pick up, I also wish you all a wonderful life, may you all live long and prosper.