Mick

Yep, before we moved off down to Florida and civilization when I was ten, we lived on my grandmother's farm out in Owens Cross Roads, Alerbamer and we had our own chickens fer layin' and fer eatin'. My Dad would catch them and wring their necks and my grandma would bleed 'em, gut 'em, and fry 'em up. What scares me about them fresh chickens in Chiner though, is all that bird flu goin' around. I would hate to be Case No. 1, ground zero fer the next pandemic.

Those seats look a bit set back from the table, Randy. Unless they are movable, a feller would need some long arms to reach his vittles.

That kid has a truck load of talent, cuzin' Chawles. He should have a brilliant future ahead of him. More importantly, however, how have you been old buddy? Long time, no hear.

Congrats and best wishes on a lifetime of happiness and blessing. :greenblob:

Wow, Randy. Thanks so much for posting this. I am currently working on an article for a magazine that deals with the kinds of things that might happen in today's world if Christians actually lived their faith. It is an extensive article, written by four writers, of which I am one. My section deals with medical and business ethics, and the article you posted is perfect source material. When I lived in China, I knew several professors who were consistently passed over for promotions, research grants, and other perks, soley because they were Christian. The reality of "persecution" has many faces, some far more subtle than others. I am hoping that as the future unfolds, if the Chinese government is serious about reducing corruption, they might begin to look more positively toward Chinese Christians and see them as part of the solution to the problem. Jesus told his listeners that before they signed on with him, it would be best if they "counted the costs" of doing so. It should be noted that many of his listeners most likely walked away, like the Rich Young Man described in the 19th chapter of Matthew. In this very same chapter, however, the Master goes on to describe the rewards awating those that give up everything to follow his way of life. Jesus was truly a revolutionary figure, turning the world's value system on its head. I love this quotation by Houston Smith, the famous scholar of comparative religion: …we have heard Jesus’ teachings so often that their edges have been worn smooth, dulling their glaring subversiveness. If we could recover their original impact, we too would be startled. Their beauty would not paper over the fact that they are “hard sayings,” presenting a scheme of values so counter to the usual as to shake us like the seismic collision of tectonic plates…We are told that we are not to resist evil but to turn the other cheek. The world assumes that evil must be resisted by every means available. We are told to love our enemies and bless those who curse us. The world assumes that friends are to be loved and enemies hated. We are told that the sun rises on the just and the unjust alike. The world considers this to be indiscriminating; it would like to see dark clouds withholding sunshine from evil people. We are told that outcasts and harlots enter the kingdom of God before many who are perfunctorily righteous. Unfair, we protest; respectable people should head the procession. We are told that the gate to salvation is narrow. The world would prefer it to be wide. We are told to be as carefree as birds and flowers. The world counsels prudence. We are told that it is more difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom than for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye. The world honors wealth. We are told that the happy people are those who are meek, who weep, who are merciful and pure in heart. The world assumes that it is the rich, the powerful, and the wellborn who should be happy. In all, a wind of freedom blows through these teachings that frightens the world and makes us want to deflect their effect by postponement – not yet, not yet! H.G. Wells was evidently right: either there was something mad about this man, or our hearts are still too small for his message.

I love it, tsapper! The interview, especially. John Waters, with that little pencil thin mustache, just looks the part doesn't he. It's like, he exudes sleaze from every cell in his body. Just cracks me up to no end. Off on another tangent for a moment: his 'stache reminds me of a descriptive writing contest I won way back in high school. It was put on by some artsy fartsy society connected with New College up in Sarasota (I say "up" in Sarasota because I lived "down" in Venice, about 15 miles south." Anywaze, this was around the time New College was just getting started. They played us a clip of a video, about 30 seconds long and we were supposed to give a description of something we saw. One of the characters had one of those little pencil thin mustaches and I did an extended simile, likening the stache to a dying earth worm on a driveway in the august heat.

Lordy Mercy cuzin' tsapper - way back in 1978 Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisberg put out an album entitled "Twin Sons of Different Mothers" and I swear you and me fits that bill to a T and then some. Pink Flamingos is one of my all time favorites and like I said, the minute I got that appointment to head up the film series I knew right outta the gate what movie was coming in first. Your story about having to make three attempts to see the whole thing all the way through cracked me up. Some folks jest can't handle the subtleties of fine art I guess and that must have been what happened to yer friends lady friend. Crackers and that thar chicken quite a series of scenes fer shore. And I had plumb fergot about Edie being wheeled off in the wheel barrow. Damnation, what a great scene that wuz. Divine was quite a popular figure in her (his) right. I saw him (her) on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson at some point. I can't resist posting this:

Tsap, let me tells you about my adventures with Pink Flamingos. In my sophomore year in college, I was appointed director of the Student Government Association's Film Series. That meant that it wuz up to me and my crack team of movie afficianados to bring in the weekly movies that were shown in the student union. Boy did they ever make a mistake with that one. My very first offering to the student body was a double feature that included Pink Flamingos and Mechanized Death, a horrid and grotesque car accident film put out by the Ohio State Police. You can imagine the reaction. The students loved it, but the university administration took a very dim view of my taste in celluloid entertainment. I got hauled into the President office and was told I needed to resign or they would freeze the funds to the Film Series. Well, I went ahead and resigned, rather than having no money fer the film series. The SGA, however, did get a lawyer and sued the university, stating the funds came out of student activity fees and the school had no right to impinge upon our "artistic freedom" under the First Amendment. We won the case and after that, all bets were off. The first film on tap after the court case was Deep Throat. Pink Flamingos is a classic. Remember the lady with the blue hair, who sent Divine and Crackers a turd? "She sent us a turd, Ma!" said Crackers, over and over. And Edie, the fat girl that lived in the play pen eating boiled eggs? What a trip. I also remember the scene with the chicken and Crackers ripping its head off at one point. I loved that movie.

Now you can color me naive ifin' you wants to, but I bin tryin' tuh figger out egg-xactly what that feller was tryin' to do with that thar aig. Now, wuz he hopin' that cause hiz mighty sword wuz a tad on the short side of the scale that he might be able to push the aig on up deeper into his sweetie and thereby give her what the Chiner folks calls a "high tide."? (My wife says I don't give her high tides, I deliver tsunamis) Or do you thaink he thought cause he was, at best, totin' a Derringer when he needed a shotgun, that his tiny utensil might poke into the aig and, surrounded by the yeller yoke, feel a greater sense of snugness and therefore have more pleasure hizzowndamnself? Or, could it be that he wuz just marinatin' the aig in the splendid nectar of hiz sweetie's jade palace fer a spell, and hopin' to have hizzelf a bit of a cunninglingual snack later on. I ain't quite got it figgered out yet, cause I ain't never shoved no aig up in a lady, or even a blowup critter fer that matter. Now ol' Roscoe Rubadub, that's an entirely different story - he has shoved aigs, hell, even whole chickens......naw, Ol' Roscoe's stunts - that's even too perverted fer this forum ....

I think Hemingway was great at telling a descriptive story using fewer words than most writers. He honed his skills as a journalist, first in Toronto and then with the Kansas City Star. I remember a professor I had in graduate school once used this example, which compares Hemingway's style to other writers. One of the examples was: "The dark nimbus sky hung heavy and pregnant over the soon to be torrent filled streets." (unnamed novelist) "It's going to rain." (Hemingway) Earl Hamner, who wrote the novel and short stories the TV series The Waltons was based on, once said that writing was a lot like cooking. He said adjectives are great things, but like chili peppers, should be used sparingly.

Now here is a case where it is great to have front wheel drive.

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So Randy, how is that "feeling in pure and unadulterated?"

That was one neat trick for sure. It is pretty amazing what engineers can accomplish sometimes. On another aspect of the article, I guess I spent far too many years editing magazine and newspaper articles. In newspapers especially, wording has to be very concise and there are constant space issues. This segment of the article is poorly written, with the second paragraph repeating what was said in the first, but adding a few new facts. It's really no big deal and also none of my concern to be honest. But those kind of little things sometimes drive me nuts - writing for newspapers puts a premium on words and one has to be very economical in their use. It's like Hemingway, who cut his writing teeth as a reporter for the Kansas City Star. Hemingway was always a verbal tightwad when it came to writing. He was in many ways like the Joe Friday of literature: "Just the facts, Ma'am." Sorry about that little digression. Dan, if you want to delete it, be my guest.

I lived down in Miami for 15 years, where coke was king. During the 80's especially, the long pinkie nail was in vogue for snorting. Some were long, but not nearly as long as in the photo in this thread. You would not want a nail so long that you could not control it. Coke was considered too expensive to spill...Of course, that is only hearsay, I never had any personal experience with such a thing.

The article had two interesting revelations: In a study of three cities in Sichuan, 95.2 percent of respondents said they had visited a Commercial Sex Worker (I love that term). 95.2 percent! Now that is just about everyone. Wow! And the second thing I found interesting was that the statement that the virus was spreading fastest among the elderly. Must have a lot of horney old men in China. I find these two points, at least from a sociological perspective, to be fascinating.

Cred, it wasn't me that wrote those words, but like Carl, I like them. There are so many actions that are subtle but very real ways to express love. I think it all boils down to being considerate, thoughtful, and having great respect for the other person. If you possess these qualities, then expressing love through actions is second nature. I think, for example, that Tsap has shown great love for his lady by helping her get a business set up for herself, buying an apartment complex and renovating it - these are all concrete actions that say I love you with both depth and sincerity. Others on the board have talked of things like life insurance, social security, etc. - things that provide for her after you have departed for the great beyond. These are such real and lasting ways of expressing one's true affection.

When Li and I were first together, I noticed she rarely said "I love you," yet, at the same time, she wanted me to say it. I vividly remember one of our very early dates, maybe our third. We were walking in the park after dinner. We stopped by a lake and she, standing behind me, threw her arms around me. She asked shyly, "Do you like me?" I said, "I like you very much, LiLi." After a short silence she said, "Like is not enough." Fact is, I was already head over heels in love with her and once I said it, she began saying it as well. In our home, the three of us, myself, Li, and our daughter Salina, throw the three words around with much depth and frequency. I agree completely that actions speak louder than words, that is without question. Yet I also find that actions and words are a healthy balance. I am glad I don't have to choose between one or the other.

Down here in Tennerbama, it is raining and we have thick cloud cover. We don't use a ground hog though, we use a possum. The tradition is that after bringing out the possum to see if he sees his shadow, we then shoot the possum and give it to a needy family for vittles. So we don't have a critter like Punxsutawney Phil that comes back year after year. We just have a different possum every year. It is based on an ancient tradition from the days the first settlers come into these parts. They, too, wrote a poem that goes like this: If the possum sees the sun, Put a bullet in his bun. If he sees the clouds instead, Put a bullet in his head. It don't much matter one way or the other, especially if you is the possum.

Congrats and best wishes, Ruby. Hope you made it through the winter storm okay in Jackson.

I guess the milk tea girl is cute, but as a Candle veteran, I can say without reservation that many of our wives over the years have been and are more beautiful.

I am like you credzba - I often get nostalgic and homesick for China when I see these great shots of everyday life that Randy posts. Makes me feel like a part of me is missing in a strange sort of way. The five years I spent over there were among the happiest and most positive years of my life. I can still vividly remember my New Years times over there, all of them filled with great memories. One year I spent the New Year in Thailand, but the other years I stayed in China. That is not the time of year to be traveling. Yes, the pollution is horrible and my docs won't let me on a plane to Memphis, much less Hong Kong. Li and Salina are going back for a short visit this summer.

I am so glad that she won. I have rooted for her since seeing her play my first year living in China. She was only a teenager back then. She has battled through a lot over the years and deserves everything she has attained.

It is so interesting how much spin doctoring is going on here. Often foreigners in China, especially members of the media, think that the same rules of their homeland apply in China. The reporter kept saying, "This is a public place, I am allowed to report here." Fact is, it was an off limits area and the police, initially a police woman, tried to stop him from going forward, but he just kept barging ahead and ignoring their warnings. The report said officials told him "without law and order there would be chaos in China." What we in the West fail to understand is how true that statement is. In a nation with 1.3 billion people, law and order is absolutely essential, even more so than in a nation our size. The network put such a negative spin on this thing, making it seem like a desire to cover up human rights violations when, in fact, it was more a case of an over-zealous journalist who was completely disrespectful of the laws of the land he was working in. I taught Journalism classes at the university level for years, both in America and in China. One of the first cardinal principles a novice reporter must learn is to respect all laws of the country you are working in, especially countries that have what might be deemed "strict or repressive" governments. Now don't get me wrong, I am not defending China's history of human rights violations. I know what that history is and understand why people are critical. But in this case, you would think the reporting could have been just a tad more objective. Just my two cents. . . .

My fear is that even if China gets serious about cleaning up the air, it is going to be very difficult. The huge population with more and more cars on the road, coupled with the continued use of coal as the primary fuel for heating, will make clean up efforts very slow and maybe even ineffective. Yet things are rapidly reaching a point where people actually cannot breathe the air. The government will have to become very strict with regulations on industry instead of a few street vendors. And corruption can no longer be tolerated, where a factory chief pays off local inspectors and/or officials and they look the other way. That sort of corruption is so ingrained in the Chinese culture that it is going to be hard to eradicate. I hate to see the air getting this bad over there. I love China, its people, its culture, and its history. Even more personal, Li's family is right in the thick of it in central and western Jiangsu Province - places like Changzhou which recently was graded with the worst air pollution in the country. It is a matter of grave concern and if you are a Candle member, most likely you have extended family over there now. Rarely a day goes by that I don't try to keep a check on this. Li's brother often sends us photos of the situation in Changzhou. Her sister, living in Ma'anshan, a city on the Jiangsu/Anhui border and overlooking the Changjiang River, is also in pretty bad shape. The iron industry is big there and steel smelting doesn't make for nice air.