So now your spending 300.00 a year for Ryan, how much you spending for material?

[kakejiku]

Kunio Kobayashi sent them to me personally for some consulting work I did for him....

コバヤシさんは英語を話す、読む。それを初めて聞いた。That would be interesting to hear the backstory. Do tell.

 

[TN_Jim]

Agree. I just don't see any of the ones here that don't want to waste my energy!!!

Man kids sure are dumb these days, but snowflakes are one of a kind.

@Smoke dog, can you also tell me where that $300 tree came from, and show examples of its humble beginnings?

If you don’t, I won’t hold it against you, as if I won at questions.

 

[Adair M]

Just because its listed on Ebay does not mean it sells for that Howard Smith has high end trees on there all the time, for like 5 years!! They are always BUY IT NOW, and never allowed to be in an auction to see what the market really is.

Howard Smith, or Matt Smith?

Matt sells Brussel’s trees on eBay.

I may be wrong, but I don’t think Howard sells on eBay.

 

[Saddler]

snowflakes are one of a kind.

http://thescienceexplorer.com/nature/snowflakes-are-not-unique-we-thought

 

[Bananaman]

How about this... is it the $300 price tag that bothers you or the entire format? If it were free would you still question the usefulness of the videos? Is there any information in the videos that is wrong?

I'll ask one more question. Have you even watched any of the videos?

one...worked with him in person a lot

 

[Bananaman]

Man kids sure are dumb these days, but snowflakes are one of a kind.

@Smoke dog, can you also tell me where that $300 tree came from, and show examples of its humble beginnings?

If you don’t, I won’t hold it against you, as if I won at questions.

I have no idea what your talking about, what tree?

 

[rockm]

A $4000 camera doesn’t make an instant photographer.

A $10,000 stove doesn’t make a good cook.

A $200,000 Maserati doesn’t make a good driver.

The tools are only as good as a person using them.

This is a strange argument to make. It could be made about bonsai TOOLS, but not tree stock. I would definitely say that a $4,000 piece of high end bonsai stock(scroll down in the link) would obviously make a better bonsai even in a beginner's hands than a $5 maple from Greenspring Farms nursery...

That's just the way it is. People don't get that REPUTABLE sellers of high end stock (Ebay is a den of thieves mostly and if you're looking there for trees, you're probably wasting your money), are selling time and the accompanying growth-particularly in trunk and overall character--There is no possible way (even with the silly 'aging' techniques that beginners get excited about) that a nursery tree is going to have a trunk equal to a 100-500 year old trunk. Trunks and nebari are the heart and soul foundation of good bonsai.

Now, the skills to keep up the appearance and health of that tree in the hands of a beginner in another story.

Beginners shouldn't be buying higher end stock, but those that have been doing this for more than five years or so, should be looking to stretch a bit--and "higher end" doesn't mean thousands or even hundreds--could mean "look in places other than walmart and nurseries and SKIP the stupid seedlings."

Good stock can transcend the buyer's abilities. That can push the buyer to match what they've got.

It takes time to understand that. I see that the majority of people arguing that "expensive trees are for snobs" are mostly beginners. Do bonsai for a while, get disappointed with the trees you're working as you get more experience and/or are exposed to better trees in clubs or exhibits, then realize that the people doing those trees probably started out like you, but moved on to better things. That moment will come if you keep at this for a while. Takes some a year to be disappointed with their trees. Some take decades...It's part of the learning curve.

And BTW, no price doesn't always mean quality, but if you're looking in the right places and understand what you're looking at (which is mostly at the heart of why people are arguing that $25 trees make excellent bonsai), price mostly does indicate better quality.

 

[Clicio]

This is a strange argument to make. It could be made about bonsai TOOLS, but not tree stock.

I thought exactly the same.
It's like comparing oranges to garlic.

 

[TN_Jim]

I have no idea what your talking about, what tree?

Turns out we have something in common. I was referring to the tree you bought with the money you saved.

What about my very clear questions regarding Ryan and Mirai?
Could you address those?

 

[Bananaman]

What’s your real problem with Ryan?

I have no problem with Ryan. I met Ryan Neil for the first time in 1998. He was a freshman at Cal Poly. I was Vice President of the Hanford Bonsai Society. Hanford is where the Japanese Museum was and held the First Kazari for bonsai exhibition with large cash prizes. Anthony Galante was a member there. Bob Hilvers who is now very high up with the Golden State Bonsai Federation, the largest bonsai federation in the country and mother ship to ABS, was the President. Anthony Galante owed a road paving business and was very well off financially. Money was no object and he spent like a drunk sailor on trees. On Hanford meetings, Ryan would pop into town, go to the meeting and go to Anthony's for study groups. This was Ryan's first exposures to bonsai. He may have had other exposures and developed them in Hanford but I don't know what he did at home.
I lived 30 miles away from Anthony and so did not make all the study groups but I always sat next to Ryan in the club meetings and we worked on his Home Depot junipers. Remember he was a 20 year old kid and I was a 43 year old grandpa to him.

Has he ever judged your work?

No

What does how much money myself or others spend on anything have to do with anything regarding RN or any Mirai content?

It doesn't. I just proposed some questions and frankly thought the forum would just answer them. I had no idea there was so much animosity. If I invite you to my house for dinner I expect you to act like an adult, engage in conversation and seek mutual respect. If I ask a question on this forum I think of it much the same way as asking you to dinner. If you don't wish to follow those rules, then look away from the post. Don't interact if all you have to say is negative shit. Just because a thread starts and you don't agree with it doesn't mean you have to go into it and call the OP a son of a bitch, which some have done in not so many words.

Now, I am heavily steeped in California bonsai politics. There is lots more to the story and Ryan Neil. I have to walk both sides of the aisle.

 

[TN_Jim]

I have no problem with Ryan. I met Ryan Neil for the first time in 1998. He was a freshman at Cal Poly. I was Vice President of the Hanford Bonsai Society. Hanford is where the Japanese Museum was and held the First Kazari for bonsai exhibition with large cash prizes. Anthony Galante was a member there. Bob Hilvers who is now very high up with the Golden State Bonsai Federation, the largest bonsai federation in the country and mother ship to ABS, was the President. Anthony Galante owed a road paving business and was very well off financially. Money was no object and he spent like a drunk sailor on trees. On Hanford meetings, Ryan would pop into town, go to the meeting and go to Anthony's for study groups. This was Ryan's first exposures to bonsai. He may have had other exposures and developed them in Hanford but I don't know what he did at home.
I lived 30 miles away from Anthony and so did not make all the study groups but I always sat next to Ryan in the club meetings and we worked on his Home Depot junipers. Remember he was a 20 year old kid and I was a 43 year old grandpa to him.


No


It doesn't. I just proposed some questions and frankly thought the forum would just answer them. I had no idea there was so much animosity. If I invite you to my house for dinner I expect you to act like an adult, engage in conversation and seek mutual respect. If I ask a question on this forum I think of it much the same way as asking you to dinner. If you don't wish to follow those rules, then look away from the post. Don't interact if all you have to say is negative shit. Just because a thread starts and you don't agree with it doesn't mean you have to go into it and call the OP a son of a bitch, which some have done in not so many words.

Now, I am heavily steeped in California bonsai politics. There is lots more to the story and Ryan Neil. I have to walk both sides of the aisle.

Thank you for your candor, honestly appreciated. Also, thanks for taking the time.

As far as opposing viewpoints, you seem to have a knack for pulling them amongst this community(s) to the light. This is a rare quality with apparent merit.

I am genuinely curious of your experiences and knowledge of trees and appreciate it. Salty too is respectable, this don’t make for a sunva’ bitch agreed.

Why did George Washington cut down that cherry tree?

 

[2pops]

Not all are aiming for heart-stopping, show winning pieces. In fact, some are merely trying to create something esthetically pleasing to their eye (to heck with bonsai dogma).
I’m not necessarily a huge fan of Ryan, but I AM a huge fan of finding a low cost eduction that is obtainable at my convienece.
If I should ever decide my skills are adept enough for a $1000+ piece of field/yamadori material then I’ll be happy to step up to the plate at that time.

Until then, I’ll gladly hone my skills and knowledge and squeeze out every bit of pertinent info for a mere $30 per month and enjoy a new hobby. (As I’m still very much in the tree killing stage of my education, $30 per month is a VERY cheap way to learn).