pgwk je napisal:
> I almost didn't send this message and also thought carefully about
> dropping out of RFDT, which would be a big loss for me - I enjoy the
> group and am learning so much. I have decided to address the
> underlying issue very directly: Space Cowboy. The second part of this
> posting is a firm effort to rescue the group from him. I do not intend
> to discuss it/him or respond to him; as I stated after his last and
> silly attack on me, no reply is needed or merited. But, something
> needs to be done and I hope I can help RFDT in this regard.
>
> Message Part 1
>
> I have an interesting and, hope, fun challenge for you, my colleagues
> in the delightful exploration of the inexhaustible pleasure of teas. I
> am a pygmy in the field and neither knowledgeable nor an industry
> expert, but I do have some visibility in the business and academic
> fields, where a few people are finding out about my interest in tea
> and my forthcoming book. This is resulting in some intriguing new
> contacts and opportunities. This message is about one of them, where I
> would love your insights and opinions.
>
> Up in New York City, just next to Fifth Avenue, where taking one's
> wife shopping can cost about a thousand dollars a block, there is a
> hotel with a famous name that has contacted me about putting on some
> little showcase events around tea. I meet with the Banqueting Manager
> next week. Here's my thinking (By the way, I don't expect to make any
> money on this, though should he insist on stuffing hundred dollar
> bills into my pocket, I will assuredly not resist him; I am doing this
> because it's fun and it will help sell my book; which will earn me
> maybe $1.20 a copy. Samuel Johnson famously said that no one but a
> blockhead ever wrote except for money - hi, call me Blockhead.)
>
> So, here is the challenge. You have an audience of newbies, You - I -
> want them to leave elated and converts. What would you serve them? I
> will have the chance to serve them any teas, with plenty of staff in
> the black jackets and white gloves. It's a one-time opportunity so I
> need to get it right. Again, what would YOU offer?
>
> I've decided to keep it simple and offer just two blacks, two oolong,
> two greens, two whites plus a couple of "theatricals."
>
> Here's my current choices, with a few comments as to why:
>
> Black teas:
> 1. A Darjeeling, obviously, and one that is fragrant and full and
> contrasts with any hint of the English Breakfast most of the people
> will probably associate with "tea." I'm leaning to either an Ambootia
> second flush or Poobong first flush.
> 2. A Taiwan Lapsong because I simply love it and also because most of
> my newbie friends are very struck by how different it is from any tea
> they know. I converted my CPA yesterday to whole leaf tea rfom
> Celestial Whatevers, when she came to my house to tut-tut about my
> record-keeping through a steaming, glow in the dark Lapsang. She
> phoned me today to say she stopped at Wegman's on her way home and
> bought an Ingenui infuser. So, when my kids ask "Dad, what did you do
> to help save the planet?" I can say, I rescued Susan from drinking
> lawnmower effusions.
> Both my choices are traditional and safe. I thought of a Guranse or
> big Assam, instead. I want something that makes the audience forget
> about Earl Greys and English Breakfasts. I've excluded Ceylon estate
> teas, much as I love them, for that reason.
>
> Oolongs:
> 3. Iron Goddess, again obviously; safe and good.
> 4. Golden Lily, mainly for its vibrant appearance and how it expands
> in the infuser.
> I didn't want anything too light, which led me reluctantly not to
> exclude Spring Pouchong. I also wanted to avoid anything too expensive
> - a major theme in my book is how inexpensive great teas really are --
> so no aged oolong.
> I love oolongs, which are the tea most unfamiliar to newbies -- 1% of
> total US tea sales? I'm not excited by my choices. Any ideas on some
> Wham!!!!! alternatives?
>
> Greens:
> 5. Gyokuro: the toughest choice of all. I screw up two out of three
> attempts to make it and don't know how to ensure a reliable and fresh
> supply. No Matcha, for the same reasons. I thought of Houjicha, and
> even Genmaicha for its novelty value. Obviously, I need a Japanese
> green in the show, especially to wean people off Korean supermarket
> sawdust and Indonesian cement powder.
> 6. Pi Lo Chun: I stayed away from Dragonwell only because I've found
> that most of my newbie friends are very disappointed by it - too light
> and too grassy. Plus, too many quality/grade problems, and the high
> cost of Imperial Dragonwell. Pi Lo Chun seems an "easy" tea to get to
> know.
>
> Whites:
> 7. White Peony: again, easy to enjoy and savor. I kept away from
> Silver Needles and Adam's Peak because these are in my opinion teas
> that you come to once you have explored the fuller and stronger ones.
> 8. White Darjeeling, from Poobong. I love this stuff and it's a good
> way to end the tasting - where we began, in Darjeeling.
>
> Now, for theatricals. Yixing teapots (I get to take them home; I love
> them.). Adagio Ingenui infusers to get across the point that whole
> leaf tea is as convenient and easy to use as tea bags. I am clueless
> about Japanese teaware but obviously the Gyokuro needs its own special
> equipment. I'd welcome recommendations.
>
> A flowery white and a pu-erh for the finale. I don't like most
> flavored teas but a Numi Lavender Dream, Pearl Jasmine or the like
> sure looks great as its little floret or teaspoon becomes a glass
> teapot underwater forest. Then, an affordable pu-ehr - in big cake
> form. Master of ceremonies (me) hands cake and knife to nice lady or
> gentleman and asks her/him to cut off a slice. Nice l/g fails so out
> comes the hammer and chisel. Smash!
>
> So, that's the menu. In addition, I need a good speaker from Fair
> Trade/Eco Exchange or the like to talk about the social issues of tea,
> an expert with good photos to show about hoofing it up in the
> mountains to get great tea, and an industry specialist to talk about
> the future of great teas in the U.S. If you know of candidates, I'm
> interested. Obviously, I will add to the agenda something about the
> Yunnan earthquake and provide an opportunity for the audience to make
> a donation; I need advice/contacts on how to do this.
>
> So, that's the idea. If it is of interest to you, I'd love to hear
> your own views. I will give full acknowledgement to contributors. If
> it does turn out that I make some money out of this, I will ensure
> that contributors/speakers get a share of it.
>
> I hope that the group will totally change my agenda and generate a
> more interesting list of teas.
>
>
> Message Part 2
>
> Now, one other point. Always lurking, anonymously and cowardly, with
> no profile published even after many years on RFDT, is the paranoid
> and very cruel Space Cowboy, whose itchy fingertips are probably ready
> to launch yet more vitriol in response to this message. SC is in fact
> P--- A---, a Colorado Rockies fan, lover of soccer, superbly
> knowledgeable about tea, who has made over the years a few visits to
> such sites as alt.sex.movies. P---, what were you thinking of -- snuff
> films and ******* powder room kiss scenes and half-open blouse
> cleavage!!!!???? His violence of language appears to have begun around
> 2004, according to the two professional mental health counselors I
> asked - legally - to look at his diatribes. I'm the founder of a
> little agency that helps victims of domestic violence, so I know the
> scary pattern of escalating threats leading to potential real damage;
> my advisers think that Space Cowboy is more a danger to himself than
> to others but one of them comments that once the threats from a
> sociopath start - his verbal symptoms appear to be what is termed
> secondary sociopathy - then worry. I have a personal concern here, in
> that my web site got hijacked a year ago by a P-- type expert and I
> had to put up with hundreds of Space Cowboy equivalent logomania
> assaults. I have, on the advice of my website genius, taken my site
> down for a week or so, to Cowboy proof it. So, Paul, don't even think
> about it. Oh, and be careful on the threats. The last one, about
> contacting my publisher to drive me out of "here", crosses the line
> between bluster and danger. If I'd sent you my publisher's e-mail
> address as you demanded and you'd actually followed through, you would
> have committed a Federal crime. To quote approximately from memory one
> of my neighbors, who works in a relevant government agency (when you
> live 30 miles outside DC, as I do, you have a lot of helpful pals who
> work for Fed alphabet soup names to talk to) and to whom I've shown a
> few of your rants: "Another Master of the Universe, who thinks he is
> the law. We see a hundred ot them, a week. They don't know what they
> are doing till an agent turns up on their doorstep." Oh, and please do
> read Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code before you tell me what I
> can't quote and cite from RFTD archives.
>
> After discussions with a number of members of RFDT, I've decided to
> make public my findings and concerns because they damage our group,
> individually and as a community. There are only 600 or so members and
> activity is "medium." It should and could be 1,600 and "heavy." How
> many newbies are scared off by what they see? How many really good
> contributors withdraw from RFDT? The first Space Cowboy slash and burn
> attack that I came across was his vicious and truly weird assault on
> the publishers of the Art of Tea magazine, in April as I recall. I
> note that they haven't come back. Please do, Guys, it's for me a great
> publication, typos and all.
>
> Anyway, back to the NYC event. I would love to hear your
> recommendations, will make sure I do not misuse any information/ideas
> you give me, and hope that at least a few of you will be my guest at
> it. It's not guaranteed to happen, of course, but the probability is
> in the 90% range. Should be kinda fun. And it will be fun just to see
> if there is any consensus on what to serve newbies.


Are you a real person, pgwk? Or, maybe, are you for real?

Espacio gaucho is the USENET fundamentalist with a tea obssession -
aren't we all? So, keep up the good work SC.

Goran