Oh brother. In defense of myself, Dan has been absolutely and continually obnoxious and provocative toward me since before Christmas when I simply noted that sterile media was a better choice for repotting any type of cuttings. This continued, and continues in threads I don't even participate in. Now, he's playing the victim and acting as though I've eaten his young. There was no sniping here. Dan simply made another statement that made absolutely no sense. I made a simple statement with an alternate explanation based on science, not theory, and he started shouting, as usual. In my next post, I asked him to please explain himself, because it made no sense, and he went absolutely ballistic, writing 8 abusive and sarcastic paragraphs ....... so please don't lay the blame at my doorstep. Hey - I said it before, if the forum consensus is such that misinformation shouldn't be corrected, or someone is above having to explain themselves, then I have lots of other things I can be doing. I hold myself to a very high standard when it comes to the accuracy of what I say, and I don't post guesses or untested/unproven theories that fly in the face of settled science. I know what I'm talking about, and I don't operate at beyond the limits of my knowledge, which is the cause of a LOT of problems on these forums. Anyone can see that I'm always friendly and cordial unless I'm treated poorly, and I always allow plenty of room for alternate opinions when they make sense. If they don't, I tend to correct misinformation or offer alternate thinking, which I look at as a service to others. I tend to answer more technical questions because that's where my strength lies. The fact is, Dan cannot take any form of criticism, and cannot accept the idea that he might be wrong, or there is something he might not know. He's proven this over and over in altercations with many others. He still holds and acts out a terrible grudge because of an offhand comment last December, bringing it up again and again as justification for going off on not only me, but on others as well. Take a look at my posts on this forum where I don't have Dan trying to run roughshod over me and others, and you'll find them exemplary. Then, take a look at the Dan's continual sniping in posts that he participates in that has been occurring since before Christmas. Al

Yep, will have that glass of wine!! I kind of like his butt too!! LOL..........so glad I'm done with him..........but he has a twin! In the makings! Won't post any pictures until he's done...won't torture you guys like this again LOL..It will probably be March or April!!As I've got too many other projects to finish....He will be in a different style! I'm NUTS! Thanks everyone for pushing me through this project.

I keep a reading journal and it has a place to rate your reads on a scale of 1-10. So, I'll list the books I read this year according to how I rated them. (I know this message is way too long, but hey--I hardly ever get a chance to post, horrible lurker that I am, so a once-a-year overly long posting isn't too horrible, right?) 10-Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey Sentimental 10 rating--remember reading it as a child and it held up. Good fun. 10-Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell What a mind-blowing book with so many layers and connections. LOVED IT! 10-Gilead by Marilynne Robinson Such a beautiful and contemplative book that examines aging, new life, regrets, families, grudges, grace and God. Particularly loved how the main character finds beauty in sunlight catching a sprinkler's spray or birds roosting on a phone wire (two things that would have been impossible to see in the 1800s). 10-Gonzalez and Daughter Trucking Company: A Road Novel with Literary License by Maria Amparo Escandon This is the "One City, One Book" pick for 2009 in our town. It is such a page-turner! The main character is in a women's prison in Mexico for a crime that remains a mystery for most of the book. She starts a reading group for the inmates, only she doesn't actually read the text, rather tells her story. 10-I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith This book has been mentioned time and again on this forum and I finally got around to reading it this year--THANK YOU to whoever recommended it. I loved it so much! 10-There is Room for You by Charlotte Bacon Such beautiful descriptions of India, both in the 40s and the 90s. Loved the two intertwining narratives of mother and daughter, both outsiders in India but at two different times. A very lush book. 10-The Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys I'm sure everyone in the world had read this but me. Written in the 1960s, it imagines the story of Mrs. Rochester (Mr. Rochester's crazy wife that he kept locked in the attic in Jane Eyre.) It was hard to read and I gave it a 10 not because I loved it, but because it did perfectly what it meant to do. It said so much about patriarchy, post-colonialism, feminism, and madness in ways I'd never thought of. I need to re-read. 10-The Woman I Kept to Myself by Julia Alvarez This book of poems was so great that I am going to buy the book. There's one poem in the particular about how she can tell who her husband is talking to on the phone by the tone of his voice. Another one talks about how she can't bear to throw out her headbands, even though she has short hair now, because they are such a symbol of her girlhood. You have to read these poems out loud so that you can hear the sound of them. 9-Five Skies by Ron Carlson Loved this book! Three men out on the plains building stuff and eating really good food. I have no idea why I related so strongly to them! It was downgraded to a 9 because of the...

Yes - I also thought that 'open letter' (that someone posted in full further up the thread, I think - the link in DrewM's post above didn't work when I tried it) was either extremely self-centred, or the author was ignorant of the purpose of an awards ceremony and mistakenly thought it was just another show put on solely for public entertainment. In fact it's a professional/industry awards night for showbiz people along with the Press, who sponsor the event. The high level of public interest is the only reason they now broadcast it, so the public can get to see what goes on, and no doubt the sponsors get a nice bit of revenue from it. But even though some adaptations are naturally made to cater for the TV cameras and the wider audience, viewers should not expect or demand that the whole, essentially private event be repurposed into something it's not. Recipients of lifetime achievement awards are generally given a bit more time and leeway to say whatever they like in their acceptance speeches than are other lesser award winners, in keeping with it being the highest honour of the night. If one such honoured recipient chooses to use their speech to draw attention to a recent notorious and very unwelcome performance from a different kind of actor, and to appeal to the Press to continue to do their job despite the current campaign of intimidation/attempted suppression against them, to vigorously defend the rights and dignity of those many professionals in the industry who would fall into the unwanted/ scapegoated groups the PE has chosen to stir up and magnify a dark seam of xenophobic anger and hate against - that is a somewhat unusual, but topical and entirely industry-relevant use of that platform. As VedaB said, if members of the general public happen to find this not entertaining enough and/or offensive in some way and/or don't understand its relevance, that's fine - it's not their industry's awards night anyway, and they don't have to watch!