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"Christ is Risen"
"Indeed He is Risen"
"Yesterday I was buried with Thee, 0 Christ.
Today I arise with Thee in Thy resurrection.
Yesterday I was crucified with Thee:
Glorify me with Thee, 0 Savior, in Thy kingdom"
"Yesterday I was buried with Thee, 0 Christ.
Today I arise with Thee in Thy resurrection.
Yesterday I was crucified with Thee:
Glorify me with Thee, 0 Savior, in Thy kingdom"
Ben goes to SPE
to present a poster on radiation effects on epoxy and epoxy composites. It's the end of a solid
run for him. In the last couple of months, he's won the Liberty High School Science Fair in Chemistry, took second in Regionals, took second in Social Studies for the regional for TAPPS, went to state for that and took 5th, and won first in the Billie Dreen State Poetry Competition run by North Texas State College. No awards at ANTEC but he survived the questioning.
Noah meanwhile is trying to pass Calculus, Physics, and Quantitative Analysis.
run for him. In the last couple of months, he's won the Liberty High School Science Fair in Chemistry, took second in Regionals, took second in Social Studies for the regional for TAPPS, went to state for that and took 5th, and won first in the Billie Dreen State Poetry Competition run by North Texas State College. No awards at ANTEC but he survived the questioning.
Noah meanwhile is trying to pass Calculus, Physics, and Quantitative Analysis.
Shanghai and the City God's Temple
Sunday before my flight home, I visted the temple of the City God. I was expecting it to be kinda of a historical site, but it's a working temple. Suppression of religion worked as well here as it did in Russia. Below is the outer gate.
Going thru that, the inner gate with shops surrounding the square.
Going thru that, the inner gate with shops surrounding the square.
Then the central court yard with its incense burner,
and looking the other way, the offering fire. Here the sides are small shrines to various gods
Entering the temple,
The shrine to the Jade Emperor
the hallway with shrines to the lesser gods and goddesses
and then the shrine of the City God of Shanghai
One of the side shrines - this one to the God of War
After that we wandered around, eating dumpling, etc and found this cool pair of kirin door guardians...
and walked over to the tea house I saw the first night
and finally a very quick look at the Yulan Garden...
Chengdu and Pandas
My first real meal in Sichuan had exactly one veggie that was not a pepper. The red dish on the right has meat and noodles in it somewhere.
and going by a group of people practicing the fan dance.
Dinner was a Sichuan style hotpot, where food is cooked in stock and chili oil
We then walked around the old section, the narrow and wide street, which once was where the imperial officials and rich merchants lived. Now those old homes are resturants, nightclubs, hotels, tea houses, and hotels as well as very very expensive homes.
There is a Chinese Opera there and I got to pose with Gou Gong.
The orginial artwork restored on a 400 year old door.
A small temple on the street
and two of the many street vendors selling snack foods.
The next day business took me to the Sichuan Science and Technical University where they have this lovely pagoda in the lake on campus.
Then we were off to see the panda at the Sichuan Panda Breeding Center...
They have over 150 of them
and we got to see the cubs play fighting in a panda pile
you got pretty close to them, unlike the Red Pandas which you couldn't even see
Giant pandas are easier to see, even in trees
Then afterwards we had food, with this dish. Trust me - there is fish in those peppers somewhere.
Driving into Chengdu, we passed this cool bridge over the river,
After the seminar here, we went out for dinner, passing this gateway to the old section of the city
and going by a group of people practicing the fan dance.
Dinner was a Sichuan style hotpot, where food is cooked in stock and chili oil
We then walked around the old section, the narrow and wide street, which once was where the imperial officials and rich merchants lived. Now those old homes are resturants, nightclubs, hotels, tea houses, and hotels as well as very very expensive homes.
There is a Chinese Opera there and I got to pose with Gou Gong.
The orginial artwork restored on a 400 year old door.
A small temple on the street
and two of the many street vendors selling snack foods.
The next day business took me to the Sichuan Science and Technical University where they have this lovely pagoda in the lake on campus.
Then we were off to see the panda at the Sichuan Panda Breeding Center...
They have over 150 of them
and we got to see the cubs play fighting in a panda pile
you got pretty close to them, unlike the Red Pandas which you couldn't even see
Giant pandas are easier to see, even in trees
Then afterwards we had food, with this dish. Trust me - there is fish in those peppers somewhere.
Shanghai 3 and off to Mianyang
We went to the Shanghai Museum in People's Square for a quick visit before we headed to our plane to Mianyang. The museum is relatively new and has been written up as one of the best in China. Outside are sculptures of mythical creatures...
Inside is the most amazing collection of bronze casting I've seen including this cool wine pitcher. In addition, a large detailed explanation of the old casting process with clay molds is there. (I made my host translate it all for me.)
and this study.
One floor was dedicated to painting, including the style westerners think of as Chinese, which really developed late in the mid 1800s.
We grabbed a quick bowl of noodles in a mall and I saw this store called Hipanda, that could be called mean panda or bad panda. All the kids clothes had pandas doing naughty things.
We took Spring Airline, a small Chinese internal company, to Mianyang next which is on the Fu river.
Inside is the most amazing collection of bronze casting I've seen including this cool wine pitcher. In addition, a large detailed explanation of the old casting process with clay molds is there. (I made my host translate it all for me.)
Bronze weapons are also displayed as well as bells and jewelry.
Another section covered wood work like this desk
and this study.
One floor was dedicated to painting, including the style westerners think of as Chinese, which really developed late in the mid 1800s.
There was also a section for minority groups of China, that include masks from both religious and nao theatre.
We grabbed a quick bowl of noodles in a mall and I saw this store called Hipanda, that could be called mean panda or bad panda. All the kids clothes had pandas doing naughty things.
We took Spring Airline, a small Chinese internal company, to Mianyang next which is on the Fu river.
Shanghai 2 - The Bund etc
With the holidays last week, the local office was open Sunday and so I was in at 8 am. So much for my idea of a day to adapt to the time change. For lunch, I got taken to a local place and fed more Shanghaise food.
The buildings face the Pudong river and are now mostly banks. The riverside itself is a wide walkway.
along the sides are very "communist" artworks
and the triangle thingy is a momument to the soldiers
After the Bund, we walked over to this "wlaking street" which is a major shopping district.
Then to the Seagull Resturant for dinner.,,,
Looking down the river at night.
Shanghai
I made it into Shanghai last night and the view from the hotel shows why the chinese call Shanghai a vertical city.
I got to the hotel just in time for dinner with one of my coworkers at a lovely resturant in the Yulan area. An remenant of old Shanghai, it has been converted to an series of small shops and resturants.
Besides the shop, there is also the old estate of a rich merchant with walled garden, reflecting ponds etc. and the oldest tea house in Shanghai.
Dinner was next door in a fabulous restuarant that served traditional Shanghai cusine. Apparently this is where they took Bush and Clinton when they were in town. Despite that the food was great. The dumplings (baozi) were different: they ate cooked in soup and come with a lot of broth in them. They are sold on the street from stands and food trucks too. In fornt of that is fish in a pungent sauce and stirfried veggies. On the right side is another fish dish and off camera is a spagehetti squash stirfry.
Salmon Gravlox
And we thought bacon was easy. We set this up before we left for the Hammer Class and today we had it for breakfast. I like it sliced but Ben like to put it and an equal weight of cream cheese in the food processor and make a spread for bagels (Yes, it' s that easy. Lump of gravlox, limp of cream cheese, blend.)
1 pound salmon
2 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp black peppercorns, crushed - mixed with salt and sugar.
1/2 shot bourbon
1 tsp lemon juice added to bourbon
Lots of fresh dill, de-stemmed
Rinse and dry salmon. Rub with bourbon and lemon juice. Cover both side of fillet. Seal in a vacuum bag under high vacuun and leave in the frig for 3- 4 days, flipping daily. Remove, rinse, slice thin, and eat.
2 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp black peppercorns, crushed - mixed with salt and sugar.
1/2 shot bourbon
1 tsp lemon juice added to bourbon
Lots of fresh dill, de-stemmed
Rinse and dry salmon. Rub with bourbon and lemon juice. Cover both side of fillet. Seal in a vacuum bag under high vacuun and leave in the frig for 3- 4 days, flipping daily. Remove, rinse, slice thin, and eat.
Little Giant Power Hammer Class
Ben and I drove up to Nebraska City, Nebraska on Thursday to take part in a powe hammer rebuilding class at the Little Giant Company. Happily, Nebraska City is in eastern part of the state in low rolling hills and has both great BBQ and very good Chinese food. Unhappily, it got snow. Ben is scarred...everywhere we go, the snow follows.
It was very informative and Sid was a great teacher, simplifying the process and making it less scary. Well, except the Babbitt pour, where the idea of molten lead still worries Ben. Miss Keri and Sam were delightful. Sid basically rebuilt a trashed hammer in front of us.
It was very informative and Sid was a great teacher, simplifying the process and making it less scary. Well, except the Babbitt pour, where the idea of molten lead still worries Ben. Miss Keri and Sam were delightful. Sid basically rebuilt a trashed hammer in front of us.
explaining each part as he went along. Here he talks about the babbitt metal pour, which is how you rebuild the bearing. Ben was not thrilled about that part.
Overall, it was an excellent class and a fun trip, even considering the mad dash home on Saturday night to avoid the snow storm moving into Kansas. We had people from all over the US:
The little guy is Sam. The lady next to him is not Keri, who is photo-shy but Miss Laura from Austin who has a old style 25 pounder she wants to rebuild. The green hammer was a rusted wreck Friday morning.
Joinery Class at NTBA
The North Texas Blacksmith Association had Gerald Franklin, who is current president of Saltfork Craftsmen, down to teach a class in traditional joinery techniques. The project was a small grill with 4 square and 4 round tenons and a pass thru.
