I hung out with herdfan.

[MEJHarrison]

My biggest issue with these types of shows is the manufactured drama.

I've heard that one before. Many times. And I'll tell you what I tell her. If you want a reality show without the manufactured drama, you'll want to look for something called a documentary instead.

With that said, the show(s) certainly have the manufactured drama. I personally don't think it's over the top, but again, I hear the "manufactured drama" phrase a bit too often. So I might just have lower standards. I know what I'm seeing isn't 100% real and they probably do build dumb stories around happy accidents. But I don't think they fake the bigger things. There really are people out there mining and they've captured their story in an entertaining way. I'm fine with them spicing the story up a little because I know how truly boring documentaries can be. Your tastes may vary.

We had an opportunity to be on House Hunters and declined because they wanted us to bicker and look like I wanted one house and she wanted a different one. That isn’t how it went down so we passed.

For me that one is over the top and that's one of her favorites. It's just the gold show in reverse. I couldn't give two shits about the stupid houses, so I tend to notice how fake the rest seems. Just as she's bothered when a neighbor has just the right part to get a broken down wash plant running again.

 

[Renzatic]

Have seen bits and pieces of them but will have to give them a real try.

My biggest issue with these types of shows is the manufactured drama. We had an opportunity to be on House Hunters and declined because they wanted us to bicker and look like I wanted one house and she wanted a different one. That isn’t how it went down so we passed.

It isn't how it happened, but they're willing to pay you to pretend to be mad over something small for a little while. I would've rolled with it.

 

[Eric]

Have seen bits and pieces of them but will have to give them a real try.

My biggest issue with these types of shows is the manufactured drama. We had an opportunity to be on House Hunters and declined because they wanted us to bicker and look like I wanted one house and she wanted a different one. That isn’t how it went down so we passed.

I reached out to them when we were buying a new home and they told us that they won't even start until we had already closed the sale on one. They were interested but my wife nixed the idea because she didn't want to be on TV.

What you're describing is exactly why I stopped watching though, it's totally manufactured drama and sometimes embarrassingly obvious. You'll never see an episode where the couple agrees and the formula is always the same "he/she wants to spend more while he/she wants to keep a strict budget" yada yada, every damn time.

 

[Herdfan]

It isn't how it happened, but they're willing to pay you to pretend to be mad over something small for a little while. I would've rolled with it.

Not paid. LOL.

I reached out to them when we were buying a new home and they told us that they won't even start until we had already closed the sale on one. They were interested but my wife nixed the idea because she didn't want to be on TV.

What you're describing is exactly why I stopped watching though, it's totally manufactured drama and sometimes embarrassingly obvious. You'll never see an episode where the couple agrees and the formula is always the same "he/she wants to spend more while he/she wants to keep a strict budget" yada yada, every damn time.

Yes, our realtor reached out to us last summer after we had owned the house for 8 months. So we would tour our house and two others and then ultimately decide on our house.

Yes, the budget. Ok, so a house is $5K over your budget. Offer $5K less. Won't work in every market, but many times these shows aren't set in the super hot markets. Can't watch Love it or List either.

The place I've picked all my 1% of knowledge is Gold Rush: Mine Rescue with Freddie and Juan. All the other gold shows are about greed and getting as much as possible (which is still fun and I love them). Mine Rescue is about people who are failing at the greed part and struggling hard just to survive. Then Freddie and Juan come in and do what they can to help. They start with a 4-hour test run, then spend a week fixing things, then end with another 4-hour test run to see what effect their changes had. It's a combination of fixing wash plants, setting up wash plants properly and showing people where and how to find the gold. I like that the goal isn't for Freddie and Juan to walk away with gold, but to help struggling miners walk away with some gold. It puts a fun twist on a greedy job.

Ok, great show. Watch S1E1 last night and it was really good. No manufactured drama. Sure stuff is staged for the show and that's OK, just the fake being mad at everyone gets old. And that episode was set here in AZ. Lots of old mines in that area. Thanks for the rec.

There was a flipping show set in Las Vegas. I can't remember the name but the husband and wife would do nothing but bicker and then one would order a full outdoor kitchen set just to get back at the other. You can just tell it is all fake.

There are a ton of fines in the washes around the house. Might go grab a bucket of dirt and do some panning. . We did pan gold when we took an Alaskan cruise. It is not as easy as it looks for sure.

 

[Herdfan]

Some more mine pics:

Hidden Treasure Mine, Bumble Bee, AZ. This one used to be sealed off, but some prospectors broke in looking for more gold.

 

[Herdfan]

American Flag Mine, also Bumble Bee, AZ

The hill up to the mine. The rock outcropping at the top to the left of the tree is supposedly what told them to mine here.

 

[Renzatic]

Not paid. LOL.

Pfft.

 

[Herdfan]

And some more from Florence, AZ

Mineral Mountain Adit. Goes back about 50 yards.

Myers Mine:

Saving the best for last. This is the brothel at the Martinez, Mine. Spent too much time exploring the equipment in the wash plant and didn't get up to the mine entrance at this mine, but they had a brothel in the canyon for the miners. This was the waiting area and the "business" happened through that hole. Looks like lots of quartz in that wall.

So if you ever want to explore a mine, you know how to contact me.

 

[MEJHarrison]

Can't watch Love it or List either.

That one is List It in this house. Even the woman who loves house shows hates that house show. She finds them too mean. She has zero interest in watching people be mean to each other, fake or not.

Ok, great show. Watch S1E1 last night and it was really good. No manufactured drama. Sure stuff is staged for the show and that's OK, just the fake being mad at everyone gets old. And that episode was set here in AZ. Lots of old mines in that area. Thanks for the rec.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. They travel the country, but do find themselves in AZ from time to time.

 

[MEJHarrison]

So if you ever want to explore a mine, you know how to contact me.

I'd love to mine someday. But there's not a chance in hell that I'm going into a hole underground to look for it.

Plus that style of mining seems like more work. You need to extract the material, then crush it to extract the gold from the rocks. They actually visited a hard rock mine in AZ in the current season (season 4).

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I'm hooked on all the gold shows on Discovery. The "knowing where to dig" is the prospecting part. There seems to be a million little things to look for. Shape of rocks, orientation of the rocks, size of the trees in the area, the shape of the land, how the dirt is packed, etc. I saw a gold show recently where some people bought some land in eastern Oregon and it turned out their whole claim had already been mined out. They were never going to get anything beyond what the old timers missed which was very, very little. They eventually got hooked up with a neighbor who had good ground and no way to get the gold out.

The place I've picked all my 1% of knowledge is Gold Rush: Mine Rescue with Freddie and Juan. All the other gold shows are about greed and getting as much as possible (which is still fun and I love them). Mine Rescue is about people who are failing at the greed part and struggling hard just to survive. Then Freddie and Juan come in and do what they can to help. They start with a 4-hour test run, then spend a week fixing things, then end with another 4-hour test run to see what effect their changes had. It's a combination of fixing wash plants, setting up wash plants properly and showing people where and how to find the gold. I like that the goal isn't for Freddie and Juan to walk away with gold, but to help struggling miners walk away with some gold. It puts a fun twist on a greedy job.

As for how the old timers found the places to begin with, I'd guess once upon a time someone found gold in a river. Either they saw it just sitting there, or panned out of curiosity. Then they'd just keep working back up the stream towards the source. When the gold runs dry, then you'd be looking for the source of the gold which leads you underground. So the source is where the gold comes out of the earth and is eroded away into rivers and streams. If you're following the source into the mountain, that's hard-rock mining. If you're after the stuff in the rivers and streams, even if they're ancient rivers and streams that dried up thousands of years ago, that's alluvial mining.

I think when "alluvial" is tossed out, it's probably time to stop boring people. The point is, if you ever get curious enough, Discovery has tons of different gold shows. Gold Rush is the father of them all. So that would be a good jumping off point. But most of the "where to find the gold" and "how to catch the gold" is covered more in the show with Freddie and Juan. Because every episode is new people not finding and catching gold.

One more thing. If you're into metal work and fabrication, Juan drives a semi and hauls his own portable CNC machine around with him. That way they're able to fabricate anything they need on site. If that kind of thing happens to excite you, there's plenty of that as well.

Probably already known by the members here, but one of my favorite nuggets (HA!) of information about the San Francisco gold rush is very few miners got rich. It’s the people who sold them supplies who got rich.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the story of the colonizing of America. Big promises over there far from reality and you’re going to have to spend a lot of money to get there and buy a lot of shit when you arrive.

 

[Renzatic]

Probably already known by the members here, but one of my favorite nuggets (HA!) of information about the San Francisco gold rush is very few miners got rich. It’s the people who sold them supplies who got rich.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the story of the colonizing of America. Big promises over there far from reality and you’re going to have to spend a lot of money to get there and buy a lot of shit when you arrive.

The moral of the story being not to fall for every get rich quick scheme out there, but provide supplies for those who do.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

The moral of the story being not to fall for every get rich quick scheme out there, but provide supplies for those who do.

You’ll secure your place in heaven if your Bible includes the US constitution. You need to supply up for both this life and the after.

 

[Renzatic]

You’ll secure your place in heaven if your Bible includes the US constitution. You need to supply up for both this life and the after.

The Bibletution says I can pack heat in heaven! Jesus is cool with it!

 

[Yoused]

If you want a reality show without the manufactured drama, you'll want to look for something called a documentary instead.

Good luck with that. Some decades ago, there was a highly respected documentary series called Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom which eventally (perhaps after it stopped running) admitted to setting up nature for maximum entertainment value.

 

[MEJHarrison]

Good luck with that. Some decades ago, there was a highly respected documentary series called Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom which eventally (perhaps after it stopped running) admitted to setting up nature for maximum entertainment value.

I remember that show. That was the one time of the week when my grandfather controlled the TV. I even just had the name Marlin Perkins pop into my head from nowhere.

I'd say I wasn't old enough to be interested in the show back then. I was about 5. But honestly, if it were on TV today, I'm still not old enough to be interested. Animal shows aren't really my thing. Hee-Haw was another staple at my grandparents along with Laurence Welk.