knloregon

"I'm ready to get moving in earnest on guitar 2 which will be a gift for my best friend. " Well, Carl, since you now have all the specialized tools and jigs set up --- Hope you now start several instruments at once. You are not a young man to be entering this craft, and after all, even Stradivarious was a multigenerational, somewhat massed produced workshop. If you are producing exceptional guitars, makes sense to me put them into as many skilled musician's hands as possible.

It really is beautiful, but to borrow an expression from the distiller's trade; the 'Maker's Mark' is in the sound. Hopefully that will win a wide audience, so Carl can make good use of all that he has developed in the last two years.

Thanks, Mick ~! (and special thanks..) Well, I like 'cos-play' every bit as much as the Communist top leadership at Xinhua (who call the shots on what's published) ;... and hey, comin' fro' a Communist family we's all amused ! -- even at the patriarchal top! Personally, I'd be in-clined to stray wide of lill' black & orange.. (I'll be joining the patriarch -- Fei and the little lad Luke is already there --- in YueYang -- Hunan, in August. Weather is currently.... horrible. YueYang's low temperatures in the last several days (87f) are about 10 degrees above our HIGH temps.

What most CLers don't know is that we in Portland are at the tail end of very stable warm, dry weather, and I have to speculate, that must be pretty good for Carl's guitar. Certainly any residual moisture or resin glue etc. off gassing was facilitated in the last several weeks in Portland. Pretty exciting to anticipate the results, hope Carl can get it in the hands of an accomplished musician for a test run..

No wonnar' them US papers losin' reeders. Kant splor a rell-I-vant topic like Xinhua! Lill'' worried bout that lill' black & orange gal --- she ain't hidn' an adam's apple in that lil' outfit .... is 'she'? (not to mention wha else she might be a' hidn')

"Great stuff guys.." So true Tsap ~ ! And while Carl is about 2 miles south of us, in the past, it might as well have been the difference of two climate zones -- Bing, has historically produced great food gardens, to our mediocre attempts, but this year, we have something special: Our hardy banana, which I bought as a novelty at WalMart for 5$ -- 6 or 7 years ago, is actually producing bananas ~ ! In Portland Oregon!

Hague Convention is an important distinction, as you well know. I have two Chinese daughters adopted under the Hague convention, and I'm aware that the wait under the CCAA for foreigners to adopt is now in excess of 4 years (non special needs). Sorry I can't help in your case, since the process you are going through is most likely provincial, rather than national. But I suspect your child would obtain US citizenship (as my daughter #2 did) simply by stepping on American soil. --- If I recall correctly, Congress passed a broad exemption in that regard. --- Good Luck! (and if you are successful, expect to have your greatest parenting wishes fulfilled!)

" in the event of my death " : ) Mike, may you and yours stay: forever young! -- but seriously, you really are one of the best posters here, when the 'devil is in the details!' ~

"Yessir, like I always say, "they just ain't nothin' like walkin' the streets in Chinertucky gazin' upon the worlds most beautiful wimmins.....as they sahsha those sumptious tiny hineys in a fog of the overpowerin' perfume of.........sewer gas. " Tsap, you (continue) to crack me up.

And one thing I can't understand (that Mike and several others mentioned) --- the still continued reluctance to trap drains to prevent the incursion of sewer gas --- but for most of us who visited China last century --- even in the major cities -- concrete tiles covering surface sewer lines, and that constant sickly sweet smell.

" This gave me the ability to burn things outside the WOK. (A different take on "wok the dog" ... Mike's (cautionary) accounts seem the best, and most consistent with my experience over the years working in renovation and running herd on contractors --- but without the culture and language barriers.... Personally (tongue in cheek) , I'm not into "woking the dog" --- but did, in one case, eat dog that wasn't identified in advance.

"...Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as wild and untamed horses......" OOOOHHHHHH Yes ~ ! Onion got it right! (As did the People's Daily) --- which reported the Onion's story as straight news...

I'm very much a' Rule of Law' kind of a guy, but for me, the big question is: Why shouldn't LEGAL aliens be able to vote? At least, in local and state elections. ---- we all know, that even if they apply for citizenship, it will be at least several years (minim) before they attain it --- meanwhile, they are building families, and mentioned in a earlier post --- voting --- in the PTA, the neighborhood association, and other less formal venues of their every day lives. They are LEGALLY here in the US --- shouldn't they be able to vote on the policies that affect them directly, and their families?? Sure, true to form, even though I'm and old Kennedy Democrat, (which is to say, a political centrist, at this point) my wife Fei (from the old Communist family) is far to the right, on most issues we discuss...

.. I guess the approval of the illegal under-18 immigrant children of illegals has taken the time away from processing of legal immigrants. .. " SZ, its going to get worse before it gets better --- I'm a life-long Democrat, but its pretty clear after the election, , that illegal immigrants are going to go to the head of the line on immigration matters.. Maybe one of the few things I agreed with Romney on was his commitment to a fair (legal) immigration policy. Thats now out the window for many Candle members here.

Randy is %100 right on this, as is b.c --- Don't expect to enter the US --- or any other country on an expired Green card --- Regardless of letters of extension. In our case, it was US > Mexico, (wife had the wrong document -- her two year green card, not her current 10 year--) Didn't matter --- We were sent back to the US on the next flight. Airlines are on the hook for the trip back, so they are less than tolerant at the POE --- they obviously, are not in our corner.

Wow, Carl ~ ! its shaping up to be a very beautiful thing ~ !

Mick, At its most elemental, and NOT assuming what I already know about you --- Extreme events register extreme responses. Do most combat vets returning from VN question their spiritual base ~ ? (and yeah, after they have hit rock bottom) I obviously, don't know. I do know, from your postings here, that once you, at the bottom of your own post war existence, pressed your own internal 'reset button', you regained control of your existence. Its a great story, and worth retelling. Unfortunately, I also do know that this small congregation, probably can't pay to bring you out. (its been discussed in another case recently). How are you feeling ?

Hell, Randy, I thought you already WERE a moderator here at the Candle, since your posts always reflect both reserve --- and authority, based more on facts than opinion. And yes, we both know we disagree from time to time. But Carl, this is definitely a step in the right direction --- more 'boots on the ground' -- in China.

Carl, Mick is WAAAAY ahead of me in spiritual development, both Christian, and among the faiths he sought out after VN. So he's kind of a big picture kind of a guy. He fits as a guest minister, (IMHO), because his experience is not that far off from this congregation: They are all the second and third generation of Chinese Americans, and almost all have generational roots directly back to the the Chinese Exclusion Acts (the church was founded in 1879) --- so they are anything but intolerant. Ironically, the Veterans Day honors skip a generation (or two) in this small congregation ---- the Deacons of this Church both served China, and the United States on the Burma Road. Carl, you and Bing would be most welcome here, if you'd like to attend.

"I send up prayers of protection for our troops in combat as this day unfolds in lands far away. I send up prayers for their families who suffer in countless ways. And I send up prayers of healing for those who are still suffering from the ravages of having been in the cauldron of hell, whether in our current war or all that came before. I will also call my Dad today. Now 92, my father went ashore the second day on Omaha Beach. I will personally thank him for what he did all those many years ago. And I send up especially, prayers for peace. " Ahem, Mick ... I'd love to have you as a guest minister at Portland's Chinese Baptist Church.....

And I mean that globally --- for all who would test America

Nice Carl, but in the Geo-Political sense of the US military: What part of the word: "deterrent" don't you understand?

Not sure what happened to the specific pinned VN thread, and of course, I mean this for all Vets, regardless of how you served us all ---- THANK YOU ~ ! VN was my generation's war, so personally, its a little more specific --- but Vet -- Day is where we get to honor all of you, regardless of the campaign, or service. We are Free because of all of you --- you too Carl....

" There are plenty of ways to get the money in - if you really ARE investing millions, you should already know how, and you'd also know not to be asking about it on a public forum." Thanks Randy. This thread represents the best of the Candle --- Even if the OP's original post "might" have been a cynical coverup ---- members step up to assist

You're right Carl, stand corrected.. ... but the OP and antryg have much in common. All of it covers, like a (red herring) from the NYT's article on the extended Wen family fortune. Carl, as you know, (and others do as well) I'm no fan of the NYT's as it relates to reporting on China --- But they got this right, and it should not be buried --- not in China, and certainly --- not here at the Candle...