One Year Ago
Kip Williams
looked up from where we had been packing the two largest suitcases we
ever owned. Oh, great, we were thinking, how does this complicate our
trip to China?
A week earlier, we had gotten the announcement that China was host to a
virulent new ailment called SARS. I heard about this debilitating and
fatal flu-like illness while I was suffering a debilitating bout of flu
(24 trips to the bathroom in one day), so you can imagine how thrilled I
was about that. Theoretically, 'good' news existed, but I wasn't hearing
a lot of it.
So anyway, we went to bed, suitcases packed and heads buzzing. I've
slept better.
Next day, March 20, a year ago today, we got up early, placed the
child's car seat we had purchased into the Saturn, and drove to the
airport early so we could go through the lengthened safety precautions.
Then we got on the first of a series of airplanes, and when we got off,
the calendar would be showing a different date.
Somewhere in an orphanage near Hefei, a tiny girl named Xi-Huan slept
on, unaware.
--
--Kip (Williams) ...at members.cox.net/kipw
"Well! Two naughty, nasty children gone. Three good, kind children
left!" --Willy Wonka
Mishalak
> A year ago yesterday, we saw the news that the US was invading Iraq. We
> looked up from where we had been packing the two largest suitcases we
> ever owned. Oh, great, we were thinking, how does this complicate our
> trip to China?
And in Denver there was so much snow it knocked the war news off the
front page of the newspapers. It seemed like the only thing we could
talk about was the 3-5 feet of heavy snow. It was very nice. Most of
our water needs for a year and no need to talk about the war for two days.
Mishalak
--
Remove nowhere to email me.
Matthew B. Tepper
be typed in news:oLY6c.13835$rQ.11417@lakeread04:
> A year ago yesterday, we saw the news that the US was invading Iraq. We
> looked up from where we had been packing the two largest suitcases we
> ever owned. Oh, great, we were thinking, how does this complicate our
> trip to China?
>
> A week earlier, we had gotten the announcement that China was host to a
> virulent new ailment called SARS. I heard about this debilitating and
> fatal flu-like illness while I was suffering a debilitating bout of flu
> (24 trips to the bathroom in one day), so you can imagine how thrilled I
> was about that. Theoretically, 'good' news existed, but I wasn't hearing
> a lot of it.
>
> So anyway, we went to bed, suitcases packed and heads buzzing. I've
> slept better.
>
> Next day, March 20, a year ago today, we got up early, placed the
> child's car seat we had purchased into the Saturn, and drove to the
> airport early so we could go through the lengthened safety precautions.
> Then we got on the first of a series of airplanes, and when we got off,
> the calendar would be showing a different date.
>
> Somewhere in an orphanage near Hefei, a tiny girl named Xi-Huan slept
> on, unaware.
I presume she has since been adopted by a nice couple from somewhere?
--
Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks!
My personal home page -- http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/index.html
My main music page --- http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/berlioz.html
To write to me, do for my address what Androcles did for the lion
Russell Watson is to opera as Velveeta™ is to aged cheddar cheese
Eu. Harry Andruschak
little about it. I had far more important things on my mind. Well, important to
me.
I had just mailed off payment #9 of my Chapter 13 plan, and so was 1/4 of the
way through, wondering how I could hold on. I had to save up the money for
Pearly's annual vet checkup in June. Pearly was no longer hissing at Conway,
and the two were well on their way to becoming friends and litter mates. I was
in weekly therapy sessions to deal with the depression triggered by my
castration surgery. Iraq was the least of my worries.
Reply to harryandruschak AT aol DOT com
Honorary Menobabe with golden toenails
Abject, humble Cat Harem eunuch slave to
^..^ Conway, Czarina, Max, and Hestia (formerly Molly) ^..^
"Because Nice Matters"
Kip Williams
> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following letters to
> be typed in news:oLY6c.13835$rQ.11417@lakeread04:
>
>
>>A year ago yesterday, we saw the news that the US was invading Iraq. We
>>looked up from where we had been packing the two largest suitcases we
>>ever owned. Oh, great, we were thinking, how does this complicate our
>>trip to China?
>>
>>A week earlier, we had gotten the announcement that China was host to a
>>virulent new ailment called SARS. I heard about this debilitating and
>>fatal flu-like illness while I was suffering a debilitating bout of flu
>>(24 trips to the bathroom in one day), so you can imagine how thrilled I
>>was about that. Theoretically, 'good' news existed, but I wasn't hearing
>>a lot of it.
>>
>>So anyway, we went to bed, suitcases packed and heads buzzing. I've
>>slept better.
>>
>>Next day, March 20, a year ago today, we got up early, placed the
>>child's car seat we had purchased into the Saturn, and drove to the
>>airport early so we could go through the lengthened safety precautions.
>>Then we got on the first of a series of airplanes, and when we got off,
>>the calendar would be showing a different date.
>>
>>Somewhere in an orphanage near Hefei, a tiny girl named Xi-Huan slept
>>on, unaware.
>
> I presume she has since been adopted by a nice couple from somewhere?
Oh yes, but that wasn't quite one year ago. We're having my version of
the event where "Sam Moskowitz relates the history of fandom in real time."
Meanwhile, an update. Yesterday, I asked Sarah what kind of popsicle she
wanted after supper, and she said, "Two."
Kip Williams
> A year ago. Hmmm....cannot say much about the war starting, as I remember so
> little about it. I had far more important things on my mind. Well, important to
> me.
>
> I had just mailed off payment #9 of my Chapter 13 plan, and so was 1/4 of the
> way through, wondering how I could hold on. I had to save up the money for
> Pearly's annual vet checkup in June. Pearly was no longer hissing at Conway,
> and the two were well on their way to becoming friends and litter mates. I was
> in weekly therapy sessions to deal with the depression triggered by my
> castration surgery. Iraq was the least of my worries.
Mine too, but it provided an interesting undercurrent on our trip to Asia.
David Friedman
Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote:
> Somewhere in an orphanage near Hefei, a tiny girl named Xi-Huan slept
> on, unaware.
>
And how is she sleeping now? Pictures webbed? A year and a bit is a
pretty cute age.
--
Remove NOSPAM to email
Also remove .invalid
www.daviddfriedman.com
Kip Williams
> In article <oLY6c.13835$rQ.11417@lakeread04>,
> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote:
>
>>Somewhere in an orphanage near Hefei, a tiny girl named Xi-Huan slept
>>on, unaware.
>
> And how is she sleeping now? Pictures webbed? A year and a bit is a
> pretty cute age.
At the moment, she's sleeping quietly. I just got her to commence her
midday nap. Pictures are webbed at the site below. One on the first
page, then follow > picture > photos > Sarah. Working on getting more up
there. She's two years and a month now, but she's cute at all ages.
Sometimes I see her in her car seat, tracking sounds and movements --
birds, airplanes, cars -- and as she sits, she's murmuring to herself,
"No. No. No. No..."
David Friedman
Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote:
> David Friedman wrote:
> > In article <oLY6c.13835$rQ.11417@lakeread04>,
> > Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote:
> >
> >>Somewhere in an orphanage near Hefei, a tiny girl named Xi-Huan slept
> >>on, unaware.
> >
> > And how is she sleeping now? Pictures webbed? A year and a bit is a
> > pretty cute age.
>
> At the moment, she's sleeping quietly. I just got her to commence her
> midday nap. Pictures are webbed at the site below. One on the first
> page, then follow > picture > photos > Sarah. Working on getting more up
> there. She's two years and a month now, but she's cute at all ages.
The last should be sarahpix.html.
Cute pictures, but you should get them more up to date. The first one is
clearly practicing to bring down the temple when she gets a little older.
> Sometimes I see her in her car seat, tracking sounds and movements --
> birds, airplanes, cars -- and as she sits, she's murmuring to herself,
> "No. No. No. No..."
Betty's parents have a story about when she was little. They noticed
that things were very quiet, went into the kitchen, and there she was,
sitting on the floor, taking things out of the kitchen trash can,
putting them on the floor, and each time saying "no, Betty."
How old was your daughter when you got her? Betty's sister and her
partner adopted a (cute and very determined) little girl from Guatamala.
They had all the arrangements made in advance--and it still took them
about six months before they were able to get her, due entirely to red
tape at the U.S. end. In my view, whoever was responsible for the delay
is guilty of child abuse.
Kip Williams
> In article <51%6c.13863$rQ.5557@lakeread04>,
> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote:
>>David Friedman wrote:
>>
>>>In article <oLY6c.13835$rQ.11417@lakeread04>,
>>> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>>Somewhere in an orphanage near Hefei, a tiny girl named Xi-Huan slept
>>>>on, unaware.
>>>
>>>And how is she sleeping now? Pictures webbed? A year and a bit is a
>>>pretty cute age.
>>
>>At the moment, she's sleeping quietly. I just got her to commence her
>>midday nap. Pictures are webbed at the site below. One on the first
>>page, then follow > picture > photos > Sarah. Working on getting more up
>>there. She's two years and a month now, but she's cute at all ages.
>
> The last should be sarahpix.html.
Chinapix.html and sarahpix.html, yes. Since they are at two locations, I
usually give directions instead of a url. I just shelled out $49 to buy
the HTML editor I've been using, and the first thing I'll do with it is
clarify the links on my welcome page; then I'll only have to send people
there.
> Cute pictures, but you should get them more up to date. The first one is
> clearly practicing to bring down the temple when she gets a little older.
That's The Photo, all right. I didn't know how good it was until we got
home. I used it for our Christmas card this year too. She was able to do
the "fierce" expression the first day we met her.
>>Sometimes I see her in her car seat, tracking sounds and movements --
>>birds, airplanes, cars -- and as she sits, she's murmuring to herself,
>>"No. No. No. No..."
>
> Betty's parents have a story about when she was little. They noticed
> that things were very quiet, went into the kitchen, and there she was,
> sitting on the floor, taking things out of the kitchen trash can,
> putting them on the floor, and each time saying "no, Betty."
>
> How old was your daughter when you got her? Betty's sister and her
13 months.
> partner adopted a (cute and very determined) little girl from Guatamala.
> They had all the arrangements made in advance--and it still took them
> about six months before they were able to get her, due entirely to red
> tape at the U.S. end. In my view, whoever was responsible for the delay
> is guilty of child abuse.
We knew about a month and some ahead of time when we were going to go.
Not long after we saw the first pictures of her and read sketchy little
descriptions of her development.
This comment was a lot longer the first time I wrote it, when my D-Link
card froze the computer up for the fourth time today. Sorry I couldn't
get it back -- I liked it as I was writing it. Alas.
Matthew B. Tepper
My apologies. I have naughtily made a spoiler (though fortunately a happy
one). I'll quit with the time-binding and enjoy your recounting of the
last year's events as you see fit.
mike weber
<dd...@daviddfriedman.nospam.com> typed
>Betty's sister and her
>partner adopted a (cute and very determined) little girl from Guatamala.
>They had all the arrangements made in advance--and it still took them
>about six months before they were able to get her, due entirely to red
>tape at the U.S. end. In my view, whoever was responsible for the delay
>is guilty of child abuse.
Brother David adopted twin Cambodian girls -- at last viewing they
were almost horrifyingly cute -- and his accounts of the problems that
they had with the adoption (apparently involving not only incompetency
in INS but even actual corruption at fairly high levels) are harrowing
and full of a barely suppressed rage that would have *me* checking for
storm shelters if i were among those of whom he speaks so lovingly.
Of course, i know my brother better than they do.
--
=============================================================
"They put manure in his well and they made him talk to lawyers!"
-- Cat Ballou
mike weber <mike....@electronictiger.com>
Book Reviews & More -- http://electronictiger.com
Kip Williams
> My apologies. I have naughtily made a spoiler (though fortunately a happy
> one). I'll quit with the time-binding and enjoy your recounting of the
> last year's events as you see fit.
Speaking of which, I found my shirt-pocket notebook for the time in
question. I kept a journal on (or more likely just after) the occasion.
"3/20/03: Up at 4 am. Shower. Panic. Shave. Panic. Pack. Panic --
where's shampoo? Pet cats. panic, load car, drive to airport, fret.
Check bags -- check. So far, fine. We have some hot chocolate and chew
Pepto-Bismol. Check-in is smooth, though Cathy beeps and is taken aside.
At 6:56 we get on the plane and find that we will have to wait until
Chicago is warmer before we can take off. Maybe at 7:45 we'll go (as
opposed to 7:16). At 8, the captain says he just found out we'll take
off in about 8 minutes. A second later, he says he meant in an hour.
Anyway, we take off at 8:20. Hope we might make our connections.
"9:15 -- About to land in Chicago. I reset my watch to Central (see
time), leaving the second zone at GMT (5 hours later than ET).
Skyscrapers poking out of the fog (I got a picture).
"We make up time, and get into San Francisco with plenty to spare. Still
hungry, we pick up some food for the plane. Perhaps this is a mistake,
as we are well fed otherwise. The bag of cashews comes in handy later.
And so, dozing and watching dumb movies (BANGER SISTERS, GAME OF
EMPERORS), we pass the time to Shanghai."
And here I was thinking we'd had an exciting time. More to come.
Marilee J. Layman
LOL Well, she knows what she wants!
--
Marilee J. Layman
Kip Williams
computer there because the miserable, lame, defective, pathetic D-LINK
BRAND AIR PLUS X-TREME G wireless chip can't be arsed to keep working
for five minutes in a row. And here's a fun tip for you people with
Netscape 7.1: "Save as Draft" is a good way to do NOTHING, except
perhaps give yourself a false sense of security that you've saved
something as a draft somewhere.
March 21, 2003: We flew in to Shanghai at 6 am. Customs went quickly and
we were soon found by Cathy's friend Jiang and a driver from Southern
Yangtze University, who had driven three hours to get us. We got into
the VW Santana (China's car of choice for taxis and fleet cars) and
learned that the trunk wouldn't hold our luggage, so the driver located
a wire and used it to oblige the trunk to stay somewhat shut. We set off
down the fascinating dawn streets of Shanghai's outskirts, trying not to
doze. Even three G's of bladder pressure couldn't keep me awake. Even
the somewhat different driving style we were seeing for the first time
couldn't do it. Isn't he going to get back in his lane? There's a car
coming...
Lots of industry, apartment buildings, signs, and traffic. Some of the
traffic consists of the bikes we expected, some of them hauling heavy
and unwieldy loads. Car horns serve an advisory function. Not, "Hey, I'm
drivin' here!" but, "Scuse me, I'm driving -here-."
At the University, we check into the Guest House, which is like a
four-story motel for the most part. Work is going on in the halls, and a
number of the rooms have screen doors on the hall. Ours, I'm glad to
see, is newish and relies on air conditioning. The bathroom has an
integral shower -- the whole room is its stall. We faced worse in Florence.
And then we slept. As, I'm sure, did a tiny baby in Hefei.
Kip Williams
water in the mouth. TV News: War and SARS. Jiang takes us to a plaza
(lots of kites), the city library (lots of room because it's fairly new;
there's a tea room with a Christmas tree in it) and a big book store,
whose stock includes pianos. They have sheet music, but by the time I
have gotten to it, I don't have time to figure out what's what. I had
sort of hoped to get some Chinese music.
Traffic seems very disorganized. People turn in front of each other and
honk their way in and out of lanes. Of course there are trike carts
carrying very unlikely loads, like a half-dozen mattresses. There's a
bike with two TVs on the back. Wuxi seems quite crowded. Teenagers chat
away on cell phones. We look for some dumplings for lunch, but it takes
a few tries. Crowded. (We had breakfast in the student cafeteria, though
we didn't eat much. Jiang devotes a lot of energy to finding us
something more suitable.) We go in and out of a couple of places. While
Jiang is looking for seats upstairs, some folks at a table indicate to
us that they're about to leave, and we should sit down at their table.
That's my experience of China. Look dumb and foreign for a minute or so,
and someone who knows a little English will come up and try to help.
They sure as hell know more English than I know Cantonese. A couple
times a day, it seems, I hear someone say "hello" from some oblique
direction. After the first time, I tend to say "hello!" back without
quite knowing where to direct it. I want to be friendly here.
We hit a department store and buy some more baby stuff. The stores are
well stocked, with interesting and unfamiliar brands (as well as a few
standbys). Is Bob Dog a Chinese label, or from Europe? Wow! Popeye sells
shoes over here!
By the end of the day, we're tired, and my thighs ache from lugging my
pack, which is heavier than ever in honor of our travels. We grab some
more sleep before the BIG dinner -- a wing-ding in our honor, with
college president Wing Wu, the college librarian, Jiang, and somebody I
wasn't clear on -- held in a dining room at Southern Yangtze University,
complete with the big Lazy Susan on the table. Dial-a-meal! I sample
duck's tongue, glass fish, black fish, spring roll (not like the ones
here), corn cake, bitter squash, pumpkin soup (very little of that),
squirrel-shaped fish, shrimp, bean curd, pumpkin cake, soybeans, and...
several other things. Soups. Dumplings shaped like hedgehogs, and
bunnies. Pictures get taken, gifts exchanged. Nice people, and all
mindful of the fact they have a University Librarian from USA visiting.
Somewhen in there, lost in chronology, we visited a large park in Wuxi,
with elements of a theme park; a lake with boats, concession stands, and
maybe rides (I either forgot or didn't see them). The centerpiece is a
house: what we would call a compound, I think, or a complex. It's on a
hill, and has room after room, many open to the elements. They are
connected by paths and steps and walkways. One room had souvenirs in it,
though there was no vendor in sight. Little kitschy tchotchkes: ceramic
babies, showing us their bare butts in various ways. Ooh, and here's
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs! I took a picture, being interested in
unauthorized Disney stuff, and not much after that, Jiang ducked into a
store and came out with a box containing eight small figures. I was a
little unsettled by that at first -- I was afraid to admire anything
after that for fear he'd buy it for me -- but I have come to dote on
these extremely off-model characters, including Snow Blonde and the
Dwarf with No Name (ultimately identifiable by luck and the process of
elimination).
But I digress: the house. The higher you go, the cooler it gets, because
you see all these rooftops and the view below, and the town spread out
beyond it. The air seems a bit polluted. Anyway, I think this was the
day we went there.
In any event, the banquet was our last event of the day. Off to bed, and
we'll head for Hefei on the 23rd, after which things will never be the
same for Kip and Cathy. Or Xi-Huan, for that matter.
--
--Kip (Williams) ...changing tenses at will at members.cox.net/kipw
Marilee J. Layman
>squirrel-shaped fish
They come that way, or were shaped?
--
Marilee J. Layman
Kip Williams
> On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 22:18:03 -0500, Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote:
>
>>squirrel-shaped fish
>
> They come that way, or were shaped?
Shaped.
--
--Kip (Williams) ...at members.cox.net/kipw
Kip Williams
>
> Shaped.
I think I forgot to mention that I got another few pictures up there, a
couple of days ago, and finally put some links to the Sarah pix on the
front page.
Tom Hardy
> various ways. Ooh, and here's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs! I took
> a picture, being interested in unauthorized Disney stuff,...
So, is Snow White 'Disney stuff'? What makes it 'Disney stuff'?
--
Tom Hardy <*> rha...@visi.com <*> http://www.visi.com/~rhardy
Just don't create a file called -rf. --Larry Wall
Kip Williams
> Kip Williams wrote:
>
>>various ways. Ooh, and here's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs! I took
>>a picture, being interested in unauthorized Disney stuff,...
>
> So, is Snow White 'Disney stuff'? What makes it 'Disney stuff'?
I'm aware that Disney tries to claim whatever it's filmed a version of,
but in this case I was referring -- obviously, I thought -- to a
clear-cut knock-off of the distinctive copyrighted (or trademarked or
whatever) likenesses of the characters designed for the classic 1930s
motion picture "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Note the spelling.
Leave us not be thick.
--
--
--Kip (Williams) ...at members.cox.net/kipw
"Bad enough having [expletive] flu, without being crucified." --John
Cleese (after Monty Python's Life of Brian)
Tom Hardy
> I'm aware that Disney tries to claim whatever it's filmed a version
> of, but in this case I was referring -- obviously, I thought -- to a
> clear-cut knock-off of the distinctive copyrighted (or trademarked or
> whatever) likenesses of the characters designed for the classic 1930s
> motion picture "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Note the spelling.
>
> Leave us not be thick.
Yeah, it was obvious enough; it also tweaks my sensibilities a bit.
I'd love to see someone do a new version of Snow White with intent not
to pay Disney a dime and get away with it, but the idea probably
doesn't make much business sense. Or does it?
Um, free publicity?
Marilee J. Layman
>Kip Williams wrote:
>>
>> Shaped.
>
>I think I forgot to mention that I got another few pictures up there, a
>couple of days ago, and finally put some links to the Sarah pix on the
>front page.
I saw these on your computer! Where are the *new* pictures?!
--
Marilee J. Layman
Kip Williams
> I saw these on your computer! Where are the *new* pictures?!
Why, they're on my computer, of course. Silly.
As I confessed earlier, this chronological obsession is keeping me back,
but if I don't stick with it, the world may not get to learn all about
the trip or other fun stuff. I'll-try-to-do-better-in-the-future.
--
--Kip (Williams) ...at members.cox.net/kipw
Kip Williams
However, one year ago, we were still at
X MINUS ONE.
3/23/03: We slept in to 8 again, then Jiang took us out for breakfast.
Mindful of our determined faces the previous day, he took us downtown
for some dumplings, spring rolls and soup. Mission accomplished.
Next, we went to the old market area, where they had -- rebuilt, I
believe -- a shrine with a largest Buddha of some kind. Largest sitting,
or some such. We see our first "big ol' tub of incense" smoldering away,
giving a bit of atmosphere. Cathy bought some beads from a monk. An old
beggar showed up, and she gave him a coin, at which point the monk who
sold us the beads angrily escorted him to the street and ejected him.
We threaded our way through a large flea market sort of place, pausing
to buy a replica antique coin, a replica antique lock, and a couple of
piles of genuine comics. These comics have stories from translated
Mickey Mouses to chiarascuro thrillers, in a small oblong format with a
couple panels to a page, much like they used to give away with Kinney
shoes in the 60s. These small purchases made me look pretty good to the
other merchants, ("Hello!" "Hello!") but we detach ourselves and looked
at more shops, pausing to buy some more baby garb. Then we had lunch at
a crowded KFC and Jiang picked up his prints from the day before. I wear
a dumb, toothless smile in all of them, like a simp. Oliver Norville Hardy.
By this time, I was getting tired and cranky, so I stayed in the room
and dozed and/or watched TV while Cathy toured the campus library. After
that, it was time to leave Wuxi. Jiang called a taxi for us (by this
time we'd ridden in several taxis, which were amazingly cheap over
there). We knew the bags wouldn't fit, but the driver wasn't bothered.
He stood them in the trunk and let the lid flap over it. I rode to the
station with my head turned around 180 degrees, though I had enough
presence of mind to have my camera ready when we got to the cool rocket
monument on a little plaza. I got a good picture, too. Very sci-fi.
The station was pleasant, with comfy seats, and there were snack foods
for sale. Jiang waited with us. We were in "soft class waiting." The
sign on the wall said "WELCOME TO WUXI AGAIN!" The train came. We found
our car and dragged our mammoth luggage up steps and down the aisle and
down steps, and there were our seats. They weren't next to each other,
but one of the adjacent seats never filled up, so we managed to sit
together after all. I was still a bit shy about pulling out the camera
and snapping away out the window, but I was finding the countryside
pretty interesting. Lots of apartments, factories, rice paddies, and
(thanks to Bernoulli, I guess) lots of trash by the tracks. I can stare
right at the orange sun in the brown sky.
A vendor came through, and we bought some noodles. Lovely, hot,
satisfying noodles. Also some coffee, because I thought it was cocoa.
The young couple opposite us got off at the first stop, so we were able
to stretch out a little and not have the suitcases in our faces. It got
dark, so we didn't see much besides neon in the towns we passed through.
At Bong Bu, the train reversed direction, and I discovered that riding
backwards in a train didn't make me sick after all. Good to know. Nature
called, so I picked up my supply of tissue (thanks, Southern Yangtze
University, for the partial roll). When I saw the trench toilet, my
innards did me a favor and called the whole thing off. I can deal with
one of those, but please! not on a moving train.
Six hours later, we got to Hefei. Our Hefei guide, Mr. Ding, met the
train with a bus and driver, and we traveled the half dozen blocks to
the Holiday Inn, a five-star accomodation with 29 floors and a revolving
restaurant on top. Our room, 1911, was simply huge, and had a terrific
view out of its row of about six windows. Service is wonderful, and the
rates are unbelievably low. (We stayed at two hotels for about a week
each, eating almost entirely in-house on our room tab, both in cafes and
on room service, and at each one, the room service bill came out to
about a hundred bucks.) There was a tap in the bathroom for drinking
water (a nice change from the customary pot of boiled water hotels
provide on demand). The mini-bar had some good snacks, as well as a
range of beverages. The lights were on remote control. Probably the
nicest place we've ever stayed in. (The China Hotel in Guangzhou was
more upscale, but the room and bed were better at the Holiday Inn.)
We checked the TV news. Surprise! The invasion was still proceeding
apace, 24 hours a day, with embedded journalists trying to guess what's
going on. Oh, and SARS was still a very bad thing.
And so to bed. Tomorrow would be a big day indeed.
Kip Williams
> 365 days ago, we held our daughter.
>
> However, one year ago, we were still at
> X MINUS ONE.
CURSE that ABOMINABLE, UNNATURAL DAY, FEB 29!
Sorry. Flashback.
David Bilek
>Kip Williams wrote:
>
>> 365 days ago, we held our daughter.
>>
>> However, one year ago, we were still at
>> X MINUS ONE.
>
>CURSE that ABOMINABLE, UNNATURAL DAY, FEB 29!
>
>Sorry. Flashback.
Think of it as an extra day you get to have with your daughter?
-David
Kip Williams
I uploaded the photos. Now it's all blank. No words, no pictures, no
nothing.
Night all.
Matthew B. Tepper
> Then we had lunch at a crowded KFC
You've eaten at a KFC in China? Cool. But I've eaten at one in *Kentucky*.
Kip Williams
> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following letters to
> be typed in news:zq58c.311$pM.64@lakeread04:
>
>>Then we had lunch at a crowded KFC
>
> You've eaten at a KFC in China? Cool. But I've eaten at one in *Kentucky*.
Heh. They also have McDonald's.
Kip Williams
There you go again, bringing "common sense" and "reason" into things...
Matthew B. Tepper
> Matthew B. Tepper wrote:
>> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following
>> letters to be typed in news:zq58c.311$pM.64@lakeread04:
>>
>>>Then we had lunch at a crowded KFC
>>
>> You've eaten at a KFC in China? Cool. But I've eaten at one in
>> *Kentucky*.
>
> Heh. They also have McDonald's.
I've eaten at one of those in Glasgow, then.
David G. Bell
<Xns94B64AF316C...@207.217.125.202>
oy兀earthlink.net "Matthew B. Tepper" wrote:
> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following letters
> to be typed in news:R0e8c.543$pM.77@lakeread04:
>
> > Matthew B. Tepper wrote:
> >> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following
> >> letters to be typed in news:zq58c.311$pM.64@lakeread04:
> >>
> >>>Then we had lunch at a crowded KFC
> >>
> >> You've eaten at a KFC in China? Cool. But I've eaten at one in
> >> *Kentucky*.
> >
> > Heh. They also have McDonald's.
>
> I've eaten at one of those in Glasgow, then.
Yes, but was the Big Mac deep-fried in batter?
--
David G. Bell -- SF Fan, Filker, and Punslinger.
"History shows that the Singularity started when Sir Tim Berners-Lee
was bitten by a radioactive spider."
jgut...@brokersys.com
> Matthew B. Tepper wrote:
>> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following letters to
>> be typed in news:zq58c.311$pM.64@lakeread04:
>>>Then we had lunch at a crowded KFC
>> You've eaten at a KFC in China? Cool. But I've eaten at one in *Kentucky*.
> Heh. They also have McDonald's.
Champs Elysees near the Place de l'Etoile.
--
Jonathan Guthrie (jgut...@brokersys.com)
Sto pro veritate
Matthew B. Tepper
> On Wednesday, in article
> <Xns94B64AF316C...@207.217.125.202>
> oy兀earthlink.net "Matthew B. Tepper" wrote:
>
>> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following letters
>> to be typed in news:R0e8c.543$pM.77@lakeread04:
>>
>> > Matthew B. Tepper wrote:
>> >> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following
>> >> letters to be typed in news:zq58c.311$pM.64@lakeread04:
>> >>
>> >>>Then we had lunch at a crowded KFC
>> >>
>> >> You've eaten at a KFC in China? Cool. But I've eaten at one in
>> >> *Kentucky*.
>> >
>> > Heh. They also have McDonald's.
>>
>> I've eaten at one of those in Glasgow, then.
>
> Yes, but was the Big Mac deep-fried in batter?
I don't know, but I'm just glad they didn't serve haggis.
--
Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks!
My personal home page -- http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/index.html
My main music page --- http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/berlioz.html
To write to me, do for my address what Androcles did for the lion
Russell Watson is to opera as VelveetaT is to aged cheddar cheese
Matthew B. Tepper
typed in news:vu59j1-...@chromite.brokersys.com:
> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote:
>> Matthew B. Tepper wrote:
>>> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following
>>> letters to be typed in news:zq58c.311$pM.64@lakeread04:
>
>>>>Then we had lunch at a crowded KFC
>
>>> You've eaten at a KFC in China? Cool. But I've eaten at one in
>>> *Kentucky*.
>
>> Heh. They also have McDonald's.
>
> I used to carry around the receipt I got at the Burger King on the
> Champs Elysees near the Place de l'Etoile.
I've not only eaten there (in 1990), but I helped some fellow American
tourists place their orders in French.
--
Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks!
My personal home page -- http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/index.html
My main music page --- http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/berlioz.html
To write to me, do for my address what Androcles did for the lion
Russell Watson is to opera as VelveetaT is to aged cheddar cheese
Paul Dormer
> jgut...@brokersys.com appears to have caused the following letters to
> be
> typed in news:vu59j1-...@chromite.brokersys.com:
>
> > Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote:
> >> Matthew B. Tepper wrote:
> >>> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following
> >>> letters to be typed in news:zq58c.311$pM.64@lakeread04:
> >
> >>>>Then we had lunch at a crowded KFC
> >
> >>> You've eaten at a KFC in China? Cool. But I've eaten at one in
> >>> *Kentucky*.
> >
> >> Heh. They also have McDonald's.
> >
> > I used to carry around the receipt I got at the Burger King on the
> > Champs Elysees near the Place de l'Etoile.
>
> I've not only eaten there (in 1990), but I helped some fellow American
> tourists place their orders in French.
>
I've never understood the need to go to a foreign country and then eat
food you could have got at home. The British are just as bad, going to
Spain and then insisting on English food. I had some great meals last
time I was in Paris, but only at French restaurants.
Paul Dormer
> db...@zhochaka.demon.co.uk ("David G. Bell") appears to have caused the
> following letters to be typed in
> news:20040324.15...@zhochaka.demon.co.uk:
>
> > On Wednesday, in article
> > <Xns94B64AF316C...@207.217.125.202>
> > oyþ@earthlink.net "Matthew B. Tepper" wrote:
> >
> >> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following
> > > letters
> >> to be typed in news:R0e8c.543$pM.77@lakeread04:
> >>
> >> > Matthew B. Tepper wrote:
> >> >> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following
> >> >> letters to be typed in news:zq58c.311$pM.64@lakeread04:
> >> >>
> >> >>>Then we had lunch at a crowded KFC
> >> >>
> >> >> You've eaten at a KFC in China? Cool. But I've eaten at one in
> >> >> *Kentucky*.
> >> >
> >> > Heh. They also have McDonald's.
> >>
> >> I've eaten at one of those in Glasgow, then.
> >
> > Yes, but was the Big Mac deep-fried in batter?
>
> I don't know, but I'm just glad they didn't serve haggis.
>
> --
Nothing wrong with haggis, as long as it's served with neeps and tatties.
rksh...@rosettacondot.com
> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote:
>> Matthew B. Tepper wrote:
>>> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following letters to
>>> be typed in news:zq58c.311$pM.64@lakeread04:
>
>>>>Then we had lunch at a crowded KFC
>
>>> You've eaten at a KFC in China? Cool. But I've eaten at one in *Kentucky*.
>
>> Heh. They also have McDonald's.
>
> I used to carry around the receipt I got at the Burger King on the
> Champs Elysees near the Place de l'Etoile.
When we were in Venice, my niece was deeply disturbed to see a sign advertising
McDonald's while walking along a canal. It just seemed very wrong to her.
Robert
--
Robert K. Shull Email: rkshull at rosettacon dot com
David Bilek
Because sometimes you can suffer from sensory overload AKA "culture
shock". It's nice to be able to find something reasonably familiar
amongst all that alien stuff.
-David
David Friedman
pauld...@cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) wrote:
> I had some great meals last
> time I was in Paris, but only at French restaurants.
There's a pretty good Tibetan Restaurant not far from the Sorbonne. The
only way you can starve to death in Paris, if you have money, is reading
menus.
--
Remove NOSPAM to email
Also remove .invalid
www.daviddfriedman.com
Tim McDaniel
David Bilek <dtb...@comcast.net> wrote:
>Because sometimes you can suffer from sensory overload AKA "culture
>shock". It's nice to be able to find something reasonably familiar
>amongst all that alien stuff.
I was in Korea for business for a week. Wednesday night, I got a
horrible craving for something Western. I went into the hotel
restaurant and got a single scoop of vanilla ice cream for about $5.
I never begrudged the cost. I then went to my room and called a
friend in America, saying "Help! Losing articles and prepositions!",
and spoke good American English for a while.
--
Tim McDaniel, tm...@panix.com; tm...@us.ibm.com is my work address
Kip Williams
> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following letters
> to be typed in news:R0e8c.543$pM.77@lakeread04:
>
>
>>Matthew B. Tepper wrote:
>>
>>>Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following
>>>letters to be typed in news:zq58c.311$pM.64@lakeread04:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Then we had lunch at a crowded KFC
>>>
>>>You've eaten at a KFC in China? Cool. But I've eaten at one in
>>>*Kentucky*.
>>
>>Heh. They also have McDonald's.
>
> I've eaten at one of those in Glasgow, then.
Cathy reminds me, they had Pizza Hut in China too.
Kip Williams
> In article <Xns94B67FBAA18...@207.217.125.206>,
> oyş@earthlink.net (Matthew B. Tepper) wrote:
>
>
>>db...@zhochaka.demon.co.uk ("David G. Bell") appears to have caused the
>>following letters to be typed in
>>news:20040324.15...@zhochaka.demon.co.uk:
>>
>>
>>>On Wednesday, in article
>>> <Xns94B64AF316C...@207.217.125.202>
>>> oyş@earthlink.net "Matthew B. Tepper" wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following
>>>>letters
>>>>to be typed in news:R0e8c.543$pM.77@lakeread04:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Matthew B. Tepper wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following
>>>>>>letters to be typed in news:zq58c.311$pM.64@lakeread04:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Then we had lunch at a crowded KFC
>>>>>>
>>>>>>You've eaten at a KFC in China? Cool. But I've eaten at one in
>>>>>>*Kentucky*.
>>>>>
>>>>>Heh. They also have McDonald's.
>>>>
>>>>I've eaten at one of those in Glasgow, then.
>>>
>>>Yes, but was the Big Mac deep-fried in batter?
>>
>>I don't know, but I'm just glad they didn't serve haggis.
>
> Nothing wrong with haggis, as long as it's served with neeps and tatties.
And you think "McHaggis" would have anything like that? Hah.
Kip Williams
> In article <Xns94B67FBAECA...@207.217.125.206>,
It's not a need, but sometimes it's less stressful to surround yourself
with elements of the familiar in the middle of a different place.
James
>
> Cathy reminds me, they had Pizza Hut in China too.
>
And yet, we are still not at war. Truely, the forbearance of the Chinese
people is an inspiration to us all.
--
James Angove
David Bilek
>In article <memo.2004032...@pauldormer.compulink.co.uk>,
> pauld...@cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) wrote:
>
>> I had some great meals last
>> time I was in Paris, but only at French restaurants.
>
>There's a pretty good Tibetan Restaurant not far from the Sorbonne. The
>only way you can starve to death in Paris, if you have money, is reading
>menus.
I do believe I've eaten there. The food was great, but I did not care
for the butter tea with goats milk. Ugh!
-David
Kip Williams
They were softened up with Coca-Cola and Nintendo.
Kip Williams
We arose at 8, in the lap of luxury, and ascended to 29 for breakfast
buffet in the Holiday Inn Hefei's revolving restaurant. It's opulent. A
waiter chatted with us, and we explained that we did not vote for Bush.
There was a lovely piano there. I would retain my hopes of finding an
opportunity to play it until the last day.
Other families started arriving, and we met our neighbors in the next
room, Kathryn and John, along with their boys Emerson and Scudder, a
grandpa, and others. Later on, we had lunch at the in-house deli; a
curry puff (Chinese pasty!). We looked over the hotel and facilities,
and caught up a little on our e-mail on the computers that are available
for rental by guests. The plan had been to bring the laptop along --
after all, we bought it for the trip -- but we couldn't find a power
converter that was rated for anything but a shaver. (We found out a few
months later that all we really needed was the plug adaptor, but that's
life. We bought two more 128M chips for the camera, and filled 'em up.)
The time passed with Cathy grooming our paperwork while I did nothing
profound. At 3:00, China time (12 hours away from Eastern US), all
parents were in a conference room on a lower floor, waiting. There was
one other couple awaiting a baby from Feixi orphanage, and they told us
our babies were late arriving. (Birch [sp?] and his wife seemed nice,
but their travel path diverged from ours after that day, and we didn't
see them again. I'm guessing the Dutch Consulate is somewhere other than
Guangzhou.)
I decided to pass the time taking pictures of what was going on, and
within a very short time, somebody was handing Cathy a baby, and another
parent -- Jim -- held his hand out for the camera and took the first
half dozen shots of the Williams Family. We were teary-eyed with joy;
Sarah had no idea what was going on or who we were. Silly child, don't
push away; we're your family!
Zhang Xi-Huan, as she was named, was every bit as pretty as her
pictures; a quiet, tiny little girl. She sat wide-eyed and serious, only
crying a little after a bit. In all our planning, we forgot to bring a
bottle down from the room, but were saved by Emerson, who materialized
with an Arrowroot Biscuit, which she promptly chowed down on most
efficiently with her four teeth. I walked around holding our little
stranger as Cathy girded for a marathon paperwork session.
We were told the paperwork would take about three days, and include
visits to notary and other officials. What actually happened was that
they got everybody in Hefei who had anything to do with the business
into that room, and as Cathy signed and signed and signed, occasionally
holding out a hand for a fresh pen to be slapped into it (okay, I made
that bit up). At the end of an hour, she had finished all the paperwork
for the Hefei portion of the journey. Everybody had. Wow! I signed a few
blanks where indicated and rolled an inky thumb on an imposing document.
Then we went out on the balcony to pose for some pictures.
The Zhang in her original name referred to the director of the
orphanage, who stood on one side. On the other side (Cathy and I took
turns standing between), the Chen-Chen held our daughter impassively,
with perhaps a hint of a smile on her face. She was the nanny who took
care of Xihuan and who knows how many other babies at Feixi, and
probably the human being who she loved most of all. In the pictures, our
baby is more relaxed with her than she was with us, not surprisingly.
Once the photos were over, Zhang and the nanny (I'm not sure we ever
heard her name; probably didn't think to ask) vanished from our lives.
Her name was now the name we had picked out for her: Sarah Elizabeth
Xihuan Williams. We were not to discover the fatal flaw of this name
until after we got home. It wasn't our fault. We picked out the
non-Chinese portions before we went over. A problem for another day.
Back in the room, we mixed formula, took pictures, and sent for room
service. We were tired. Or at least, we were what had hitherto passed
for 'tired' in our lives. As it got dark, the city below us started to
turn into a riot of polychromatic effulgence that made the rainbow look
like a piece of lead pipe -- they love neon over there! Seeing what they
did with it, so do I. So as not to confuse our daughter (yet?), we kept
calling her Xihuan most of the time we were over there, occasionally
using "Sarah Xihuan" to prepare her for Sarahhood.
We sat around with her. I lay on the bed with this tiny little person at
my side, all awkward arms and legs that never seemed to stop moving. I
looked down at her tenderly, and she grabbed my glasses. (Gee, I hope
she doesn't do that again, I thought stupidly...) We put her in the crib
the hotel had provided, and she fell asleep fairly soon, and slept
through the night. We ate our room service food.
And lo, it was the first day.
Keith F. Lynch
> I've never understood the need to go to a foreign country and then
> eat food you could have got at home.
Some people go to other countries for reasons unrelated to food.
I can get food from, or in the style of, a hundred countries within
walking distance of my apartment. So eating different kinds of food
would be a fairly pointless reason for me to travel overseas.
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.
David Dyer-Bennet
> The big day, March 24, 2003:
I'm really enjoying reading these bits of (relatively) recent
history. Thanks!
--
David Dyer-Bennet, <mailto:dd...@dd-b.net>, <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/>
RKBA: <http://noguns-nomoney.com> <http://www.dd-b.net/carry/>
Photos: <dd-b.lighthunters.net> Snapshots: <www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/>
Dragaera/Steven Brust: <http://dragaera.info/>
David Dyer-Bennet
Marilee J. Layman
>Her name was now the name we had picked out for her: Sarah Elizabeth
>Xihuan Williams. We were not to discover the fatal flaw of this name
>until after we got home. It wasn't our fault. We picked out the
>non-Chinese portions before we went over. A problem for another day.
I never noticed that until you pointed it out now. I suppose she just
won't use initials.
--
Marilee J. Layman
Matthew B. Tepper
letters to be typed in news:d615605k4vk9r48ot...@4ax.com:
Maybe she'll have a career working for an advertising agency specializing
in automobiles.
--
Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks!
My personal home page -- http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/index.html
My main music page --- http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/berlioz.html
To write to me, do for my address what Androcles did for the lion
Russell Watson is to opera as Velveeta™ is to aged cheddar cheese
David G. Bell
ki...@cox.net "Kip Williams" wrote:
> Paul Dormer wrote:
>
> > I've never understood the need to go to a foreign country and then eat
> > food you could have got at home. The British are just as bad, going to
> > Spain and then insisting on English food. I had some great meals last
> > time I was in Paris, but only at French restaurants.
>
> It's not a need, but sometimes it's less stressful to surround yourself
> with elements of the familiar in the middle of a different place.
Some of use are also on medically-restricted diets. A Big Mac is at
least predictable (though it does have problems with such things as
fat). Foreign food can be a bit too surprising.
Kip Williams
> James <ja...@ospf.net> writes:
>
>>Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote in news:U2p8c.2383$pM.2116@lakeread04:
>>
>>>Cathy reminds me, they had Pizza Hut in China too.
>>
>>And yet, we are still not at war. Truely, the forbearance of the Chinese
>>people is an inspiration to us all.
>
> Well, we, after all, have chow mein joints.
Okay, it's symmetrical. China has fake Italian food. Italy has fake
American food (McDonald's). USA has fake Chinese food (Chow Mein).
We *can* all get along!
Kip Williams
> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> writes:
>
>>The big day, March 24, 2003:
>
> I'm really enjoying reading these bits of (relatively) recent
> history. Thanks!
My pleasure. Thanks for reading!
Kip Williams
Perhaps we'll let her decide which names she wants to use when she's
older. I thought of changing the order of the names, but it just doesn't
sound right. Elizabeth Sarah seems incorrect. Maybe putting Xihuan first?
Well. Makes life interesting, dunnit?
Robert Sneddon
writes
>
>Perhaps we'll let her decide which names she wants to use when she's
>older. I thought of changing the order of the names, but it just
>doesn't sound right. Elizabeth Sarah seems incorrect. Maybe putting
>Xihuan first?
>
>Well. Makes life interesting, dunnit?
A friend of mine has twins with the same initials, X. T. (added to a
hyphenated family name...)
--
Email me via nojay (at) nojay (dot) fsnet (dot) co (dot) uk
This address no longer accepts HTML posts.
Robert Sneddon
Matthew B. Tepper
be typed in news:fmz8c.3384$pM.808@lakeread04:
> David Dyer-Bennet wrote:
>
>> James <ja...@ospf.net> writes:
>>
>>>Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote in news:U2p8c.2383$pM.2116@lakeread04:
>>>
>>>>Cathy reminds me, they had Pizza Hut in China too.
>>>
>>>And yet, we are still not at war. Truely, the forbearance of the
>>>Chinese people is an inspiration to us all.
>>
>> Well, we, after all, have chow mein joints.
>
> Okay, it's symmetrical. China has fake Italian food. Italy has fake
> American food (McDonald's). USA has fake Chinese food (Chow Mein).
>
> We *can* all get along!
For that matter, Italy has long had fake Chinese food: spaghetti!
aRJay
<dd...@dd-b.net> writes
>Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> writes:
>
>> The big day, March 24, 2003:
>
>I'm really enjoying reading these bits of (relatively) recent
>history. Thanks!
Ook!
--
aRJay
"In this great and creatorless universe, where so much beautiful has
come to be out of the chance interactions of the basic properties of
matter, it seems so important that we love one another."
- Lucy Kemnitzer
Cathy Doyle
David Dyer-Bennet wrote:
>James <ja...@ospf.net> writes:
>
>
>
>>Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote in news:U2p8c.2383$pM.2116@lakeread04:
>>
>>
>>>Cathy reminds me, they had Pizza Hut in China too.
>>>
>>>
>>And yet, we are still not at war. Truely, the forbearance of the Chinese
>>people is an inspiration to us all.
>>
>>
>
>Well, we, after all, have chow mein joints.
>
>
I heard a radio story today about the new program that McDonald's is
rolling out, which starts in
Shanghi. They're still new enough there that it's a prestige
destination. The only American restaurant
we ate at during our stay was the KFC my friend Jiang took us to, mainly
because we could get
in during that time of day. Downtown Wuxi is crowded beyond belief
during the weekend.
Cathy
Kip Williams
We rose -- earlier than 8, no doubt -- and had breakfast upstairs at the
Golden Laurel again. By now we'd met both of our guides. Mr. Ding, our
guide for Hefei, was (and is, I hope) a cheerful middle-aged man who
tells jokes, and was our favorite guide on the trip. Linaker was the
other one. He was on hand in Hefei and Guangzhou.
We took a trip a few blocks to Friendship Store #6, a large,
well-stocked department store. Cathy carried Sarah in a strap device
that we stopped using as quickly as possible after we found out how much
it gave her a maternal backache. Our bus was brand new. Mr. Ding
mentioned that Hefei is a light industrial town (no kidding, cough
cough) that made TV sets, washing machines, and buses, and told us about
the city's university for gifted children. He told us that the store was
state-owned, so no haggling, and explained that you select an item, get
a ticket for it, pay at a counter, and then go pick up your purchase.
Simple enough. The bus parked in a vacant lot next to a rather
intriguing skyscraper that stood unfinished, yet partially occupied. We
passed a beggar with a little monkey, and I took a picture from a
distance, using the telephoto, so as to avoid becoming his best friend.
We strove mightily to keep Sarah covered up at all times, having been
warned about the Clothing Police -- apparently, any woman seeing any
part of a baby not festooned in thick cloth will chide you for it and
see to it that the offending inch is kept warm. Sarah wasn't in on it,
however, and her goal was pretty much the opposite of theirs. She
wriggled out of shoes, socks, and whatever else we put on her. We
escalated to the fifth floor (what we yanks call 6) for some baby duds,
diapers, and formula. I was interested at all the cell phones, walkmen,
games, keyboards, PDAs and other items, all in a multitude of brand
names, and at frighteningly low prices.
Sarah, as usual, was the object of much attention and many smiles. We
made our way to the basement and wandered around an acre of food. Aisle
after aisle of snacks, but I couldn't find any wasabi peanuts. We went
back up to 5 for some cokes (well, colas, in this case) in the cafe,
where I managed to mess up the order of ticket-and-payment. A polite
young woman straightened that out. The drink hit the spot. (No, it
wasn't Pepsi, either.) After that, we went out front to wait, but seemed
to be drawing a crowd, so Linaker suggested a return to the bus.
After chatting a while on the bus, and perhaps changing Sarah (the day
before, I changed her diaper -- first time I'd done one, but I wanted to
know how), we were joined by the rest of our group, and the driver
turned the bus around and looked for an opening in traffic. Then the bus
scraped asphalt and got stuck, breaking the front door. Lucky it had a
back door. We all offered helpful suggestions, and finally got out by
backing out. Next day we got a different bus.
Back in the room, we could tell where we'd been by locating the
unfinished skyscraper. We checked our e-mail and sent progress reports
to family and friends, though I didn't manage to send any photos. We
were tired enough that we went to bed without any supper. Sarah slept
quietly all night, unlike Baby Juliet next door, poor kid. Poor family!
Nighty night. Zzzzzz.
Matthew B. Tepper
> We made our way to the basement and wandered around an acre of food.
> Aisle after aisle of snacks, but I couldn't find any wasabi peanuts.
Heh heh heh. A Beverages & More recently opened its new store in Van Nuys.
Naturally I've been there a couple of times, once to get some good stuff to
bring to some friends' party. Along with some Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (the
family brew, as I call it, because the founder and brewmaster is my double-
first cousin once removed) and some assorted Stewarts sodas, I brought a
container of wasabi peanuts. Only the bravest of the brave at that party
tried eating them. I had ONE.
Vlatko Juric-Kokic
wrote:
>I do believe I've eaten there. The food was great, but I did not care
>for the butter tea with goats milk. Ugh!
What, no real yak milk or butter? Ugh! What kind of Tibetan restaurant
was that?
vlatko
--
http://www.niribanimeso.org/eng/
http://www.michaelswanwick.com/
vlatko.ju...@zg.hinet.hr
Kip Williams
> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following letters to
> be typed in news:txM8c.4456$pM.181@lakeread04:
>
>
>>We made our way to the basement and wandered around an acre of food.
>>Aisle after aisle of snacks, but I couldn't find any wasabi peanuts.
>
> Heh heh heh. A Beverages & More recently opened its new store in Van Nuys.
> Naturally I've been there a couple of times, once to get some good stuff to
> bring to some friends' party. Along with some Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (the
> family brew, as I call it, because the founder and brewmaster is my double-
> first cousin once removed) and some assorted Stewarts sodas, I brought a
> container of wasabi peanuts. Only the bravest of the brave at that party
> tried eating them. I had ONE.
After I got home, I found out that the best wasabi peanuts come from
here. They make them in Williamsburg -- or they redistribute them and
put their label on; it's hard to tell -- and I can buy them at the wine
& cheese shop at the corner. They're good and hot, especially if you eat
three at a time. They'll polish the inside of your skull.
Paul Dormer
dtb...@comcast.net (David Bilek) wrote:
> pauld...@cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) wrote:
> >In article <Xns94B67FBAECA...@207.217.125.206>,
> >oyþ@earthlink.net (Matthew B. Tepper) wrote:
> >
> >> jgut...@brokersys.com appears to have caused the following letters
> > to >be
> >> typed in news:vu59j1-...@chromite.brokersys.com:
> >>
> >> > Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote:
> >> >> Matthew B. Tepper wrote:
> >> >>> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following
> >> >>> letters to be typed in news:zq58c.311$pM.64@lakeread04:
> >> >
> >> >>>>Then we had lunch at a crowded KFC
> >> >
> >> >>> You've eaten at a KFC in China? Cool. But I've eaten at one in
> >> >>> *Kentucky*.
> >> >
> >> >> Heh. They also have McDonald's.
> >> >
> >> > I used to carry around the receipt I got at the Burger King on the
> >> > Champs Elysees near the Place de l'Etoile.
> >>
> >> I've not only eaten there (in 1990), but I helped some fellow
> > American >tourists place their orders in French.
> >>
> >I've never understood the need to go to a foreign country and then eat
> >food you could have got at home. The British are just as bad, going
> to >Spain and then insisting on English food. I had some great meals
> last >time I was in Paris, but only at French restaurants.
>
> Because sometimes you can suffer from sensory overload AKA "culture
> shock". It's nice to be able to find something reasonably familiar
> amongst all that alien stuff.
>
Chacun son gout, I suppose. Never had that problem myself. Of course,
I've sometimes returned from foreign climes and suddenly had a craving for
some speciality that you can't get in the UK.
Paul Dormer
The TV company that is now called Grampian was going to be called Scottish
Highlands and Islands Television, until someone spotted it.
Bill Higgins
> James wrote:
> > Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote in news:U2p8c.2383$pM.2116@lakeread04:
> >
> >>Cathy reminds me, they had Pizza Hut in China too.
> >
> > And yet, we are still not at war. Truely, the forbearance of the Chinese
> > people is an inspiration to us all.
>
> They were softened up with Coca-Cola and Nintendo.
<raised_eyebrow>
Nintendo?
</raised_eyebrow>
--
Bill Higgins | "In his angst Daredevil asks himself the question
| 'Can one man make a difference?' And I think
Fermilab | the film answers inspirationally with a resounding
| 'Yes, one man with radioactive mutant super-powers
Internet: | can make a difference.'
| I think that is a message we all needed
hig...@fnal.gov | in these troubled times." --Mark R. Leeper
David Bilek
>On Thu, 25 Mar 2004 01:04:20 GMT, David Bilek <dtb...@comcast.net>
>wrote:
>
>>I do believe I've eaten there. The food was great, but I did not care
>>for the butter tea with goats milk. Ugh!
>
>What, no real yak milk or butter? Ugh! What kind of Tibetan restaurant
>was that?
>
It may well have been yak milk, not goat milk. It was still hideously
vile. As I said, the food itself was very good.
-David
Marilee J. Layman
>Matthew B. Tepper wrote:
>
>> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following letters to
>> be typed in news:txM8c.4456$pM.181@lakeread04:
>>
>>
>>>We made our way to the basement and wandered around an acre of food.
>>>Aisle after aisle of snacks, but I couldn't find any wasabi peanuts.
>>
>> Heh heh heh. A Beverages & More recently opened its new store in Van Nuys.
>> Naturally I've been there a couple of times, once to get some good stuff to
>> bring to some friends' party. Along with some Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (the
>> family brew, as I call it, because the founder and brewmaster is my double-
>> first cousin once removed) and some assorted Stewarts sodas, I brought a
>> container of wasabi peanuts. Only the bravest of the brave at that party
>> tried eating them. I had ONE.
>
>After I got home, I found out that the best wasabi peanuts come from
>here. They make them in Williamsburg -- or they redistribute them and
>put their label on; it's hard to tell -- and I can buy them at the wine
>& cheese shop at the corner. They're good and hot, especially if you eat
>three at a time. They'll polish the inside of your skull.
The best peanuts period come from Virginia, it wouldn't surprise me to
find wasabi peanuts made here, along with other flavors.
--
Marilee J. Layman
Kip Williams
> On Wed, 24 Mar 2004, Kip Williams wrote:
>
>
>>James wrote:
>>
>>>Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote in news:U2p8c.2383$pM.2116@lakeread04:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Cathy reminds me, they had Pizza Hut in China too.
>>>
>>>And yet, we are still not at war. Truely, the forbearance of the Chinese
>>>people is an inspiration to us all.
>>
>>They were softened up with Coca-Cola and Nintendo.
>
>
> <raised_eyebrow>
>
> Nintendo?
>
> </raised_eyebrow>
I can't swear that was the brand, but they had a lot of game machines in
the stores.
Kip Williams
We got up at 6. Hello, new life. Up to 29 for breakfast, and maybe this
was the day I took panorama photos and 3D pairs from the revolving
restaurant's windows. I loved the interface between the moving part of
the floor and the center. There was a little amusement park visible from
our room that looked interesting, on the other side of the old city
moat. If I recall the curvature properly, the hotel was just outside the
moat, and Parkson's Department Store was just inside. There was a park
by the water with stationary neon 'fireworks' that flashed at night, and
a building across the street (next to a big theatre stage) was
scaffolded over in front and on the top -- a metal scaffold, though they
still seem to use bamboo as well -- and men clambered about, working
away, masked off a bit with a red-white-blue pattern paper that we saw
used for various things on the trip. At night, we saw as many as 17
taxis (VW Santanas, of course) lined up on the bridge, waiting for
theatregoers to come out.
This day -- Tuesday, I think -- we got on the bus in the morning (a new
bus, following on yesterday's misfortune at Friendship Store #6) and
went to see the shrine of Lord Bao. My Chinese is limited, but I can
hardly help knowing that "bao" or "bao-bao" or "bao-be" means Baby. I
know enough, however, not to try and make any jokes on this knowledge as
we cross a bridge in the river (or is it the Grand Canal? duhhrr...) to
the temple and museum complex. Lord Bao was a great justice, and he
could not be bought, and his monuments include very realistic wax
tableaux and also a series of painted reliefs, all depicting stages and
important events in his life.
Mr. Ding led us past a horsetrough-size tub of joss sticks wafting smoke
heavenward, and narrated Bao's waxworks with easy charm. "Lord Bao was
great judge," he told us gravely, "but, of course, not handsome like Mr.
Ding." Well, we said, who could be? I did my best to get some 3D pairs
of the lifelike figures, but suffered several setbacks from glass and
autofocus (I'd only had the camera a month, and I was doing a show for
some of that time), but at least the paired shots made it more likely
I'd finish with at least one picture of some of the displays.
During a break, we fed Sarah under a slightly crooked shelter near the
paddleboat landing. She was a very serious eater, clutching the bottle
tenaciously. After she saw us push on the plastic inner bag once to get
the formula moving, she almost always put a hand there herself to do the
same. (Hey! Lord Bao just went by on the other computer's screen saver.)
I finished the first 128M chip out of the three we bought for the camera
after deciding we couldn't bring this laptop along. The expensive
battery was still doing just fine.
I was still hoping to find some wasabi peanuts, but there weren't any at
Lord Bao's. There were some neat Foo-dog statues with stone balls that
rolled around inside their mouths but couldn't come out. Somebody else
in our tour group was buying a book of pictures of Hefei at the souvenir
shop, and we got another, and then passed the word on the the rest of
the group in the bus. Looking at the book later, there was something odd
about the two-page panorama of the city. Something around the edges of
the buildings was a little off, and it soon became clear to my Photoshop
eye that they had substituted a pretty blue sky with clouds for the
usual Hefei sky. There's lots of beauty in China, but the sky is one
area that needs work, unfortunately.
Milestones of the day: Sarah was standing more -- kid needed some muscle
tone. She loved walking, provided you gave her a couple of index fingers
to latch onto. She was determined to start making up for lost ground,
it seemed. She had decided she liked Cheerios all right. Hey, that's
important! Cheerios, man! They were a great icebreaker, too. She was
happy for me to give her O after O after O. And we, uh, got solids in
the diaper, so Cathy didn't have to break out the prunes after all.
We had a quiet afternoon, and went to bed early after a light room
service supper. I had wiener schnitzel, and Cathy had a burger.
Tim McDaniel
wrote:
>from the revolving restaurant's windows. I loved the interface
>between the moving part of the floor and the center.
What *was* the interface, and why did you love it so?
--
Tim McDaniel, tm...@panix.com; tm...@us.ibm.com is my work address
Marilee J. Layman
This is probably the same company:
http://www.thepeanutshop.com/catalog.jsp/13
from another page, the wasabi peanuts appear to also be Virginia
peanuts with wasabi-flavored coating.
--
Marilee J. Layman
Del Cotter
Tim McDaniel <tm...@panix.com> said:
>Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote:
>>from the revolving restaurant's windows. I loved the interface
>>between the moving part of the floor and the center.
>
>What *was* the interface, and why did you love it so?
If it's like the interface at the CN Tower restaurant, it's a small gap
in the floor, and it's cool because you can see it moving.
--
Del Cotter
Thanks to the overwhelming volume of UBE, I am now rejecting *all* email
sent to d...@branta.demon.co.uk. Please send your email to del2 instead.
Kip Williams
> In article <DQ69c.594$9g.262@lakeread04>, Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net>
> wrote:
>>from the revolving restaurant's windows. I loved the interface
>
>>between the moving part of the floor and the center.
>
> What *was* the interface, and why did you love it so?
In a revolving restaurant, there is a place where the moving and
non-moving parts are next to each other. Just seemed cool, having part
of the floor moving and part not moving. You could park the stroller
over the line and two wheels would roll and roll without going anywhere.
Simple thoughts.
Kip Williams
I haven't looked at the ingredients, but you're probably right that
they're 'flavored.' I think they mostly use horseradish colored green in
place of wasabi over here. They're good, though.
Kip Williams
> On Sat, 27 Mar 2004, in rec.arts.sf.fandom,
> Tim McDaniel <tm...@panix.com> said:
>
>> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote:
>>
>>> from the revolving restaurant's windows. I loved the interface
>>> between the moving part of the floor and the center.
>>
>>
>> What *was* the interface, and why did you love it so?
>
> If it's like the interface at the CN Tower restaurant, it's a small gap
> in the floor, and it's cool because you can see it moving.
Yeth.
Vlatko Juric-Kokic
>I had wiener schnitzel
Man, you had to go all the way to China to have a wiener schnitzel...
:-)
Like the journal, please keep up.
Del Cotter
>Del Cotter wrote:
>> Tim McDaniel <tm...@panix.com> said:
>>>> from the revolving restaurant's windows. I loved the interface
>>>> between the moving part of the floor and the center.
>>>
>>> What *was* the interface, and why did you love it so?
>>
>>If it's like the interface at the CN Tower restaurant, it's a small
>>gap in the floor, and it's cool because you can see it moving.
>
>Yeth.
Childish minds think alike.
Thanks to the IRA, I never got a chance to have dinner in the restaurant
in London's Post Office Tower, but I'm sure it's the same.
Paul Dormer
(Del Cotter) wrote:
> On Sat, 27 Mar 2004, in rec.arts.sf.fandom,
> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> said:
>
> >Del Cotter wrote:
> >> Tim McDaniel <tm...@panix.com> said:
> >>>> from the revolving restaurant's windows. I loved the interface
> >>>> between the moving part of the floor and the center.
> >>>
> >>> What *was* the interface, and why did you love it so?
> >>
> >>If it's like the interface at the CN Tower restaurant, it's a small
> >>gap in the floor, and it's cool because you can see it moving.
> >
> >Yeth.
>
> Childish minds think alike.
>
> Thanks to the IRA, I never got a chance to have dinner in the
> restaurant in London's Post Office Tower, but I'm sure it's the same.
>
Actually, it was the viewing gallery the IRA closed. The restaurant
stayed open for years after the attack. By all reports, it was an
expensive and not very good restaurant, but the view was magnificent.
I remember coming to London with my family in 1969 and going to see the
Post Office Tower, but the queue for the viewing gallery was so long we
didn't go up it. By the time I was next in London, in 1972, the gallery
was closed, but I was not inclined to go to the restaurant. These days,
my fear of heights would probably prevent me.
Marilee J. Layman
<d...@branta.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>On Sat, 27 Mar 2004, in rec.arts.sf.fandom,
>Tim McDaniel <tm...@panix.com> said:
>
>>Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote:
>>>from the revolving restaurant's windows. I loved the interface
>>>between the moving part of the floor and the center.
>>
>>What *was* the interface, and why did you love it so?
>
>If it's like the interface at the CN Tower restaurant, it's a small gap
>in the floor, and it's cool because you can see it moving.
Years ago, when I was in the restaurant that revolves at the top of
the Seattle Spaceneedle, it was the same, plus the carpeting changed
there -- I think they wanted to make sure people knew they were
stepping from moving to non-moving.
--
Marilee J. Layman
Kip Williams
We got up around 6 and had breakfast up on 29; socialized with other
parents. We had a small scare when Sarah started choking on some bread,
but Cathy, terrified, immediately did the right thing for her daughter.
As time went by, I would begin to realize how coccooned we were in our
group, surrounded by hotels that took care of all the meals and
housekeeping, continually running into other parents or being at the
same events. Anyway, we had no scheduled activities on this day. Other
parents were taking orphanage tours, but Feixi didn't offer one.
Instead, we deposited Sarah into the stroller provided by the hotel and
went out onto the street to check out the park with the ferris wheel
that we could see from our window. We picked the route that gave us
traffic lights, not wanting to cross the busy streets without them. The
lights in China are very detailed. You can tell how many seconds remain
on your green, and on your red. Major intersections also have an officer
of some sort to glare at jaywalkers and motion them back to the curb. As
always, Sarah was a cute little attention magnet, with her frizzy hair
and large, serious eyes (her sense of humor would take a back seat to
either shyness or perhaps the knowledge that she looked really, really
sweet that way) and her way of wriggling out of her garments, which she
found entirely too confining. Women would see her stocking foot, or bare
foot, and bend down to fix it, with some muttering about our parenting
optional. Sarah wasn't too keen on her diapers, either. They didn't wear
them at the orphanage, for reasons of economy. As I understand it, they
wore split bottom pants, and they would be put on a sort of communal
potty until they went. You'd think she'd have preferred the diapers.
We proceeded across the old city moat, past a small menagerie (which
seemed to be a separate attraction -- I never saw the entrance, but we
got free peeks at various birds, a yak, and a bactrian camel as we
walked past), found the park entrance, bought tickets and entered.
Inside the main gate was an elaborate peacock made of small bottles full
of colored fluids. I wondered if it lit up at night, but couldn't tell.
I wondered if there was anything special about the liquids inside. Who
knows? We sure didn't.
The park had animated dinosaurs that engaged in pointless repetitive
motions. These were somewhat dilapidated, sad to say. We passed rides
and a funhouse of some sort with a gloating Conquistador on the front,
counting money. I found the walkway I was looking for, which would some
day take park visitors out to a small island in the moat. This day, it
was still under construction, which explained why I never saw anybody
walking on it when I looked from our room.
We walked to the back of the park, where some kind of enchanted castle
was being built or renovated, then back to the street. We were assailed
by a man selling flowers, who knew to hand it to the baby so we'd feel
obliged to pay for it. A pittance to us, but a severe overpayment to
him. Eh; it was a nice flower. After the park, we had an adventure
crossing the street to get to Parkson's Department Store for some more
baby toys. For the baby. I was tickled to see a statue to some noble
endeavor, with a heroic man and woman holding up some spheres that may
have represented planets in space... but what they looked like was
Mickey Mouse. Click! There was a KFC and a Pizza Hut by Parkson's, but I
was tired of adventures and attention for the time, so we straggled back
to the Inn after we'd gotten what we needed, carefully picking the
intersection with signal and guard. We had lunch at the deli in our
hotel -- probably another curry puff for me. Mmm. For supper, we had
spaghetti (for Cathy) and sweet & sour pork (for me) from Room Service.
Sarah demonstrated her skill in getting Cheerios out of a cup, some of
which made it to her mouth (and some of those made it to her tummy). She
also made progress in standing up and walking around with the aid of two
index fingers (Cathy called this "Fingers Express"). As I noted in my
little book, "she's a very hardworking baby." (This hasn't changed.)
David Dyer-Bennet
> Tim McDaniel wrote:
>
>> In article <DQ69c.594$9g.262@lakeread04>, Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net>
>> wrote:
>>>from the revolving restaurant's windows. I loved the interface
>>
>>>between the moving part of the floor and the center.
>> What *was* the interface, and why did you love it so?
>
> In a revolving restaurant, there is a place where the moving and
> non-moving parts are next to each other. Just seemed cool, having part
> of the floor moving and part not moving. You could park the stroller
> over the line and two wheels would roll and roll without going
> anywhere.
Oooh. You had an extra toy I didn't have either of the times I've
been in a rotating restaurant.
--
David Dyer-Bennet, <mailto:dd...@dd-b.net>, <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/>
RKBA: <http://noguns-nomoney.com> <http://www.dd-b.net/carry/>
Photos: <dd-b.lighthunters.net> Snapshots: <www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/>
Dragaera/Steven Brust: <http://dragaera.info/>
Kip Williams
> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> writes:
>
>
>>Tim McDaniel wrote:
>>
>>
>>>In article <DQ69c.594$9g.262@lakeread04>, Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net>
>>>wrote:
>>>>from the revolving restaurant's windows. I loved the interface
>>>
>>>
>>>>between the moving part of the floor and the center.
>>>
>>>What *was* the interface, and why did you love it so?
>>
>>In a revolving restaurant, there is a place where the moving and
>>non-moving parts are next to each other. Just seemed cool, having part
>>of the floor moving and part not moving. You could park the stroller
>>over the line and two wheels would roll and roll without going
>>anywhere.
>
> Oooh. You had an extra toy I didn't have either of the times I've
> been in a rotating restaurant.
I also played around taking some stereo pairs. With the movement of the
room, if I'd had more time to spend at it, I could have gotten some
really kinky stuff, stereoscopically speaking.
Del Cotter
>Del Cotter <d...@branta.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>If it's like the interface at the CN Tower restaurant, it's a small gap
>>in the floor, and it's cool because you can see it moving.
>
>Years ago, when I was in the restaurant that revolves at the top of
>the Seattle Spaceneedle, it was the same, plus the carpeting changed
>there -- I think they wanted to make sure people knew they were
>stepping from moving to non-moving.
With the CN Tower, as some recent Worldcon attendees can probably
confirm, it's not so much a line on the open floor. The circular
walkway from the elevator, kitchens and toilets is bounded by the
(moving) elbow-high wall separating the restaurant seating on the
outside from the static facilities on the inside, and the floor gap is
only visible just at the openings in the wall where you walk through
into the seating area.
Oh, it's also visible where you sit at the window, because the windows
are also static.
I never did get round to writing my Torcon report (wherein I was going
to say hi to all the nice people I met-- hi, Cally!). I should at least
put my pictures up, including the attempts at panoramic shots from the
tower.
jgut...@brokersys.com
> jgut...@brokersys.com appears to have caused the following letters to be
> typed in news:vu59j1-...@chromite.brokersys.com:
>> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote:
>>> Matthew B. Tepper wrote:
>>>> Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following
>>>>>Then we had lunch at a crowded KFC
>>>> You've eaten at a KFC in China? Cool. But I've eaten at one in
>>>> *Kentucky*.
>>> Heh. They also have McDonald's.
>> I used to carry around the receipt I got at the Burger King on the
>> Champs Elysees near the Place de l'Etoile.
> I've not only eaten there (in 1990), but I helped some fellow American
> tourists place their orders in French.
Just out of curiousity, how much French do you need to know to say
"Whopper, Frites, Coke"?
I was there in 1983.
--
Jonathan Guthrie (jgut...@brokersys.com)
Sto pro veritate
jgut...@brokersys.com
>>>jgut...@brokersys.com appears to have caused the following letters to
>>>be
>>>typed in news:vu59j1-...@chromite.brokersys.com:
>>>>Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote:
>>>>>Matthew B. Tepper wrote:
>>>>>>Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> appears to have caused the following
>>>>>>letters to be typed in news:zq58c.311$pM.64@lakeread04:
>>>>>>>Then we had lunch at a crowded KFC
>>>>>>You've eaten at a KFC in China? Cool. But I've eaten at one in
>>>>>>*Kentucky*.
>>>>>Heh. They also have McDonald's.
>>>>I used to carry around the receipt I got at the Burger King on the
>>>>Champs Elysees near the Place de l'Etoile.
>>>I've not only eaten there (in 1990), but I helped some fellow American
>>>tourists place their orders in French.
>> I've never understood the need to go to a foreign country and then eat
>> food you could have got at home. The British are just as bad, going to
>> Spain and then insisting on English food. I had some great meals last
>> time I was in Paris, but only at French restaurants.
> It's not a need, but sometimes it's less stressful to surround yourself
> with elements of the familiar in the middle of a different place.
For my own part, I only ate there so I could have the receipt to show
people and so I could tell the story. Heck, I never went to Burger
King near home, I'm sure as not going to fly 5,000 miles just to go to
one.
Kip Williams
We greeted the rosy-fingered dawn. As usual, we found Sarah sideways in
the crib. She seemed to prefer that. I don't remember how long we kept
trying to put covers on her at night. We proceeded to our usual tasty
breakfast from the buffet on 29 (revolving). We also chewed two
Pepto-Bismol tablets, as we had been advised, for the degree to which
we'd be unable to avoid drinking or eating things that contained water.
All the hotels, as well as the guest house at the University, had a
policy of having boiled or bottled water in the rooms, and the Holiday
Inn even had a drinking water tap in the restroom. The combs they put
out were neat, too, having a sort of handle area at one end with no
teeth cut out of it, and the teeth themselves having rounded capped-type
tips. Something cool to take home.
Anyway, at 9:30, we embarked on a bus trip to the Historical Museum of
Anhui, apparently constructed during some sort of Soviet era. It had
that look. Outside the museum, there was a group of school kids on a
class outing, and they thought Sarah was cute too. Unlike the museum in
Wuxi, they didn't allow photographs. (Forgot to mention that one. Put it
between the park and the KFC. It had an antique store in the same
building, and sold tea sets in the gift shop.) The museum tour started
off with some exposition on the history of Anhui province, and then we
got to proceed at our own pace through bronzes and stone sculpture and
architecture and photos. I sketched a little jade bear that appealed to
me, and consequently there wasn't enough time at the apex of the trip to
enjoy the cool stuff in the last couple of rooms. Christopher, the only
non-infant kid to come to the museum, was the lucky recipient of all
kinds of enlightening commentary from various adults present. (That's
what my notebook says. Must be true.) As the lights started going out, I
was assuring Christopher they wouldn't lock us in. And if we did, I'd
use the time to sketch. We hastened back to the gift shop for a bit,
where a man tried to ask me how to emigrate to America. I really had no
idea, and it took a while to find out what he was asking me. I ended up
having to shrug; the Awkward American. Back to the hotel.
Sarah enjoyed playing Up and Down by this time. She'd sit up on the bed
(with the help of a couple fingers), and I'd say "Baby's Up!" Then she'd
let go and fall back on the bed, and I'd say "Baby's Down!" Then
laughter and tickling would ensue. She liked standing (assisted) on my
stomach and wsaving and babbling at the baby in the mirror. We got lots
of mileage from mirrors -- Good old mirrors! Early on, she'd get cranky
once in a while. Mirrors cheered her up, distracted her.
That afternoon, I justified having packed my swim trunks, spending a
pleasant hour or two tossing various spheroids around the pool on 6 with
our next-door neighbor John and his sons Emerson and Scudder, and
Kathryn, the 11-year-old daughter of another family. It was a good
workout -- Kathryn, in particular, had a great arm and precise aim. On
the way out, I realized I had committed a small faux pas in not
showering prior to my dip, when I read the sign on the wall. Oops. Must
be more careful. For some reason, I decided to walk up to my room. It
turned out to be a bit fatiguing.
We knocked off without supper. I woke up at 3:15 am to reduce the air
conditioning a little.
David Goldfarb
<jgut...@brokersys.com> wrote:
>Just out of curiousity, how much French do you need to know to say
>"Whopper, Frites, Coke"?
There can be surprising difficulties in communication between native
English and French speakers. I remember once I was in an airport
restaurant, and in line right in front of me was a French tourist who
was asking for "ahPELpe". The person at the counter was, understandably,
having trouble with this. Thanks to my French studies, I was able to
help out by deciphering "apple pie".
--
David Goldfarb <*>|"We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu | uncertainty!"
gold...@csua.berkeley.edu | -- Douglas Adams, _The Hitchhiker's
| Guide to the Galaxy_
Christopher K Davis
> I remember coming to London with my family in 1969 and going to see the
> Post Office Tower, but the queue for the viewing gallery was so long we
> didn't go up it. By the time I was next in London, in 1972, the gallery
> was closed, but I was not inclined to go to the restaurant. These days,
> my fear of heights would probably prevent me.
The restaurant is closed too (since 1980, actually, according to
http://www.urban75.org/london/telecom.html). Sigh.
Here in Boston, the John Hancock building's observation deck finally
found the excuse they needed to close permanently after 9/11 (even
though having the observation deck was one of the agreements they made
to get permission to build the tower). The Prudential building still
has both the obs deck and non-revolving restaurant, however.
--
"[G]rant us, in our direst need, the smallest gifts: the nail of the
horseshoe, the pin of the axle, the feather at the pivot point, the
pebble at the mountain's peak, the kiss in despair, the one right
word. In darkness, understanding." -- Learned Chivar dy Cabon
Kip Williams
the updated pictures of Sarah. Well, a dozen pictures that
chronologically follow Capclave, so that they're newer. I'll get the
ones I had up before switched over to it as well, but I'm up past my
bedtime as it is. See! November and December pix now, at
members.cox.net/sarahxihuan
and wave HI to that innocent couple on the home page there. They don't
know what's coming...
Andrew Plotkin
> ps: with much time and grievance, I can now proudly point my public to
> the updated pictures of Sarah. Well, a dozen pictures that
> chronologically follow Capclave, so that they're newer. I'll get the
> ones I had up before switched over to it as well, but I'm up past my
> bedtime as it is. See! November and December pix now, at
> members.cox.net/sarahxihuan
Front page there has an image pointing at
"file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Catherine/My%20Documents/my%20web%20page/Us.jpg",
which is one of them NURLs, I believe.
And the first link below that, "Sarah's China Pictures", points at
"chinapix.htm" instead of "chinapix.html".
Everything else seems to work.
--Z
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
* Make your vote count. Get your vote counted.
Marilee J. Layman
>ps: with much time and grievance, I can now proudly point my public to
>the updated pictures of Sarah. Well, a dozen pictures that
>chronologically follow Capclave, so that they're newer. I'll get the
>ones I had up before switched over to it as well, but I'm up past my
>bedtime as it is. See! November and December pix now, at
>members.cox.net/sarahxihuan
About time! I see she has her clothes on. I like the picture where
Cathy's sleeping.
>and wave HI to that innocent couple on the home page there. They don't
>know what's coming...
--
Marilee J. Layman
Matthew B. Tepper
I helped them put their orders into coherent sentences. The young woman at
the counter smiled at me sweetly and told me (in English) that I had done a
very nice thing. I smiled back and said, "Vous êtes trop généreuse."
--
Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks!
My personal home page -- http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/index.html
My main music page --- http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/berlioz.html
To write to me, do for my address what Androcles did for the lion
Russell Watson is to opera as Velveeta™ is to aged cheddar cheese
Matthew B. Tepper
following letters to be typed in news:c486qm$2c6q$1...@agate.berkeley.edu:
> In article <fndkj1-...@chromite.brokersys.com>,
> <jgut...@brokersys.com> wrote:
>>Just out of curiousity, how much French do you need to know to say
>>"Whopper, Frites, Coke"?
>
> There can be surprising difficulties in communication between native
> English and French speakers. I remember once I was in an airport
> restaurant, and in line right in front of me was a French tourist who
> was asking for "ahPELpe". The person at the counter was, understandably,
> having trouble with this. Thanks to my French studies, I was able to
> help out by deciphering "apple pie".
It can be worse. I once helped a Japanese tourist who was looking for a
recording of a particular Dvorak symphony in a record store. Once I
determined that the nickname of the symphony in question was "London," it
took me a little while before I realized he was talking about #8 in G
Major, which apparently has that nickname in Japan and nowhere else. (It
had been written on request of an orchestra in London, England.)
Kip Williams
> Here, Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote:
>
>>ps: with much time and grievance, I can now proudly point my public to
>>the updated pictures of Sarah. Well, a dozen pictures that
>>chronologically follow Capclave, so that they're newer. I'll get the
>>ones I had up before switched over to it as well, but I'm up past my
>>bedtime as it is. See! November and December pix now, at
>>members.cox.net/sarahxihuan
>
>
> Front page there has an image pointing at
> "file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Catherine/My%20Documents/my%20web%20page/Us.jpg",
> which is one of them NURLs, I believe.
Yes, the program insists on inserting reams of crapola like that.
Thought I'd gotten it all. Fixed now.
> And the first link below that, "Sarah's China Pictures", points at
> "chinapix.htm" instead of "chinapix.html".
Fixed.
> Everything else seems to work.
Probably fixed that, too...
Cathy Doyle
Marilee J. Layman wrote:
>On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 23:37:24 -0500, Kip Williams <ki...@cox.net> wrote:
>
>
>
>>ps: with much time and grievance, I can now proudly point my public to
>>the updated pictures of Sarah. Well, a dozen pictures that
>>chronologically follow Capclave, so that they're newer. I'll get the
>>ones I had up before switched over to it as well, but I'm up past my
>>bedtime as it is. See! November and December pix now, at
>>members.cox.net/sarahxihuan
>>
>>
>
>About time! I see she has her clothes on. I like the picture where
>Cathy's sleeping.
>
>
>
>>
>>
>
>
Cathy likes any picture she's in these days when it shows her getting
some rest...
Vlatko Juric-Kokic
>November and December pix now, at
>members.cox.net/sarahxihuan
Finally went to see the pics.
She's a doll. I especially like the one with the sneakers.
And the one in the day care... Have you planned it that way or just
pressed the button?