tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89834852568756833412024-03-18T11:04:14.718+08:00Misquotabilitythe further, ongoing, and reprised account of a weary English language teacher in the PRC
*and now with woodworking tips, insights, and progress reports! Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.comBlogger111125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-23301112791561441942024-01-07T22:51:00.006+08:002024-01-11T22:44:54.781+08:00Last class at the Yangpu Bilingual High School<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6wIo-aItMIbhst2Ioj2aygrIPmxJgNnlU4oUrZFUJtM8vyu62Orjy2hkV6bM2JCKQnrSyhLgWP0Zfuj-xx7Pfe4f9KOxlVSHrSv4k075GzH43Ppv4fp5ZouUZHO2Vjgb9YgPFU9kqstdmyd664GXsHYykbOdwsKbhjSMFIiID4W8kRvKlzKtxLCva-TgZ/s3264/IMG_7942.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6wIo-aItMIbhst2Ioj2aygrIPmxJgNnlU4oUrZFUJtM8vyu62Orjy2hkV6bM2JCKQnrSyhLgWP0Zfuj-xx7Pfe4f9KOxlVSHrSv4k075GzH43Ppv4fp5ZouUZHO2Vjgb9YgPFU9kqstdmyd664GXsHYykbOdwsKbhjSMFIiID4W8kRvKlzKtxLCva-TgZ/w400-h300/IMG_7942.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">woodworking tables and chairs<br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <span> </span><span> </span>On January 4th I conducted the final woodworking class of senior middle school students at the <a href="https://sisubs.edu.sh.cn/page/home">YangPu Bilingual school</a>. The school officially refers to this course as Design and Technology but I wasn't made aware of this distinction until I was given the student roster. <p></p><p><span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDkh5T-fQIyhufqLTaUwjl7PLGkwebOjOWapzTfixPk6lns2fKMEU5U7whFr8TC9VjSnwxgDbC8LfIQUaIOv0qMNe0dL3wcslzx5H7vDZiBPWR5s2fjzKwVJlmPa1CKpJswUWguULCKGhzPou4AwHhLve-cTWb8e4ydSBOdCRMwfVYcXVQPUAjYkEFpDI/s3264/IMG_7833.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDkh5T-fQIyhufqLTaUwjl7PLGkwebOjOWapzTfixPk6lns2fKMEU5U7whFr8TC9VjSnwxgDbC8LfIQUaIOv0qMNe0dL3wcslzx5H7vDZiBPWR5s2fjzKwVJlmPa1CKpJswUWguULCKGhzPou4AwHhLve-cTWb8e4ydSBOdCRMwfVYcXVQPUAjYkEFpDI/w400-h300/IMG_7833.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The guardhouse of the closed campus<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span> </span>I came into this job through Chen Yonggang who has learned to supply contract teaching to school administrators who understand that there is a need to provide their students with handicraft instruction but lack the institutional skills to do so internally. He provides the materials, the teachers, and the projects that the students complete. He mainly hires young women to teach students in primary schools. I agreed to teach the high school aged students since I knew that their English level would have allowed me to actually instruct. Somehow accepting this job compelled me to also teach a class at the primary school level. My reasons for why I didn't think this was a good idea were irrelevant since Chen Yonggang had already promised to the school that he could provide with a foreign teacher.</div></span></div><p></p><p><span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb5c-YyUwAvIKSBumAXdwlJoL_S-JAlGp4oheSVUP7nqciiHmRPiiDHAesvQKKaGa5ZJnUXC8V7EUAMPgpraIPnkFLuVdnCrzwKkBkJeqVKn7suCoCa1LNVc727bgvJEpEYvEGHx5SrFYwYrNaSyh3_07INEvah5ma6zx8bIVOLyhnA_XL58xPuWUyV4AQ/s3264/IMG_7792.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb5c-YyUwAvIKSBumAXdwlJoL_S-JAlGp4oheSVUP7nqciiHmRPiiDHAesvQKKaGa5ZJnUXC8V7EUAMPgpraIPnkFLuVdnCrzwKkBkJeqVKn7suCoCa1LNVc727bgvJEpEYvEGHx5SrFYwYrNaSyh3_07INEvah5ma6zx8bIVOLyhnA_XL58xPuWUyV4AQ/w300-h400/IMG_7792.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Multitasking</td></tr></tbody></table><p><span> <span> </span><span> </span></span>As it happened, the school informed me while I was travelling in Hungary that they were not pleased with my classroom management with the primary school students and upset that my class and the one being taught simultaneously in the adjacent classroom were not synchronized. So I guess in the end, my reasons won out. This worked out for the best since I was teaching the primary school students four days a week for . As a result I only needed to commute once a week to Shanghai.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkS1lUTjJoqhX_3hPFXpxFKOJi6AZyxXdSIJ4sx-N39YvaMLwXfDEWtYkhaCgOYxdjjLTn5u3oYoUB6Rl3HwELylvNU88CwlsTLt59cqHrHA2UWRqjNLPVVLIFh1Q8-Oe8IRnjTS66E6otRCoX3zWx_t130NGw1ICc5GILNTWL8VupqUKOq0_n9zd28FBC/s1175/IMG_8027.PNG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="1175" height="86" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkS1lUTjJoqhX_3hPFXpxFKOJi6AZyxXdSIJ4sx-N39YvaMLwXfDEWtYkhaCgOYxdjjLTn5u3oYoUB6Rl3HwELylvNU88CwlsTLt59cqHrHA2UWRqjNLPVVLIFh1Q8-Oe8IRnjTS66E6otRCoX3zWx_t130NGw1ICc5GILNTWL8VupqUKOq0_n9zd28FBC/s320/IMG_8027.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The primary school class schedule<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p></p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>This seemed to have been the first time that Mr Chen has been contracted for a course at such an upper level and with a western instructor. He decided in advance that the students would make model of a Dougong timberframed structure. He even hired an extra man to develop the prototype that would then be copied by the students. I entered the classroom with this in the back of my mind and stressed to Mr Chen that I needed the model as quickly as possible to help motivate the students onto their main task. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwaeEKjOQqLkWDn7El48z2knFWHaWKm0PyzPBX9moYDuC7l4HCBNu_Y5wwJuihDLfw2znVzL2hWNQNd3eGoaQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><p></p><p> <span> </span><span> </span>To his credit, Mr Chen observed the first class that I taught during which I introduced the themes of timberframing, the research and life of the architect, Liang Sicheng, the tools associated with the trade, and the recent rebuilding of Notre Dame. I conduct this style of lesson in order to gauge the students' level of English. It was evident that there was a wide range of abilities. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj225VsjxFxAz9VfH32yPLnLf4ErX69WPuMMQNWlRfPdEFOI7H-OCEN3ux7RFQFnI2yoTqevKn7dl6Gpd2EYwKz1_vRL07sOANkQ1Tlpo7UwCOUhNHuFMFSAm0qL0SGBiZMLQfm4ScxFVv2VW1OC0foMF9VCDVCY_FGKVMe7aoBaHUz5kQ_POJcpoBy22mE/s1920/IMG_8023.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj225VsjxFxAz9VfH32yPLnLf4ErX69WPuMMQNWlRfPdEFOI7H-OCEN3ux7RFQFnI2yoTqevKn7dl6Gpd2EYwKz1_vRL07sOANkQ1Tlpo7UwCOUhNHuFMFSAm0qL0SGBiZMLQfm4ScxFVv2VW1OC0foMF9VCDVCY_FGKVMe7aoBaHUz5kQ_POJcpoBy22mE/s320/IMG_8023.JPG" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Critical part for the turningsaw project<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p><span> </span><span> </span>Mr Chen confessed to my wife that he was there in the classroom with me on the first day so as to be able to offer me some tips to help me out in the classroom; he, instead, confided in her that he was impressed by the amount of information that I was able to present in an organized manner and how well the students remained focused. Yeah, it's called teaching. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImrIpd-rXGgBwb4LwrcFxHA0Ku_6d9rCXrvo3vO5uqpjWRDAKknMgxJb-YdVu0zYiaaS567HDXOOXtCR4ujw_s9uAXeBt7hrq9s8X3EKTedtFoATAEMISWWO2zISYYBnnMXDPVypQXlRHZO2X2KApbuJgVdJPFyUzhxcBQ-CjvIeaIOPnSt9Ma5ZSZNc8/s1920/IMG_8022.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImrIpd-rXGgBwb4LwrcFxHA0Ku_6d9rCXrvo3vO5uqpjWRDAKknMgxJb-YdVu0zYiaaS567HDXOOXtCR4ujw_s9uAXeBt7hrq9s8X3EKTedtFoATAEMISWWO2zISYYBnnMXDPVypQXlRHZO2X2KApbuJgVdJPFyUzhxcBQ-CjvIeaIOPnSt9Ma5ZSZNc8/s320/IMG_8022.JPG" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dougong model<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>The bulk of the coursework were projects that Mr Chen has developed for his own courses and for sales. One of the projects, for example, was the same folding stool that I have already written about. Other projects included both a bowsaw and a turningsaw, a try square, and chopsticks. In this classroom, the students are given metal vises to hold wood. I donated a few bench hooks from my own failed woodworking school and a few students recognized their utility but there weren't enough. With this in mind and the upcoming dougong model, I decided on teaching the students how to make the Underhill style bench hook. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLPNE37k5Pm9t5L34CPtdH-FQYofe45RBhbm8uxmvpKR12EoLn6_fSW4wSp_PAxXWe-GIwCiupVhwqPEC6QoOcViR3lqQqwEDspy2ydi494pkTwC4YwAeRhvE7JArWvhA-32dgsnicCqbKuYIAvSlJ3Ta_9f3oxAY6_ehwt_-EViQD-OKn49ELXMXw0yjA/s1706/IMG_8024.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1706" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLPNE37k5Pm9t5L34CPtdH-FQYofe45RBhbm8uxmvpKR12EoLn6_fSW4wSp_PAxXWe-GIwCiupVhwqPEC6QoOcViR3lqQqwEDspy2ydi494pkTwC4YwAeRhvE7JArWvhA-32dgsnicCqbKuYIAvSlJ3Ta_9f3oxAY6_ehwt_-EViQD-OKn49ELXMXw0yjA/s320/IMG_8024.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still from Lie Nielsen film studios<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span> </span><span> </span>The construction of this bench hook offered the students an opportunity practice layout, crosscutting with their newly made bowsaws, and paring chisel techniques. I thought it was a great addition but Mr Chen wasn't convinced until I showed him the video. And then he was very concerned that I would be teaching the students how to use a chisel. He is as much concerned with the possibility that a student might cut himself as how parents would react when they learned that their investments were being put at risk.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU-Ko3visv0CYh1EZF9376moU4ZaJ4W0DbVeF-S8DcsddchG14RbM5tfab3TBfLYyCeeiZdoAAbXypgMxRmlBwZuFHWfbqXad6ystIp0206ak74mq_ZVpMkW4XcD4GghTquVd9k2dUoUdpHgTSJzIMMyN829Qtwg9WBTDLQVkmAlqkng0meiEnqRD2J9Y9/s3264/IMG_7907.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU-Ko3visv0CYh1EZF9376moU4ZaJ4W0DbVeF-S8DcsddchG14RbM5tfab3TBfLYyCeeiZdoAAbXypgMxRmlBwZuFHWfbqXad6ystIp0206ak74mq_ZVpMkW4XcD4GghTquVd9k2dUoUdpHgTSJzIMMyN829Qtwg9WBTDLQVkmAlqkng0meiEnqRD2J9Y9/s320/IMG_7907.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Painter's palette<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZGdto15iISni551aaLLhzxTZcvuZH7sVSEmb2HzIvDWFty6cbm6OiuRMhqZ-pE6sbE3BcVjm1sf2-jtb5O5ohnTnws_0HL6b4Vpyjp-juracnX77oV6jkB4y_Z393tbkJRRNtamRbly4YNPbSiZLKZWeoAcYCCNwJOgwJYIe89md1UySZy8Lrl60t1_X5/s3264/IMG_7909.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZGdto15iISni551aaLLhzxTZcvuZH7sVSEmb2HzIvDWFty6cbm6OiuRMhqZ-pE6sbE3BcVjm1sf2-jtb5O5ohnTnws_0HL6b4Vpyjp-juracnX77oV6jkB4y_Z393tbkJRRNtamRbly4YNPbSiZLKZWeoAcYCCNwJOgwJYIe89md1UySZy8Lrl60t1_X5/s320/IMG_7909.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> contact milkpaint fumes<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>I conducted a lesson on making milkpaint on the Thursday before Christmas. There was less enthusiasm for this lesson than I had gotten in the past. There was however a lot of enthusiasm for painting which many students were very talented in. I don't think any of the students understood that the plywood forms represented spherical tree ornaments. Most students treated the precut pattern pieces as a flat board upon which they painted Christmas scenes. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaF9phCdv4G9yT_LmzR5kOCjhSFuvFf2JlQku4fxRyaOZjY5KpEOCJ9E024abaC5Iq1AywQxe7M2Ztnbphxapqfb0tFBkY5YuWwm5jHwyKhSavOV7JdS1iKc5l77UJ7xiha0laLyiP2uqd9LkVCPPeEoo-gAFAJhnJOXr-I3sUXuKmJ-c2Q1NBb3G-7rID/s3264/IMG_7920.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaF9phCdv4G9yT_LmzR5kOCjhSFuvFf2JlQku4fxRyaOZjY5KpEOCJ9E024abaC5Iq1AywQxe7M2Ztnbphxapqfb0tFBkY5YuWwm5jHwyKhSavOV7JdS1iKc5l77UJ7xiha0laLyiP2uqd9LkVCPPeEoo-gAFAJhnJOXr-I3sUXuKmJ-c2Q1NBb3G-7rID/s320/IMG_7920.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abandoned decoration</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj53HCoEJbY0mxF7dFmHHiDP1znFLAscEUlJbr7hYqKTe5AljWWPAP14oS7iy-yLXgyoJyb4-dM2t9zZMAV_x_T-QwyQRjzgOvR73VV8b1REFuxHrx8PTRlqTBmcCJ1DAn2gtcAEAfgZxl0tuRd_nFdMq2gWblTtuyTqemfjh16277kYSyZDG-rHpByddtF/s3264/IMG_7917.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj53HCoEJbY0mxF7dFmHHiDP1znFLAscEUlJbr7hYqKTe5AljWWPAP14oS7iy-yLXgyoJyb4-dM2t9zZMAV_x_T-QwyQRjzgOvR73VV8b1REFuxHrx8PTRlqTBmcCJ1DAn2gtcAEAfgZxl0tuRd_nFdMq2gWblTtuyTqemfjh16277kYSyZDG-rHpByddtF/s320/IMG_7917.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Common photo pose<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>On the last day, I repeated the instructions as to how the interviews would be conducted and I put a list of names on the whiteboard to help facilitate the sequence. I sat in an adjoining room and waited nearly 15 minutes before I reentered the classroom to remind the class about the interviews. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlXj7eRDTPHi_guHb8aTemhK06DRDLAS299iURJm2ykr1v54jFCdIfAoHKYtb9syTeou3AutnIPkVkQI-cJxXJMTjfTpEwTf3QSfuvSQw9H0lNffm3cq-I9o8OJmTSiTc2HhDkZ6ciVThDFE45gepqdeY5yYW1uzo4Ic-Dpx4LiFij8GKAVRKWVIPkK9P/s3264/IMG_7991.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlXj7eRDTPHi_guHb8aTemhK06DRDLAS299iURJm2ykr1v54jFCdIfAoHKYtb9syTeou3AutnIPkVkQI-cJxXJMTjfTpEwTf3QSfuvSQw9H0lNffm3cq-I9o8OJmTSiTc2HhDkZ6ciVThDFE45gepqdeY5yYW1uzo4Ic-Dpx4LiFij8GKAVRKWVIPkK9P/s320/IMG_7991.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adrian completed the bench hook!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHqJY9bCr3DHmhU5Gp4iXESS0yhn-iFg6vxWmwbj4FGmFKRo64euzKJ7ohaQHCPBlIYf-aHKFR4NrpnAmX5seyjnLkNCrFkerfE8l3Rzvxjazcg-nxH382CqCviqBsVb4_jSKsUZzdf0sAGoVKydOa3H-A6iDN2CotsIh48_EPa4ZrmC4aa2oa1T4StHb/s3264/IMG_7989.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHqJY9bCr3DHmhU5Gp4iXESS0yhn-iFg6vxWmwbj4FGmFKRo64euzKJ7ohaQHCPBlIYf-aHKFR4NrpnAmX5seyjnLkNCrFkerfE8l3Rzvxjazcg-nxH382CqCviqBsVb4_jSKsUZzdf0sAGoVKydOa3H-A6iDN2CotsIh48_EPa4ZrmC4aa2oa1T4StHb/s320/IMG_7989.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter, volunteer bodyguard<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhJP6pNapLfASSDhYQ0dZnA-6Y5A_Z8CRjaXJOjpK9pwtkMpdn-0pNhA5aUVTxaOIyYSFSiYBaUJimKarINKmbVGzd9rUOgsOv1QeWEmVRbp4PZLlR5MQk89P69o3ZC0vlATYqGPWLRpy56r7nUr8rn2XbC1OICR-d6eNQmzlSPh7PghOKidzR4UoDRmRU/s3264/IMG_7984.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhJP6pNapLfASSDhYQ0dZnA-6Y5A_Z8CRjaXJOjpK9pwtkMpdn-0pNhA5aUVTxaOIyYSFSiYBaUJimKarINKmbVGzd9rUOgsOv1QeWEmVRbp4PZLlR5MQk89P69o3ZC0vlATYqGPWLRpy56r7nUr8rn2XbC1OICR-d6eNQmzlSPh7PghOKidzR4UoDRmRU/s320/IMG_7984.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eric and his two saws<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3s70MFyzeLjZoPE5cxUmOMAqohVHJf4StGjovq1sg6O-03l6O0_WxwoEt25P2AtneZ06Xhn3VDCptaGXnlriQknJbbd-EAQNXkcsijpvG4at2vXwsw5DVy1OuaOxvTY-Lec2KJ_cpy70YmkiGYZcXSck59zI6w6HQ9f41-zBEg2VvTu7ESh6OpXK9An9-/s3264/IMG_8005.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3s70MFyzeLjZoPE5cxUmOMAqohVHJf4StGjovq1sg6O-03l6O0_WxwoEt25P2AtneZ06Xhn3VDCptaGXnlriQknJbbd-EAQNXkcsijpvG4at2vXwsw5DVy1OuaOxvTY-Lec2KJ_cpy70YmkiGYZcXSck59zI6w6HQ9f41-zBEg2VvTu7ESh6OpXK9An9-/s320/IMG_8005.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vanessa and her projects<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>I got a final opportunity to learn the students' names and get feedback about the course and projects. While I did manage to routinely interact with all the students during the previous months of Thursdays, I wasn't always able to speak with them in a meaningful manner. In the interviews, some students were clearly imitating what they had just learned from their exiting classmates what to expect, having quickly memorized and rattled off answers to questions I had not yet asked. In other instances, the students revealed just how little working vocabulary they acquired: "wood make this."</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrsraJ2M2ujF-jG7oZEcagvLIgxXFSmKI91-lRsNf8cbtMbLWLI2P_q7Gly5FA9L4ahyphenhyphenhxHHN8Qz4C9FOl767KoZos8y4B8-4dMEWwkbSt1ks00IlAgeby0KDnneU-m2oQZ7GkCHdY3lnej5TIC1DKw9Mh_CI7_Q4ZmGcHLiIcTVwV1h-dEPzwfLv0HGr2/s3264/IMG_7998.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrsraJ2M2ujF-jG7oZEcagvLIgxXFSmKI91-lRsNf8cbtMbLWLI2P_q7Gly5FA9L4ahyphenhyphenhxHHN8Qz4C9FOl767KoZos8y4B8-4dMEWwkbSt1ks00IlAgeby0KDnneU-m2oQZ7GkCHdY3lnej5TIC1DKw9Mh_CI7_Q4ZmGcHLiIcTVwV1h-dEPzwfLv0HGr2/s320/IMG_7998.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steven</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikuaI27aHxMDzinsb59693FDSpiiDZ8qy55x7a_CjYT3RgziMhsROrWZsh7W_nqIjeCQ9fwLNVwevxj_6iGScOjMEBrFF1xuArLG0QPDOdhmuRU3qFm2QkLxA-z2VvWvyrQdaYcwl6d_D4c7co7n0lkZ6s1VuKDQAuLlHKNBV2EbpKMbIVjNZT0nW_xAd_/s3264/IMG_8001.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikuaI27aHxMDzinsb59693FDSpiiDZ8qy55x7a_CjYT3RgziMhsROrWZsh7W_nqIjeCQ9fwLNVwevxj_6iGScOjMEBrFF1xuArLG0QPDOdhmuRU3qFm2QkLxA-z2VvWvyrQdaYcwl6d_D4c7co7n0lkZ6s1VuKDQAuLlHKNBV2EbpKMbIVjNZT0nW_xAd_/s320/IMG_8001.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Katerina</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTjykXeUVqhvxA34TYftE89Dg31InvdDa8-IaI-P4_NaSfPqELs6IbsZqxHqD1H3fpSpCfmsD2JveB2NozS3jZSyh4bdJIyW4oXmE37_vsI-nlAba6CN86T6tgBCKxsz8Ux7Pu6PILvjesDEhz0aN5vePdIyUvH-wtdMpmES5KYiAlIVyeIvQe4-fIJrIU/s3264/IMG_8004.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTjykXeUVqhvxA34TYftE89Dg31InvdDa8-IaI-P4_NaSfPqELs6IbsZqxHqD1H3fpSpCfmsD2JveB2NozS3jZSyh4bdJIyW4oXmE37_vsI-nlAba6CN86T6tgBCKxsz8Ux7Pu6PILvjesDEhz0aN5vePdIyUvH-wtdMpmES5KYiAlIVyeIvQe4-fIJrIU/s320/IMG_8004.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chet!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSs5wO9nM_zR2x6yR7CYuaqXajf9qCBAgraPkfnmKAbF-Ymkoi7uQtyIZ8ve4viSFvp7K1cst8RAb0QuYwqLXd2KWNsn8giRwtBw8jnj17gx-h-Co46YFALOCT0hc80pK-kyZCLzWZN54m1rbI_9MXwtbbnvqN5wD9_kqQKH_xx_MkA08xBczNZtwsFoVV/s3264/IMG_8003.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSs5wO9nM_zR2x6yR7CYuaqXajf9qCBAgraPkfnmKAbF-Ymkoi7uQtyIZ8ve4viSFvp7K1cst8RAb0QuYwqLXd2KWNsn8giRwtBw8jnj17gx-h-Co46YFALOCT0hc80pK-kyZCLzWZN54m1rbI_9MXwtbbnvqN5wD9_kqQKH_xx_MkA08xBczNZtwsFoVV/s320/IMG_8003.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yuki</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p></p><p>I finished this last lesson late and discovered that the teaching assistant had already moved onto her next class period. I sent a pic via the social media app, WeChat, to her and she thanked me. Class was over. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7QLCLmIM8entME1Wht7v6AZ9etoefHZmWTGp_s3SR9xBD_8Ir4PsF7WLOuNoj-Hf-HrmCNHZdwOCX-aOXb2PyCFz7HRcYS-VtW4NaofZbZUkLiTvQThJKMtTngmtCGHFoC7LptBikj44H5qNxFBU4dTLRB_6KpW_cBk-J5CdAxaD-eT7chXkEBtLCWje-/s3264/IMG_8013.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7QLCLmIM8entME1Wht7v6AZ9etoefHZmWTGp_s3SR9xBD_8Ir4PsF7WLOuNoj-Hf-HrmCNHZdwOCX-aOXb2PyCFz7HRcYS-VtW4NaofZbZUkLiTvQThJKMtTngmtCGHFoC7LptBikj44H5qNxFBU4dTLRB_6KpW_cBk-J5CdAxaD-eT7chXkEBtLCWje-/s320/IMG_8013.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hammers and saws<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGtwpdhb_ZaxTggCEkdOi_yYc9UtAdOxssqVI1q0GVSJc1aFKXBhnoMxcI7QSv23qbmeYo7PJeRs9eI27znCZMRwWZiLIZXBCkF_eLJp-qvd587XhV9QLnnYDeADPJWWumwRCBXWsc2IwyWeaSAuNGL4FqrDehd1Qk2JWGofvX7sZ6KqinDGvJE7laXAN/s3264/IMG_8012.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGtwpdhb_ZaxTggCEkdOi_yYc9UtAdOxssqVI1q0GVSJc1aFKXBhnoMxcI7QSv23qbmeYo7PJeRs9eI27znCZMRwWZiLIZXBCkF_eLJp-qvd587XhV9QLnnYDeADPJWWumwRCBXWsc2IwyWeaSAuNGL4FqrDehd1Qk2JWGofvX7sZ6KqinDGvJE7laXAN/s320/IMG_8012.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">painted tool arrangement</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>As I was leaving the building, I poked my head into the adjacent classroom where an art lesson was being conducted. I saw that the woodworking tools had been repurposed for another teacher's painting class.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk9SxWDCAeG3M7MkiAVfTxllXRqtCp6DZpkvk1BiL6SFXyJ7aoZf1cI7gH-YcWsamBl6Gip1d_EqwCi3Wd5Mj8kUGJ7hOBGXkVX6j3csqQ9qqhEpHKVQinCn1Y_Fa3yUpqVEgTr5bSjD5aXxtOaMzI7PifFnNVAcg3mlf5-RURFX7x8KFaR2i4iyznUqmM/s3264/IMG_8018.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk9SxWDCAeG3M7MkiAVfTxllXRqtCp6DZpkvk1BiL6SFXyJ7aoZf1cI7gH-YcWsamBl6Gip1d_EqwCi3Wd5Mj8kUGJ7hOBGXkVX6j3csqQ9qqhEpHKVQinCn1Y_Fa3yUpqVEgTr5bSjD5aXxtOaMzI7PifFnNVAcg3mlf5-RURFX7x8KFaR2i4iyznUqmM/s320/IMG_8018.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geese and sausage<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYiPGnncT5tpKo7u1my5ntoiOmQhskTCtp9FDQLidrIAHBlTPHKcCF3DSitOKhvbbdmi7W9tbuKqrv1VFv6dhW8IYofJE9CMkZ_rxBhdTbGpdprQ_g-cB-omcoepKC_hxpuGmuL1cW4KLhTJD_bdmcL19aROuWvCnMnpms7qHpmZ0T7Gm8zXuVOd902icV/s3264/IMG_8017.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYiPGnncT5tpKo7u1my5ntoiOmQhskTCtp9FDQLidrIAHBlTPHKcCF3DSitOKhvbbdmi7W9tbuKqrv1VFv6dhW8IYofJE9CMkZ_rxBhdTbGpdprQ_g-cB-omcoepKC_hxpuGmuL1cW4KLhTJD_bdmcL19aROuWvCnMnpms7qHpmZ0T7Gm8zXuVOd902icV/s320/IMG_8017.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bacon and sycamore<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p></p><p>The preserved meats one can see streetside in a major metropolis </p><p>To all those who celebrate, Happy Epiphany! <br /></p><p><br /></p>Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-7652246400482071472023-11-07T20:01:00.000+08:002023-11-07T20:01:06.179+08:00Magyar Utazás (Hungarian Journey)<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicGAV417Zehd-avsM9JH9rmzso8yiZMAPzyXyq4srqqzYVkb4tZJfIGwQMVulY4PkeIcrz-EYqos3LJFbledP0XyLYrVb2psqwpNhawxIbDKyVl-FKz2p-rJ8X3k_Ry-v4HiphaPRQG8sHcs7uGvhOYfpKw5yMRQcjlbGz7P2BBOKluNHIqLxoV2HxsEyE/s1280/IMG_7248.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicGAV417Zehd-avsM9JH9rmzso8yiZMAPzyXyq4srqqzYVkb4tZJfIGwQMVulY4PkeIcrz-EYqos3LJFbledP0XyLYrVb2psqwpNhawxIbDKyVl-FKz2p-rJ8X3k_Ry-v4HiphaPRQG8sHcs7uGvhOYfpKw5yMRQcjlbGz7P2BBOKluNHIqLxoV2HxsEyE/w300-h400/IMG_7248.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outbound travellers<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <span> </span><span> I needed a new hobby to help me cope with the restrictions due to the Covid lockdowns, some sort of activity that would provide mental stimulation, be potentially open-ended, and enhance my employability. And in a nutshell such are the main reasons for my decision to begin studying Hungarian. </span><p></p><p><span><span> </span>Indisputably acquiring a language, even one's mothertongue, can be a lifelong venture. Vocabulary is limitless. Libraries are ever expanding their selections. Language study is certainly a means of maintaining brain plasticity. I also wanted to test some of the methods that I have been encouraging my students to use while they improved their English speaking abilities while also developing new ideas gained through my own study process.</span></p><p><span><span></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUWEtXlOhcoOtBJfaBjNdLYcUF4BuRYMzwkRWm8ah3KrHT4n03CZEKeMJ3Jsqwi2iKTKIdRwBMLMqO01wnAqzY8bceQj8wqUVhd7Xpv-Wr3eqV56a3Z6md7Lg0aq1dExZlx0TreHfpaWjdwbaC36nrsaMxpd_lRtqpbxNAnyNvLvO0E94MMdGQkskHxs_/s3264/foreign%20language%20club_7332.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUWEtXlOhcoOtBJfaBjNdLYcUF4BuRYMzwkRWm8ah3KrHT4n03CZEKeMJ3Jsqwi2iKTKIdRwBMLMqO01wnAqzY8bceQj8wqUVhd7Xpv-Wr3eqV56a3Z6md7Lg0aq1dExZlx0TreHfpaWjdwbaC36nrsaMxpd_lRtqpbxNAnyNvLvO0E94MMdGQkskHxs_/s320/foreign%20language%20club_7332.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">German, English, French Speaking Clubs<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span><span><br /> </span>Another upside that I had not immediately anticipated was that studying uncommon languages potentially creates social connections amongst those who do the same. </span><p></p><p><span>I needed to set some reasonable goals for myself and one was travelling to Hungary to put my language acquisition to the test. I admit that I am still far from conversant in this language; nevertheless, I did meet with some limited success. <br /></span></p><p><span>On October 11th, the wife and I set off from Shanghai Pudong after travelling from Nanjing to spend the night in an airport hotel to fly out at 09:30 onto our first leg in Zurich. We ended up going through passport control in Zurich and made the mistake of getting a room in a hotel close to the airport instead of just settling into the airport facilities for those with long layovers. Live and learn. The Zurich airport, nonetheless, was quite easy to orient ourselves through, even though Julia had some containers of liquids confiscated because she didn't remove them from her carryon. Live and learn. x2</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCbGVmjuCngc1NiRgmHnLQIX1B2zZr-ijRu9J7nV-zzdmcvjOM4LMXKFPrO-AK56KD-SADSSQ0be6eaF4fI2GOUB7tKFJ-W2N2slvsfPT8Y30LQUiEJfLDjyntyfzYBlXXHVqH5Be5NcccxKlBOu7jzUM7YmtmjAzsAVTdCAqSPMH_YMk4lY_RPBnuhYQ3/s1922/IMG_7255.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1922" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCbGVmjuCngc1NiRgmHnLQIX1B2zZr-ijRu9J7nV-zzdmcvjOM4LMXKFPrO-AK56KD-SADSSQ0be6eaF4fI2GOUB7tKFJ-W2N2slvsfPT8Y30LQUiEJfLDjyntyfzYBlXXHVqH5Be5NcccxKlBOu7jzUM7YmtmjAzsAVTdCAqSPMH_YMk4lY_RPBnuhYQ3/s320/IMG_7255.JPG" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Study Hungarian and become a millionaire<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span><span> </span>It was a brief hop onto the Budapest airport where I first began encountering Hungarian in its natural environment. I found myself pleasantly pleased by my ability to comprehend the signage. Our first challenge was discovering that our credit card technology was not updated to European standards. Most merchants only use credit card readers that rely on embedded chips that can be tapped to complete a transaction. Swiping is an increasingly obsolete technology, it seems. Fortunately Julia was able to work with one of the shuttle bus workers to buy the necessary tickets in order to wend our way across the city to our B&B on the Buda side.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMgSdURQPtZ28gG2HbjDJ1DJeTjR3v0t79FDgPGAqMvspwuRJA6-OSVbiqcG3Nb2_QmUdEnRkwDaioR-k8JtDhwryV-xMKnYeE9bhw6bgVh6R14FnFP8EMtCi6ewfF0Jc02BaeqxQ0LtPK1l2FT-iLr-EfN8-cinYuJ3s7QpgDS_qdgsfBRfQXCIUayXJm/s3264/IMG_7253.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMgSdURQPtZ28gG2HbjDJ1DJeTjR3v0t79FDgPGAqMvspwuRJA6-OSVbiqcG3Nb2_QmUdEnRkwDaioR-k8JtDhwryV-xMKnYeE9bhw6bgVh6R14FnFP8EMtCi6ewfF0Jc02BaeqxQ0LtPK1l2FT-iLr-EfN8-cinYuJ3s7QpgDS_qdgsfBRfQXCIUayXJm/s320/IMG_7253.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trilingual signage customized for our arrival<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span> </span>The ride to our residence was an intense introduction to the landmarks and sights which awaited us. After settling in, it seemed like time to taste some of the local specialties. We strolled around the neighborhood until we stumbled up the <a href="https://deryne.com/en" target="_blank">Dérnyé Bistztró</a>. I ordered the Lecsó and Julia got the French Onion soup. Sadly, the soup was overly salted with rubbery cheese, definitely not Gruyère, which covered a massive hunk of bread that failed to come apart with a spoon. Recipe failure. </span><p></p><p><span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7RFLeQxQ9b-mPmiQxOsTuekg7u3X7fkbRUHEEdR9sOb6gYPpyB85Y_UWok5KK5tbUUis0cpEBdSR0w6yCpZKqtEjMbhITt3HbZur7h-B04UCSdfCuL-YpMQnQO7Ak6VYTpnUIGUBqJ_jezCouyn1DsLabqhaDnyi3METLke5gXIjqRF7ouv43lp0C91AA/s3264/IMG_7259.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7RFLeQxQ9b-mPmiQxOsTuekg7u3X7fkbRUHEEdR9sOb6gYPpyB85Y_UWok5KK5tbUUis0cpEBdSR0w6yCpZKqtEjMbhITt3HbZur7h-B04UCSdfCuL-YpMQnQO7Ak6VYTpnUIGUBqJ_jezCouyn1DsLabqhaDnyi3METLke5gXIjqRF7ouv43lp0C91AA/s320/IMG_7259.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cheesy French onion soup<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span> `The Lecsó, which is often translated as ratatouille (no, it's not at all), was rather good, sautéed capsicums, tomatoes, and onions with an in-house bread. It went well with a local craft ale, <a href="https://www.beerselection.hu/foti-pils" target="_blank">Fóti Pils</a>. I boldly went ahead and indulged by ordering the túrós gomboc. Even the single gomboc was more than I could consume. Túró is basic cheese curd which is why it is often translated as cottage cheese or quark. It's mixed with bread crumbs and then poached and then was served with a yogurt, heavy cream topping with what seemed to be praline topping. Tasty, but the mouthfeel was diminished by grittiness from the breadcrumbs.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPOH49yAdC0vlGJIP4hw7dAWeYRzC4psR6Qb8C-sbF5roz25LVwKrE1FHrLe8jZXeiC9C30xisw1s6j61YMRZ-4AU5AOjdtMbfNLfmndVk48d1iUJe0Ru18tp1MwGWwlZuGErGODIOdqX-PicuLbZlKlcdjYgUgD7JVy4C_hnPz1d29K8YssT-65Rd3OHj/s3264/IMG_7258.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPOH49yAdC0vlGJIP4hw7dAWeYRzC4psR6Qb8C-sbF5roz25LVwKrE1FHrLe8jZXeiC9C30xisw1s6j61YMRZ-4AU5AOjdtMbfNLfmndVk48d1iUJe0Ru18tp1MwGWwlZuGErGODIOdqX-PicuLbZlKlcdjYgUgD7JVy4C_hnPz1d29K8YssT-65Rd3OHj/s320/IMG_7258.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finomság</td></tr></tbody></table><span> </span>On our way back to our first B&B in Hungary, we discovered <a href="https://www.spar.hu/" target="_blank">Spar</a> to stock up on groceries and alcohol. It's a good source for all that one needs to make a meal, although Aldi is cheaper. One discovery that is notable and worth sharing is that high quality European beers and wines can be purchased ore cheaply than the domestic Hungarian lagers. I was planning on doing a tasting of the common Hungarian beers e.g. Dreher, Borsodi, Pocsék etc. But then I made an interesting discovery. All of these doubtful beers were more expensive than Pilsner Urquell, which is of a known quality. I must admit that I didn't even try tasting the national industrial brews. It's worth pointing out here that while shopping at Aldi, I found one of the lowest priced reds was a Puglian Primitivo, which made the choice so easy. I did, in fact, but a bottle of Kékfrankos at a higher price point than the Italian reds, but I would not suggest that anybody do so.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismH52sElTR0jkWeUXx3wPHTMR_ZFNgHKiBSF71w8reQq8hLtkMFJN6cdzJQn2qJ0cvHobO_Gk_6oK8zjXZ_smdU2z8X2KGVBkpKj_Bbqppss_yqvfGOXK3W6TpNsoMKvzWCC7mu_mgVlPIUGFHJinifXGM_HFEqMRgyyEzO4HhGU50j8m-Qldjxd10Rqh/s3264/Doric_7336.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismH52sElTR0jkWeUXx3wPHTMR_ZFNgHKiBSF71w8reQq8hLtkMFJN6cdzJQn2qJ0cvHobO_Gk_6oK8zjXZ_smdU2z8X2KGVBkpKj_Bbqppss_yqvfGOXK3W6TpNsoMKvzWCC7mu_mgVlPIUGFHJinifXGM_HFEqMRgyyEzO4HhGU50j8m-Qldjxd10Rqh/s320/Doric_7336.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NeoClassical façade of Buda tunnel<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span> </span>On Friday the 13th, Julia decided that she needed to buy me a pair of shoes. She found a Birkenstock outlet and we headed there early. The shop carried exactly what I wanted and the service staff had a commendable level of English skills. Budapest, based generally on its level of English communication skills, is an international metropolis. With new shoes in tow, we walked around until Julia found a Turkish/Greek buffet where Julia saw some food on display that appealed to her. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheBdD0yd1sGOGbWOH1RGt_m5gWZrdNw2Iq6drNB-00bdi5NyWnP1mRHIsxEYDhW2oYIvdFLPgM_X0xIM9qmtE0OPxqfp_dABUrbbnbe0rKpuSCCA9lfCzBWexV8UoIl55KJMiurMHGu4auRwRe1Sh4cu1tkPW3fvqfbK8K328-aJ82ccys2QuHTaICBcmi/s3264/IMG_7307.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheBdD0yd1sGOGbWOH1RGt_m5gWZrdNw2Iq6drNB-00bdi5NyWnP1mRHIsxEYDhW2oYIvdFLPgM_X0xIM9qmtE0OPxqfp_dABUrbbnbe0rKpuSCCA9lfCzBWexV8UoIl55KJMiurMHGu4auRwRe1Sh4cu1tkPW3fvqfbK8K328-aJ82ccys2QuHTaICBcmi/s320/IMG_7307.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buda Tunnel looking out upon the Lánchíd<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span> </span>With our bellies sated, we stumbled around and into the Jewish quarter, a Zsidó négyved. I can now claim to have visited there. We trotted back to our apartment for a rest and to unload. Later at night we went out to a another restaurant, <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g274887-d7359258-Reviews-Platan_Grill_Etterem-Budapest_Central_Hungary.html" target="_blank">Plántan Grill</a> Étterem, where the multilingual waiter tolerated my attempt to order in the local language. Julia had her coveted goulash/gulyas and and I tried the cíganpecsenye. We walked off the calories with a late night stroll along the Danube. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI10-beyUx8WWSifnoFZxPyqlnhyAmso5i7pWw0KvL35wuFSox7V8xDKcFta80ofsjNvxM1ZjYRcCD64-nsQgGHxKzR17lUmccNb3lzWheKmtQwGo93vLUCo_T1RUrZ4VNx7UQjStDxqHgRoWvT9Ejwh_WoadQVDpRwqFweSgM2y-B2ca84fjY7bP0BA8h/s3264/Platan%20Grill_7301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI10-beyUx8WWSifnoFZxPyqlnhyAmso5i7pWw0KvL35wuFSox7V8xDKcFta80ofsjNvxM1ZjYRcCD64-nsQgGHxKzR17lUmccNb3lzWheKmtQwGo93vLUCo_T1RUrZ4VNx7UQjStDxqHgRoWvT9Ejwh_WoadQVDpRwqFweSgM2y-B2ca84fjY7bP0BA8h/s320/Platan%20Grill_7301.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ülõlös étterem<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ_pz6c64ahfMcCMGXKe0p2CfI84jg9CY62pHXh7PsJ8CvTGJ3xRcYKY6SY1EGiG2dyfPQC94pVwtzQw-xHKmrTzQ8q6mbzGQjoBEA4d3M6oFwCkC7K32BeFOfEVcsU4idrJ4SJJkQ3rESMgQsyJ4vaLPJJFNKk-EK3c_DyxvOjgaMo_b1DOCNUwPpEZ2_/s3264/IMG_7333.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ_pz6c64ahfMcCMGXKe0p2CfI84jg9CY62pHXh7PsJ8CvTGJ3xRcYKY6SY1EGiG2dyfPQC94pVwtzQw-xHKmrTzQ8q6mbzGQjoBEA4d3M6oFwCkC7K32BeFOfEVcsU4idrJ4SJJkQ3rESMgQsyJ4vaLPJJFNKk-EK3c_DyxvOjgaMo_b1DOCNUwPpEZ2_/w400-h300/IMG_7333.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Szechényi Chain Bridge: Lánchíd, opened 1849<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span> </span>Saturday the 14th, we planned to meet my longtime language exchange partner, Tabi Gabor, who rode a train into the city from Hatvan. We met up on Blaha Lujza tér where I spotted the first McDonald's outlet in Hungary. Just down the street was a Chinese restaurant where he remembered eating years back. It has expanded much since his initial visit. Its interior was completely similar to any from the mainland. Gabor let Julia order and he even seemed to enjoy the boned chicken feet and steamed whole fish. He was gracious enough to pick up the bill. we spent a goodly amount of time in the restaurant but then we decided to seek out a café to continue our discussions. We treated at the coffeshop but Gabor only chose to drink water. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQcVNXENVNUl4OBdDl8N9k5mMTNHUZXgxkXI21dtDrAJ4CFLxjD3JfZZddezNjjdH1C2LsjFj-rsG7btbijXo9ASeYeQTcNvKBEOB7_svF-bVIhMkJKpLfFLzds3gNW8sfSh_Ig3N6wYf9N-ephsXG7pcvcepJM4-rQr0ukoiXFRfiTAgIpnrdXAqo_LVR/s3264/Gabor_7316.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQcVNXENVNUl4OBdDl8N9k5mMTNHUZXgxkXI21dtDrAJ4CFLxjD3JfZZddezNjjdH1C2LsjFj-rsG7btbijXo9ASeYeQTcNvKBEOB7_svF-bVIhMkJKpLfFLzds3gNW8sfSh_Ig3N6wYf9N-ephsXG7pcvcepJM4-rQr0ukoiXFRfiTAgIpnrdXAqo_LVR/s320/Gabor_7316.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tabi Gabor appreciating his birthday gift<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span> </span>We said our goodbyes as Tabi úr needed to return home to tend to his aging dog. Julia got the idea that she wanted to pass by the Keleti Pályaudvar where we would board a train later to travel to Pécs. We wandered about, not following any clear direction through a rather decrepit section of the city and yet still managed to find it.<br /><br /></span><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60k0YhtqMUfoj96nONSQNwxaeZl0w0LcYS0kGAWd3XaqT-cceBXn34UIP98tKzwoEt-VAeVSXjLdOoHRj4N1MYiK4rnV_8Edfl7RBn_w4vRezBC-0cgvpF5oj3bStBBJ1_LVuijI7Wg7gLWAIDxTr2qNu9IuQuULCtsndhaQt_pCxcGpcwzo2AAhI6DBM/s977/Chinese%20menu_7351.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="977" data-original-width="550" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60k0YhtqMUfoj96nONSQNwxaeZl0w0LcYS0kGAWd3XaqT-cceBXn34UIP98tKzwoEt-VAeVSXjLdOoHRj4N1MYiK4rnV_8Edfl7RBn_w4vRezBC-0cgvpF5oj3bStBBJ1_LVuijI7Wg7gLWAIDxTr2qNu9IuQuULCtsndhaQt_pCxcGpcwzo2AAhI6DBM/s320/Chinese%20menu_7351.JPG" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kinai étlap<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span></span><p></p><p><span> </span></p><p><span> </span></p><p><span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxn95TP8icUYBpfnmpIoywhIhiYR6kkOdbf1lPQup5rbhGuATtJxqH_iqF2uc35QoznejyEqfKjH5whGsiiUGQY31DJ_CRkORo0ADLW4onkCyYJDGid8IWflVWVdctZymLsrfBB7vholEAnimS9W7xpq27NeLr2Qs7zBGLtbPkDUVeeHLCtXVkW-E7OgfR/s3264/Cathedral_7354.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxn95TP8icUYBpfnmpIoywhIhiYR6kkOdbf1lPQup5rbhGuATtJxqH_iqF2uc35QoznejyEqfKjH5whGsiiUGQY31DJ_CRkORo0ADLW4onkCyYJDGid8IWflVWVdctZymLsrfBB7vholEAnimS9W7xpq27NeLr2Qs7zBGLtbPkDUVeeHLCtXVkW-E7OgfR/s320/Cathedral_7354.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cathedral around a corner from a Chinese restaurant</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span> <span> </span><span> </span>On Sunday the weather was slightly stormy. After getting a bit lost trying to find a bookstore which seemingly no longer exists, we discovered a restaurant operated by a Fujian family around a corner from the<a href="https://www.bazilika.biz/en" target="_blank"> St Stephen's Basilica</a>. Later that same evening we connected with another language exchange partner who was able to spare a few hours to get away from his teaching responsibilities and graduate studies deadlines.</span></p><p><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwiHGv2bCONVe7PJTgx4kvWuxgKV6UAMp8d7J9rNZPlPHpLMtzglUK9fW-UVRwn-0xOkVZgDSi51yDos4wwJIflyE0Kk1RSJv8rid0nb73yVv1_49givVbtic481Zjr6bJLxEG_AswOR7WkoQutrD1Q5d3tdJEeD_7UacO75d7k9LjDlXEPohHce7tt54E/s3264/Keleti%20back%20from%20Pecs_7558.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwiHGv2bCONVe7PJTgx4kvWuxgKV6UAMp8d7J9rNZPlPHpLMtzglUK9fW-UVRwn-0xOkVZgDSi51yDos4wwJIflyE0Kk1RSJv8rid0nb73yVv1_49givVbtic481Zjr6bJLxEG_AswOR7WkoQutrD1Q5d3tdJEeD_7UacO75d7k9LjDlXEPohHce7tt54E/s320/Keleti%20back%20from%20Pecs_7558.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pécsbe</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWeEXPicSCcvXATEuUdnrTVlm48VH65ztO52N4D2mvIzNnY50aLRwwqf85Ncp9WosfTuFLJk6_BRmhYChJjA9YoLav61P3uI1lnEdp8KmnN39M6WbzHpQgR43a2tgHPJpVY0f7pJWXdto2xfH1OVhhxSp2fEOwdM5hE_EJgIBonvghDm3syioruXLXxwJC/s3264/keleti_7326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWeEXPicSCcvXATEuUdnrTVlm48VH65ztO52N4D2mvIzNnY50aLRwwqf85Ncp9WosfTuFLJk6_BRmhYChJjA9YoLav61P3uI1lnEdp8KmnN39M6WbzHpQgR43a2tgHPJpVY0f7pJWXdto2xfH1OVhhxSp2fEOwdM5hE_EJgIBonvghDm3syioruXLXxwJC/w640-h480/keleti_7326.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keleti Pályaudvar<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span></p><p></p><p><span><span> </span>On Wednesday, it was time to relocate to Pécs by train. Despite some confusion with the tickets and how we were charged, we boarded on time and watched as the scenery passed outside the windowpanes. The bigger challenge of the day was finding the B&B located near the university campus on Tibor utca 30A. We encountered a friendly father who was passing by to pick up his children from a nearby primary school. He admitted to struggling to follow the original Hungarian instructions that were translated by the app for us. As we came to understand, 30 was the lot number with segregated plots for different residential housing units. The entrance to our B&B was discovered up a steep hill well off of Tibor utca. This frustration would prove to be foreshadowing. We found a Spar in the neighborhood and stocked up for our stay.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4pN3i-x__5wPXcGAsj-u0UAM4KJhc_dvxVCgviK9UMUiKa1B2jJ0d8dTJqYhoGCE6lb_DPs1BwyHvlxd8O6gh-5qxKLavWqSKcdBuMjgIuPjWJZKN0L2xa_AJU5MtCguClvxq4gpkrqbbZNjhNnfjRi-RqKMRlJ2ZU1CERe2f_44IQj9e1BS4GlFff6vX/s3264/IMG_7534.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4pN3i-x__5wPXcGAsj-u0UAM4KJhc_dvxVCgviK9UMUiKa1B2jJ0d8dTJqYhoGCE6lb_DPs1BwyHvlxd8O6gh-5qxKLavWqSKcdBuMjgIuPjWJZKN0L2xa_AJU5MtCguClvxq4gpkrqbbZNjhNnfjRi-RqKMRlJ2ZU1CERe2f_44IQj9e1BS4GlFff6vX/s320/IMG_7534.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pécs streetscape<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span> </span>The next day, we decided to explore the covered the farmers' market. This is also where I ordered and tasted my first lángos and where Julia chatted with a Chinese food stall owner. Langós is simply fried bread dough smothered with sour cream and other condiments. I bought two: one with shredded cheese and a second with slivered red onion. After the first bite, my first thought was that this bland mass of carbs and fat needs hot sauce. The dough is fluffy and the crust tears apart readily. And that was that.</span></p><p><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUCXOAzcFU7eGLdP64dKeALz9xeCmhB3iKywuyyoh_xYWPsTKAylVtMk3qudWbDftL8iXE4Ag030B7Cw-oyC7Se4L_1AIbvcSHNJeuGlooTipPMhpQrXghHasnrs7Fz9-CXm7xQ6BAlZv6pX9uGYN1Ay7oVsfkR9kndo2EOBBTc-nvyDFT1PniAH1Pfn7b/s3264/IMG_7416.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUCXOAzcFU7eGLdP64dKeALz9xeCmhB3iKywuyyoh_xYWPsTKAylVtMk3qudWbDftL8iXE4Ag030B7Cw-oyC7Se4L_1AIbvcSHNJeuGlooTipPMhpQrXghHasnrs7Fz9-CXm7xQ6BAlZv6pX9uGYN1Ay7oVsfkR9kndo2EOBBTc-nvyDFT1PniAH1Pfn7b/w400-h300/IMG_7416.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">covered farmers' market<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVnEJ-vqKdU-lIvNeIN9g8B3JmcsX2aqRi9ydPXBZzT1eetY4NcBMA3JZl9vp8vj1u0EQP8zx4NE-efkcUgni7f5BrB2_mlSasLY-N4icsFGdVrcN5Zooniw9SlbTZE-1WfN485Y7IsAEsBqQBSZt9GarLRdTsbnKNlUa5XV38DWU_gneN1168tYVLbfOU/s3264/IMG_7409.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVnEJ-vqKdU-lIvNeIN9g8B3JmcsX2aqRi9ydPXBZzT1eetY4NcBMA3JZl9vp8vj1u0EQP8zx4NE-efkcUgni7f5BrB2_mlSasLY-N4icsFGdVrcN5Zooniw9SlbTZE-1WfN485Y7IsAEsBqQBSZt9GarLRdTsbnKNlUa5XV38DWU_gneN1168tYVLbfOU/s320/IMG_7409.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flower arrangements<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4hRY3caLNjkKngt-K8ygzeD9wNHYVPxdMq3lsrUR2wqTRvXC_3RLqPn_5Rvy1Q32p5wSHVz7GR0PR1yTIZcLb9w5Indc9s7jq3S4TG-K6Pyl_s8ZvpmTIFgM4Lfi-niNAnYMYHViYNxi4awRHeDvZXqcWXmOIlz1wCvnUJXpqaoHixFe92P7UWUs2Y3kw/s3264/IMG_7413.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4hRY3caLNjkKngt-K8ygzeD9wNHYVPxdMq3lsrUR2wqTRvXC_3RLqPn_5Rvy1Q32p5wSHVz7GR0PR1yTIZcLb9w5Indc9s7jq3S4TG-K6Pyl_s8ZvpmTIFgM4Lfi-niNAnYMYHViYNxi4awRHeDvZXqcWXmOIlz1wCvnUJXpqaoHixFe92P7UWUs2Y3kw/s320/IMG_7413.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paprikák és más zöldségek<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXMGUME3l_PsV66i5OUAr4h0Jw3ef3riKTkIEdd1bMZf75lKUdcWlbsXi9501cYFFGiSflsOjj836MnwkssnWyJGxQ1L_Qzoy88Xdr7_7UY7sbKVhYf_xOM67CHn0KWqyiCJzZJB1xuA8MXPbAUteNIa5iN6Ur6MGJZcCDv2_sWSiYi35yVwjKtTxyE0Y/s3264/Chinese%20vendor_7415.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXMGUME3l_PsV66i5OUAr4h0Jw3ef3riKTkIEdd1bMZf75lKUdcWlbsXi9501cYFFGiSflsOjj836MnwkssnWyJGxQ1L_Qzoy88Xdr7_7UY7sbKVhYf_xOM67CHn0KWqyiCJzZJB1xuA8MXPbAUteNIa5iN6Ur6MGJZcCDv2_sWSiYi35yVwjKtTxyE0Y/w400-h300/Chinese%20vendor_7415.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Julia connecting with the Han Chinese diaspora<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />From the market we moved back closer to the city center and found ourselves on a plaza bordered by the Synagogue museum. The building itself is now longer an active synagogue since the Jewish population is too low to require such a large edifice.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-WBCegXDtjYRAUbzaYe7XeaAbNvJDXrcu5ZTmvnPPiCPzUsfbhTIhGnDg3asWeLCKhPS90e-l6H1vOXQ2GDlqg45AGxlFFZKgx5yIX0efOChp6ZYeecvSYSmHy9AwgQGWI0pClP5qozaE243KWDBCSBncKQ_og-ADFJ0WtXe69nP_ehRA-gv5QNM8p7Lc/s3264/Synagogue%20museum_7420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-WBCegXDtjYRAUbzaYe7XeaAbNvJDXrcu5ZTmvnPPiCPzUsfbhTIhGnDg3asWeLCKhPS90e-l6H1vOXQ2GDlqg45AGxlFFZKgx5yIX0efOChp6ZYeecvSYSmHy9AwgQGWI0pClP5qozaE243KWDBCSBncKQ_og-ADFJ0WtXe69nP_ehRA-gv5QNM8p7Lc/w400-h300/Synagogue%20museum_7420.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pécs Jewish life museum built 1869<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Vazu0KBLcLKirsbXVNuAt7Ddlw5EMlU-upqHdNloCnoDfB9gFa1NZqKEE2fubmWmXQYRIQX8SUN5gO3L8fwO6PhIoqEs6Xd7-8EdyKEqpHeyZgg80TfHDaUANq8DGu7bitrU5pCAcNycoGjwCcpinPakYc2QSb7kLUhN8HzFveiP9hXMiq-zEjHJxWde/s3264/IMG_7431.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Vazu0KBLcLKirsbXVNuAt7Ddlw5EMlU-upqHdNloCnoDfB9gFa1NZqKEE2fubmWmXQYRIQX8SUN5gO3L8fwO6PhIoqEs6Xd7-8EdyKEqpHeyZgg80TfHDaUANq8DGu7bitrU5pCAcNycoGjwCcpinPakYc2QSb7kLUhN8HzFveiP9hXMiq-zEjHJxWde/s320/IMG_7431.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Archway</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZnM-8_cFSToEh3Ez1J04PzD2g_aiX0HxILFIDFcydteYWxdOKQVtcUfq8wBojVHUAWdFp-WJNx7VYoA6pcylHPgwzes3Rc0O9AZG7v4_2XjvtyK5rllxj95FQE_v-z8w4YjVu5_m5EAA92MYQF8dpxSHWY5tZsMJastmSYgBPEXgFtClXVGu6ZPLtv2cK/s3264/IMG_7430.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZnM-8_cFSToEh3Ez1J04PzD2g_aiX0HxILFIDFcydteYWxdOKQVtcUfq8wBojVHUAWdFp-WJNx7VYoA6pcylHPgwzes3Rc0O9AZG7v4_2XjvtyK5rllxj95FQE_v-z8w4YjVu5_m5EAA92MYQF8dpxSHWY5tZsMJastmSYgBPEXgFtClXVGu6ZPLtv2cK/s320/IMG_7430.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cast Iron column<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHXQd3ioMoIeuh1DrH4anSBc4TgBaHXY9pkGKjv1nBIdBqvj3osEe8sbpi3VJy64JESuPDEmoLbObjw8wQsm92-zZtYH6v5jF0YT24joM8oSYpWXmCbNeOvaqlW_4uJWdHVe-r7UVuBinBuhEKuFtbgeCXkEoPcA2xgpRP7OHqxHi69g6KNeBFbGmzu6EQ/s3264/IMG_7423.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHXQd3ioMoIeuh1DrH4anSBc4TgBaHXY9pkGKjv1nBIdBqvj3osEe8sbpi3VJy64JESuPDEmoLbObjw8wQsm92-zZtYH6v5jF0YT24joM8oSYpWXmCbNeOvaqlW_4uJWdHVe-r7UVuBinBuhEKuFtbgeCXkEoPcA2xgpRP7OHqxHi69g6KNeBFbGmzu6EQ/s320/IMG_7423.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stenciled decoration</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDVPVJbwxgJhE3SkvUOXCxO9FxlEtuUAlOkFbjC9lPU4ELwARfXkWAnvQYDpmOnwOoQs2HQdYOEtrfTeEtOFLUXFxNqXzop0RXKp0s6x5B9CRB6SOtGVaC9BO8ZPlxZyb42qgK_dTcy8QmH1G6P__tmEcAZBTrQPKHuUHHHt6tz0Klr-686uexP7xVl_KL/s3264/IMG_7426.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDVPVJbwxgJhE3SkvUOXCxO9FxlEtuUAlOkFbjC9lPU4ELwARfXkWAnvQYDpmOnwOoQs2HQdYOEtrfTeEtOFLUXFxNqXzop0RXKp0s6x5B9CRB6SOtGVaC9BO8ZPlxZyb42qgK_dTcy8QmH1G6P__tmEcAZBTrQPKHuUHHHt6tz0Klr-686uexP7xVl_KL/w300-h400/IMG_7426.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ceiling detail</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p><span>We then continued exploring the downtown are where we knew that we would return to over the next few days. We returned to the B&B with enough sunlight remaining to enjoy a bottle of kékfrankos outdoors.</span></p><p><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ_WfUUNNsdEQ0UEgi7wA0tc7Z3Rq1ygKwM9vQRGwmY9VxnLMHbQ-O_GuKltRmd2MlB5i_WpvNNhW3FPV03MNssNjRhgBkKwAjnzcs61Tcs8L_vGGY6EFEWKPBtTNXydSJEWPc2xc_o6CyWOkd-Ha_Q_Dgo3arDIH-8pdN4FBFxuhwzPtwFZCU1cRo1ArS/s3264/IMG_7444.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ_WfUUNNsdEQ0UEgi7wA0tc7Z3Rq1ygKwM9vQRGwmY9VxnLMHbQ-O_GuKltRmd2MlB5i_WpvNNhW3FPV03MNssNjRhgBkKwAjnzcs61Tcs8L_vGGY6EFEWKPBtTNXydSJEWPc2xc_o6CyWOkd-Ha_Q_Dgo3arDIH-8pdN4FBFxuhwzPtwFZCU1cRo1ArS/s320/IMG_7444.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zsolnay fountain on Széchenyitér<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY6-sLA0VphbDPI6hm2euJ9gwB2rXHsiltMeawLtSa-05tv4DehoqefGC0FRg2zcTkaB_ctFuil_0Fb46tRz4qQuc_lDC3kBf4CKcxhASKBCXGR5DnCCePQ4Q_MbnfFdGJGbIfg8AgLVnX0uinD22lfvRBlRUObR1ziob7dVM-9X-Gu3SctgwlFKh8VF-V/s3264/school%20group_7466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY6-sLA0VphbDPI6hm2euJ9gwB2rXHsiltMeawLtSa-05tv4DehoqefGC0FRg2zcTkaB_ctFuil_0Fb46tRz4qQuc_lDC3kBf4CKcxhASKBCXGR5DnCCePQ4Q_MbnfFdGJGbIfg8AgLVnX0uinD22lfvRBlRUObR1ziob7dVM-9X-Gu3SctgwlFKh8VF-V/s320/school%20group_7466.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">School group<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <span> <span> </span></span>On Friday morning we headed directly to the <a href="https://www.jpm.hu/exhibitions-events/permanent-exhibitons/zsolnay-museum" target="_blank">Zsolnay Museum</a>. The collection and the building itself display a wealth of visual stimulation. We managed to avoid getting mixed up with the group tours.</span></p><p><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfH6wpbSwkLGn-UsnZtUSnx4pN_sBKXkaimQ-xEeKFKyS4W9pOMSCs8JuXS3_SpzT_TpKSDQK1YMf5BzHx8PB9mjfR2g_TlvRyeHcwHY-UAovm5FN4dqohOgrcKhXdo9E7Mh01bYJBcPn8P_R-oRfj4NFrSQw7VSTdQPA5ciUqea4_3zPLpvLr0otaX1_U/s3264/IMG_7475.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfH6wpbSwkLGn-UsnZtUSnx4pN_sBKXkaimQ-xEeKFKyS4W9pOMSCs8JuXS3_SpzT_TpKSDQK1YMf5BzHx8PB9mjfR2g_TlvRyeHcwHY-UAovm5FN4dqohOgrcKhXdo9E7Mh01bYJBcPn8P_R-oRfj4NFrSQw7VSTdQPA5ciUqea4_3zPLpvLr0otaX1_U/s320/IMG_7475.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Architectural ceramics<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqUB3456l9s92m5uj4gUFkn8Xnp2l3bwr5O2bKUKApjFT7EpuFg5tMFYO61q2Hx5jJxlWgYyyf0oVk2AA0SWlqqebW7N4JZv25IKuBXVgm1BGiIkTQPBzlepp7WY5R1DoQ8CCLi4Jjjl03w3U0YR8oMo2VtcZCaD6FzV0Y4KnPO_JKKviaWTPFOZOVc7hX/s3264/IMG_7481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqUB3456l9s92m5uj4gUFkn8Xnp2l3bwr5O2bKUKApjFT7EpuFg5tMFYO61q2Hx5jJxlWgYyyf0oVk2AA0SWlqqebW7N4JZv25IKuBXVgm1BGiIkTQPBzlepp7WY5R1DoQ8CCLi4Jjjl03w3U0YR8oMo2VtcZCaD6FzV0Y4KnPO_JKKviaWTPFOZOVc7hX/s320/IMG_7481.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Highly trained ducks<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg85iGkSbvdxq30U0TIBJO-eUNyvNLma43j31JeaAv9RRdMSqnuRcxfF0BDJiT3XPW-o0Q65dXQ9WK_ZEfm_tREE_kbmJDeuT-0nWtToYZvp86ll2WtXzmKFkYXwXsMMCQ43aRsWvvqc_qwo7ERfIqov6hGAFF0TsE5zMTgmijd0ZvUSYDlmgFjnU5yjReE/s3264/IMG_7482.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg85iGkSbvdxq30U0TIBJO-eUNyvNLma43j31JeaAv9RRdMSqnuRcxfF0BDJiT3XPW-o0Q65dXQ9WK_ZEfm_tREE_kbmJDeuT-0nWtToYZvp86ll2WtXzmKFkYXwXsMMCQ43aRsWvvqc_qwo7ERfIqov6hGAFF0TsE5zMTgmijd0ZvUSYDlmgFjnU5yjReE/w300-h400/IMG_7482.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stenciling<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnZOinLBoM9CipYaFSgqc1HxpVtJVzHcCgaM3ObU0pGHFod_a3pXI-B6HBaygIhnRUfXgzo833EYXlc9f6ZkwLsGtV6-Fh3yFbd7rSsA8KMyJeJze3NQffGnutoxNvGfOOaftxY3PvbsdC659qfje_A3lSJe-2RkuBUKDMyVHFAVdyJSD52Zocw8W3hyDI/s3264/IMG_7501.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnZOinLBoM9CipYaFSgqc1HxpVtJVzHcCgaM3ObU0pGHFod_a3pXI-B6HBaygIhnRUfXgzo833EYXlc9f6ZkwLsGtV6-Fh3yFbd7rSsA8KMyJeJze3NQffGnutoxNvGfOOaftxY3PvbsdC659qfje_A3lSJe-2RkuBUKDMyVHFAVdyJSD52Zocw8W3hyDI/s320/IMG_7501.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zsolnay ceramic tile sample<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <span> </span>The route thence to the<a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/853/" target="_blank"> Necropolis</a> is short. While the content might be considered light, the design of walkways is in many ways more interesting which enables visitors to walk over and under the crypts in order to observe the painted interiors and carved tombs. I was much less impressed by the Medieval university building which doesn't even assert was a university. But it might have been.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyxngZWZcGu-UN5iotkJ9jJciXSrm9i5vMkmNX16iF1Yr7YKtZzfEWwCL5pAJ6VIpeVUClHCGB3kJJ1j3UlY84fK2LXL_Dmda7mJthr7oKAlLhpv28M7vIM8RUQskrUOLWHCHJzT_UV-eHMlYfiEfN1AMXQUkmupWTE6imZgu9Gz63R-OoroJNhVsrcKZd/s3264/IMG_7510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyxngZWZcGu-UN5iotkJ9jJciXSrm9i5vMkmNX16iF1Yr7YKtZzfEWwCL5pAJ6VIpeVUClHCGB3kJJ1j3UlY84fK2LXL_Dmda7mJthr7oKAlLhpv28M7vIM8RUQskrUOLWHCHJzT_UV-eHMlYfiEfN1AMXQUkmupWTE6imZgu9Gz63R-OoroJNhVsrcKZd/w300-h400/IMG_7510.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doorway sculpture<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span> </span>We found lunch on the central plaza at a Turkish takeout. Julia and I afterwards walked along the outside of the extant citywalls and then reentered the perimeter near the Saint Stephen church where a wedding was underway.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjONysXPg_DfSR8_OdWdap7v2VYCbMxXR6v3cbRJ34IqyGo3MBkc7IlEcQbuFudOlvCdw8O5riuhIWlQw-iEmkPug2zItQZ7x56MgsZACQKQakp_lWoahl_5ee_NCwgzYtprl2kaaantHQ5Uf82eOhsnmdvx7wW-IZqNRwjdrh9fS-mO8CqjuMhNuWqcHfL/s3264/IMG_7522.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjONysXPg_DfSR8_OdWdap7v2VYCbMxXR6v3cbRJ34IqyGo3MBkc7IlEcQbuFudOlvCdw8O5riuhIWlQw-iEmkPug2zItQZ7x56MgsZACQKQakp_lWoahl_5ee_NCwgzYtprl2kaaantHQ5Uf82eOhsnmdvx7wW-IZqNRwjdrh9fS-mO8CqjuMhNuWqcHfL/s320/IMG_7522.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">drawbridge and arrowslit window</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibMWL2rRi0y8XieFXp0lX87noNSrTgxtbi4ML6GXurXni8Ntqp3_jQh1scm_zTFYRp4-cNWC5EOc50ZIsOatf6-iO1i3vAHCRdwMoyK3iT7dWroPjrzjCVQBd7NgXftwOeGEXThJNlaoxTeRomxvq_4lRp28u7vFYjv-f96EG6gdgv60ckgK-DRjJ6I8PX/s3264/IMG_7519.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibMWL2rRi0y8XieFXp0lX87noNSrTgxtbi4ML6GXurXni8Ntqp3_jQh1scm_zTFYRp4-cNWC5EOc50ZIsOatf6-iO1i3vAHCRdwMoyK3iT7dWroPjrzjCVQBd7NgXftwOeGEXThJNlaoxTeRomxvq_4lRp28u7vFYjv-f96EG6gdgv60ckgK-DRjJ6I8PX/s320/IMG_7519.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">section of medieval city fortifications</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p><p><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZJQxUGxb0BU1IAGgrcmvNgRkAYa42MHeshfZl5DT4x7-rfZfubTslGz-wp2noTaCcpsmZIyuAEqGAVqDfBo5aAEOVWE2u7LmMS58gGaT7iJWqw7372Er6kEUFZwb2YYcxGODH7Omi-CoiAL7XbsFcebDlV2gkzjAigNTcX6bzD9HidI4nWE5wVzA2QgQ3/s3264/IMG_7525.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZJQxUGxb0BU1IAGgrcmvNgRkAYa42MHeshfZl5DT4x7-rfZfubTslGz-wp2noTaCcpsmZIyuAEqGAVqDfBo5aAEOVWE2u7LmMS58gGaT7iJWqw7372Er6kEUFZwb2YYcxGODH7Omi-CoiAL7XbsFcebDlV2gkzjAigNTcX6bzD9HidI4nWE5wVzA2QgQ3/w480-h640/IMG_7525.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Father and bride<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3dg99z-uzjAI5eSW1HsBjZZEXPML8laz503aXGyVhD37ExPrwjNxmztNCB1Fjv1ZdmV6okP8khy6WO0uN4eKhKXL6LGT2u1NdSgkd6LsEf0xbVSaLeOfBOJEmw7Frl1YW57dT7E-HIwwHYkUx0zMc1iBF_JTonpYz86hJZfPwMX2xutr3q-blE3QcjRo9/s3264/IMG_7530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3dg99z-uzjAI5eSW1HsBjZZEXPML8laz503aXGyVhD37ExPrwjNxmztNCB1Fjv1ZdmV6okP8khy6WO0uN4eKhKXL6LGT2u1NdSgkd6LsEf0xbVSaLeOfBOJEmw7Frl1YW57dT7E-HIwwHYkUx0zMc1iBF_JTonpYz86hJZfPwMX2xutr3q-blE3QcjRo9/w640-h480/IMG_7530.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <span> </span>Saturday was so rainy that we decided to rest by staying in. On Sunday we made the decision to cut our visit to Pécs short. The list of complaints with the B&B hostess was growing. According to the description of her rental unit, we expected to meet with her. Even though she lived in the upstairs from us, she only communicated through texts in the app. When the internet service was down, her response was dismissive and rude. She also failed to provide the cleaning supplies that she listed as basic, telling my wife, Julia, when she asked about laundry detergent that this wasn't a 5 star hotel.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQfJ-SyATu6C5JJh6ElxcUFH799Dud7G2YoLRJSmpeKFXE0jgMEhQ-sjMZHA9nzGPwaefqKOD_KPWYpRc7uR3C6B50WCxGk4v10RdTUoKZHYVx_obMK13lCN3R3P7WFWchEFFe6Sa1kiIPBb-aXYRJaKVASakSXWyt_Lx52MThScc5rzH26Ga6yeaX42Z/s3264/doorway%20heloman_7467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQfJ-SyATu6C5JJh6ElxcUFH799Dud7G2YoLRJSmpeKFXE0jgMEhQ-sjMZHA9nzGPwaefqKOD_KPWYpRc7uR3C6B50WCxGk4v10RdTUoKZHYVx_obMK13lCN3R3P7WFWchEFFe6Sa1kiIPBb-aXYRJaKVASakSXWyt_Lx52MThScc5rzH26Ga6yeaX42Z/s320/doorway%20heloman_7467.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Atlantes on a Pécs street<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span> </span>Secondly, I was not able to meet with any of the contacts that I made as part of language exchange. One professor has relocated to accept a job at a different university and a second local English studying gentleman who had been very informative about what to expect in Pécs, casually ghosted me when I confirmed my arrival time. Budapest thus became a better place to be.</span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3XQJh3P4c6oni-5NsfESbQhUuogXSG4zovj4jnFGnc2FwW2omjcFGSFpTpgIZlTMKthoAuLRJsMmstPC0u8Xd9bfPQOTjdimGTKnMvqrzy6S_TjYsSxNxyedWzyfA2ozZ4fHrqkShZApj7w71HJPgUqJmBqRVn3i1O0Xq8pjdotd6ouPxR12Ap5FkPNxF/s3264/IMG_7549.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3XQJh3P4c6oni-5NsfESbQhUuogXSG4zovj4jnFGnc2FwW2omjcFGSFpTpgIZlTMKthoAuLRJsMmstPC0u8Xd9bfPQOTjdimGTKnMvqrzy6S_TjYsSxNxyedWzyfA2ozZ4fHrqkShZApj7w71HJPgUqJmBqRVn3i1O0Xq8pjdotd6ouPxR12Ap5FkPNxF/s320/IMG_7549.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baroquish</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWr-KrVGHrw-UTppSPjSwL10uvyLI6EH9Q0aRA2mmVZd-yzJa9fIT0QYSBt_04PamxYl4bbs5uKX2ySBRagxjx504-Ae8ujvQUxkVfTpugJ9kL3ou0CHo_02htuJvbbK084cFJ7IT0mLBNCQIrc1-8kh6GQglSiTIJGNhTALJwwQC6pZp4-OoQvJjaxPT2/s3264/IMG_7536.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWr-KrVGHrw-UTppSPjSwL10uvyLI6EH9Q0aRA2mmVZd-yzJa9fIT0QYSBt_04PamxYl4bbs5uKX2ySBRagxjx504-Ae8ujvQUxkVfTpugJ9kL3ou0CHo_02htuJvbbK084cFJ7IT0mLBNCQIrc1-8kh6GQglSiTIJGNhTALJwwQC6pZp4-OoQvJjaxPT2/s320/IMG_7536.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Neglected doorway<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdxVzOmrB_tmBSVVBdMZjHyyIcrubc3N93INR5N-fYqpOiMHbyaLImGbm3aGT3KrxgMfP90uAoywdMZCSmIFEXoqqs_vzhJRicfJ3Hv3UYpy7FaQxfgcaa_HcUo77yuCm2QpzCxCSyV8R5BVH2f6g2gv1rnG-gUQ88zf9q2JTnFVz7eQsjbyFw8zstwZQr/s3264/IMG_7545.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdxVzOmrB_tmBSVVBdMZjHyyIcrubc3N93INR5N-fYqpOiMHbyaLImGbm3aGT3KrxgMfP90uAoywdMZCSmIFEXoqqs_vzhJRicfJ3Hv3UYpy7FaQxfgcaa_HcUo77yuCm2QpzCxCSyV8R5BVH2f6g2gv1rnG-gUQ88zf9q2JTnFVz7eQsjbyFw8zstwZQr/s320/IMG_7545.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Modern transport<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizaFgDUFi4thUUZCuN0EgLmOYIbMc_S6nK6hZTzpHYlhUKJByXlptjfo2ntziWrEdlJoxx7nEme_p4UEy7A5fYFhyGG4UFmXap8PnnXIKp8ssqajXVAKTYNIsBFqeB14g5iixoH8NkdwaijL_iAW4AZsosccbXZRftf6NhrYKKZdj6njZCHkXehwyM-SOp/s3264/IMG_7554.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizaFgDUFi4thUUZCuN0EgLmOYIbMc_S6nK6hZTzpHYlhUKJByXlptjfo2ntziWrEdlJoxx7nEme_p4UEy7A5fYFhyGG4UFmXap8PnnXIKp8ssqajXVAKTYNIsBFqeB14g5iixoH8NkdwaijL_iAW4AZsosccbXZRftf6NhrYKKZdj6njZCHkXehwyM-SOp/w640-h480/IMG_7554.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Former Grocerystore and streetscape<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span><span> </span>After rebooking our tickets at the station, we decided to enjoy our last meal at Fõtér, which overlooks the historic central plaza. We began with a venison soup and a local beer, <a href="https://pecsisor.hu/soreink/pecsi-premium-lager/" target="_blank">Pécsi sör lager</a>. Both proved to be good choices. I chose a a chicken tikka masala for Julia to meet her rice needs; whereas, I selected a local cheese and charcuterie platter, a few morsels that helped solidify a positive memory of Pécs.</span></p><p><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYPwSYrMV27RreJbiqXqr0NjC006ezIIhDJDutd8s7Hvo2chZjdYeIscOKZEBxJKMbJwFr_VO5Od7WQpGtUKgqBMjLYvOiaswydGpCOOa_V8GRhjqgPn5Dwl-XJlHpdK4aU8iNCXH3G8BTXXTHkG1ilYb3ZBTMbaIo1Fx9mM1MBPwT6CWLfWdu9CH1nqNF/s3264/IMG_7458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYPwSYrMV27RreJbiqXqr0NjC006ezIIhDJDutd8s7Hvo2chZjdYeIscOKZEBxJKMbJwFr_VO5Od7WQpGtUKgqBMjLYvOiaswydGpCOOa_V8GRhjqgPn5Dwl-XJlHpdK4aU8iNCXH3G8BTXXTHkG1ilYb3ZBTMbaIo1Fx9mM1MBPwT6CWLfWdu9CH1nqNF/w640-h480/IMG_7458.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the main square towards train station<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTJORLYkaoeACEQ-21KaSKxfLKAo8wf-aXmaT4ViegU8ALipLN3mDvLXFiQf37UjEyMLEXIkYAEMsz_f9NCSFdka3aLBBaayQ7_P_E0zrv2jMlTZGFCMJkBmxFrQuOxIrzNRfif3JsjnHEfDnC6wSpINPwF2OvOGmhGqb2eLHjy_irdbMQvzX5LrxrUmEe/s3264/IMG_7454.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTJORLYkaoeACEQ-21KaSKxfLKAo8wf-aXmaT4ViegU8ALipLN3mDvLXFiQf37UjEyMLEXIkYAEMsz_f9NCSFdka3aLBBaayQ7_P_E0zrv2jMlTZGFCMJkBmxFrQuOxIrzNRfif3JsjnHEfDnC6wSpINPwF2OvOGmhGqb2eLHjy_irdbMQvzX5LrxrUmEe/s320/IMG_7454.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pasha Qasim Mosque<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS1k8TRAj7AO1I6Up31XhP61-H9oscTCNINcNHAe-HsSKcfAjlvz8Hn-bgBDkTbmNFplrbDTS_FZ-ugjwYwep0vYLf_Omf_KotBmWPxrndLSfK3y0IVtGBafNUv4b7FM1zGCTBiG8JtOQUsa-_FzIC1Oc1PB8wsoPplAmMx5l8lD17jM9I_RGofF8ecQvR/s3264/Photo%20on%20plaza_7452.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS1k8TRAj7AO1I6Up31XhP61-H9oscTCNINcNHAe-HsSKcfAjlvz8Hn-bgBDkTbmNFplrbDTS_FZ-ugjwYwep0vYLf_Omf_KotBmWPxrndLSfK3y0IVtGBafNUv4b7FM1zGCTBiG8JtOQUsa-_FzIC1Oc1PB8wsoPplAmMx5l8lD17jM9I_RGofF8ecQvR/w400-h300/Photo%20on%20plaza_7452.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo op photo opped<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <span> </span>When we arrived back in Budapest on Monday, we were booked into a downtown B&B where we could stay for two days until moving to our final lodging during our Hungarian travels. The building embodied all the features of a pre-electric era: large central courtyard, transom windows, and tall ceilings. It's astounding how much of the housing stock in Budapest retain their 19th century structure and decorative details.</span></p><p><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8t9LAGrzuECSI3VGvSlTlsnkXIj_JhdHdJ5RypYZm3UMQPle3M3BQP_5cRakc9S3Em8Iu8AdibFQ-eiCAb8Av0JWr5ybFr1Qclo79tgMhhHaZoejGkFFRe4yw8UxXl0yOJXmJDeZ70Rng3HQY1clKxgC8FRKeJuJOfzgdGWs5lMtEOEKl-Qc3dV9ldn8p/s3264/IMG_7559.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8t9LAGrzuECSI3VGvSlTlsnkXIj_JhdHdJ5RypYZm3UMQPle3M3BQP_5cRakc9S3Em8Iu8AdibFQ-eiCAb8Av0JWr5ybFr1Qclo79tgMhhHaZoejGkFFRe4yw8UxXl0yOJXmJDeZ70Rng3HQY1clKxgC8FRKeJuJOfzgdGWs5lMtEOEKl-Qc3dV9ldn8p/s320/IMG_7559.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail Keleti Pályaudvar interior<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLm5Ct-WpqabehFBBbhexRVgmEPmZCCsBFCcEItxBRB04Y9zKMb1IFk8r1liG78bC8dUMhRO_7eFF0hLARH3Mzdriia-3vL76R9UNbbcPXA2KpD7baViiCikqdUtJBPwpKlG6GEYq8IzobbsQz_n9u-xwyHrDCsMtNKZNmgh2cSSne6qfFUKeAUuprTsOA/s3264/IMG_7565.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLm5Ct-WpqabehFBBbhexRVgmEPmZCCsBFCcEItxBRB04Y9zKMb1IFk8r1liG78bC8dUMhRO_7eFF0hLARH3Mzdriia-3vL76R9UNbbcPXA2KpD7baViiCikqdUtJBPwpKlG6GEYq8IzobbsQz_n9u-xwyHrDCsMtNKZNmgh2cSSne6qfFUKeAUuprTsOA/s320/IMG_7565.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> 19th century courtyard view<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> It's easy enough to just poke one's head into a doorway to discover the handiwork and variety.</span></p><p><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgK9IxDEM64VKgPmFz8y3-6xqNnSYETKsnKIRgtUTqO2qNiFulfWzuRG_aI5B8d8fxQ2d1Wn4cJRFr3WqN6c9djbp64KjmBjEjCVC-j4qFld3LHhjHGq2w0sXkwEScq85ldAA7juHk_3jsB_0ol2g4GAPfE0dgsCmTqsg6T1lQFYNUv0CijRi5xaEC_eGv/s3264/IMG_7388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgK9IxDEM64VKgPmFz8y3-6xqNnSYETKsnKIRgtUTqO2qNiFulfWzuRG_aI5B8d8fxQ2d1Wn4cJRFr3WqN6c9djbp64KjmBjEjCVC-j4qFld3LHhjHGq2w0sXkwEScq85ldAA7juHk_3jsB_0ol2g4GAPfE0dgsCmTqsg6T1lQFYNUv0CijRi5xaEC_eGv/s320/IMG_7388.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">19th century vestibule</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBp7xs1i59TYfXwkMM_KzVBlWiSgoq6-WdF58XppQVpNQnsQZpzQiRFdFd0zyJM_zveDgvAH0c90nvNBAkUAFJlu4UAZnqJ6k8Tn7XqKBg1hCwUqF8ueIhAHMWU49eOOupCue2kjFHgIWIfQklPH2XzdeLHNijyku28x-1HZ-4F8x8tRsDNSgsysh326q/s3264/IMG_7643.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBp7xs1i59TYfXwkMM_KzVBlWiSgoq6-WdF58XppQVpNQnsQZpzQiRFdFd0zyJM_zveDgvAH0c90nvNBAkUAFJlu4UAZnqJ6k8Tn7XqKBg1hCwUqF8ueIhAHMWU49eOOupCue2kjFHgIWIfQklPH2XzdeLHNijyku28x-1HZ-4F8x8tRsDNSgsysh326q/s320/IMG_7643.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">terrazzo and Greek key motif<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKfyZiwS7787SIMwbc4FfZOZB983WtSZtpxRYpNP74lABcgSE1h97YkaFoTFCZrHsT8ERANIvoJ7OZj1-QKT70oBiPavSpFjUGqn6-KRLkYEM7W4Af4O9yPZ6ay2Q00-ihwQEwKVycls2ZGk1GjlZ4flDhB50TrPzlVfh2spC6n9-6rf5d4l71ea2i-1By/s3264/keyhole%20into%20courtyard_7617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKfyZiwS7787SIMwbc4FfZOZB983WtSZtpxRYpNP74lABcgSE1h97YkaFoTFCZrHsT8ERANIvoJ7OZj1-QKT70oBiPavSpFjUGqn6-KRLkYEM7W4Af4O9yPZ6ay2Q00-ihwQEwKVycls2ZGk1GjlZ4flDhB50TrPzlVfh2spC6n9-6rf5d4l71ea2i-1By/s320/keyhole%20into%20courtyard_7617.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View through a peephole<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3q1S93fATSWEXsoqBgHIlSSJ0FRrTbbwmd_S7dAFufv0XK2q4NyE2RTYO-x9PtlhfheAjLnCwgdw8rZBktuUMQBPOjOvSIemDaCPP4q091ISqaR3yLvemdJjhcMFz1kol14PiSUKNkf9IilYSDGCiaprsED6uG6eOhqLspNR3YTgfIyfM9p7FSTq4Lh_f/s3264/courtyard%20terrazzo_7392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3q1S93fATSWEXsoqBgHIlSSJ0FRrTbbwmd_S7dAFufv0XK2q4NyE2RTYO-x9PtlhfheAjLnCwgdw8rZBktuUMQBPOjOvSIemDaCPP4q091ISqaR3yLvemdJjhcMFz1kol14PiSUKNkf9IilYSDGCiaprsED6uG6eOhqLspNR3YTgfIyfM9p7FSTq4Lh_f/s320/courtyard%20terrazzo_7392.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Randomly underfoot craftsmanship<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <span> </span>We relocated on Wednesday to an apartment closer to the Danube and with an equally impressive view. The next day we rode the full length of the M1 line and then walked back along much of its length. The Opera building stands out as a marvel of sculptural ornamentation.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmUPYXGzBVqDjecviljzVq3PpwFj5mxsPKhlUUgPkwtGgPjioGQBM0yxAm-a2tFAJfqvyBCGZGs364zSYCygUGZx6TUkzGW8YbhOBvOVjaxUYKC5NwOOuMzIqAZ5leA33Sgwxk4mBc0u1F43DH3NWf7nzyxJaB63guRaNs8Ho3N-ZQdiJert_zqf3MCIcC/s3264/IMG_7611.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmUPYXGzBVqDjecviljzVq3PpwFj5mxsPKhlUUgPkwtGgPjioGQBM0yxAm-a2tFAJfqvyBCGZGs364zSYCygUGZx6TUkzGW8YbhOBvOVjaxUYKC5NwOOuMzIqAZ5leA33Sgwxk4mBc0u1F43DH3NWf7nzyxJaB63guRaNs8Ho3N-ZQdiJert_zqf3MCIcC/s320/IMG_7611.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">windowsill detail<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Sc6f0XTyZuGDDIQd7WMi-OLlIvArNhGP7UZeVsOE2VGJ5kSvxcAWtuc0-v8Nyj4ivvo74QYWAmj1n-zY6bMuLFt0eO0Pk-HCdNE03CH8YVY_a2BPQiIjPKwAFzJm8NIRNoGWeR3V1Zfr4IRvENZLTP3isWVilCNhvhIcg5TswxiBO8zZFEF-VI3WFQ3V/s3264/IMG_7609.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Sc6f0XTyZuGDDIQd7WMi-OLlIvArNhGP7UZeVsOE2VGJ5kSvxcAWtuc0-v8Nyj4ivvo74QYWAmj1n-zY6bMuLFt0eO0Pk-HCdNE03CH8YVY_a2BPQiIjPKwAFzJm8NIRNoGWeR3V1Zfr4IRvENZLTP3isWVilCNhvhIcg5TswxiBO8zZFEF-VI3WFQ3V/w300-h400/IMG_7609.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">dedicatory muses<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span></span></div><p><span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0H3wjK_ZwKLANFy1eey_Aw1zPvMgCRBpjPytC3Ob0VWIA1G0nNJvw1sUFx2von83bB3K4N8tWc5MnPzma1jBm2dmDF_zm29itDZ2akW6zKjF7JEcdB1VqSNCwyowadf6sAp6wOk6TsR_LfukikM3JeVDU8KgkXIWujIGkwm-ter0X96rBKZQJqXIBajy3/s3264/IMG_7597.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0H3wjK_ZwKLANFy1eey_Aw1zPvMgCRBpjPytC3Ob0VWIA1G0nNJvw1sUFx2von83bB3K4N8tWc5MnPzma1jBm2dmDF_zm29itDZ2akW6zKjF7JEcdB1VqSNCwyowadf6sAp6wOk6TsR_LfukikM3JeVDU8KgkXIWujIGkwm-ter0X96rBKZQJqXIBajy3/w300-h400/IMG_7597.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Archway key and metopes<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizKw64Lk9Srz4u1QyJ4LIigiXLcHkFThAkrrMBk6gYmeMdaZCkvLuQGBvH9yvljnyx8qy_dZ2vZzvXLnWLVPdXGL0_lIA7V9OHR8OX28pQ7F-eGFFWZLMitlJQHDK9qRdA7dg09WIUnC0uxfLJ8IPe__33uMpVWoUoXPD_FJdrpTiW_8f6rdrKRj2dmxWi/s3264/IMG_7592.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizKw64Lk9Srz4u1QyJ4LIigiXLcHkFThAkrrMBk6gYmeMdaZCkvLuQGBvH9yvljnyx8qy_dZ2vZzvXLnWLVPdXGL0_lIA7V9OHR8OX28pQ7F-eGFFWZLMitlJQHDK9qRdA7dg09WIUnC0uxfLJ8IPe__33uMpVWoUoXPD_FJdrpTiW_8f6rdrKRj2dmxWi/s320/IMG_7592.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Random sphinx ornament<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span> </span> </span></p><p><span> </span></p><p><span><span> </span>We got in a last round of souvenir shopping in an underground market, mostly refrigerator magnets. We chose a Vietnamese restaurant to lunch in because the wife needed a dose of rice. I am guessing the cooks have adjusted their recipes to accord with the local lángos eaters. My curry rice was inspid and lacked any flavor of curry spice.<br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrt_IDDQ4_r9OwBEuLNwKvEZ2czE-VUQZRjWJq3PPFuODWo7B7_kKNzCMAuPxxAA2wDLDz-OcsOnqRiGO427b9X3QagWO3ty3fCzMoeDyONe4o7Hv0AHl0vN2YZPq5Ine9zttyJejShUbF84HenMeaMohH25nJAHl5UBtGA73PRDtJ5N2Rl3GNjPr-11hQ/s3264/IMG_7383.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrt_IDDQ4_r9OwBEuLNwKvEZ2czE-VUQZRjWJq3PPFuODWo7B7_kKNzCMAuPxxAA2wDLDz-OcsOnqRiGO427b9X3QagWO3ty3fCzMoeDyONe4o7Hv0AHl0vN2YZPq5Ine9zttyJejShUbF84HenMeaMohH25nJAHl5UBtGA73PRDtJ5N2Rl3GNjPr-11hQ/s320/IMG_7383.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interior Nagy Vásárcsarnok<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAMogr-1b9h-g6rJWS9h6N6G-Ay0wpkY8YYwR__hdqJLw2AzmIaPykpy-V6Lgy5V5YwRCPcfWi077dmvyprJYthXL73g1o_tHr5lF1UuI3I2R8O0pb5DnXSeSepq-qdO-fVPFJMTekPGNL9tSGWq1OywbqYFjSx0gALZR0igiKa84aeeoC8BKw_409TfAM/s3264/IMG_7370.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAMogr-1b9h-g6rJWS9h6N6G-Ay0wpkY8YYwR__hdqJLw2AzmIaPykpy-V6Lgy5V5YwRCPcfWi077dmvyprJYthXL73g1o_tHr5lF1UuI3I2R8O0pb5DnXSeSepq-qdO-fVPFJMTekPGNL9tSGWq1OywbqYFjSx0gALZR0igiKa84aeeoC8BKw_409TfAM/s320/IMG_7370.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Szabadság bridge and tramvae<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p></p><p><span><span> </span>We agreed to meet with a local woman who works as a English tutor at one of her favorite cafés, <a href="https://restaurantguru.com/Green-kavezo-Budapest" target="_blank">Green Cukrászda és kávézó</a>, within a short distance of the <a href="https://grimshaw.global/projects/rail-and-mass-transit/budapest-nyugati-railway-station/" target="_blank">Nyugati Pályaudvar</a>, another historic train station presently undergoing renovation and upgrades and designed by the same man who created the Statue of Liberty. Gabor would also join us along with his longtime friend, Juhasz Max whose English speaking skills he always compares his own as inferior to. </span></p><p><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3YoWwgWZa48qgm6nU4A_dR1M6h5Y2JQVSJSmplxCUvxPNIv73VTJHZNcg8o66Rw1lbW7p4neH-YOVsIV0gC97QungWFIxHLFzOMqung0kHTDWajJujJWMCdKNsOZ22I7tNCtfCYu1vYH9-wqXJ4jfEZiDTLdKF7Eh67oa7f-JNLM8PWoEUCTF3TMLehA_/s3264/IMG_7670.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3YoWwgWZa48qgm6nU4A_dR1M6h5Y2JQVSJSmplxCUvxPNIv73VTJHZNcg8o66Rw1lbW7p4neH-YOVsIV0gC97QungWFIxHLFzOMqung0kHTDWajJujJWMCdKNsOZ22I7tNCtfCYu1vYH9-wqXJ4jfEZiDTLdKF7Eh67oa7f-JNLM8PWoEUCTF3TMLehA_/s320/IMG_7670.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nyugati Railway Station<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhksBxwl6XuIW3DCvQ9fDjjk_UbIe-4nKI6M0XyrUxbBcugkoBC5LyveG37XTATbZbtUsUxa6lp3tjxw_iopaXHC258ITWCO-HENco9YgbqXG_6KW0zN5kd6IZlZpKamktfV3PLdAHoAyIuG-kUroi_xmr0Ln3tyr1czE0cMnsLIhyphenhyphenCFCc7LT0Em3_P6PEV/s2732/Nyugati_7668.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1780" data-original-width="2732" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhksBxwl6XuIW3DCvQ9fDjjk_UbIe-4nKI6M0XyrUxbBcugkoBC5LyveG37XTATbZbtUsUxa6lp3tjxw_iopaXHC258ITWCO-HENco9YgbqXG_6KW0zN5kd6IZlZpKamktfV3PLdAHoAyIuG-kUroi_xmr0Ln3tyr1czE0cMnsLIhyphenhyphenCFCc7LT0Em3_P6PEV/w400-h260/Nyugati_7668.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nyugato Pályaudvar from Eiffel square<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <span> </span>We spent a good part of the afternoon sipping coffee, tasting a selection of pastries, and chatting, mostly about topics related to Max's globetrotting career path, who has worked in both the USA and the UK in a variety of fields e.g. a CNC operator for a subcontractor to Boeing in CA and a homemover in the UK. We dipped a little bit into in international politics, too. I found that he much more quickly understood the dynamics within an authoritarian system as I spoke about the ongoing downward spiral in the PRC. He admitted that he didn't follow Hungarian and yet conceded that area where he lives is reliably supportive of the Fidesz party.</span></p><p><span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglppsf1625oRSBPyHzRwYI7BE7C320WeYOhBxNOOTDIJE_NFz6BhpbyALuWNIPM9gyJVWlUmxBsTbuE1Www1P6S7l8n9M_-HXZeqLM33J7ecyFzX-8MOPw1D6dZE3en0cOgBo3DNvSQgbTjdxM8iSQwdJ2EXuVGFuYYRcuUSTHsruEgn6YJ74garyy4EFo/s3264/IMG_7633.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglppsf1625oRSBPyHzRwYI7BE7C320WeYOhBxNOOTDIJE_NFz6BhpbyALuWNIPM9gyJVWlUmxBsTbuE1Www1P6S7l8n9M_-HXZeqLM33J7ecyFzX-8MOPw1D6dZE3en0cOgBo3DNvSQgbTjdxM8iSQwdJ2EXuVGFuYYRcuUSTHsruEgn6YJ74garyy4EFo/s320/IMG_7633.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Neglected splendor<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXWo8_HX5LTLIkYFeafapqK-sk-JKRjzp0F6pvTNDF9APuVI7nfcFKOnJ_Nfs40uFp6Y7PgbLW2sQzbORawwMO4x5pc1jadsFC-wwXwXFjDYUwVVpuE4lycSONl-_mzRUcZbI7GR23umHN0l7BtCjVUqp3S0MVC__IagmEDr-YOjddSEbN2AK4r92BUlfS/s2794/IMG_7630.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2794" data-original-width="2131" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXWo8_HX5LTLIkYFeafapqK-sk-JKRjzp0F6pvTNDF9APuVI7nfcFKOnJ_Nfs40uFp6Y7PgbLW2sQzbORawwMO4x5pc1jadsFC-wwXwXFjDYUwVVpuE4lycSONl-_mzRUcZbI7GR23umHN0l7BtCjVUqp3S0MVC__IagmEDr-YOjddSEbN2AK4r92BUlfS/s320/IMG_7630.JPG" width="244" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Subway Ironwork<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7jGYe6aDGgfAbeeuI8DKUwNzMIP2qzQRGQ0fXGefzq4DIv374woD19VZvID_4vA9bXTFDJLrV66fEwH-otlExdzjU-AFqgndVxD914BkDNjQk6ScnVAlfFFQjZHab4deZ39wCoPM-8Xu3J6eVXfTM99sav-WS1He_AhiIARfbuv8ejTNvW4LqqIjKHxpO/s3264/Entry%20heloman_7276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7jGYe6aDGgfAbeeuI8DKUwNzMIP2qzQRGQ0fXGefzq4DIv374woD19VZvID_4vA9bXTFDJLrV66fEwH-otlExdzjU-AFqgndVxD914BkDNjQk6ScnVAlfFFQjZHab4deZ39wCoPM-8Xu3J6eVXfTM99sav-WS1He_AhiIARfbuv8ejTNvW4LqqIjKHxpO/s320/Entry%20heloman_7276.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Memorable Entryway</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JqTV-652O1rjpvInqg4OSWG_aMPXcFjCUPWgjglJGfkrilP8PCiKMuONw4HmXGM5aT1a7mIC0OItMItryqJJoTfH_0dah-N9gyKEZDC9_K18XdDApS0gG2HCYoR7OQ1vFqHpbbiF82WLPU0ow7x3Lrqq9yLYahyphenhyphenlN0FZoG64TtOlPtktwidbgV60zWzA/s3264/Semmelweis%20utca_7279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JqTV-652O1rjpvInqg4OSWG_aMPXcFjCUPWgjglJGfkrilP8PCiKMuONw4HmXGM5aT1a7mIC0OItMItryqJJoTfH_0dah-N9gyKEZDC9_K18XdDApS0gG2HCYoR7OQ1vFqHpbbiF82WLPU0ow7x3Lrqq9yLYahyphenhyphenlN0FZoG64TtOlPtktwidbgV60zWzA/s320/Semmelweis%20utca_7279.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tribute to a Germ Theoretician <br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <span> </span>We all were feeling hungry so we decided to make a trek back to the first Chinese restaurant that Gabor introduced us nearby Blaha Lujza tér. The meal progressed with more friendly banter until we bid our last goodbyes.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjavoCVOgDNXA1Ndx9TsKxUQ0SApt2SL3gdDKUhJV8Omj7dyoBITYROL4hiABkdDHH_tGtGpt05qypiUK-FkHZiWetXMd9hodoszMjS1a_vx28rpiCZI_Ow3kj5ldIvnDPv00fCObg2lqM7Z7-3L-2_S5KBapuaSHbmGF13Zp88jrQRsTUXuN6ac5LD0x5v/s3264/Buffet%20meal%20in%20Buda_7648.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjavoCVOgDNXA1Ndx9TsKxUQ0SApt2SL3gdDKUhJV8Omj7dyoBITYROL4hiABkdDHH_tGtGpt05qypiUK-FkHZiWetXMd9hodoszMjS1a_vx28rpiCZI_Ow3kj5ldIvnDPv00fCObg2lqM7Z7-3L-2_S5KBapuaSHbmGF13Zp88jrQRsTUXuN6ac5LD0x5v/s320/Buffet%20meal%20in%20Buda_7648.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical Hungarian fare<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2gcV9agcrTgdI6G8kcE_yPOVXbrbWKNBegERcL3DqPG-y7qMFoAL80uwVEgTgbiHjCvi4ZZIvLyi4W2jAgis6uMWyCNClNaevSDNQ3NfJ4QaBgDh6HZKpzRHTbtnRd3e1JYJVbCKrKh-rJ_ahsF8kopt5zoQmU56zKxN1q7jaQs28aUmSGsWm5YBkKvsS/s3264/GuoQi_7315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2gcV9agcrTgdI6G8kcE_yPOVXbrbWKNBegERcL3DqPG-y7qMFoAL80uwVEgTgbiHjCvi4ZZIvLyi4W2jAgis6uMWyCNClNaevSDNQ3NfJ4QaBgDh6HZKpzRHTbtnRd3e1JYJVbCKrKh-rJ_ahsF8kopt5zoQmU56zKxN1q7jaQs28aUmSGsWm5YBkKvsS/s320/GuoQi_7315.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PRC allegience<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span>Saturday was our last day in Hungary. We arose,packed, departed, and made our way to the airport. Since we had some spare time, we took advantage of the observatory platform and had lunch, experiencing our first <a href="https://www.bud.hu/en/passengers/shopping_and_passenger_experience/at_the_airport/restaurants/camden_food_co_skycourt.html" target="_blank">yogurt bar</a>. As if to help me experience a throwback to post 9/11 paranoia, the security officers forced me to remove my belt and shoes. Hú, I have lost weight.</span></p><p><span> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBIqScBY5hSG7d4Fa5ybpfhevKtZs-lms5BBzj_nGJ0UhLneis5Ww5qqsxY50nC8VdQmf2daz-kcCbNRWr2z13MW23Ev1lED21KBFkhF0rQkgBZgKD4yNCOhLyvueuYHMpHYQ_aeInvKiDVchBgBGxlhDoe2pWOskGBi4JeVL63fAVYBzqdETWbENFrx7/s3264/timberframing_7297.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBIqScBY5hSG7d4Fa5ybpfhevKtZs-lms5BBzj_nGJ0UhLneis5Ww5qqsxY50nC8VdQmf2daz-kcCbNRWr2z13MW23Ev1lED21KBFkhF0rQkgBZgKD4yNCOhLyvueuYHMpHYQ_aeInvKiDVchBgBGxlhDoe2pWOskGBi4JeVL63fAVYBzqdETWbENFrx7/s320/timberframing_7297.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roof timbers<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPVKycLwOSLrzA4no_w6Pf6_uqo4jyWTLCK2_1WH4vT9OjpHjwuNXZGT3o9njSF793aSGQj-c7DzolVGzs7cQ8ll74Iks8-HgA_5MOD8MFamrXoCEmQR7oBNdB4QC-KCX5GkdeCof6oE2EBr-BjC5fF9r_6d0R11lMteHOQVg2Q0KkW9Iwb0rYpa1WLvbq/s3264/wooden%20pavers_7361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPVKycLwOSLrzA4no_w6Pf6_uqo4jyWTLCK2_1WH4vT9OjpHjwuNXZGT3o9njSF793aSGQj-c7DzolVGzs7cQ8ll74Iks8-HgA_5MOD8MFamrXoCEmQR7oBNdB4QC-KCX5GkdeCof6oE2EBr-BjC5fF9r_6d0R11lMteHOQVg2Q0KkW9Iwb0rYpa1WLvbq/s320/wooden%20pavers_7361.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wooden pavers<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p><p><span>From Münich to Shanghai the flight felt quicker.</span></p><p><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8YI6mO8hgd6vLu2xzDpURbe2F55oMFw_NxN4l3uvoJp5Om0A7xT4Q3gu_9c2kMKESd_2ntQFbIIrfX4oh7XKJGLm5LH-t80KSyRzhfuZ-pv9JGbQEghhnDmUbMzmZeTwenTC_Z1Pcjax1cqhDoQqevFQWs6otSfyhKX7tH9WW1SP4mUfWVSS0TNj3z31V/s3264/IMG_7575.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8YI6mO8hgd6vLu2xzDpURbe2F55oMFw_NxN4l3uvoJp5Om0A7xT4Q3gu_9c2kMKESd_2ntQFbIIrfX4oh7XKJGLm5LH-t80KSyRzhfuZ-pv9JGbQEghhnDmUbMzmZeTwenTC_Z1Pcjax1cqhDoQqevFQWs6otSfyhKX7tH9WW1SP4mUfWVSS0TNj3z31V/w400-h300/IMG_7575.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Memorial to the Revolution of October 23rd 1956<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> To those who celebrate: </span>Boldog Köztársaság Napját!</p><p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhogq-MPhx8IUzrgoIUqKDwBDFyGmoiWl6WA4aeUVc8up_yD-6X8nKHCs1JBbCZZSePhoY7lniDsnRvr44fedt8waVbH5DDC2IQ3gx4io1z-79pmNiSoTchLcB3WGwQHdWTCZ1pnfu9kVxE1sE5URqsZi38NNPD-eoAA7RpwK_2eyD1c65oWnuImyY-kQKH/s3264/IMG_7353.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhogq-MPhx8IUzrgoIUqKDwBDFyGmoiWl6WA4aeUVc8up_yD-6X8nKHCs1JBbCZZSePhoY7lniDsnRvr44fedt8waVbH5DDC2IQ3gx4io1z-79pmNiSoTchLcB3WGwQHdWTCZ1pnfu9kVxE1sE5URqsZi38NNPD-eoAA7RpwK_2eyD1c65oWnuImyY-kQKH/w480-h640/IMG_7353.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The musuem displays are citywide<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p><span> <br /></span></p><p><span> <br /></span></p><p><span> </span></p><p><span> <br /></span></p><p></p>Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-29841822325148422712023-07-31T18:56:00.000+08:002023-07-31T18:56:02.808+08:00Shanghai consular visit and classroom observations<p>Ostensibly the latest jaunt into Shanghai was focussed on submitting my wife's paperwork at the Hungarian consulate in order to obtain a Schengen zone visa for our trip scheduled in October. The whole process proceeded more smoothly than the wife was expecting despite my reassuring her that she was exactly the kind of Chinese tourist that was welcome into Europe. </p><p>As usual we try to fill our our time while in Shanghai with new experiences unavailable in Nanjing. Mr. Chen Yonggang has been helping me find employment ever since we were both pushed out of Harvey Industries. I arranged with him to observe the courses that he had been teaching in order to see whether I could fill in as an English speaking instructor.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2QHmh111wWM0sTiG8wOIFnkyl2Pqa4p4iscHecIZ8BV7st62vxd1BCHRBUTYL2JWMOsc-yoEE8xiLbAt5uHzrh93Oi3EGjjKaXHMJrlmvavr7cS4UmcvrDfzXLkHuJ1CyONwVda3GBgeNOgA0TdWDyfkP9c_RpQQXziae6mcS1Hhmm5uKiHjhtlV7TB2s/s1702/IMG_7022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1276" data-original-width="1702" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2QHmh111wWM0sTiG8wOIFnkyl2Pqa4p4iscHecIZ8BV7st62vxd1BCHRBUTYL2JWMOsc-yoEE8xiLbAt5uHzrh93Oi3EGjjKaXHMJrlmvavr7cS4UmcvrDfzXLkHuJ1CyONwVda3GBgeNOgA0TdWDyfkP9c_RpQQXziae6mcS1Hhmm5uKiHjhtlV7TB2s/s320/IMG_7022.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Master Chen Yonggang in the SATA facility<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>The first observation was of a class in the <a href="https://www.satatools.com/en/index.html" target="_blank">Sata</a> training and instruction center. The best way that I describe this event is as a team building activity for the sales staff during a training weekend. It was a bit chaotic. Mr Chen had reduced the actual amount of woodworking to a minimum, having fabricated all the wooden parts on a newly acquired CNC machine and the webbing from an contract supplier.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu-_x9gmwfKXU0rZaGH-4VXysUwuYrfLqZt8hvpQIzAwZWTKI_ElWHSnBzVRTY2G3iVk7ovHpfQcR9HTWsL1UmFrXlZKYiuD-BOicZYZ-fhB0IIIEsFbWS6q3CBgli-1_KGEQB1rSdj6udsFd38qXNCr3zgy5A5pvFNmMXncZsvLKu4le8Hyd08hugCh8D/s1440/Sata_6993.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu-_x9gmwfKXU0rZaGH-4VXysUwuYrfLqZt8hvpQIzAwZWTKI_ElWHSnBzVRTY2G3iVk7ovHpfQcR9HTWsL1UmFrXlZKYiuD-BOicZYZ-fhB0IIIEsFbWS6q3CBgli-1_KGEQB1rSdj6udsFd38qXNCr3zgy5A5pvFNmMXncZsvLKu4le8Hyd08hugCh8D/w400-h300/Sata_6993.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Proctoring the camp stool classroom<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>The salesmen simply had to round over the tenon corners in order that they be insertable into the round mortises. That and assemble components correctly in order to make a folding stool. This style of stool, 马扎凳, Mazahdeng, horse tie stool, calls to mind a Han Chinese horse saddle.</p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9F9WXMUwrMZrMF8Ga6gD3K6xwPS6e3bDYlnQgabXJhtZgdKAK-JNUuqRvT2tNbMa5Gg62qrK1KwXjHYiHLQ1IdH6QQTTf_O2s2IZQ3zBY9v6SLmgKE2OVh4DtTxOec_tinLp0OovdWCa8flbpYjgtBvLBwNfbhy8zjDNS_TIclAGZECnbffqXmbP8ttI5/s3264/IMG_6968.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9F9WXMUwrMZrMF8Ga6gD3K6xwPS6e3bDYlnQgabXJhtZgdKAK-JNUuqRvT2tNbMa5Gg62qrK1KwXjHYiHLQ1IdH6QQTTf_O2s2IZQ3zBY9v6SLmgKE2OVh4DtTxOec_tinLp0OovdWCa8flbpYjgtBvLBwNfbhy8zjDNS_TIclAGZECnbffqXmbP8ttI5/s320/IMG_6968.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Weaving a seat<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Om0kVz96D-WTKpsMWJDp5rxmZCl4iyTCYQYIo7-kRmh3nmYdRq2IXFUzbWm3npiJ-mVB98XLKiZS0aNSo-I8XicARBX2n0F4xKudWJr4F9Ak_MFhmzb3ywEaBxMKi9Atux0ZgiBunrWA55oXhf2-rdahhj6ySPUUnqxLezi95fCxe1d8k6fDz-YollxS/s3264/IMG_6962.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Om0kVz96D-WTKpsMWJDp5rxmZCl4iyTCYQYIo7-kRmh3nmYdRq2IXFUzbWm3npiJ-mVB98XLKiZS0aNSo-I8XicARBX2n0F4xKudWJr4F9Ak_MFhmzb3ywEaBxMKi9Atux0ZgiBunrWA55oXhf2-rdahhj6ySPUUnqxLezi95fCxe1d8k6fDz-YollxS/s320/IMG_6962.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rounding a tenon with a rasp<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>I didn't get any instruction as to how the stool was best assembled so that I like most of the other attendees just learned from experience as we progressed.</p><p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN88ZWbp5ivVGJfgBSQ2VDEacZqsYYzx1LZGLYpcGf5LPEaMoXHU_9xUp9S_COQL2faXCsWpuJcDfEaLOfV9Jn89FZMbMq7-J07L7NH8c2i3OU8Zl20t6pqnwGxY-TMK7BWXtrHzxCKsz2lRF0YCzxPPt71rjzdieB4fdQEfXe88SU6WYMK-vBDGhwAGES/s3264/Sata_6964.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN88ZWbp5ivVGJfgBSQ2VDEacZqsYYzx1LZGLYpcGf5LPEaMoXHU_9xUp9S_COQL2faXCsWpuJcDfEaLOfV9Jn89FZMbMq7-J07L7NH8c2i3OU8Zl20t6pqnwGxY-TMK7BWXtrHzxCKsz2lRF0YCzxPPt71rjzdieB4fdQEfXe88SU6WYMK-vBDGhwAGES/w300-h400/Sata_6964.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SATA sales training event<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>On a positive note, perhaps due to the dearth of clear instruction, there was ample amounts of cooperation and mutual support. I struggle to understand why a participant would bother to assemble a project and then abandon it before moving onto the next agenda item on the training schedule but as a result my wife got a free 马扎凳 to bring home.</p><p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRdzA9oiAWUt49_KeWSrw48PY1Qudcx6QWV4-51CzAGf4XDqp_ZoAMbGyYk8uhca2ZfakPn8NStDyNA46AABY1SMnUuX4u7TUoKiXyjvw7ukWKV_sp36s2W_y9w6xOPL_jpPgM-DQ_tf_3pZoTjGFzXou9U0V7EDtcignJ8DpaDPU8adVbGPlYEy3d5uCS/s2074/Chen%20center_6985.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2049" data-original-width="2074" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRdzA9oiAWUt49_KeWSrw48PY1Qudcx6QWV4-51CzAGf4XDqp_ZoAMbGyYk8uhca2ZfakPn8NStDyNA46AABY1SMnUuX4u7TUoKiXyjvw7ukWKV_sp36s2W_y9w6xOPL_jpPgM-DQ_tf_3pZoTjGFzXou9U0V7EDtcignJ8DpaDPU8adVbGPlYEy3d5uCS/w400-h395/Chen%20center_6985.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr Chen explains the latest project<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>The second event, which I witnessed and to which I lent a greater hand, involved considerably more woodworking instruction with students who were there as eager participants in learning their craft. Possibly purposefully, I am kept unawares about the details of this ongoing course. The wife and I tracked down the CCP funded community center where the class was held on the third floor. This was a multipurpose building with a small courtyard for sports activities while nextdoor a film was being screened and a lower floor contained a lending library. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbePVjuARo2jYfhoHkY3cEsDI9EIHlfO7zgrb-RgnEFXnUeCWeraJh0j5ytak7nQBriQwEKnAtIxelJ3LQHKQt8axgHx6j4wwdbHYMJFolV4PMUfUIhWFC5Crt4C6unZJCrrF2zhzE_cvIQcLh_WbN3ziErf_nk_mcR-Y3DeA3ZH--mRRVIjW9zH6yjAzb/s3264/Center_6988.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbePVjuARo2jYfhoHkY3cEsDI9EIHlfO7zgrb-RgnEFXnUeCWeraJh0j5ytak7nQBriQwEKnAtIxelJ3LQHKQt8axgHx6j4wwdbHYMJFolV4PMUfUIhWFC5Crt4C6unZJCrrF2zhzE_cvIQcLh_WbN3ziErf_nk_mcR-Y3DeA3ZH--mRRVIjW9zH6yjAzb/s320/Center_6988.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bowsaw, a miter square, and their owner/maker<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>When I observed some of the tools the students had in their possession, I recalled the prototypes from previous visits to Mr Chen's main workspace. He initiated the lesson by giving those who were ready to move onto the next step in the curriculum a length of pine which had a rabbet cut along its length. The plan was to cut four lengths with ends at 45 degrees, using the student made tools before somehow gluing them together in order to make a pictureframe.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5OOWVCIo3UQ73ekwNqP4Hg4Md9SxfFvHwr8Jfv8so7Bjbx3pY6lkvLQa-5nCDLvqFO-8zAT8lZHsmCmUWgAw2vYhkzytZ0y_akZuE1HGdqzBRPIe_7AOxv3pxdlNuMCCsTmXdZD4r98fvszsjB5zmOCdTzTi7k_hAzpwv_GTq5ZtD0mhjhteEOxa3FWcC/s1702/IMG_7024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1276" data-original-width="1702" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5OOWVCIo3UQ73ekwNqP4Hg4Md9SxfFvHwr8Jfv8so7Bjbx3pY6lkvLQa-5nCDLvqFO-8zAT8lZHsmCmUWgAw2vYhkzytZ0y_akZuE1HGdqzBRPIe_7AOxv3pxdlNuMCCsTmXdZD4r98fvszsjB5zmOCdTzTi7k_hAzpwv_GTq5ZtD0mhjhteEOxa3FWcC/s320/IMG_7024.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Most of the students struggled with laying out the miters, using the miniature squares, and then with sawing to the pencil line with a bowsaw, especially one far too short for the task. The only holding device was a metal vise which clamped to the thick tabletops with a bit of struggle.<p></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicYyDl7hz6Q3kyKXHvmzMyVwiwuOdEk8i974x0lWW-M5K0ULiGXF_BL_KXJaX9y4jN1D-wjlbTY11zAo0O4dNb5PLQrfnW3cAvf0AcKWUYUL7eIqpEkAg2IsnHP1FsddUkHGbe5Wg53zV0rrT99xQgO6yKOgzVKxAj2-FTbCAhMG1OKvSafEYwilNPRFzl/s2669/IMG_6986.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2001" data-original-width="2669" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicYyDl7hz6Q3kyKXHvmzMyVwiwuOdEk8i974x0lWW-M5K0ULiGXF_BL_KXJaX9y4jN1D-wjlbTY11zAo0O4dNb5PLQrfnW3cAvf0AcKWUYUL7eIqpEkAg2IsnHP1FsddUkHGbe5Wg53zV0rrT99xQgO6yKOgzVKxAj2-FTbCAhMG1OKvSafEYwilNPRFzl/w640-h480/IMG_6986.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seated woodworking in progress<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>The class was composed of mostly local housewives who evidently were getting their first exposure to handicraft instruction. The circumstances were far from ideal for instruction but the level of enthusiasm confirms that there is an as yet unrealized supply for this demand. </p><p>The light-vented bulbul is a fairly common bird in many Asian urban landscapes and surprising friendly.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvBt24iV_Dza7iBxPZAmYZI5QIvVvC_lQ8KgbiuLBPd-dm1ntvuEIRWFgcrbEJmSBTQ9G3xYBWi4lgvZyN-eHEYPeMMVeolvh64RsIgGAL9ltYtZc5fkUAPM2SoOtKOmsoLgakWRuQN8cq355u0lJ4cCPtiYQGsCYDGWtcRJwdv90XvtLl1cusNWEHHJFS/s1707/light%20vented%20bulbul%20fledgling_7026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1707" data-original-width="1280" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvBt24iV_Dza7iBxPZAmYZI5QIvVvC_lQ8KgbiuLBPd-dm1ntvuEIRWFgcrbEJmSBTQ9G3xYBWi4lgvZyN-eHEYPeMMVeolvh64RsIgGAL9ltYtZc5fkUAPM2SoOtKOmsoLgakWRuQN8cq355u0lJ4cCPtiYQGsCYDGWtcRJwdv90XvtLl1cusNWEHHJFS/w300-h400/light%20vented%20bulbul%20fledgling_7026.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Liberté, égalité, fraternité aux oiseaux<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </p><p>Bonne fête natiionale à tous!<br /></p><p> <br /></p><p> <br /></p>Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com0Shanghai, China31.230416 121.4737012.9201821638211563 86.317451 59.540649836178844 156.629951tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-80167278815059552262023-02-28T12:21:00.001+08:002023-02-28T17:01:31.169+08:00Updates: pockets, kinchaku, and flossing<p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKKcSZZvK5bROaVknvsnbujpfUYjthRWnz8eOYISwT21ZJzsltaokEsolQNvV7wSA6HPOLuJetKEDGH86pl22hFf3Wpt1SFoi6k9uH5crfbl8pitXYDx8DGgmEfUnfZ11T2_1CUybRBr0gAxkEqn1IXCXLn-h8Dmvs0cAU2EBj5zVvINWC23jQEHu1Cg/s938/IMG_6222.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="938" data-original-width="528" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKKcSZZvK5bROaVknvsnbujpfUYjthRWnz8eOYISwT21ZJzsltaokEsolQNvV7wSA6HPOLuJetKEDGH86pl22hFf3Wpt1SFoi6k9uH5crfbl8pitXYDx8DGgmEfUnfZ11T2_1CUybRBr0gAxkEqn1IXCXLn-h8Dmvs0cAU2EBj5zVvINWC23jQEHu1Cg/w225-h400/IMG_6222.JPG" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tabbed zippers <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> I got motivated back in October, '22 to make Christmas gifts. Without yet a new woodshop location to vent my craft, I decided to revisit the zipper bag project which I had made in a previous a year. I had a jumble of suitable zippers on hand along with some fabric odds and ends. As </span><span style="font-size: medium;">I was working my way through the same construction steps, I thought to review a few YT videos to refresh my memory and came across a few other websites which inspired me to continue stitching well past the Christmas holiday season.</span></p><p> </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_PO98WL9-Jy2N6UsOiHQbuDqkrdaFjE1Ne33dqqsfeu-mcdmYgSVjCe5sK4pNTnNzhLKvIVeMeog9IE7VuUNUaoe3xTCkIuCCev7Cs7Re3QYn1lj3mOI0HtP-Oa5jbWH4P2lujTSug33-XKi4u0JlUhl62s8CVRByFl2MzzghP5gyub8-gp0HlAl-wA/s3264/IMG_6229.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_PO98WL9-Jy2N6UsOiHQbuDqkrdaFjE1Ne33dqqsfeu-mcdmYgSVjCe5sK4pNTnNzhLKvIVeMeog9IE7VuUNUaoe3xTCkIuCCev7Cs7Re3QYn1lj3mOI0HtP-Oa5jbWH4P2lujTSug33-XKi4u0JlUhl62s8CVRByFl2MzzghP5gyub8-gp0HlAl-wA/s320/IMG_6229.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Layout</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh93ctiQcQDz1rF_4Rw9geopoZiaXDnsxeywOfuXntY3hPQScJGFtHp1pzNmt52BnzkwEjzGwaPiBQWlP_nFX0tnUmyITCEZOoyQ5pk1ySzJkCIwxxWIhqQVM_QPELf4zq4mnhGk8JYETkvXLi0p9thVmU72NqpmImXxIZSXy2dCgKZ2BE_tiNBhP8eBw/s3264/IMG_6247.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh93ctiQcQDz1rF_4Rw9geopoZiaXDnsxeywOfuXntY3hPQScJGFtHp1pzNmt52BnzkwEjzGwaPiBQWlP_nFX0tnUmyITCEZOoyQ5pk1ySzJkCIwxxWIhqQVM_QPELf4zq4mnhGk8JYETkvXLi0p9thVmU72NqpmImXxIZSXy2dCgKZ2BE_tiNBhP8eBw/s320/IMG_6247.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Decorated panels: sashiko and machine stitching with zipper<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFTMXW2QPODyHCvaru0omyJGkq_cPcxFaUmxOWuC9DqFm19jjz00YvL8QhEOrrFj8E9gVvhLDNle8fLWJhGMJSUt3oGRiqLJFaxGEEVw5Nh3RrETlnpu5Bs6oMEp_RFXbQbufQJZzmALxpggwfljFMRV-N5Kt_HGhiAhqjj0etjyFIGpWrz0WQgmFQSg/s3264/IMG_6251.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFTMXW2QPODyHCvaru0omyJGkq_cPcxFaUmxOWuC9DqFm19jjz00YvL8QhEOrrFj8E9gVvhLDNle8fLWJhGMJSUt3oGRiqLJFaxGEEVw5Nh3RrETlnpu5Bs6oMEp_RFXbQbufQJZzmALxpggwfljFMRV-N5Kt_HGhiAhqjj0etjyFIGpWrz0WQgmFQSg/s320/IMG_6251.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished Christmas gifts, one of which was regifted<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>I stumbled upon a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@InTheStudioWithMyrna/featured" target="_blank">new YT channel</a> that helped me to better understand<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrrVPzrKlyo"> zipper tabs</a> and convinced me to routinely box the corners, which helped me to, I think, create sharper zipper bags and with more confidence. The updated procedure led me to understand that the length of the zipper determines the other dimensions.<br /></p><p>And at around the same time, (this process has spanned a few months and the sequence of events only gets progressively murkier with age and as I age), I came across a subscribed <a href="https://durhamweaver64.blogspot.com/2022/12/japanese-lotus-bags.html" target="_blank">posting</a>, which introduced me to a new rabbithole: kinchaku. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_49R-yg1TuHI4koAfyU-Fue3JBLhzw6XVANk4VjQ5tqA6a2OW0iPV51eWcC46BYPOY1Jo-GjQY1cs3BxeZ2kXTRozSUfE_sKDvhho-z0ejBbSokvqkkei7JVmMnZhNEEPRjegcT3XC9EFN80M_IanpkM1cVjNVE8-31IdXyLyIhVe64ACoqXQ0Q0tDA/s1920/IMG_6194.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_49R-yg1TuHI4koAfyU-Fue3JBLhzw6XVANk4VjQ5tqA6a2OW0iPV51eWcC46BYPOY1Jo-GjQY1cs3BxeZ2kXTRozSUfE_sKDvhho-z0ejBbSokvqkkei7JVmMnZhNEEPRjegcT3XC9EFN80M_IanpkM1cVjNVE8-31IdXyLyIhVe64ACoqXQ0Q0tDA/w640-h360/IMG_6194.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I saw an example there and <a href="https://www.sewingmachinesplus.com/sewblog/lotus-drawstring-pouch-gift-bags-purse-tutorial/" target="_blank">here</a> and I recalled that I had been given some linen placemats, which since I don't ever intend to use, I had been thinking of some way to repurpose the stiff, hardy cloth. Despite only ever seeing examples of the Lotus bag online, I think I generated some passable results. The sides are a bit more rigid due to the linen so they function more as buckets than bags; more as bowls than sachets. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYyPQ57euDYlYmYLKwLEHIeeYbkrhuSnLOWLzZJQkPTWAjtDpPglyS_LSEtVKRs46Mj5q1ONw2oJyObR_2NlZzsq7wAacjH7KDCyH9d0hMEvDjtf_8vptSeOpAoXrD7uQHjQSXUW5oO7v4nJLS0QyGWii4OARVhKIgvHXWNl4kOhMvJxQHZzUycXneKw/s3264/IMG_6397.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYyPQ57euDYlYmYLKwLEHIeeYbkrhuSnLOWLzZJQkPTWAjtDpPglyS_LSEtVKRs46Mj5q1ONw2oJyObR_2NlZzsq7wAacjH7KDCyH9d0hMEvDjtf_8vptSeOpAoXrD7uQHjQSXUW5oO7v4nJLS0QyGWii4OARVhKIgvHXWNl4kOhMvJxQHZzUycXneKw/w300-h400/IMG_6397.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lotuslike bag</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>As I was picking apart the placemats, I got into a groove and began culling some shirts and trousers, the utility of which had moved beyond my ability to further patch them up. Some of these clothing items generated cloth pieces which went into kinchaku but other segments only produced fragments too small for any sort of lotus bags, and that shortcoming led to yet a deeper level of rabbithole venturing. This <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIkhY7Yj9ak&t=14s" target="_blank">YT video</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@donkim3917/featured" target="_blank">channel </a>led me to fashion these examples. <p></p><p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8zwIuN8Md9NYzb-QOhLoW4QA_u2rGC5zD1fX6dU36phTdvG2cxAF3NO74clBLme4TQYBvXcu5tkA9fXgJj28sLO4YLDp0Rw6mQqG3k8As4bGh1f0NrRTFITj3OlQG95zQHkWQw1R4l3PdzSuHuBJA8f3d3ZxrKCSLfj5xbK6lkobqrZFvvP0KKty6Q/s3264/IMG_6316.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8zwIuN8Md9NYzb-QOhLoW4QA_u2rGC5zD1fX6dU36phTdvG2cxAF3NO74clBLme4TQYBvXcu5tkA9fXgJj28sLO4YLDp0Rw6mQqG3k8As4bGh1f0NrRTFITj3OlQG95zQHkWQw1R4l3PdzSuHuBJA8f3d3ZxrKCSLfj5xbK6lkobqrZFvvP0KKty6Q/s320/IMG_6316.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shirtweight fabrics reassembled <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ucHcP1VmlDNQD-2YYvmNj7W5889CS8AVmKL0E2n_r9e7Miqexi9thBIRbBVWXJd-BGRM3wcGXVoH8sb0b3n4uDWkM7PWMB4nURmWT_9v8hjjqCYRkpU9U5gcYsQPe-lZSAqncR6q4v12gnXFfNmcS1rSW8V_1cp6hDZILk89FwQmuB5hHPEnwAGdww/s2453/IMG_6360.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2453" data-original-width="2444" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ucHcP1VmlDNQD-2YYvmNj7W5889CS8AVmKL0E2n_r9e7Miqexi9thBIRbBVWXJd-BGRM3wcGXVoH8sb0b3n4uDWkM7PWMB4nURmWT_9v8hjjqCYRkpU9U5gcYsQPe-lZSAqncR6q4v12gnXFfNmcS1rSW8V_1cp6hDZILk89FwQmuB5hHPEnwAGdww/s320/IMG_6360.JPG" width="319" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">buttondowns cycled up<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>I had developed a competent level of sashiko handstitching but I wanted also to expand the decorative options on these little sewing crafts. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis3kyQ0UeuIlNO4upqoDLISFO8pBRm3FVqRN4zQB2K84m5cEe7LRYg5-2DwXBovSi6ZCgg_7xy3JJPYExohUZp4i3J-7jilYG8-TzG-ErrscP_7NY5WS0_mR8IWXZJ0cvvATi7dAS64fuX4WiuzXEjwgqHlLf_zlUVr9DUPpUcQixXDZHThPQ5mNjRKA/w240-h320/IMG_6225.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the layout<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis3kyQ0UeuIlNO4upqoDLISFO8pBRm3FVqRN4zQB2K84m5cEe7LRYg5-2DwXBovSi6ZCgg_7xy3JJPYExohUZp4i3J-7jilYG8-TzG-ErrscP_7NY5WS0_mR8IWXZJ0cvvATi7dAS64fuX4WiuzXEjwgqHlLf_zlUVr9DUPpUcQixXDZHThPQ5mNjRKA/s3264/IMG_6225.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ0OzLcBXj8KzMYT-yjsMjAOc6Tp_mDs4wzEkjBNDh1BaTKikRKvMq6bJRQ2l7x8aNEKGgzO5GsjzwEOJdnnnDxVhSo6532u1yEp98WCGp-_gTrrC-UfGWLb2fWgEsH2lcKJUTc773-OHLdPb3Xv0xrc6qy0J1twB_B6wKQtccLDjwftpE2VOz4pHH3w/s3264/IMG_6226.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ0OzLcBXj8KzMYT-yjsMjAOc6Tp_mDs4wzEkjBNDh1BaTKikRKvMq6bJRQ2l7x8aNEKGgzO5GsjzwEOJdnnnDxVhSo6532u1yEp98WCGp-_gTrrC-UfGWLb2fWgEsH2lcKJUTc773-OHLdPb3Xv0xrc6qy0J1twB_B6wKQtccLDjwftpE2VOz4pHH3w/s320/IMG_6226.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">handstitched</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1a2cIKIqK4vFTMjU9w3Jo9oZIZpnWRIossnWCBU9PvsHi4t2zAx37_NrZZ-8O61Q5D2iV580fsRud1EmSVf67BGeFtGNzX4AMZvlUS4apfmjPoOEo5MBTHM_S1OJE5ORP9fvI9YxYjcEzPo9vC49641tJOKyaVKv3yX87VEzBPBwK_QG0eOE38nZ67w/s3264/IMG_6228.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1a2cIKIqK4vFTMjU9w3Jo9oZIZpnWRIossnWCBU9PvsHi4t2zAx37_NrZZ-8O61Q5D2iV580fsRud1EmSVf67BGeFtGNzX4AMZvlUS4apfmjPoOEo5MBTHM_S1OJE5ORP9fvI9YxYjcEzPo9vC49641tJOKyaVKv3yX87VEzBPBwK_QG0eOE38nZ67w/s320/IMG_6228.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">zippered and bagged<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkF4xbaeR12EaSvTmaLHae9ELW5QDrkgW5QO_60qzDdHptLS_04GMXQwU5sdjqgmxFgfq2imOYNzDqD_qrempwM_JOpPs8VgnekQufS9Q6sCHhbQ4KgoQ-dnnWW2sl0j-MLRjwsTkBQxqUAbvEZ-mTIcUoHIJblOlAxbD2hhCV8noR1TpjGpaSsMQ1zQ/s3264/IMG_6306.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkF4xbaeR12EaSvTmaLHae9ELW5QDrkgW5QO_60qzDdHptLS_04GMXQwU5sdjqgmxFgfq2imOYNzDqD_qrempwM_JOpPs8VgnekQufS9Q6sCHhbQ4KgoQ-dnnWW2sl0j-MLRjwsTkBQxqUAbvEZ-mTIcUoHIJblOlAxbD2hhCV8noR1TpjGpaSsMQ1zQ/s320/IMG_6306.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">systematized construction<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQWliDS6XVy4ZsC3rdQk27UxdtcgBeHgMGafByMnUC2NZu0nRhi2o6Cy1siyJTuVTaZ_GrNMxooVIhYNXW8Lwah6JCP48d9QfVQeleUakJrZ835X3nfMbu-JV0UqXJQ1AH6KurOvm_SaQOy9b9uabamKl3fySCvQqkJxpEjPLIRTHatEC2GHLKpucang/s3264/IMG_6401.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQWliDS6XVy4ZsC3rdQk27UxdtcgBeHgMGafByMnUC2NZu0nRhi2o6Cy1siyJTuVTaZ_GrNMxooVIhYNXW8Lwah6JCP48d9QfVQeleUakJrZ835X3nfMbu-JV0UqXJQ1AH6KurOvm_SaQOy9b9uabamKl3fySCvQqkJxpEjPLIRTHatEC2GHLKpucang/s320/IMG_6401.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">for somebody who still uses coins<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p> I experimented briefly with double needles in order to create a visually bold line, but I was disappointed with the results. Perhaps if my sewingmachine had more stitch settings, hélas. I ended up with realizing the following examples which employ a zigzag stitch and embroidery floss. There was a slight learning curve involved before I understood what I was doing from beginning to completion. I, nonetheless, believe I have simply rediscovered a technique for which I simply haven't yet stumbled across its commonly known name.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTayfV1rIhJZWjvc8he8UHgZDquRk3MOXHj7kVGjHuIg899sKbSeYTAAoh88XVfBr1qdShHu8SK4lL4ko3MFe3Yrhk85MbWFV1fByX2Wepyl8EiQ_aMpvdn45IFN-ExdPtNB6YsgAXgABMAgBKISNBLXX2wqBebKl_wLv8hbg7abGP8slz9iqc7BgheA/s2710/IMG_6272.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2710" data-original-width="2448" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTayfV1rIhJZWjvc8he8UHgZDquRk3MOXHj7kVGjHuIg899sKbSeYTAAoh88XVfBr1qdShHu8SK4lL4ko3MFe3Yrhk85MbWFV1fByX2Wepyl8EiQ_aMpvdn45IFN-ExdPtNB6YsgAXgABMAgBKISNBLXX2wqBebKl_wLv8hbg7abGP8slz9iqc7BgheA/w361-h400/IMG_6272.JPG" width="361" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The innovative, unnamed technique<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq_d4VQDru4jOYQE-GjYir79nmT66aIwV1t-BqaIG41ocbmmlpX-R_sUaeunuaIs5cz7UY8UEX6flkz6WQ9yNE_W7BiyvCUqVg7-tzcCGb2oNhRuVzIQeAGl89X2iwpaLMinS3ws3Ks-seuMQzFgMU1V-nOHBZoyIf8MbxGZevIsUSzi7hfn_SYLFJ2g/s3264/IMG_6284.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq_d4VQDru4jOYQE-GjYir79nmT66aIwV1t-BqaIG41ocbmmlpX-R_sUaeunuaIs5cz7UY8UEX6flkz6WQ9yNE_W7BiyvCUqVg7-tzcCGb2oNhRuVzIQeAGl89X2iwpaLMinS3ws3Ks-seuMQzFgMU1V-nOHBZoyIf8MbxGZevIsUSzi7hfn_SYLFJ2g/s320/IMG_6284.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">rainbowed</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EYKvqVWS5oUW2Vx2SA945F2I9jcCaHajcBqRAUmBs5GO3oaT2Vyucui3FN4Qoobu_QZbB0piZ3g1x10jIiq246W7ZEx5A-kBbXYB1E5eON0ddn03KuDO-lhNWS9KKHUdgcrjXg3a3QAZWW-Chp0CHRhp0olhj5rqhTw3sobbDnorhqutT6NiCz7bsg/s3264/IMG_6382.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EYKvqVWS5oUW2Vx2SA945F2I9jcCaHajcBqRAUmBs5GO3oaT2Vyucui3FN4Qoobu_QZbB0piZ3g1x10jIiq246W7ZEx5A-kBbXYB1E5eON0ddn03KuDO-lhNWS9KKHUdgcrjXg3a3QAZWW-Chp0CHRhp0olhj5rqhTw3sobbDnorhqutT6NiCz7bsg/s320/IMG_6382.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">closeup</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeiIoer52WNspVppx_ShWVDPdTX5413pcuW4ZVqfF8JjeqOy8cKvCTHTmo8GW4Bk8IrQNmFHWqHmGkBIDrLsb5dsuH4DOTldGdm7mquLUBOeTnC3gteHZyxVleJ5QlU4R19Idjakm5nDHmuPZbcfdCnwkBsdOUllxPos-H82-RJRwMjhhOrvdx4c3ug/s3264/IMG_6402.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeiIoer52WNspVppx_ShWVDPdTX5413pcuW4ZVqfF8JjeqOy8cKvCTHTmo8GW4Bk8IrQNmFHWqHmGkBIDrLsb5dsuH4DOTldGdm7mquLUBOeTnC3gteHZyxVleJ5QlU4R19Idjakm5nDHmuPZbcfdCnwkBsdOUllxPos-H82-RJRwMjhhOrvdx4c3ug/w480-h640/IMG_6402.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">seasoned composition<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p></p><p>I do, however, want to share one development which merits documentation and promotion due to its upcycling potential. I tend to wear pants longer than any branded manufacturer banks on but there comes time when they, too, are simply little more than a source of cloth strips for patching other garments. In my experience, holey front pockets are often what gets patched first so that when the retired pants are picked apart, there is nothing there but patched scraps. Back pants' pockets are something else entirely. After recently deseaming two pairs, I noted that the back pockets were remarkably pristine from the time of original manufacture, having served as little more than lint traps. Sometimes it can be inspirational to simply stare at material for a spell in order for its fullest potential to reveal itself <br /></p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzCHpy_DQ9Wx0AAGCb13IoC8cve5lyRUNBDb-lfS13_jVphRvEEwBrX_3IPwC17m4UeLHxceyZ8cEZc4cHEeVJYQ_-6fTFJlZJMgKUlLbylrkRqn9jE_JRQREIDgvvKbbbhf79ky7EnWPi9qe6j19U19u-WVxFb9eYoQ7beGp-PVNsUL0xb88316xmWw/s3150/IMG_6355.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3150" data-original-width="2248" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzCHpy_DQ9Wx0AAGCb13IoC8cve5lyRUNBDb-lfS13_jVphRvEEwBrX_3IPwC17m4UeLHxceyZ8cEZc4cHEeVJYQ_-6fTFJlZJMgKUlLbylrkRqn9jE_JRQREIDgvvKbbbhf79ky7EnWPi9qe6j19U19u-WVxFb9eYoQ7beGp-PVNsUL0xb88316xmWw/s320/IMG_6355.JPG" width="228" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It can be difficult to accept the inevitable<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP4oYjjwFzEyuRgsKTn-kNP02ZCra5i0yylutTW_RA-sOZz7m2zMnGz-EItaKSR2pntabZ6PwyfBmntr_REAQlwDHh8iKiAMjeHq5NiyGzDkCcaARHRPKk4-EaVBxVY6NvZkW1WHL4czKfJlMIuULmsjS9ht6oE0SEOILNX5-mEz4I_PedzlctFXJPrg/s3264/IMG_6389.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP4oYjjwFzEyuRgsKTn-kNP02ZCra5i0yylutTW_RA-sOZz7m2zMnGz-EItaKSR2pntabZ6PwyfBmntr_REAQlwDHh8iKiAMjeHq5NiyGzDkCcaARHRPKk4-EaVBxVY6NvZkW1WHL4czKfJlMIuULmsjS9ht6oE0SEOILNX5-mEz4I_PedzlctFXJPrg/s320/IMG_6389.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fusible patches<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKU0fvGCePaXBGlMP0rk6sQqGmw-jbZGYCoE7Z6ZMDQFWqYIlCXaIy0MGCXKztW1GSVGfw2tpQztmR_9z4ifbDvuQ-BCWA5-I-1Axg8101_3sRk5-Lnk_CU7xX1dUqsluLkTdYhG4vI08caOl1x7Z7ULbqvGm4avuhuqvPGgYu5DayvtqZnY6A39xT7A/s3264/IMG_6338.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKU0fvGCePaXBGlMP0rk6sQqGmw-jbZGYCoE7Z6ZMDQFWqYIlCXaIy0MGCXKztW1GSVGfw2tpQztmR_9z4ifbDvuQ-BCWA5-I-1Axg8101_3sRk5-Lnk_CU7xX1dUqsluLkTdYhG4vI08caOl1x7Z7ULbqvGm4avuhuqvPGgYu5DayvtqZnY6A39xT7A/s320/IMG_6338.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">None the worse for wear<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>While this technique might not be equally applicable to all back pockets in men's trousers, it ought to work for all highend, tailored examples. I had been working with various zippers in making zipperbags and so it fortuitously dawned on me that the buttonholed back pockets could be remade with zippers and a a little bit of reinforcement. <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoUVEFVT0mdQDAmBQuytyDLQthrSWULmqHn61HyzdlsqIjE8ighj3u_FUBef9bAWjLIiCNUKfJWbLNVTtr690ov3f1xeNG5v7qGkHgnPUTsO8q2ugnzpa50a5As90z_m6jMdYUmoV5kP3T3Ix9BPpjeAuhH8xB8kB_Kylv0b21QBKcPb0vAPkBOq7vDA/s3264/IMG_6340.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoUVEFVT0mdQDAmBQuytyDLQthrSWULmqHn61HyzdlsqIjE8ighj3u_FUBef9bAWjLIiCNUKfJWbLNVTtr690ov3f1xeNG5v7qGkHgnPUTsO8q2ugnzpa50a5As90z_m6jMdYUmoV5kP3T3Ix9BPpjeAuhH8xB8kB_Kylv0b21QBKcPb0vAPkBOq7vDA/s320/IMG_6340.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">reinforcing the buttonhole <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjgsgAI_48OmVXcqQ4YU7s2l4aVoKOP2DpgJUdDwHSacuJARLzV52GPZRYHcL7h8uWVOSfn-5UU2N_CqBA4Zfn5kJ8XU4I2pO6ORCrPw7DajfgubYBgNX8UMfHf-xf0NJ0H44z_toLZrfZatgeMmv7l3FhyY58rg4BXL8BJ_kfx_ivQhun9LYTt6LRNA/s3264/IMG_6347.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjgsgAI_48OmVXcqQ4YU7s2l4aVoKOP2DpgJUdDwHSacuJARLzV52GPZRYHcL7h8uWVOSfn-5UU2N_CqBA4Zfn5kJ8XU4I2pO6ORCrPw7DajfgubYBgNX8UMfHf-xf0NJ0H44z_toLZrfZatgeMmv7l3FhyY58rg4BXL8BJ_kfx_ivQhun9LYTt6LRNA/s320/IMG_6347.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Determining the zipper length<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div>I typically use doublesided ironable adhesive when making patches which allows me to accurately position the patch before securing it with a zigzag stitching. I think the brand that I began using this method with in the states was HeatnBond. I managed to buy several meters of something similar in the PRC but on the second attempt to replenish my stock, the same merchant could not understand what I was asking for.<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLNm7G3HoDq9e_o8pQgXIFnL14Jk3X65Sm-6iPfV-QptUWyrTj7S5BU9kV_yZizhJqUdcY036PnE0c32zTFZT-B2-pyygbvKJF9TjxQm49SqhGn7nq0fxPvbmIoxTtupd5E6cUgepssTLwxc5lHW37AbsuP21_XGJkzLOmazLSh4ZEGhR9uuNrEwbCFQ/s3264/IMG_6348.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLNm7G3HoDq9e_o8pQgXIFnL14Jk3X65Sm-6iPfV-QptUWyrTj7S5BU9kV_yZizhJqUdcY036PnE0c32zTFZT-B2-pyygbvKJF9TjxQm49SqhGn7nq0fxPvbmIoxTtupd5E6cUgepssTLwxc5lHW37AbsuP21_XGJkzLOmazLSh4ZEGhR9uuNrEwbCFQ/s320/IMG_6348.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cutting the tabs slightly wider<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxaeOU2p_mT9cKEjneQmlpjxpYvmFonpoyjpus8I3QObOOVQAE-cyiE4QtBLd_cg6xw-Wpr_f7xmZTzHS86E7qpmiA4H2AmSzCnQe-rCLCkUqytD_hpIgfWTC5iYq6x20fSQVJGjJZFl9rpViaV4Zqd14VW96tBn51Fpy94VR7Zpv6yPX-Pjxq32hTAg/s3264/IMG_6350.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxaeOU2p_mT9cKEjneQmlpjxpYvmFonpoyjpus8I3QObOOVQAE-cyiE4QtBLd_cg6xw-Wpr_f7xmZTzHS86E7qpmiA4H2AmSzCnQe-rCLCkUqytD_hpIgfWTC5iYq6x20fSQVJGjJZFl9rpViaV4Zqd14VW96tBn51Fpy94VR7Zpv6yPX-Pjxq32hTAg/s320/IMG_6350.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">recovered buttonhole<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I did the same in this example and then used some midweight cotton sheeting to cover the buttonhole and strengthen the opening before retrofitting the openings with zippers, which were cut to length and then capped with a tab on the slider end which was simply folded into thirds. From the same trousers, I salvaged lengths of of the inside edges which were covered in bias tape. I used the same fusible adhesive to help secure the tabbed zipper into position before topstitching. </p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQNv_0cdl6Q3n2En1_D3DS4LzZSSAXvd2wknz4FWJW-o-BG1Q85CSrIpta9uQmMn_nXl0CkG1Em_qZKYRxPZJHu3upWEsRiagil0UYE-JGyqs4we4Exd1LbOmLnabviDFDhajOHTRpp3tAdyuaxmlBTzI_D1pDRmmDjqCQyZ8c4ZV-DRC4OQIF1THSuw/s3264/IMG_6375.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQNv_0cdl6Q3n2En1_D3DS4LzZSSAXvd2wknz4FWJW-o-BG1Q85CSrIpta9uQmMn_nXl0CkG1Em_qZKYRxPZJHu3upWEsRiagil0UYE-JGyqs4we4Exd1LbOmLnabviDFDhajOHTRpp3tAdyuaxmlBTzI_D1pDRmmDjqCQyZ8c4ZV-DRC4OQIF1THSuw/s320/IMG_6375.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">installed underneath the top hem<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5EFCBx7ChzvNkG7oAeZ24UDi-TSg5LZCpdTk140eXm_bD_eOvqgZrACSkloqjglPU89Vd3CJwNv0189JYkJ5TWUxWoIn50rqH0jbFS_ErLcA-1Bid9cHYyCsnDtDGPfge8pWwb5Hm4RBW--QKiNjvoFSm-rMBsu9T7fVepu8fdJWc1HG-aB7groe0sQ/s3264/IMG_6378.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5EFCBx7ChzvNkG7oAeZ24UDi-TSg5LZCpdTk140eXm_bD_eOvqgZrACSkloqjglPU89Vd3CJwNv0189JYkJ5TWUxWoIn50rqH0jbFS_ErLcA-1Bid9cHYyCsnDtDGPfge8pWwb5Hm4RBW--QKiNjvoFSm-rMBsu9T7fVepu8fdJWc1HG-aB7groe0sQ/s320/IMG_6378.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">stitched in place, folded down and topstitched through a canvas patch <br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div> And then it's a rather straightforward procedure to attach these repurposed back pockets onto the interiors of cloth totebags to increase their utility <p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNNma8QIAJwjvO0YJcMqeuNe8luTTsPkWH5N1kdJ-AuFEuUjqU7Hu3k6UMg5Bn-_w_PFmTAR6hgX-2j2eCMAWxvalP7dEh6MAED8uPHYw0SNUJwTj0_g_8ZTr0ojXvqLUbpavAx3onMnSV8VcgwG79VMekcJEzSpV1AE9dGqT3eRa_mAcbnb3welks3A/s3264/IMG_6288.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNNma8QIAJwjvO0YJcMqeuNe8luTTsPkWH5N1kdJ-AuFEuUjqU7Hu3k6UMg5Bn-_w_PFmTAR6hgX-2j2eCMAWxvalP7dEh6MAED8uPHYw0SNUJwTj0_g_8ZTr0ojXvqLUbpavAx3onMnSV8VcgwG79VMekcJEzSpV1AE9dGqT3eRa_mAcbnb3welks3A/s320/IMG_6288.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">shouji cozies<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR_5m7lt6ckL9OZ3-J2JMQtQlLNiL0w0fDUVQH3_Xo57SkXCAMjeETAXmzk8VOvZtMWVvmbbmr4QzPJURU8cwcXbCU-zwYBJUwAlkvSOs5E5iIo_ZB3kaGZ9ejoOyXjQ9Q2M7UvfyD8QdtQ87iBVz4L_SHRkbudEpSyD_AXeDas0FHksDVhO-5s9MEdA/s3264/IMG_6396.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR_5m7lt6ckL9OZ3-J2JMQtQlLNiL0w0fDUVQH3_Xo57SkXCAMjeETAXmzk8VOvZtMWVvmbbmr4QzPJURU8cwcXbCU-zwYBJUwAlkvSOs5E5iIo_ZB3kaGZ9ejoOyXjQ9Q2M7UvfyD8QdtQ87iBVz4L_SHRkbudEpSyD_AXeDas0FHksDVhO-5s9MEdA/s320/IMG_6396.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">variation on a theme<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi15RxraRpKsMAwzK_xlCNcCV8jDvmZCQ3a1JPEq3tdudtjiE7pg3Xox71zabDi92OHZNC7ayJPB3s69fAWE7vPs4WWVDy6kCwCaRZKVvj-Kk8aLccuogwnBhkuA5dUp4ZjCBkIY_e4JC_aqpnfj013oPcxNueeX-iVhI3uvBW_fhLbiphhcrlIR7HnXA/s3264/IMG_6290.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi15RxraRpKsMAwzK_xlCNcCV8jDvmZCQ3a1JPEq3tdudtjiE7pg3Xox71zabDi92OHZNC7ayJPB3s69fAWE7vPs4WWVDy6kCwCaRZKVvj-Kk8aLccuogwnBhkuA5dUp4ZjCBkIY_e4JC_aqpnfj013oPcxNueeX-iVhI3uvBW_fhLbiphhcrlIR7HnXA/s320/IMG_6290.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Floralized potential<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>For those whom I've missed seeing during the various lockdowns, covid chaos, and pandemic restrictions, I wish you all a belated Happy Groundhog Day! <br /></p><p><br /></p><br /><br /><br /><br />Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-20380677213167129812021-03-03T16:07:00.002+08:002021-03-11T12:19:48.115+08:00Designism, part 2 *updated 11-03 <p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ajyk4z5NZIGcPZwNcghgXyIE7kiLDxtnMWqT2Rv1wRSsy4qlVqY_951Zrsc3RjeUUkCYTJA-IreCumzmK-zu-aaie7h5GOH4lG6oG-PjrNBjpMzTh8ZQ51QYQvpltQrRoP364jjwr5P8/s1080/IMG_3358.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="1080" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ajyk4z5NZIGcPZwNcghgXyIE7kiLDxtnMWqT2Rv1wRSsy4qlVqY_951Zrsc3RjeUUkCYTJA-IreCumzmK-zu-aaie7h5GOH4lG6oG-PjrNBjpMzTh8ZQ51QYQvpltQrRoP364jjwr5P8/w400-h266/IMG_3358.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mystery item<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> I present to visitors of this weblog a mystery item in various configurations that appeared first to me on a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WeChat" target="_blank">wechat</a> stream and a modicum of time to ponder its purpose while scrolling down.<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWPgPANm1WvxoCCmtv7eKhwjYCZC9fH43DNe2xMHNZjtYvBA_Kb804SO-h80ZfGuyLg51iAdh47lz30dyoF6-_FG3ay017eF09P3R6JDuBlG1pMb2zPIMlH38aMu-7ntYzPP6vra9w45mh/s1080/IMG_3359.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="1080" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWPgPANm1WvxoCCmtv7eKhwjYCZC9fH43DNe2xMHNZjtYvBA_Kb804SO-h80ZfGuyLg51iAdh47lz30dyoF6-_FG3ay017eF09P3R6JDuBlG1pMb2zPIMlH38aMu-7ntYzPP6vra9w45mh/w400-h266/IMG_3359.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">position number 2<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It's evident that it is posable and yet it's really unclear whether posability is a useful feature and how it affects utility<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcqbFumVaIxjIpmCADG13JoGsEkCk0PXiHbj8IYql8VN0XRz8PkD3DFvezRroOP9Z0giCfHZeCgBC0s8yYAJGgvb9KBvQJ-B_ak_SQyijBwHeWNCjzorP-SvITrsxZdk49paxve5MuhgDy/s1080/IMG_3360.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="1080" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcqbFumVaIxjIpmCADG13JoGsEkCk0PXiHbj8IYql8VN0XRz8PkD3DFvezRroOP9Z0giCfHZeCgBC0s8yYAJGgvb9KBvQJ-B_ak_SQyijBwHeWNCjzorP-SvITrsxZdk49paxve5MuhgDy/w400-h266/IMG_3360.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maximized openness<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One can readily presume that it's made of plywood due to its structure but does that make it a wooden object or along with the mechanism, simply wood adjacent? </p><p> </p><p>For those who've not simply guessed what it is, here it is with a pretty model to convince you<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjmuBhXx2DsIyf03HMJa4FavByzjkYj-AKKyYrgOVw-huJKmynkZCFrm62LZbVqHFWj-GMLbg2KY6eNlmkDlwpe64TUPPGjiekm85bVv3hQ9fZvmY5SO8v5RNd9V58ff96szngM99ZLsfM/s1080/IMG_3367.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="1080" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjmuBhXx2DsIyf03HMJa4FavByzjkYj-AKKyYrgOVw-huJKmynkZCFrm62LZbVqHFWj-GMLbg2KY6eNlmkDlwpe64TUPPGjiekm85bVv3hQ9fZvmY5SO8v5RNd9V58ff96szngM99ZLsfM/w400-h265/IMG_3367.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So comfy cushions aside<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLXoWNkdiUk4EWB3sSrPnws8fTIi9yfwSCccThwUpBJxeC8yaIx10JG1pSotbDZsHxsURYKs_vEALow5omem4EcsIRrrEpC8PJ1coYU7t0w1adYH5azKxiJpGcwYk3PMbvdnbCmWkFTxRT/s1080/IMG_3368.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLXoWNkdiUk4EWB3sSrPnws8fTIi9yfwSCccThwUpBJxeC8yaIx10JG1pSotbDZsHxsURYKs_vEALow5omem4EcsIRrrEpC8PJ1coYU7t0w1adYH5azKxiJpGcwYk3PMbvdnbCmWkFTxRT/s320/IMG_3368.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> warning: pinching hazard<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1x4hLfnLOaexEY0myRsM4GV1zH9irrqlGVUZjbE4Cc0cB2lN8Mcd5iIEjukR1abb2YnenIUCakH_ky86uliTVMwZvQmxLZ9O_GXZMbQgd3SJe96HMgFc5ppEWF3o0imMQjC48jdohWrg/s1080/IMG_3369.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1x4hLfnLOaexEY0myRsM4GV1zH9irrqlGVUZjbE4Cc0cB2lN8Mcd5iIEjukR1abb2YnenIUCakH_ky86uliTVMwZvQmxLZ9O_GXZMbQgd3SJe96HMgFc5ppEWF3o0imMQjC48jdohWrg/s320/IMG_3369.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Position number 2.5<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjugACz8C4vzsRdV7mz1Y4f11b0X-usvoeiwtBy4xhOZ5TVlhtRYi-D1RQ-U_ot6_Ze-iwbZ1ajBDsbukVjkwb8BW04AOMbXeFrqQ4BVFKARdWcHRXRM50x4KhzAmZ1I_YUjb_eUOxN-Exp/s1080/IMG_3370.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjugACz8C4vzsRdV7mz1Y4f11b0X-usvoeiwtBy4xhOZ5TVlhtRYi-D1RQ-U_ot6_Ze-iwbZ1ajBDsbukVjkwb8BW04AOMbXeFrqQ4BVFKARdWcHRXRM50x4KhzAmZ1I_YUjb_eUOxN-Exp/s320/IMG_3370.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back support optional<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8mHGGEqgeUVDvOskqSBqEuc_nHRbbq3ydUP4SKg2YPQmnB7rs22WRcZr3mc8H413Wr_WVUtJAYuVJMH03szoQ7goxS3shrLKcdkbBVbbBLG82obIvOUdLU8MRlivmZ7F6z4w4NnLjEJa/s1080/IMG_3371.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8mHGGEqgeUVDvOskqSBqEuc_nHRbbq3ydUP4SKg2YPQmnB7rs22WRcZr3mc8H413Wr_WVUtJAYuVJMH03szoQ7goxS3shrLKcdkbBVbbBLG82obIvOUdLU8MRlivmZ7F6z4w4NnLjEJa/s320/IMG_3371.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dos à dos<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>that it's a chair. No, really. Typically images that get reposted on wechat aren't linked with the original source, which in part explains why I see so many examples of designism there. The motive for reposting is simply the 'wow' factor in search of thumbs-up and heart icons. I downloaded these images to do an internet search in order to relieve my curiosity as to how the positioning mechanism worked that prevented this piece of furniture from accidentally becoming a human egg slicer. </p><p>Having found the original source, I searched the <a href="https://designarium.ca/project/exocet-chair/" target="_blank">website</a> and learned that the human egg slicer was properly called the Exocet Chair (patent pending) and offered for purchase in, at least, 5 different veneers, one of which is <a href="https://designarium.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/TheBlackOne-1.jpg" target="_blank">Mozambique</a>. There is no mention of the number of positions it can be 'locked' into but it is being offered as a limited edition, presumably still in any color, but nothing about the number that Exocet Chairs is limited to. So is it like an exclusive club which anybody may join until it's full?</p><p>Fortunately for me a <a href="http://www.designers.org/" target="_blank">website</a> that promotes designers (more than 140,000 of them!) interviewed the Exocet Chair's designer, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefleathead/?originalSubdomain=ca" target="_blank">Stéphane Leathead</a>, the leader of Designarium, (yes, that's really the name but with an inverted A). I would not call designer.org (directly to their webmaster's face) a puff generator, but some of the interviewer's questions are: </p><p><span> "</span><span style="font-family: courier;">What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?</span></p><p><span> </span><span> </span>and </p><p><span> </span><span style="font-family: courier;">How do you feed your creativity? </span></p><p><span> </span><span> </span>and</p><p><span> </span><span style="font-family: courier;">When do you feel the most creative?</span>"Sin</p><p>Since a few postings ago, I've had more time to ponder the admittedly nebulous notion of designism and I have thus come up with a list of 4 features to formally distinguish this aesthetic trend. It can easily be seen how these categories overlap to some degree in definition and in root causes.<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><b>1) Emphasis on novelty:</b></span></p><p>This is the 'wow' factor that seems to be what generates virality on social media. The rise of digitized image sharing via social media is certainly a factor of the greater spread of designism, but I would argue that it predates the internet with its appearance in many magazines, e.g. Architectural Digest. (Who also remembers sunken bathtubs?) A trend that has likely magnified the growing appearance of designism is the lengthening of manufacturing supply chains, or rather the concentration of manufacturing farther away from urban and academic environments where designers live and work, and the steady dropping of woodworking and other handskills from the general school curriculum and, in particular, from the curriculum of designers most of whom conceive their patentable consumer goods exclusively with software programs on computer screens<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><b>2) Plastic and Industrial aesthetics:</b></span></p><p>Plastics in so many ways have improved human existence (while their excess use has led to environmental degradation on a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/912150085/waste-land" target="_blank">planetary</a> scale but <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled" target="_blank">honest </a>recycling is only <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/07/20/plastics-industry-plastic-recycling/" target="_blank">20 years</a> away) and have allowed for manufacturing processes that would not have otherwise been possible. With this in mind, plastics are often used to fool consumers with the illusion that an item is made from solid wood, or of true veneers. And even as consumers might balk at wood grained vinyl siding or similarly deceitful formica, they have come to internalize the aesthetics of plastic manufacturing that industrialists profit from and highlight as key to maintaining their position in the marketplace: predictable uniformity, overall smoothness, and presumptive disposability. There is also a priority given to patenting a design and creating a copyrightable brand since the 'free' market tends to reward IP more than skills or trades <br /></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><b>3) Impracticality</b></span></p><p>Here is one aspect that might be readily conflated with conspicuous consumption, but in the case of designism, that of a durable good. The first example that I ever became aware of was when as a young boy I was invited into a house that had white shag carpeting that nobody was allowed to walk lest the carpeting get dirty or matted. So, in fact, the roots of designism precede the internet. I see often with items that are oversized for the 'wow factor' and then occupy more floorspace than similarly functioning items. It has also become <a href="https://www.artisticfuel.com/sculpture/cloud-gate-chicagos-famed-silver-legume-sculpture/" target="_blank">common </a>in the <a href="https://www.christies.com/about-us/press-archive/details?PressReleaseID=8979&lid=1" target="_blank">art </a><a href="https://www.1001gardens.org/giant-clothespin-pinch-earth/" target="_blank">world</a>. Other examples are the 'live edge' that cannot be used as a bearing surface or is needlessly hard to clean. I refer again to the chairs in Ikea, which I have <a href="https://remisquotable.blogspot.com/2018/06/table-forms-and-wood.html" target="_blank">highlighted</a> previously, with their remanufactured <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoKdCH95SrTOnrAOpRTGSkvPEkYAPEbQEdIwmYcYf03JdCAIUa1al1M9uZ0xa3I84irOI27gyo7TGI3ahHLj0CFO2NEPkYWrOijnJ4UXWt6GhXUCsql1CKR8ZLH3cwtYI45duaqrIAKjwq/s1600/IMG_6230.jpg" target="_blank">rough sawn surfaces</a>, which leads me to the last distinguishing aspect of designism</p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><b>4) Appeal to artificial rusticity and authentic seeming handicraft</b></span></p><p>Designism certainly is not the first example of industry's attempts to mass produce items with the appearance of handmade goods. To some degree this is a function which we want industry to serve, to produce more items at lower prices so that more individuals can enjoy them. This is all well and good until the average consumer is so far removed from real handicrafts that industry can strategically fool consumers with more deceitful plastics and in examples that I have already referred to as Real! wood. The epitome of this is the recent trend of "<a href="https://www.gregklassen.com/" target="_blank">river</a> <a href="https://www.sprue.hk/residential-projects/river-tables/" target="_blank">tables</a>", liters of two part epoxy resin rendered rustic with some offcuts that get encased in even more plastic. The fact that these tables are promoted as DIY projects conflates handicraft with relocating the plasticized manufacturing process to a home garage<br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPPslEmi_bP60ljCUfhSYOmfe-HjNEAz61UxQIa0iRtzz-8XfQk7iZZSBgytXBnss2QApHn1FuDqZ3SSKYkVa9x3ydejWNBC3tqfiErGaM81aysRTSewaRhBiAfPCM4Nv8anF61C9ejpf/s526/tongue+table.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="526" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPPslEmi_bP60ljCUfhSYOmfe-HjNEAz61UxQIa0iRtzz-8XfQk7iZZSBgytXBnss2QApHn1FuDqZ3SSKYkVa9x3ydejWNBC3tqfiErGaM81aysRTSewaRhBiAfPCM4Nv8anF61C9ejpf/w400-h400/tongue+table.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At least most of this table can serve as a flat surface<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkDxPFuUPmEY9J1V5lrjxeqruJcbeMaVQ989hg0Ew0WJtZ0EmWyzIi_ndwgACvMNnFeroeOUxd0Sibz-iMZlsl9nRmaqXrPthM3cY6ZfA6N-i1hqnEOR9axMHDKjmBD20hnbyNgQ44CBNi/s800/dragon+bench_3377.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkDxPFuUPmEY9J1V5lrjxeqruJcbeMaVQ989hg0Ew0WJtZ0EmWyzIi_ndwgACvMNnFeroeOUxd0Sibz-iMZlsl9nRmaqXrPthM3cY6ZfA6N-i1hqnEOR9axMHDKjmBD20hnbyNgQ44CBNi/w400-h300/dragon+bench_3377.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just wow, man<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> In other more personal news, I did a demonstration of making milk paint in Shanghai to Chen Yonggang, whom I have mentioned working with before, and his partner in a joint venture, a designer who tells me she is inspired by Middle Eastern furniture, in a woodshop the owner of which is a Taiwanese national who studied woodworking in Japan for a decade. As a couple, he and his wife, teach both in their woodshop and take their curriculum directly to some Shanghai schools that appreciate what they can offer their students.<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgzLbgEcwnItexxqArnRkxi-_0taE47AAM19SvbRdIlRX-nu5lCs-pPylUby1gYKeeoBhWgBiYj7QC0ZZiazYVaItu9oirn287Jh_GFo6UGx66C0s7ybD2ioDBWGpUaXoxrVGUYN36NUFN/s1440/IMG_3341.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgzLbgEcwnItexxqArnRkxi-_0taE47AAM19SvbRdIlRX-nu5lCs-pPylUby1gYKeeoBhWgBiYj7QC0ZZiazYVaItu9oirn287Jh_GFo6UGx66C0s7ybD2ioDBWGpUaXoxrVGUYN36NUFN/w300-h400/IMG_3341.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shanghai woodworking 木忘初心<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70AqflHQdn-BCsU0W_hjPzyCc8W89z2ocma7E1OPkW6PP_M_CvMc7eXrxDtsNHygKpWoRNKJpQOS72U2Z1tk_H1PYivoe75BuCTrZW9r5qeXyYsu6gwJl7XWRiiPIzymwi5jWQXueGCwQ/s1440/IMG_3345.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70AqflHQdn-BCsU0W_hjPzyCc8W89z2ocma7E1OPkW6PP_M_CvMc7eXrxDtsNHygKpWoRNKJpQOS72U2Z1tk_H1PYivoe75BuCTrZW9r5qeXyYsu6gwJl7XWRiiPIzymwi5jWQXueGCwQ/w240-h320/IMG_3345.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sulfur red pigment<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <br /><p></p><p> </p><p>There was some suggestions that I might be able to work with them, reestablishing my operation in Shnaghai with their cooperation but then they are also in the process of looking for a new location to operate from. I can only wait and hope for now.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BVp-YDvwkCzA0ee706dRRxFPA8wUmQ72ZnGFT-3fvvcuSscjPqOpvhTdkUTYEehJaUpczi96O22MAOwRZzwHhyphenhyphenYgDy-WgtCoi_XYmmwzPHY-RxKSM02Q4fVYVjzYefn7AxoDVFqGBHZH/s2048/IMG_3329.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1808" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BVp-YDvwkCzA0ee706dRRxFPA8wUmQ72ZnGFT-3fvvcuSscjPqOpvhTdkUTYEehJaUpczi96O22MAOwRZzwHhyphenhyphenYgDy-WgtCoi_XYmmwzPHY-RxKSM02Q4fVYVjzYefn7AxoDVFqGBHZH/s320/IMG_3329.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Terrazzo incorporating recycled glass<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqWp-EWpBacrahXuTtFVU1qwFu_mJwdhFpTJ4lq5zrC6GUlv7CBwryD6NgSoLiIKuxkYdL6n0AUkbTreSQJdF-M4_c92v3qLRUoV1q932FDMH5f4TMNeoCQQ6P1yGXvYSN3FP_uGWK9NmS/s2048/IMG_3316.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1794" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqWp-EWpBacrahXuTtFVU1qwFu_mJwdhFpTJ4lq5zrC6GUlv7CBwryD6NgSoLiIKuxkYdL6n0AUkbTreSQJdF-M4_c92v3qLRUoV1q932FDMH5f4TMNeoCQQ6P1yGXvYSN3FP_uGWK9NmS/s320/IMG_3316.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shanghai architectural legacy 建国东路打浦桥街道 <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p></p><p>Happy Lantern Festival! </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ0SZLJw7MpTRmIYaxBHxLo34sdQJyWeK-fonQCP2vgc9UwbTAsCVDIrHOtRQmjwVRZJw9XhMIJOGnik7OLKWnparG23XvhS-sbJTvSDBzyO44sVPlCvAOZADrPbbBcE83e-D60o2V0j3K/s640/158235428_1818855548288342_7919909220165259489_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="514" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ0SZLJw7MpTRmIYaxBHxLo34sdQJyWeK-fonQCP2vgc9UwbTAsCVDIrHOtRQmjwVRZJw9XhMIJOGnik7OLKWnparG23XvhS-sbJTvSDBzyO44sVPlCvAOZADrPbbBcE83e-D60o2V0j3K/s320/158235428_1818855548288342_7919909220165259489_o.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Modernist rusticity<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Update: Many customers need just a little more proof that a table is really made from a tree substance: Real! Wood. I found this one on facebook where among the many praises for the table was one suggestion that the hollow is perfect for kids to climb through. Because children have been denied for too long the opportunity to climb under more conventionally made tables. I spent some time, trying to find the original source of the image or the maker, but page after page of pinterest compilations came up first interspersed with weblogs highlighting the table as a new, bold design for a modern kitchen. <br /></p>Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-1718627713211401582021-02-03T20:49:00.006+08:002021-02-05T16:16:49.065+08:00Huzhou and back: The Elephant Commune <p>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0FU2scF3yFUMxSQNele0ir8jhyphenhyphenqMcuwV-tleIfQNZTSQoTHTUMxOAk5IAipoFq1slymHIJw-7Nq4z4j4PuCSYUmCjuXxZw3greZnxYaX2_QvsO-OxdSKaP8brKeudWsWVziwDkusArLwr/s2048/Chinsee+style+stool+01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0FU2scF3yFUMxSQNele0ir8jhyphenhyphenqMcuwV-tleIfQNZTSQoTHTUMxOAk5IAipoFq1slymHIJw-7Nq4z4j4PuCSYUmCjuXxZw3greZnxYaX2_QvsO-OxdSKaP8brKeudWsWVziwDkusArLwr/w400-h300/Chinsee+style+stool+01.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">四仰八叉凳</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">A common sight in many rural Chinese
households is this particular stool, known as</span> </span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS; font-size: small;"><span>四仰八叉凳</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-family: times;">or Si Yangbacha Deng, a name that means simply: stool with four splayed legs. Its design is basic : rectangular seat, four legs, with stretchers
between the short lengths. Its distinguishing feature is how the stretchers
(I've seen some versions with double stretchers) keep the legs in place, which I've never seen wedged into the seat mortises, and often
become loose with wear and seasonal changes because they lock the
legs into a triangular configuration. This piece of furniture has potential to
be a beginner project since it teaches layout of mortises, cutting of
tenons, and application of geometry. I've never made one myself nor
have I ever watched the difficult and critical step of inserting the legs into the
seat mortises while simultaneously pressing the stretchers into the leg
mortises.
</span></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj20Rd8z3BMYZuacwHgkQcGVf_JoqUEeFA2v9rpbDqf5F1l160v4z7TiroFQOYe4horS6x6FCBaPng47lgQIdU7knG_Yp9-jjjAUDIJ1UryJZX4ZbR2SwtKuX4Ofj8iwhWW5KLv9NH3c_Zo/s2048/Chinsee+style+stool+03.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj20Rd8z3BMYZuacwHgkQcGVf_JoqUEeFA2v9rpbDqf5F1l160v4z7TiroFQOYe4horS6x6FCBaPng47lgQIdU7knG_Yp9-jjjAUDIJ1UryJZX4ZbR2SwtKuX4Ofj8iwhWW5KLv9NH3c_Zo/s320/Chinsee+style+stool+03.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Triangular lock<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglJdKA7ftNna_DCyk49rWvhc_oSEyG-Ykw50HEMszdpN76CjXHVTDr-vYTM5xwpZYgTOxQ_B5pcakzI79SuIwq5Rx5likeCdgaydWK8ILIdQqpNIEjsXPB1gaqa59MkPL1LWqKvqM89etD/s2048/Chinsee+style+stool+02.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglJdKA7ftNna_DCyk49rWvhc_oSEyG-Ykw50HEMszdpN76CjXHVTDr-vYTM5xwpZYgTOxQ_B5pcakzI79SuIwq5Rx5likeCdgaydWK8ILIdQqpNIEjsXPB1gaqa59MkPL1LWqKvqM89etD/s320/Chinsee+style+stool+02.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Common and neglected<br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">This difficulty was confirmed to me
while I was involved recently with a newly forming woodworking education facility
in Huzhou, Zhejiang, named by the founder: The Elephant Commune. The first event occurred on the 9th of January and was a demonstration of mayhem which involved the participants pounding together components
of a</span></span> <span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">四仰八叉凳</span> </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">prefabricated
in the adjoining factory without instruction of how to assembly. The
losses were evident with some stools abandoned as the participants
exited. I don't use the word, students, because there was no teaching
occurring. Office workers with no woodworking experience were pulled
in at the last moment as was I to assist in the chaotic experience. </span></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-mmnzzf6-NlvTQyZPsOiSvncLmnJ143imAG_KtvqXtxZ_Eq4d-cRsflw0c5-B6fUWv-Fvi9g9E8iX7NDR64H_Ri8F9HTWdrFvlq5k5c0gMpUeYSKCeT14eU2-P0CiZ2GVKZsARpNAB3oW/s2048/9th+event+02.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-mmnzzf6-NlvTQyZPsOiSvncLmnJ143imAG_KtvqXtxZ_Eq4d-cRsflw0c5-B6fUWv-Fvi9g9E8iX7NDR64H_Ri8F9HTWdrFvlq5k5c0gMpUeYSKCeT14eU2-P0CiZ2GVKZsARpNAB3oW/w400-h300/9th+event+02.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huddling in the cold<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIOws2lftk-zjE3FJopWDXIFVyo8Mze2erqB_EBo8LXYnWcsDjvSqa8oB7YJfQNGQdY_B5qPGyRqYWzxCOrrfX5GvKg6h6GWHit5bLaIwRtRi5Kpu9ltEg4QLEHMYDCTfuPFsm9endKZU8/s2048/9th+event+10.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIOws2lftk-zjE3FJopWDXIFVyo8Mze2erqB_EBo8LXYnWcsDjvSqa8oB7YJfQNGQdY_B5qPGyRqYWzxCOrrfX5GvKg6h6GWHit5bLaIwRtRi5Kpu9ltEg4QLEHMYDCTfuPFsm9endKZU8/s320/9th+event+10.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">working in the light of the setting sun<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4EJnU1fPlWw80vcPKHtXbO17k3nzcy9CM3trq_73Mt1O8gWaEXaaePQNGTbSybqIA9VuOG2alKjEpygrq1sxK2-xcJx423fqYVQslDx87X5pFctL06f5VcRb9i7epiOYG1TDAFQBqzrn/s2048/9th+event+05.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1719" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4EJnU1fPlWw80vcPKHtXbO17k3nzcy9CM3trq_73Mt1O8gWaEXaaePQNGTbSybqIA9VuOG2alKjEpygrq1sxK2-xcJx423fqYVQslDx87X5pFctL06f5VcRb9i7epiOYG1TDAFQBqzrn/s320/9th+event+05.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a graphic designer lends a hand <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtdIlC3Eu6moFQElNHBo1NP5LZ3B1dvORWKgEx8uF6Ajjp64_rhK5MnoNZ-6QWbndT4fF6V0dv_RSVCWryWtT5nKdxZT8RbmeUnBuF2_8pVqNk4JF4l2hoia-7zljM3uFGSS_Tln_c1kqA/s2048/9th+event+08.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtdIlC3Eu6moFQElNHBo1NP5LZ3B1dvORWKgEx8uF6Ajjp64_rhK5MnoNZ-6QWbndT4fF6V0dv_RSVCWryWtT5nKdxZT8RbmeUnBuF2_8pVqNk4JF4l2hoia-7zljM3uFGSS_Tln_c1kqA/w400-h300/9th+event+08.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">it didn't happen if it isn't posted on social media</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQE-pYzAgwVs14jE2VecVJWEOekDgg_zRhV1X8xb1YZuT_8vT0DPTg2ZydHbQm4JjLrOXX9xBIg-sXT2vqs2tI-HZEw3VUFtHdyf2pfMgAqAIGeg6mdUXI9JCxtuG2do5SEHz7Is4AdlBH/s1440/9th+event+13.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQE-pYzAgwVs14jE2VecVJWEOekDgg_zRhV1X8xb1YZuT_8vT0DPTg2ZydHbQm4JjLrOXX9xBIg-sXT2vqs2tI-HZEw3VUFtHdyf2pfMgAqAIGeg6mdUXI9JCxtuG2do5SEHz7Is4AdlBH/s320/9th+event+13.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">nothing so fun as fitting legs in holes<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD_dybabrSCdpGz3m2iG4BnTdoxUE-011h9oI9GXgjnCnOqmvfl1QMzkXK7ajXjnshxOXYa-YHF8dZJAaQnkDJBODB0dsYxVkKGYZK4_43Opl2Ckqkf8nAzoH9IWBiIsvx1Z09DNiDeerG/s2048/9th+event+09.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD_dybabrSCdpGz3m2iG4BnTdoxUE-011h9oI9GXgjnCnOqmvfl1QMzkXK7ajXjnshxOXYa-YHF8dZJAaQnkDJBODB0dsYxVkKGYZK4_43Opl2Ckqkf8nAzoH9IWBiIsvx1Z09DNiDeerG/s320/9th+event+09.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sorting out the leg arrangement<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ-nMgV5ie4IdZn69bMOppfp9UlFNDcJbFwn_mm9HCYOhOoFnEoUszl8secqqrAYizJ2syLnlmDYsQ1cOa4AquDqGYf0ZCM2d8b-yMLhxvykuFAJfPtjc1qWD2rojiyESw3c9SNp2x65tS/s2048/9th+event+04.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ-nMgV5ie4IdZn69bMOppfp9UlFNDcJbFwn_mm9HCYOhOoFnEoUszl8secqqrAYizJ2syLnlmDYsQ1cOa4AquDqGYf0ZCM2d8b-yMLhxvykuFAJfPtjc1qWD2rojiyESw3c9SNp2x65tS/w400-h300/9th+event+04.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still struggling with the leg assembly<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Some participants more wisely chose to assemble the other stool
model, which was easier to assemble but without instructions and not
without its own set of challenges. </span></span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_9MWYkI5WWS78ss7KAksNYJiCgCJpI67aR8Jjefhv738mzzqwdTo2fAksmzxFOy_ZvBPcjPb2cSuKaid6hIuRxPMerK9Jz6l7mUDeGa7WAppoO13svJ99yT8k6AlAoGho9vY5HeJKQUQI/s2048/banging+together.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_9MWYkI5WWS78ss7KAksNYJiCgCJpI67aR8Jjefhv738mzzqwdTo2fAksmzxFOy_ZvBPcjPb2cSuKaid6hIuRxPMerK9Jz6l7mUDeGa7WAppoO13svJ99yT8k6AlAoGho9vY5HeJKQUQI/w400-h300/banging+together.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Banging and Pounding<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRdX-ZghB9NTRyLRNN0o5pmWKwWoEoanQ345A6jMryVZOqJLTfpUAu6fKcf2BD2XmwNBYoakGJ8CZ9BUr6cLqtSZGwo4_vBqMgn4kHKdK-5nqxPbKKVIzrXlvuF1prrQl688d3ugsimcjD/s691/Tang+Ji.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="388" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRdX-ZghB9NTRyLRNN0o5pmWKwWoEoanQ345A6jMryVZOqJLTfpUAu6fKcf2BD2XmwNBYoakGJ8CZ9BUr6cLqtSZGwo4_vBqMgn4kHKdK-5nqxPbKKVIzrXlvuF1prrQl688d3ugsimcjD/s320/Tang+Ji.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Production assembly<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The factory owner had learned of my reputation and work history
through her contacts in Shanghai where the Huzhou operation had been
before the present facilities had been built and relocated about two
years prior. She gave me a rough outline of her personal story: how
she and her husband began as factory workers and (somehow) had become owners of
the factory, how she had once emigrated to Canada but then decided to
return after a year, how she was developing the Elephant Commune in order to allow
her Canadian educated son to replace her in the daily operations of the furniture
exports, and how she wanted me to cooperate with her to teach
woodworking. </span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFx5ELdVvOw-TLgo4uPDZBaDzJRWC3ADxE7p3HnP-fhKCWSUT4zwM0V_itr5Vq0Jj-mje7eBNDwX4oOSu-hfGJkePp1DytfMPdObHWdr-rM9jfJauaDRhn9vvtY86ZaBL0IkfZROcKZ1_h/s1440/IMG_3274.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFx5ELdVvOw-TLgo4uPDZBaDzJRWC3ADxE7p3HnP-fhKCWSUT4zwM0V_itr5Vq0Jj-mje7eBNDwX4oOSu-hfGJkePp1DytfMPdObHWdr-rM9jfJauaDRhn9vvtY86ZaBL0IkfZROcKZ1_h/w300-h400/IMG_3274.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elephant carved in poplar by Fan Huilin</td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD1SHgF-m22FbkR0ljpk3BeBzHCypu_MG_wdhJzJZxjfzZy2SwfDa7LC8pqLfnxU4wsmp7a4xtGgNBLPcULEJPzx27S1URgD5O94ADfKQUU2BQe1b0sqJN3D_GSs_t3I13CsxQd0vwEHGv/s2048/Elephant+commune+logo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1241" data-original-width="2048" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD1SHgF-m22FbkR0ljpk3BeBzHCypu_MG_wdhJzJZxjfzZy2SwfDa7LC8pqLfnxU4wsmp7a4xtGgNBLPcULEJPzx27S1URgD5O94ADfKQUU2BQe1b0sqJN3D_GSs_t3I13CsxQd0vwEHGv/w400-h243/Elephant+commune+logo.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and the logo that it inspired<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />I asked for a detailed job description, which
had not occurred to her as necessary for hiring. When I made a visit in
December to her Huzhou factory complex and was given a tour of the
location where she wanted me to teach, I pointed out some of the
salient problems: the decision to locate the teaching and work area
on the third floor without an elevator, the lack of electrical
outlets, the inadequate lighting, the absence of heating or AC. Her
curt response to all my concerns was: 'don't worry'. This should have
been a red flag but I deeply wanted to begin doing woodworking again
and get back into teaching.
</span></span><span style="font-family: times;"></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHgNi6dfxMHEYszog_REzykni5Yv1ezCJOS26ZP8XTSnwQlDrzfziSk3h2mwL2q8aBpetJvsjw0Oihq6O7jGmyP-0kvrpSk8zQYHArxkYvRz65wa1kyNi3TWL0eyS62BkgVfUIFBOWflrN/s2048/chest+press.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHgNi6dfxMHEYszog_REzykni5Yv1ezCJOS26ZP8XTSnwQlDrzfziSk3h2mwL2q8aBpetJvsjw0Oihq6O7jGmyP-0kvrpSk8zQYHArxkYvRz65wa1kyNi3TWL0eyS62BkgVfUIFBOWflrN/w300-h400/chest+press.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mother finishes her daughter's Luban lock puzzle<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span><span style="font-family: times;"></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It required several prompts before I
was given a detailed job description that I had been asking for. I
responded by suggesting that I not be hired as a regular employee but
as a 'craftsman in residence', a variation on 'artist in residence'.
I even put forward the idea that I would be establishing an 'in
residence' program, which if I became a full-time employee eventually,
I would also help with selecting the next in line. Looking back I was
naive to have thought this term would have meant anything to her or
that a factory owner would have bothered to clarify its meaning
before agreeing to my proposal.
</span></span><span style="font-family: times;"></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL2UwCdZkbVZtWBeNvaniGh7TYx1k0WV1L9cE1qBnJzueYBlj272UrVrIKN3KrMXlA1SLhEGvik0DkUV2AXHXJtt5MbfmpcsAdYSp4mysfMEmX_12h8MIgkKjOM6_a-6rIFZpV1ecP4ain/s1440/glue+in+hand.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL2UwCdZkbVZtWBeNvaniGh7TYx1k0WV1L9cE1qBnJzueYBlj272UrVrIKN3KrMXlA1SLhEGvik0DkUV2AXHXJtt5MbfmpcsAdYSp4mysfMEmX_12h8MIgkKjOM6_a-6rIFZpV1ecP4ain/w400-h300/glue+in+hand.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Squeezing glue<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span><span style="font-family: times;"></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I arrived on the 4th of January with
a majority of my handtools and teaching materials. The weather was
bitterly cold, making any work in the workspace uncomfortable even if
the cleaning ladies (ayi) had not insisted in opening so many windows
to allow for fresh air to circulate. Because. </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwgPZ2qvIcXOmuKw2l0Raa9_oIMe-SOZsVZW2IDsGczQP0laoUCumEKhtO0cnqGZgcJwOfi_PPxr0PV60bzyY53quUrnYRslOcJzFe4xrnbykSjQiIE8pAc3tTl3Yqp_JUdi7zFW6LG231/s1334/Freezing+temp.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwgPZ2qvIcXOmuKw2l0Raa9_oIMe-SOZsVZW2IDsGczQP0laoUCumEKhtO0cnqGZgcJwOfi_PPxr0PV60bzyY53quUrnYRslOcJzFe4xrnbykSjQiIE8pAc3tTl3Yqp_JUdi7zFW6LG231/s320/Freezing+temp.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the upside, it was sunny<br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">The more immediate problem for me,
however, was having no mattress to sleep on.
</span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip9m1tcIZw2MjuKsSK1tIitiaQxy0_150pWrIITK-gr9lc8VXtOy7Fb-wPaMKgC4d9nMHiKY4CqfD2MQGQP5dFsdD35aIS4GGlQ9CVLHS8ggvIhvBlG0vRuKJQQPleCvnyzy5IDtsyX-21/s960/1st+bed+mattress.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="540" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip9m1tcIZw2MjuKsSK1tIitiaQxy0_150pWrIITK-gr9lc8VXtOy7Fb-wPaMKgC4d9nMHiKY4CqfD2MQGQP5dFsdD35aIS4GGlQ9CVLHS8ggvIhvBlG0vRuKJQQPleCvnyzy5IDtsyX-21/s320/1st+bed+mattress.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Minimalism in mattressing<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkiE-ny_NVBHmAo88nd4ehyphenhyphen9vg2h-uS5u7-AiTmNvweg8jYIkOEEk4Sy354Vt8gvBMieTkdo3pzPn1LoG_gXopSVokbslJXY8V0R8OyQPZEtLOAsLz3oWxeC9bUvU2_1q4_kR-bLYBkOVM/s839/matteress+upgrade.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="839" data-original-width="472" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkiE-ny_NVBHmAo88nd4ehyphenhyphen9vg2h-uS5u7-AiTmNvweg8jYIkOEEk4Sy354Vt8gvBMieTkdo3pzPn1LoG_gXopSVokbslJXY8V0R8OyQPZEtLOAsLz3oWxeC9bUvU2_1q4_kR-bLYBkOVM/s320/matteress+upgrade.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bedding upgrade<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">Prior to the event on the 9th, my first two projects was my
explaining how a French cleat storage system works, determining where
to locate the woodworking machines prior to installation of
electrical outlets, and as a volunteer, pleading with the factory owner to not have closed cabinets along the entire east wall in front of the
windows, limiting access to natural lighting and becoming dead
storage space.
</span></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3KY_5sPdIpTk5e9Zleou-hq5bL563Jzd4ptzjUzzTEvGBdtmdu3Bq-0AnVkuxoJVaqtbcwGeiUjsx-Ei_jS17R3pbWnd6zpkbzf6UM-ooimLN_k9Opg7KEX7q52WU0jOi0CibEfWteugz/s1745/machines+delivered.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="982" data-original-width="1745" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3KY_5sPdIpTk5e9Zleou-hq5bL563Jzd4ptzjUzzTEvGBdtmdu3Bq-0AnVkuxoJVaqtbcwGeiUjsx-Ei_jS17R3pbWnd6zpkbzf6UM-ooimLN_k9Opg7KEX7q52WU0jOi0CibEfWteugz/w400-h225/machines+delivered.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Machines awaiting setup<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">All three tasks were challenges which I
could not have thought so overwhelming. I worked alongside a graphic
designer who was understandably confused about French cleats because
she had never seen one, and because the visual examples that she found on
the mainland intranet were wrong or simply didn't show enough details
to allow her to comprehend the simplicity of it. The factory had, in
fact, already cut and delivered components to the third floor minus
the 45 degree bevels that make the system work. They were even
predrilled for the vertical members that needed to be attached to the
concrete walls. For reasons that only mainland Han might be able to
explain, the horizontal slats were shown in the blueprint to go from above eye level down to floor level. </span></span><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBE3xD0qQnbf9fir1AWFoNtxxLHrVRA9WVg2HQdwVVVeQZ34eR46RjLJmzJy4qdYg12dTaXwtjFvZcGYcsMz-bSb7bOmZUUtPQdQrTNVV1_ZliBPPGryX6rZPbPNiUjCs240bHnQmwZgeH/s2613/IMG_3046.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="2613" height="92" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBE3xD0qQnbf9fir1AWFoNtxxLHrVRA9WVg2HQdwVVVeQZ34eR46RjLJmzJy4qdYg12dTaXwtjFvZcGYcsMz-bSb7bOmZUUtPQdQrTNVV1_ZliBPPGryX6rZPbPNiUjCs240bHnQmwZgeH/w200-h92/IMG_3046.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chinese style French cleat wall<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I explained
that there was very little advantage to hanging tools on French
cleats below the waist so I advised that an open cabinet be built to
run along the full length of the wall and the French cleats begin
from the cabinet's height and rise upwards. Besides, the fact that
the cabinet ended up without a kickplate, it turned out well. </span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8iuDndjXGo0l_8IlZIBhvUyFcnspDCWkENjAm1UPO2u0VWpVRJBMxgQi7HQSGhc0fEYXOOw91wkyMjvKkxPHjkyeCqoDTKitHqbxVgzNhGIjzf_9YxMyy8KxWPT8lvOTaDj_dA-4Sa2r2/s1440/IMG_3246.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8iuDndjXGo0l_8IlZIBhvUyFcnspDCWkENjAm1UPO2u0VWpVRJBMxgQi7HQSGhc0fEYXOOw91wkyMjvKkxPHjkyeCqoDTKitHqbxVgzNhGIjzf_9YxMyy8KxWPT8lvOTaDj_dA-4Sa2r2/w400-h300/IMG_3246.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The difficult to conceptualize French cleat wall<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I won't even go into the details of how
even more frustrating it was to describe picture rail and how it can
obviate the need to drill a new hole into concrete to redecorate a wall. The
experience did, however, clarify in my mind how the Han Chinese think
about concrete construction in general. Not only is it the dominant
construction method, it's equally regarded as much less permanent
than I would consider it.
</span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGYeYji538FH4D9qGlWs_6U9z0VO-l8wrNOE7B4O1pFPtDQQ9q0cNdTUnN2__qMhZOXY0P3wIRbA6Pw-RGNECTDSteKfX5m5el0glickliYeua1ER8HGlgCYr4rsxT_MPwQsZCJDNbErBv/s867/installing+lights+and+elec.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="488" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGYeYji538FH4D9qGlWs_6U9z0VO-l8wrNOE7B4O1pFPtDQQ9q0cNdTUnN2__qMhZOXY0P3wIRbA6Pw-RGNECTDSteKfX5m5el0glickliYeua1ER8HGlgCYr4rsxT_MPwQsZCJDNbErBv/w225-h400/installing+lights+and+elec.jpeg" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last step: Light fixtures and outlets<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The redundantly unproductive discussions about the
outlet locations and arrangement of the woodworking machines led to
the one and only meeting of interested parties while I was in
Huzhou. It can be puzzling for an outsider to understand why the
electricity is often the last utility to be installed. As I recall
from my stint at Harvey, the woodshop had compressed air piping
installed before the necessary outlets for the machinery. When I was
asked to define the arrangement of the woodworking machines and where
I wanted the outlets (spaced 2 meters apart along the east and west
long walls. I anticipated locating a cantilevered lumber storage unit along the northern
wall and shelves were already in place along the southern.), I
explained that I wanted the machines along the center line of the
room to reduce the lengths of hoses to the dust collector and the
electrical cords to be suspended from the ceiling. I thought I was
clear in explaining the details and the reasons for the choices. But
I explained again. And again to a growing band of befuddled looking
electrical workers. A meeting was called to resolve the undefined impasses. I
demonstrated again the arrangement for the woodworking machines to
the attendees. The leader of the electrical workers (calling them
electricians gives them too much authority) insisted that he could
not recreate the working situation as I had in the Nanjing
International Woodcraft Club in Pukou as he showed me a photo of a
class I conducted there. I cannot fathom why he fixated on this photo
or how it was connected to the present discussion. Finally the leader
of the electrical installation crew, a Mr Bao, who certainly due to
coincidence is the brother of the factory owner, expressed some
details as to why the installation of the outlets was not proceeding.
He started complaining that the machines had different plugs which
require different corresponding outlet fixtures. I would not have
thought that this might have created such a challenging impasse since
most outlets in the PRC allow for different configurations of
electrical plugs but it seems that allowing him to express his
discomfort was enough to allow the project to move forward. In the
end electrical outlets were hung from the centerline of the room for
the machines and far fewer outlets than spaced 2 meters apart along
the long walls. Because.
</span></span><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2U4EcU85wP0uK3b-1iFBrF9ezBzWvG__vONCLJcpm8wJr8HXJ8iWzCO3zcr1Vt1L5_4xhqK6Og7ZoUuUgJoWMsAidTmJCpfcwchn7S7Y1ljSJrQffpMH4k5co0S1UFCZIdl_-BRLXr9Xp/s2048/bench+space.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2U4EcU85wP0uK3b-1iFBrF9ezBzWvG__vONCLJcpm8wJr8HXJ8iWzCO3zcr1Vt1L5_4xhqK6Og7ZoUuUgJoWMsAidTmJCpfcwchn7S7Y1ljSJrQffpMH4k5co0S1UFCZIdl_-BRLXr9Xp/s320/bench+space.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Pukou to Huzhou<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span><span style="font-family: times;"></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Later during my stint, the factory
owner asked me for suggestions about her addition to the buildout for
installing a doorway that would occlude the natural sunlight from
morning until evening in the only place on the third floor where this
happened and where I wanted to eventually set up my own workbench,
“look very simple natural generous feeling” As diplomatically as
I could, I responded: “It would certainly be a pity to erect
another door in the brightest area of the woodshop” Consideration
of natural lighting was not on her list of priorities. It seems that
the only way to control access from the second floor to the third,
which was only now realized at this late date was to build a wall on the
third floor in the area that was most desirable for working. Because.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8q2wFGESygrYcA7HWaZGeLBkvqxwOnOFeO4H8ilRX_dWjODAQijDI_uGfKA9TDPB-hVKBU6yYmOg35PE39INFIym_O7riJsU4mjD-Wly_gp87FOUs0HAC32AexPFjcVT2sXRisy5DCNT/s2048/Tool+lot.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8q2wFGESygrYcA7HWaZGeLBkvqxwOnOFeO4H8ilRX_dWjODAQijDI_uGfKA9TDPB-hVKBU6yYmOg35PE39INFIym_O7riJsU4mjD-Wly_gp87FOUs0HAC32AexPFjcVT2sXRisy5DCNT/s320/Tool+lot.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Handtools for wall decorations<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">January 9<sup>th</sup> was a scheduled
event that involved inviting large numbers of participants to pound
together stool components with claw hammers. The chaos led to the
factory to produce benchhooks based on what I use. </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPcRFAdb5W-hsNwWj8AJqCp-ued8FDXi_mFgNv2fw4I_Y29-8QMTLZke-nNIZWZuPnoMbEdAZyS5ytkmakCvM-H8h0IR0abLribh24M9_YwoH6aQ3wKRDUvQAa5i-C9T0LGdKbG81Yj2_8/s1404/benches+in+assembly.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="790" data-original-width="1404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPcRFAdb5W-hsNwWj8AJqCp-ued8FDXi_mFgNv2fw4I_Y29-8QMTLZke-nNIZWZuPnoMbEdAZyS5ytkmakCvM-H8h0IR0abLribh24M9_YwoH6aQ3wKRDUvQAa5i-C9T0LGdKbG81Yj2_8/s320/benches+in+assembly.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Factory made tables<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF_hsqdS01u3psOEVqJfitr352pX7JZaGommKy0LOPmcEo__ao3SPsqXV_lZh6dekx1QlHQiIigdo3pwDaGWk1gq8xqIthK7SlMy8BTTbukBx1NoNn6Ybr7Lt_G1zmYTohRT8BWez9ZdO3/s1440/Chinese+classroom+rows.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF_hsqdS01u3psOEVqJfitr352pX7JZaGommKy0LOPmcEo__ao3SPsqXV_lZh6dekx1QlHQiIigdo3pwDaGWk1gq8xqIthK7SlMy8BTTbukBx1NoNn6Ybr7Lt_G1zmYTohRT8BWez9ZdO3/s320/Chinese+classroom+rows.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Modeled after a Chinese classroom<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"> <span style="font-size: medium;">Well before I arrived in Huzhou, I was
sent a photo of the workbenches that were being assembled on the
third floor. I responded that they were not suitable benches for
woodworking and that it would be better for me to build proper woodworking
benches after I arrived. (This was before I knew about a pressing
event scheduled for the 9<sup>th</sup>) I received the standard
response: “Don't worry” After I arrived, I was asked to install
end vises, I demonstrated that the vises were of low quality and that
Moxon vises could be made from wood with German made taps and dies
(which could subsequently be used to teach a class) and showing very
clearly that the vises would not fit on the benches without damaging
the stretchers and the corner braces. This was the result. </span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr1f4MuvDYWSI-2Mkub-MiDtzdCno6MiwiN83lZxRWXpIdc-U8W2O6gxtWWaKg_HvNrxBVxJQBGjy9aTo3iT5YahEtFLz2XlsOwz4MfTJmyUkyd0hgiB79fiq7yXL0SKcSlM_t301RXe5T/s2048/bench+a+vise.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr1f4MuvDYWSI-2Mkub-MiDtzdCno6MiwiN83lZxRWXpIdc-U8W2O6gxtWWaKg_HvNrxBVxJQBGjy9aTo3iT5YahEtFLz2XlsOwz4MfTJmyUkyd0hgiB79fiq7yXL0SKcSlM_t301RXe5T/s320/bench+a+vise.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For every bench a vise<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDKu67hWt2ydPNVEdIWNX31kZL845ohyphenhyphen81TUhOZJcPc6_9dcs-z0UEsgoDdZAEIYNdhVDdRBN0yH-cNGb4eLsItUMhpsRDrRo_rQHOJF8Xh9KBkN-yyr4FBN5bDhSGOq3bBUKQuewcW5TD/s2048/Installed+vise.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDKu67hWt2ydPNVEdIWNX31kZL845ohyphenhyphen81TUhOZJcPc6_9dcs-z0UEsgoDdZAEIYNdhVDdRBN0yH-cNGb4eLsItUMhpsRDrRo_rQHOJF8Xh9KBkN-yyr4FBN5bDhSGOq3bBUKQuewcW5TD/w300-h400/Installed+vise.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The vise as installed<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On the 17<sup>th</sup> a young woman
from Shanghai began her employment in the woodshop. By that time I was
debating whether I could stay in this workplace for a full year
commitment. I was still confident than that I could bear the unrelenting chaos
and clueless approach to woodworking instruction as long as I could remain sanely calm above the
fray, potentially setting examples by osmosis, as with the adoption of bench hooks, until
either the end of my craftsman in residency tenure or until I thought the organization was ready for me as a long term employee. I eventually
learned her name and shortly afterwards I discovered that she actually
had some experience as a woodworker. </span></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs_AeF-2akw4wTY7VwUMhZKj_-tV1xPl4JZatGdWicY3_KOUPZib7Fu6n8o_F8lyik2BXxMW8MI0ycPin-4js2E5sBdjrtZ9ukzE2qwJFFomUl6_mwqYTxsZMpYUN8hizsHNULQrYL5m9y/s2048/vise+upgrade.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs_AeF-2akw4wTY7VwUMhZKj_-tV1xPl4JZatGdWicY3_KOUPZib7Fu6n8o_F8lyik2BXxMW8MI0ycPin-4js2E5sBdjrtZ9ukzE2qwJFFomUl6_mwqYTxsZMpYUN8hizsHNULQrYL5m9y/w320-h240/vise+upgrade.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The upgraded vise installation<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHaU86Ldo8wM8OQNzVNNxdTf2wdmzlxlju8bzM4e2eUFR3JwP8LT6NZr_ebZqGYIlhyphenhyphenqYUykZ2GN3bpEh7MOHzlwvzR73TNi_R4ocq1xxMyVwep3pRPd1GfUnou3VBJeGu8_zsgp-W8nrd/s1440/sawing+with+vise.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHaU86Ldo8wM8OQNzVNNxdTf2wdmzlxlju8bzM4e2eUFR3JwP8LT6NZr_ebZqGYIlhyphenhyphenqYUykZ2GN3bpEh7MOHzlwvzR73TNi_R4ocq1xxMyVwep3pRPd1GfUnou3VBJeGu8_zsgp-W8nrd/w320-h240/sawing+with+vise.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a bench appliance unfriendly to saws<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">Briefly, she attended a Shanghai trade school as a senior middle school student, participating in a training program that existed in order to compete in <a href="https://worldskills.org/" target="_blank">WorldSkills</a>, a Dutch based organization that hosts trade skills competitions worldwide. She was young with little experience that wasn't learned in
an industrial training program but she and I had much more in
common. </span></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXoUcREhiQMAC6wQgTrbY-_Dt2c02vnmwnlZaWxHATGPs7rlCJ0Kls0IHtEHr_5zN0jpa38lo7dZ0plVmPCf2c-mrdCmY9mbhx2NC69wedyYpMXa7lt0D0bIwffzaHFjsjlU9-d1yBa8Bd/s2048/horse+components.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXoUcREhiQMAC6wQgTrbY-_Dt2c02vnmwnlZaWxHATGPs7rlCJ0Kls0IHtEHr_5zN0jpa38lo7dZ0plVmPCf2c-mrdCmY9mbhx2NC69wedyYpMXa7lt0D0bIwffzaHFjsjlU9-d1yBa8Bd/s320/horse+components.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little wood horse kit: just add super glue!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She even readily understood that it was a bad idea to allow
small children to use cyanoacrylate adhesive (i.e. super glue) to complete
projects. And to her credit, she helped me to wipe away the clouds
that I needed to leave this place, albeit briefly.
</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She began to take on her assigned role
of intermediary between me and the factory owner according to the
norms of a mainland work environment wherein orders are typically
conveyed indirectly from top to bottom, probably, to prevent any
feedback from moving, in response, from bottom back up to the top. </span></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiziS2RG66p0DBve6BytZgMVbzR64qobEcmb3vN0ZQubHUEDboFloU6iXETFOYp6_gvK_i0QSE7fsHZVVEH6LF2c8QeP5YVd4N4pO5nfK6AhB5DEgI5WkABC7IZRMU525MXW0pQ3dPUfL3a/s1920/stool+prototype+02.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="926" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiziS2RG66p0DBve6BytZgMVbzR64qobEcmb3vN0ZQubHUEDboFloU6iXETFOYp6_gvK_i0QSE7fsHZVVEH6LF2c8QeP5YVd4N4pO5nfK6AhB5DEgI5WkABC7IZRMU525MXW0pQ3dPUfL3a/w193-h400/stool+prototype+02.jpeg" width="193" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Real! Wood<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkPKD-YOHb59H-2B0CYsrqY2EmjH2I9V0tsNmFBcJ6X3w9zcYDKjBrOMYcagVCKCFA2_I0EFq4DyM4a0mRG6sbTea9bQ2Q_brMhGu6ObiygAAqW_wPXQ_H4I2QUmjLRkJrIdhhXdmcnhRs/s1920/stool+prototype+01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="926" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkPKD-YOHb59H-2B0CYsrqY2EmjH2I9V0tsNmFBcJ6X3w9zcYDKjBrOMYcagVCKCFA2_I0EFq4DyM4a0mRG6sbTea9bQ2Q_brMhGu6ObiygAAqW_wPXQ_H4I2QUmjLRkJrIdhhXdmcnhRs/w193-h400/stool+prototype+01.jpeg" width="193" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the straw that broke<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I was shown a photo of a</span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"><span>四仰八叉凳
</span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">and informed that I needed to make an example by hand,
which would then be given to the factory so that components could be
manufactured in bulk. I countered with a series of reason why this
was not my responsibility and that I would not be making such an
item. I explained that I was not an industrial designer and nowhere
in my job description was I required to make production prototypes. I
pointed out that there were already two stool projects. I patiently explained the that
most expeditious means of obtaining a prototype would be to buy one
online (quite possibly the same one in the photo) and give it to the factory. </span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There might be some backstory to this workplace demand or it might be an example of the boss reaffirming who the boss was. More than likely, it was yet another impulsive whim on her part. It's apparent that this is just another example of </span></span> <span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">仰八叉凳</span> <span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;">b<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">ut with round members. I've hinted at the chaos of the event on the 9th but I need to explain more. It became apparent that the best method for assembling the stool components had not been thought through.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqafQQylSnxg9kxjUxBTKGss1g75F-owe03BffMVmb0ozC_ORKCOQ4a_fm5oAfwPATlMDF6SLPGVXjtTUTFq9HcIrJHvvaCgHv0nBAuKnuulSfOlec_hZoLaXn6aVaxkUV53VqUG6qkxPt/s800/broken+seats.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqafQQylSnxg9kxjUxBTKGss1g75F-owe03BffMVmb0ozC_ORKCOQ4a_fm5oAfwPATlMDF6SLPGVXjtTUTFq9HcIrJHvvaCgHv0nBAuKnuulSfOlec_hZoLaXn6aVaxkUV53VqUG6qkxPt/w400-h180/broken+seats.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Broken seats from the first event<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One can say that the solution to this problem was creative but it's really just an example of making a square peg fit into a hole in a less breakable seat. Negative outcomes entirely predictable when there is no planning and so a solution was found that might negate the need for further planning or curriculum design.</span></span><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1n-2A4E_7dhKaZPDYlKNkLIaEuOCVQTsmUSQURO-HlBcm1Jb8XT72rmjnT_ParW7CyN5MOM08puCZPtZQcPkbJJ_uv_PTp1bGe5lUfDCC9TaJSFYu27J3bTNRePoyyuGdYRgIP7VROUG/s2048/melamine+sandwoch.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1n-2A4E_7dhKaZPDYlKNkLIaEuOCVQTsmUSQURO-HlBcm1Jb8XT72rmjnT_ParW7CyN5MOM08puCZPtZQcPkbJJ_uv_PTp1bGe5lUfDCC9TaJSFYu27J3bTNRePoyyuGdYRgIP7VROUG/w400-h300/melamine+sandwoch.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Melamine sandwich<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilp8ZS48p4u3oL7vtahRUKtcy7XExFxUxogZWos4sAMFZEgHjBgk2GWXHOenpEQdqMtVvI-EBJXOtFhJHqzz4J-z7krDEh1ictQHSS93CQH3XbPFzS91jllKu_OP98kektIyG3pLI8WPLv/s2048/malamine+seats_3219.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilp8ZS48p4u3oL7vtahRUKtcy7XExFxUxogZWos4sAMFZEgHjBgk2GWXHOenpEQdqMtVvI-EBJXOtFhJHqzz4J-z7krDEh1ictQHSS93CQH3XbPFzS91jllKu_OP98kektIyG3pLI8WPLv/s320/malamine+seats_3219.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Factory ordered components<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">These plywood components were ordered from the factory to produce as a quick fix to the problems</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"> which arose due to lack of preparations and poor understanding of how to design woodworking courses. It was a factory owner's solution to a production problem, upgrade the stock material to make the problem simply go away. And no, I didn't see one of these melamine seat stool assembled to be able to confirm whether the solution was workable. </span></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijs9dSDvpmliRfd5TCM-BSIe37IZsJ8y7dcwUSpbU2IP5Ma7TucmmGTkSmW2oSL8F_UFRioOs0AKg7mp7NaDoTnq3TdswDNYt3mm53wCvM2uaSNUKn4u8yIg8oXQQ_p_br046B-m_GF0h_/s2048/Vise+handle.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijs9dSDvpmliRfd5TCM-BSIe37IZsJ8y7dcwUSpbU2IP5Ma7TucmmGTkSmW2oSL8F_UFRioOs0AKg7mp7NaDoTnq3TdswDNYt3mm53wCvM2uaSNUKn4u8yIg8oXQQ_p_br046B-m_GF0h_/w300-h400/Vise+handle.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Using a chisel to complete a project<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">Rather than accepting the need for a comprehensive lesson plan with a project that could be reasonably managed by a participant with no experience, I was assigned another task from the one I was there to accomplish. The intermediary explained that this
requirement fell under my responsibility for creating courseware and it was not a
template for the factory. Yes, she asserted an argument which
contradicted what she had just told me. She further explained to me
that this assignment fell to me because I had not developed
any courses that met the two hour timeframe. I did my best to suppress my fury mainly because she was simply conveying a directive. I explained
that in addition to the rope spinning, which I had demonstrated on the 9<sup>th</sup>,
I had proposed three projects that could be turned into courses that
accommodated the two hour timeframe. This back and forth was getting
nowhere essentially because that was the main point. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiI3oiu3kzaahOQbfF_NTdueHSYPdaN9db9D71C5T6btGwYrPa72lZvA2sCAgUE5pplWhFI5X98L8bMN1RXOUQ4qexU1_WUbJhSW-rKvbm8AYFxIhm2bX-6x681bMl525HGN_bDkqSl_Ip/s2048/bare+vise+in+use.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiI3oiu3kzaahOQbfF_NTdueHSYPdaN9db9D71C5T6btGwYrPa72lZvA2sCAgUE5pplWhFI5X98L8bMN1RXOUQ4qexU1_WUbJhSW-rKvbm8AYFxIhm2bX-6x681bMl525HGN_bDkqSl_Ip/s320/bare+vise+in+use.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">World Skills instructor<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>My wife had just received a copy
of my labor contract which she was planning to take back to Nanjing in order to
have it looked over by an HR professional. The message that I was
being told to accept, and which would have been implicit to most other
Chinese workers in this same situation, is that a job description could be reinterpreted in
anyway imaginable by the factory owner to suit her spontaneous whims.
If making a factory prototype can be interpreted as courseware
design, then any assigned task can similarly be imposed on me under
the same open ended interpretation. Further evidence that I was there to be
nothing more than a common factory assemblyline worker, I had just been informed on the previous day
by this same intermediary that my new work schedule would be
08:00-20:00 6 days a week with Tuesdays off, nercifully. With two hours
subtracted for lunch and dinner provided by the factory canteen, this
amounted to 60 hours a week. Evidently the concept of craftsman in
residence had been ignored.
</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">I asked my wife whether the work
schedule was specified in the labor contract along with the salary
(or was it calculated hourly?). She explained that work schedule and
hours required to work fell under the 'rules of the factory' clause.
A labor contract only needed to specify theoretical compensation.
Have I mentioned that common practice of docking wages in the PRC?
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsUqmvtdlAp-OXmLu3847o0FFqdi8JLW3J9hKogh7KLMb43w5hWVAkEWRM3ygOHN98ISjTnVT20qiU7yeDFi_H9VdMBmCnXEHQkTQeTg-YM3cGTuTpYl5v902-BEnkLYB_VQz2ycjy8i9A/s1440/9th+event+12.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsUqmvtdlAp-OXmLu3847o0FFqdi8JLW3J9hKogh7KLMb43w5hWVAkEWRM3ygOHN98ISjTnVT20qiU7yeDFi_H9VdMBmCnXEHQkTQeTg-YM3cGTuTpYl5v902-BEnkLYB_VQz2ycjy8i9A/s320/9th+event+12.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Subzero woodcraft<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">I lay in bed that evening and came to
the conclusion that I needed to accept that my position there was not
in line with why I was willing to relocate and was, therefore,
not tenable. I determined that it was simply better to resign immediately while
my wife, Julia, was still there to help me negotiate a withdrawal. In the morning, I sent a message via the wechat app
to the factory owner with the reasons for my resignation. She asked
for a meeting at 09:00 during which she explained that she was a very
important person who owned five companies before excusing herself to
speak with a banker. Remaining at the conference table were Julia, me, and
the intermediary. We didn't know how soon we would be able to
continue so Julia and she chatted lightly and eventually I brought
the topic back to why I was leaving so at the very least one person
would understand my reasons.
</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaHP15qhJ-m1p5cGZDzy5Z1PXP39J1FIhYSxLvus1QDC2j20pro7f2etqDMlTiXoQZAQ2Luqu0MWHaHnsNTE57DNAmUEiakv1iPT5yhe7ed05khpsJV3wKBl-sjsVkgWB42RLiK4pQJcx4/s2048/components+delivery.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaHP15qhJ-m1p5cGZDzy5Z1PXP39J1FIhYSxLvus1QDC2j20pro7f2etqDMlTiXoQZAQ2Luqu0MWHaHnsNTE57DNAmUEiakv1iPT5yhe7ed05khpsJV3wKBl-sjsVkgWB42RLiK4pQJcx4/w400-h300/components+delivery.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No elevator<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">The intermediary before the factory owner returned, unprompted asked me the question: "What can you bring us?" I didn't understand where the question was coming from or how to answer it. I naively responded: "all my woodworking tools" Afterwards, my wife explained that this is a standard interview question as well as the question, "What is your advantage?", which I knew from another context. The young intermediary was possibly parroting what she thought she should say, unaware that this was an exit interview and her boss had not passed my interview process. </span></span><br /></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></span><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDvgELkvB8V3B4HsvcLghqMkXK5D6gPPLog2YPYIiX7byokC2kFOUEYt0S1mCCZsjNQAkvTUnXDdE1afch-FO_8ItUBofoZzNxlEGSe1fMZUA1IRU8XelSsZ310eO93T2xeRbe9AwYqDUU/s1440/Chen+Yonggang+and+I.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDvgELkvB8V3B4HsvcLghqMkXK5D6gPPLog2YPYIiX7byokC2kFOUEYt0S1mCCZsjNQAkvTUnXDdE1afch-FO_8ItUBofoZzNxlEGSe1fMZUA1IRU8XelSsZ310eO93T2xeRbe9AwYqDUU/s320/Chen+Yonggang+and+I.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Discussing rope spinners with Chen Yonggang<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span>
</p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">I had been dreading the inevitable
task, which I could postpone mentally, of packing up and returning to
Nanjing with a truckload of my belongings. The reshipping was suddenly
upon me. The logistics of moving back were complicated by a staff of workers who were less enthusiastic about moving my things onto the truck than they had been upon my arrival. They seemed afraid of getting on their boss' bad side since she had not yet given them orders to help move out. The biggest struggle was getting the workbench down to the first floor and then onto the truck. I was prepared to disassemble (it was designed to be unbolted after all) but as the last item, it was eventually carried back down the stairwell by a band of sturdy men who had been given their orders.</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></span><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZPI3k8uY_V0GevgWRnQFKeghyB_CihqxRLvlbq6kWtF17VyNV7LElTcGn9mdLkecsuyckWo39xCnrIzHWNNRz2DeqB4fIJmui1Ng9ngEDey8eI3wMAKvQWMr_lL5WvsFzFjUEr2PkEAy/s1920/IMG_3273.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZPI3k8uY_V0GevgWRnQFKeghyB_CihqxRLvlbq6kWtF17VyNV7LElTcGn9mdLkecsuyckWo39xCnrIzHWNNRz2DeqB4fIJmui1Ng9ngEDey8eI3wMAKvQWMr_lL5WvsFzFjUEr2PkEAy/w400-h225/IMG_3273.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What can you bring us?<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">
</span></span><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Chun tian kuaile!<br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p><style type="text/css">P { margin-bottom: 0.08in }</style></p>Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com0Huzhou, Zhejiang, China30.89440999999999 120.0868092.5841761638211445 84.930559 59.204643836178832 155.24305900000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-22930940625010938992020-11-02T21:02:00.000+08:002020-11-02T21:02:13.304+08:00PRC made leatherworking handtools with Chinese characteristics<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzcxnNnnX7ymWl6OayzJgWoNMNqhdJ8QFWFMkODBaEQylww2zonxb5QpFTA9ayXI2zYopvCa2WhHs9H4NCEuoy7HgAQyzgq_oLK-RIwQhD59vo3Ud0ao-AqqVVZN1ZztkZEYC85jyjXiNK/s2048/IMG_2631.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzcxnNnnX7ymWl6OayzJgWoNMNqhdJ8QFWFMkODBaEQylww2zonxb5QpFTA9ayXI2zYopvCa2WhHs9H4NCEuoy7HgAQyzgq_oLK-RIwQhD59vo3Ud0ao-AqqVVZN1ZztkZEYC85jyjXiNK/s320/IMG_2631.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MSGA: Make Shoes Great Again!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>A serendipitous confluence of events led to this post. The purchase of an obscure brand of sewing machine with very little online references allowed me to begin repairing my own clothes again with ambitions of making new items. I began looking at my Turkish bought backpack in a new light, newer than the light I gazed upon it when I first repaired it years ago under different circumstances. And so while perusing the internet and Youtube to learn about my new sewingmachine's workings, I came upon an unboxing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq3x1zWxGPU&list=PLUEgdX_bCUIHK9Ov95X12z3e7YCDG3zfk&index=14" target="_blank">video</a> of a PRC made leather stitching machine, which I have spotted on many a street corner over the last decade. I've come to learn that this is device is a copy of a patent model first manufactured by the <a href="http://www.sewmuse.co.uk/bradbury/bradburyindex2.htm" target="_blank">Bradbury</a> <a href="https://ismacs.net/bradbury/home.html" target="_blank">Sewing</a> <a href="http://www.sewmuse.co.uk/bradbury/bradbury%20a1%20repairer%20threading.htm" target="_blank">Machine</a> <a href="https://sewalot.com/bradbury_sewing_machines.htm" target="_blank">Company</a>, also known as the <a href="http://www.sewmuse.co.uk/bradbury/a1%20repairing.htm" target="_blank">A1 Repairing model</a>. Even though I've been interested in handtools and, in particular, humanpowered machines, I dismissed this crude device because of my first experience with one. In my first year with the help of some university students, I approached a cobbler to repair a black leather wallet. He choose to reinforce the stitching with what can best be described as mylar fishing line. More than a decade later, happenstance returned me to the topic. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8PK1QL1Yr_dTompSNmN6W7vcIgM4XllbMV9sRu-I9Yk01bQ_Ozg_mI1_PgEIGvnoGrfiNDCOehyphenhyphenVFdFU5sJHv2FaGMfWYMt2rFcpyYNM9vGrph5EtbOzBmgHmGThbLpA46_jrq9LQgy5D/s874/IMG_2215.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="874" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8PK1QL1Yr_dTompSNmN6W7vcIgM4XllbMV9sRu-I9Yk01bQ_Ozg_mI1_PgEIGvnoGrfiNDCOehyphenhyphenVFdFU5sJHv2FaGMfWYMt2rFcpyYNM9vGrph5EtbOzBmgHmGThbLpA46_jrq9LQgy5D/s320/IMG_2215.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Privileg, only slightly less obscure than my Edgemere<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKnhLiFoiZ_d40HNIvyB93oWfx6H6_ysBVHYNiBf4H3LLKWe_pQODtBgH9mn1Qp7brYbRfMX76oBgaV88sx_vZb9HilfmUs8YE3cJfVCnBo8Z6c7bAyxCZNgoSjWyWJSgjKvulzNpAmW9j/s2048/IMG_2311.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKnhLiFoiZ_d40HNIvyB93oWfx6H6_ysBVHYNiBf4H3LLKWe_pQODtBgH9mn1Qp7brYbRfMX76oBgaV88sx_vZb9HilfmUs8YE3cJfVCnBo8Z6c7bAyxCZNgoSjWyWJSgjKvulzNpAmW9j/s320/IMG_2311.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Surprisingly difficult to find domestic sewingmachine repairshop<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>As I set out to bring my backpack back up to snuff, in the process I decided to investigate as well I could this handdriven machine from a local perspective. As it happens, my wife was already familiar with a cobbler who has made her living outside the gate of the campus where her father obtained a position as a professor. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwqpbT_JkyOsxQDpVh4_Lw4o3OTyZoHa2DIMZNReP3_9RzT9taOBLQhghWAxW92dphCWWbVSPSnMmafGB8ShQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span></span>Stitching and threading </div><p>I arrived with my backpack in need of some stitching along a failed seam and a list of questions that I imagined would appeal to the many new overseas owner of these popular machines. I recorded a video clip as she restitched for me and further watched as she repaired soles, replaced zipper slides, and restictched damaged handbags until my wife returned from her errand to act as interpreter. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidESvxl6pWHHZO5LRfEj_TFDZFjhu_S_Ds2_AnS55xSqYkVSrxLdldy3QdbSewMV-q4R7gxbWjfdgoZXw53kbnCMUD_It-uUMhLWW1KO1r6dPzOXPNYNBZSgej_oqosQ0jrF4UvIDZx2rZ/s2048/IMG_2639.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidESvxl6pWHHZO5LRfEj_TFDZFjhu_S_Ds2_AnS55xSqYkVSrxLdldy3QdbSewMV-q4R7gxbWjfdgoZXw53kbnCMUD_It-uUMhLWW1KO1r6dPzOXPNYNBZSgej_oqosQ0jrF4UvIDZx2rZ/s320/IMG_2639.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No fancy pinstriping, decal transfer<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMLcJ42UH37sYS9DNkRU3U3X4IDX8XfzQ32fgR2l6fpUwuZ5bh0cvslUPfan_mvuNZ15pRgshcwcNBA6KexlgQu6Qyfg6K-_m-h-iKqaHzwFVMexAnHfujPOnz85u2a-E3N1G6aXJFbTj/s2048/IMG_2637.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMLcJ42UH37sYS9DNkRU3U3X4IDX8XfzQ32fgR2l6fpUwuZ5bh0cvslUPfan_mvuNZ15pRgshcwcNBA6KexlgQu6Qyfg6K-_m-h-iKqaHzwFVMexAnHfujPOnz85u2a-E3N1G6aXJFbTj/s320/IMG_2637.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note: No numbers for year nor month<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7QvKbUdvv5SM-9az66dc0NrfGINpoegmKOwdmo7iu33er6Nuoa61UvZ2GgFqAl2M1S8WY2FbYb8dm-7NXtFLdPFaLHZZKJiUbvUOhTfZ2sHZ-7eTp0kimX3R6QVwEYlVs-aRFBptDZJe-/s2048/IMG_2630.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7QvKbUdvv5SM-9az66dc0NrfGINpoegmKOwdmo7iu33er6Nuoa61UvZ2GgFqAl2M1S8WY2FbYb8dm-7NXtFLdPFaLHZZKJiUbvUOhTfZ2sHZ-7eTp0kimX3R6QVwEYlVs-aRFBptDZJe-/s320/IMG_2630.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rethreading again during the seam repair<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> I asked about the different brands and models and why she settled on the MuYuPai brand. She explained that it was her first machine and that it's the only one that she has ever worked with so she cannot compare to others. She began her trade in 1982 when she was 12 years old and has remained at this location since then. I asked about any modifications that she makes to improve performance and what the weaknesses of the designs that she discovered. Her responses emphasized just how foreign my questions were. The machines that she was using was the third and that it was already two years old. She didn't alter the machine from the factory in any way. As for principal weaknesses, she said that eventually there are just too many problems with the machine and then she just buys a new machine from the local dealer the address of which she held a secret. Just because. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc7wpGBMt9sPlTWH0aFm7tRZJOyXC5L16yRD6-YYjcbYl8k-Tw4sG4SdQY3aqDch4wQyDPUbtjl0h9EnZ7izV74G9svJrGl3nE8BY6MSJV1r8UhvO8aP1Xy4oebYyB1NBMmDyl9rJWr6y_/s2048/IMG_2625.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc7wpGBMt9sPlTWH0aFm7tRZJOyXC5L16yRD6-YYjcbYl8k-Tw4sG4SdQY3aqDch4wQyDPUbtjl0h9EnZ7izV74G9svJrGl3nE8BY6MSJV1r8UhvO8aP1Xy4oebYyB1NBMmDyl9rJWr6y_/s320/IMG_2625.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After 30+ years of staking out a corner, a painted outline<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE5h7qsuJyD-d00Ktwm2RiUiEVZYrYYMR2NERaq861P29GcwoKV5HCln-UiZWqNNgIPxqr6OrYMrVxX9LL4i4QgSNPo_PgYdA65ocZcrkIBUyiu5C3-BDrKynhzAiECAtInRvtAUtKXm9e/s2048/IMG_2642.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE5h7qsuJyD-d00Ktwm2RiUiEVZYrYYMR2NERaq861P29GcwoKV5HCln-UiZWqNNgIPxqr6OrYMrVxX9LL4i4QgSNPo_PgYdA65ocZcrkIBUyiu5C3-BDrKynhzAiECAtInRvtAUtKXm9e/s320/IMG_2642.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Restitching after adding a new zipper slide<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ejoPbsv6kNTOs7qs_usL5EG5HfYTR5HUBrOjk-1b-er6zP0wfDV8TZwfGyLx6JkxrSsweqGMgwbfolWQF0Ra78xkWDKD5j18PVo6_u8WllHjx1ueyJDICxsrC5_LQQQ9IdWNpzHA9wB7/s2048/IMG_2634.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ejoPbsv6kNTOs7qs_usL5EG5HfYTR5HUBrOjk-1b-er6zP0wfDV8TZwfGyLx6JkxrSsweqGMgwbfolWQF0Ra78xkWDKD5j18PVo6_u8WllHjx1ueyJDICxsrC5_LQQQ9IdWNpzHA9wB7/s320/IMG_2634.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heel repair while a customer awaits in socks<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxNXYmK6bOVwblb22mfga56C9vLmGAouHHdtde9UT7FL82E6ERmypYbmLBS0vN09O7UkOyVcuGU_GIAQ6u6dg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div> <span> </span><span> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Traditional curbside cobbling </span><p></p><p>In the end, I discovered that anybody interested in how to maximize the potential of this low priced device can quite readily learn more from Youtube and other online resources than I could have learnt from a cobbler who has used it during her ongoing career lasting nearly 40 years. I noticed that her stitches were not parallel to the edge and sure enough, there is a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbdooD-6Y2o" target="_blank">Youtuber </a>with a method for adding a stitching guide to a similar machine along with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkZED8IPMoA" target="_blank">others</a> which highlight how to improve its function. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg94w4f1-qnXy4Gewakp4uZbevQvrcC0Cbgg-Fv6URIXG1Y5RGBoWHIYpNH4j3sbrNhL8opSdAOUb2IP21LOJCNJ-RpwwsA03OZzpuwE16e3CMftmAD6MYMJErJ7wQMg1FfI49YhkFIA9M/s800/IMG_4474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg94w4f1-qnXy4Gewakp4uZbevQvrcC0Cbgg-Fv6URIXG1Y5RGBoWHIYpNH4j3sbrNhL8opSdAOUb2IP21LOJCNJ-RpwwsA03OZzpuwE16e3CMftmAD6MYMJErJ7wQMg1FfI49YhkFIA9M/s320/IMG_4474.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manufactured and marketed locally<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> The Chinese name for this is 补鞋机 (Bu3xie2ji1), literally repairing shoes machine. Entering this term on the Taobao <a href="https://s.taobao.com/search?q=%E8%A1%A5%E9%9E%8B%E6%9C%BA&imgfile=&js=1&stats_click=search_radio_all%3A1&initiative_id=staobaoz_20201102&ie=utf8">website</a> produces a slew of similarly low priced devices. If you want a place to begin learning more about these machines, <a href="https://jbh.17qq.com/article/swaeaeaqx.html" target="_blank">here</a> is a website in Chinese. </p><p>It follows that a nation that manufactures so many lady's handbags, luggage, and <a href="https://in.reuters.com/article/uk-china-counterfeit-idUKTRE69P1DW20101026" target="_blank">counterfeit bicast</a> apparel and boots also manufactures the machines to make those handbags. I haven't dived into this recent phenomenon as to why so many crafters are buying these cheap cobbler's machines from the PRC but despite the simple fact often stated by new new owners that they are astoundingly cheaper than vintage machines of superior quality manufacture, I finger<a href="https://www.amazon.com/leather-sewing-machine/s?k=leather+sewing+machine" target="_blank"> Amazon</a> as the main cause for their arrival and proliferation. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi45nV5_gkiwk9GwkCic0xBmaLsq4UCtXqE3iPbO7fk6n03-SGkIRGLtqF8cSb_M3cz2dly76BSy9LAfdS4Hw1G17fLeDo6qZWHG3XHB8OLDKhnDqFfgiAIhrOcVGiN7cXeW05c2bVA3EQi/s618/Screenshot+2020-11-02+at+4.29.40+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi45nV5_gkiwk9GwkCic0xBmaLsq4UCtXqE3iPbO7fk6n03-SGkIRGLtqF8cSb_M3cz2dly76BSy9LAfdS4Hw1G17fLeDo6qZWHG3XHB8OLDKhnDqFfgiAIhrOcVGiN7cXeW05c2bVA3EQi/s320/Screenshot+2020-11-02+at+4.29.40+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A definite upgrade<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Frankly I think that anybody who wants to do quality leatherwork with a super cheap starter machine gets as much as he pays for regardless of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/ECO-WORTHY-Manual-Mending-Machine-Sewing/dp/B07427C19T" target="_blank">green</a> marketing appeals. Leather is certainly not cheap so why risk working on costly raw materials with such poorly made tools when for a few $100s more, no need for fettling a new purchase, sturdy bases, replacement parts in stock, higher resale value, and with an option to motorize at a later date, higher quality models are available <a href="https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000251622871.html?spm=2114.12010612.8148356.63.e2c65d23ARKr0d" target="_blank">here.<span> </span></a></p><p>But I digress. Back to the backpack repair: </p><p>While shopping in Shanghai for threads, elastic, twill tape, <a href="https://www.timeoutshanghai.com/venue/Shops__Services-Tailors/8694/Shiliupu-Fabric-Market.html" target="_blank">cloths</a>, and <a href="https://www.timeoutshanghai.com/venue/Shops__Services-Markets/9656/Yu-Gardens-Trims--Accessories-Market.html" target="_blank">other sewing notions</a> (because Nanjing is too small to support such comprehensive markets) I discovered a source of hardware fixtures. The challenge as so often is finding what is needed; the prices on the items are usually negligible.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC1AI3-41H_jm1u1MkvUsCspb7RT5c8oDUV-NbnBWud7ChonVvuJvBOgiTcrGOzWMSlVBYJZT7ezGF7YYpjKFAo8dh-mTU-R_UT4XqYm9tUtsa1LUzTFWDHql4_xwpQp5ca01f1ipcAdoD/s2048/IMG_2653.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC1AI3-41H_jm1u1MkvUsCspb7RT5c8oDUV-NbnBWud7ChonVvuJvBOgiTcrGOzWMSlVBYJZT7ezGF7YYpjKFAo8dh-mTU-R_UT4XqYm9tUtsa1LUzTFWDHql4_xwpQp5ca01f1ipcAdoD/s320/IMG_2653.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pennies to purchase; dollars to find<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnRzieN3-motrITOk9XedRXxjTTYGPG_tpsKbJ8RB0VvCT1ECscqu_QUMzivYTC32Y9e1egjbKWhu4evO2-3RBTcNharF8dcaLV4eeeq5HoqmIwZnPIFym0JwVdDebb4dAwTl-EZRg3pOP/s2048/IMG_2344.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnRzieN3-motrITOk9XedRXxjTTYGPG_tpsKbJ8RB0VvCT1ECscqu_QUMzivYTC32Y9e1egjbKWhu4evO2-3RBTcNharF8dcaLV4eeeq5HoqmIwZnPIFym0JwVdDebb4dAwTl-EZRg3pOP/s320/IMG_2344.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hardware selection<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8dkqOCZ_CgYcx6B6ckvWgjtOg3gfpDLPugjfHVClA1_y2b-Yg3LTEDnUqD-6yxDz6meSBeVU0-yGal_cT5Os5zi-kFw1RsPEsGHxPEfdSDdCGqRX3lmwWAqbTQYnf2NmCV-bJuaw0By2m/s2048/IMG_2592.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8dkqOCZ_CgYcx6B6ckvWgjtOg3gfpDLPugjfHVClA1_y2b-Yg3LTEDnUqD-6yxDz6meSBeVU0-yGal_cT5Os5zi-kFw1RsPEsGHxPEfdSDdCGqRX3lmwWAqbTQYnf2NmCV-bJuaw0By2m/s320/IMG_2592.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Luxury buttons<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixrxjz3DuC2yeOe67khzOXesG4TpPC6tNfs7re53tlU2bvXZa0KkxpKOXLkm3cy1tRR77S6WktCz4FrU5-4GVcApyd2B31R1uiI78YijYSTnq4s38IO2mU-c8aiU6Q653Z-vdoZsaKgETl/s2048/IMG_2576.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixrxjz3DuC2yeOe67khzOXesG4TpPC6tNfs7re53tlU2bvXZa0KkxpKOXLkm3cy1tRR77S6WktCz4FrU5-4GVcApyd2B31R1uiI78YijYSTnq4s38IO2mU-c8aiU6Q653Z-vdoZsaKgETl/s320/IMG_2576.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fabric market<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitmuWrD9hsSH2ZhfoPG6ugmAwCJFw_0txb5qLaCn4TvEi79MnYXqE1Xb6FCaR8gAC73R3EfOjJUB6c6vuZ9ITeHXaXl2d9Kxa2UEs0PN8XI7DHNxTWdskCRXugzVOYFqfYwXGoyUO5KIui/s2048/IMG_2577.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitmuWrD9hsSH2ZhfoPG6ugmAwCJFw_0txb5qLaCn4TvEi79MnYXqE1Xb6FCaR8gAC73R3EfOjJUB6c6vuZ9ITeHXaXl2d9Kxa2UEs0PN8XI7DHNxTWdskCRXugzVOYFqfYwXGoyUO5KIui/s320/IMG_2577.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leather goods workshop<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>And so I had the necessary items on hand already after getting the cobbler to restitch. I had to recover the carrying handle so I stitched tow lengths of overlapped woven tape and then stitched that to the original core. I basted it first but it was still a struggle to machine stitch. I then topstitched together wo lengths of the woven tape to replace the shoulder straps. The replacement brass Chicago bolts were much easier to use than the split rivets I had used to repair the backpack that failed almost immediately after I began using it. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVA7pBA1kFqPGVZ9sQxp84uQI0AaaFmsPwcyvvNjXRHLrR843nBHLETn6vLG0xyvbD05dyAme1sprwcdmMvlyKOK-kKtVAU9VeDZxBo1-Red11S5NhltMWQQ0JdJKE98wX93eLz34rc-uk/s2048/IMG_2647.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVA7pBA1kFqPGVZ9sQxp84uQI0AaaFmsPwcyvvNjXRHLrR843nBHLETn6vLG0xyvbD05dyAme1sprwcdmMvlyKOK-kKtVAU9VeDZxBo1-Red11S5NhltMWQQ0JdJKE98wX93eLz34rc-uk/s320/IMG_2647.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mega piping<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsCEKYo6uC7zsHTZsbemi8tq3VwGLQSo6F-3sxTO-FSjQE_FlHBcOyeXokz6uJRFNl6GqSmrnl5hCOBk39wfJvOg_IryNCWTQVbNzfRL1DZaldrOdwIC1zaB49UmUevo-lWFyA7HICW4QS/s2048/IMG_2623.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsCEKYo6uC7zsHTZsbemi8tq3VwGLQSo6F-3sxTO-FSjQE_FlHBcOyeXokz6uJRFNl6GqSmrnl5hCOBk39wfJvOg_IryNCWTQVbNzfRL1DZaldrOdwIC1zaB49UmUevo-lWFyA7HICW4QS/s320/IMG_2623.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Material failure<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh83qItr3HerDUXUs0ZNeE02_i3HOzj3VxPb1R3RX0u9NawB_ctk7mnhTU7iS4_azId8101d4XBF2j4f1NzCcxCFSKGQzzWSCcKPxvhb3jygq1OGQzHFqDeFfWul_FmEE1eQJd2iqARRjTR/s2048/IMG_2624.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh83qItr3HerDUXUs0ZNeE02_i3HOzj3VxPb1R3RX0u9NawB_ctk7mnhTU7iS4_azId8101d4XBF2j4f1NzCcxCFSKGQzzWSCcKPxvhb3jygq1OGQzHFqDeFfWul_FmEE1eQJd2iqARRjTR/s320/IMG_2624.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copper split rivet and washer<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p> </p><p>The lower buckle tab had failed in the same way as the upper one had years ago which I replaced with real leather from a charity shop purchased belt, which still remains functional and looks the same as when I attached it. I decided that instead of replacing with leather as before, since I didn't have tools for punching holes, I would use a length of twill tape and make eyelets with one of my recently purchased threads! </p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs3xfLhyphenhyphenwK_l4QukEckGibLJKIPsodk64EC1w1PXi1SifQedj1znFgYHqyBv5jFCCigv3cPscRfXKdY6ST67kwaefr42lmBa3vEMnlCY3k0_0snZiYnn99KbbhJBbhoBglR6L1IrI8SjyB/s2048/IMG_2655.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs3xfLhyphenhyphenwK_l4QukEckGibLJKIPsodk64EC1w1PXi1SifQedj1znFgYHqyBv5jFCCigv3cPscRfXKdY6ST67kwaefr42lmBa3vEMnlCY3k0_0snZiYnn99KbbhJBbhoBglR6L1IrI8SjyB/w150-h200/IMG_2655.jpeg" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reattached handle and shoulder straps<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgouDJPSicKGgKKBo4RoTfvdcGDL4VByr-cBWQiIxzN11ttfa76bM_fmvtreATPvG9f32ZVt_1zPmfgzWfKz7MrjlE2-d4RYG8KeCdeSHkucIqNunxbjowYhhS5j_sc7rIWjbaoMTtYSjjL/s2048/IMG_2656.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgouDJPSicKGgKKBo4RoTfvdcGDL4VByr-cBWQiIxzN11ttfa76bM_fmvtreATPvG9f32ZVt_1zPmfgzWfKz7MrjlE2-d4RYG8KeCdeSHkucIqNunxbjowYhhS5j_sc7rIWjbaoMTtYSjjL/w240-h320/IMG_2656.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New drawstring and locks<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div>I had tried to buy buttonhole quality spun linen but some items still elude me and this lower pocket receives very little usage and hardly any stress so in the spirit of Kintsugi, I chose a thread that would highlight my hand stitchery. I reviewed the process on YouTube, of course, and was reminded that many eyelets merely rely on a satin stitch, I opted instead for a buttonhole stitch since I wanted the extra loop to help keep the parted twill weave open during and afterwards.<p></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8EKArW4TX-LDvarhMIf22VGP8xwzTsItKbz6Il8qYEI355BeBRZdPJCByouv_TaHgYOvAy2UQIUVCU_YtyjoGRufx8eYZdcZMEWNL5J7WCmzWxaEA3EIhAiuNshdLvIwW02myBByd4mBv/s2048/IMG_2657.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8EKArW4TX-LDvarhMIf22VGP8xwzTsItKbz6Il8qYEI355BeBRZdPJCByouv_TaHgYOvAy2UQIUVCU_YtyjoGRufx8eYZdcZMEWNL5J7WCmzWxaEA3EIhAiuNshdLvIwW02myBByd4mBv/s320/IMG_2657.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Replacement twill tape<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1WRw15k_UQcpdYDoPgol-C6ICGZ1IAMLQCRe54-DuCgHgin9jrSjZ945RqkyixcLPQys0m8mES9L5GpMWlZNyO-86_yQmRgHYD-f4E6aFZOmCvfUKkLlAs9zVr2eQ9wWVHxAXw9kehnsQ/s2048/IMG_2658.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1WRw15k_UQcpdYDoPgol-C6ICGZ1IAMLQCRe54-DuCgHgin9jrSjZ945RqkyixcLPQys0m8mES9L5GpMWlZNyO-86_yQmRgHYD-f4E6aFZOmCvfUKkLlAs9zVr2eQ9wWVHxAXw9kehnsQ/s320/IMG_2658.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">eyelet holes <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg4Ud8tFSF8mWjKqn_t28uY40r9JyWg4UsIgNvA6xuJfWnccPIdrhBZqfDW6wZ4La0mOY3RtZKsifqLMIllCX2ldXdj8-CtDaquVpSpIu5Aj3469lUSK_OlhlZiMWN4KA4BHByf3dt3n6S/s2048/IMG_2659.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg4Ud8tFSF8mWjKqn_t28uY40r9JyWg4UsIgNvA6xuJfWnccPIdrhBZqfDW6wZ4La0mOY3RtZKsifqLMIllCX2ldXdj8-CtDaquVpSpIu5Aj3469lUSK_OlhlZiMWN4KA4BHByf3dt3n6S/s320/IMG_2659.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">buckled and secured<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> I think it turned out okey and able to withstand another decade or more of regular wear. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsns-UmsRxt3-kXng8CcFjFJgAX8Pf8b7zJzufJka3rjvK7yr_7iyyzJqQOFT-nvII8Ln0VBSA3U8M4dKgdC4JE6FoUIi4P2sB6ERvtHB0Zk40EWbGrqmMi_b2RYu5Ye1fZKZygtjIx_de/s2048/IMG_2700.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsns-UmsRxt3-kXng8CcFjFJgAX8Pf8b7zJzufJka3rjvK7yr_7iyyzJqQOFT-nvII8Ln0VBSA3U8M4dKgdC4JE6FoUIi4P2sB6ERvtHB0Zk40EWbGrqmMi_b2RYu5Ye1fZKZygtjIx_de/s320/IMG_2700.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rear view<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinB5tKYu2YANvHW2Ph1m6EcrZgqVs7M2MnJp6e6EQW0rJtoJZSuO-3YULCjFUCFhQ0WJD1o4nrpTYryYjPNXuSjonwujCd1i-lBC5qMv2InS4xUpFXS2H3Wx4f9P3b7BwiK-zNlyHqAB1B/s2048/IMG_2699.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinB5tKYu2YANvHW2Ph1m6EcrZgqVs7M2MnJp6e6EQW0rJtoJZSuO-3YULCjFUCFhQ0WJD1o4nrpTYryYjPNXuSjonwujCd1i-lBC5qMv2InS4xUpFXS2H3Wx4f9P3b7BwiK-zNlyHqAB1B/s320/IMG_2699.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laggard's view<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4DT8XcxRP6Vi10h2z9Gj9HUaAggO10UmCSBAm0dKVzr7aS8E-VfoRwM4iZzRiEmrtSBzE5sI-MjowhwoDrykunKlhgcrLI8t0tDklUYtW7IYCc3vKvuqOeai2enJYeHsnUmm8nx_ia6Hu/s2048/8B49C699-ABA9-4335-93B8-FF7C013727E7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4DT8XcxRP6Vi10h2z9Gj9HUaAggO10UmCSBAm0dKVzr7aS8E-VfoRwM4iZzRiEmrtSBzE5sI-MjowhwoDrykunKlhgcrLI8t0tDklUYtW7IYCc3vKvuqOeai2enJYeHsnUmm8nx_ia6Hu/w300-h400/8B49C699-ABA9-4335-93B8-FF7C013727E7.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Service while you wait<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </p><p>Happy All Saints' Day, infidels and true believers! 🙏</p>Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com3China, Nanjing Shi, Jiangning Qu, 托乐嘉购物小镇148号31.943914 118.78623931.942093180306742 118.78409323278808 31.945734819693257 118.78838476721191tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-79648382489408446012019-07-11T23:50:00.000+08:002019-07-11T23:50:07.608+08:00Nara Palace Museum Reconstruction Project and the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIoYR46SEnEw2dq_Gr-_nyAesnOGt_tZBCUEZmjYaTQ2rPC0XF-IPdX65nqCGNZy-Fph71Ep5m9rXtZP-i_OIOuLnX9LyIeL9tJECtJ0ss2X8Y_ahOVafeM32DS-LB2wlABnlL8vJMHYKO/s1600/IMG_1262+mules.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIoYR46SEnEw2dq_Gr-_nyAesnOGt_tZBCUEZmjYaTQ2rPC0XF-IPdX65nqCGNZy-Fph71Ep5m9rXtZP-i_OIOuLnX9LyIeL9tJECtJ0ss2X8Y_ahOVafeM32DS-LB2wlABnlL8vJMHYKO/s400/IMG_1262+mules.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So Kawaii</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Of the many impressions and memories from my recent venture to Japan, two destinations merit mentioning and praise. The first and the one that I discovered only by happenstance once I was in Nara.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_VvVX90za5rm6AuXGbEw_NJTgSq44p6ER2smuie1iZZnGJ4N7-ULi60A9r7DfiSLNUSvVXhKmSVweq6u7SXEHhaFW4iS-uSOl1qjwC2Lpe2PeVNjV5Nm1n2sApp7wlTGyIQmwN96xQaw7/s1600/IMG_9342.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_VvVX90za5rm6AuXGbEw_NJTgSq44p6ER2smuie1iZZnGJ4N7-ULi60A9r7DfiSLNUSvVXhKmSVweq6u7SXEHhaFW4iS-uSOl1qjwC2Lpe2PeVNjV5Nm1n2sApp7wlTGyIQmwN96xQaw7/s400/IMG_9342.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reconstructed Imperial Gatehouse</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The city of Nara is a well established tourist destination notable for its temples, gardens, and roaming herds of selfietolerant <a href="https://www.mammal.org.uk/species-hub/full-species-hub/discover-mammals/species-sika-deer/" target="_blank">deer</a>. Initially I wanted to avoid interacting with the deer, being far more interested in the landscape gardens and the many mini museums, especially a restored <a href="https://digjapan.travel/en/spot/id=8184" target="_blank">machiya</a>. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx32iImUhcRlqVwCW_zp_wP8RTQv6gRjTr-p4R6sLHWeZoIMGnJj_wdZma563lOFXWXX2lKzoslmNhuRA2lq8bEZtW9N9YsoXL8VvG-SSm7dZQQO2MC3F_rjhRQPOTO20qqbwqah1AA4tX/s1600/IMG_9356.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx32iImUhcRlqVwCW_zp_wP8RTQv6gRjTr-p4R6sLHWeZoIMGnJj_wdZma563lOFXWXX2lKzoslmNhuRA2lq8bEZtW9N9YsoXL8VvG-SSm7dZQQO2MC3F_rjhRQPOTO20qqbwqah1AA4tX/s320/IMG_9356.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traditional house interior</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdwm_3sfcadXWd_HtKdJVoFd-PDdrpwSss1tHduKIPJVQI1fe8ddghKVKwJma4ExF-BJ1-BGz6WLujFnUP0we3_ufaJqQPJvZiL7AfXAK93BxOkASNMrydB8NiF4MVsZGn_G29hMHFRYBS/s1600/IMG_9351.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdwm_3sfcadXWd_HtKdJVoFd-PDdrpwSss1tHduKIPJVQI1fe8ddghKVKwJma4ExF-BJ1-BGz6WLujFnUP0we3_ufaJqQPJvZiL7AfXAK93BxOkASNMrydB8NiF4MVsZGn_G29hMHFRYBS/s320/IMG_9351.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steep stairway</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8dz141LeInuSW0IM3u0ju7PCxCW86YHrVp7PCjtnhp-BcB6WIek9Cw5coR4W0IhyphenhyphenAY1QsEbTrqnUSlWB2UYBkji8g3CUihV355tGJVeVfKeUjy0macnq49NlvQgtKmgH0jwqS7tTA5F4A/s1600/IMG_9365.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8dz141LeInuSW0IM3u0ju7PCxCW86YHrVp7PCjtnhp-BcB6WIek9Cw5coR4W0IhyphenhyphenAY1QsEbTrqnUSlWB2UYBkji8g3CUihV355tGJVeVfKeUjy0macnq49NlvQgtKmgH0jwqS7tTA5F4A/s320/IMG_9365.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">erstwhile modern kitchen</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnZfYB2BIiHSlvFBjkyVENPyE_VnPtY62rMYRyhCGYh25DRYku6a3GMxtZN_8vwKAH0YfyVNaowHlDBhw54v8uhuy2AF3zNYNLqXYvfH2E0xP6d02cDtR70DUvwxYsN4wYVN3A7TmrUmMd/s1600/IMG_9352.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnZfYB2BIiHSlvFBjkyVENPyE_VnPtY62rMYRyhCGYh25DRYku6a3GMxtZN_8vwKAH0YfyVNaowHlDBhw54v8uhuy2AF3zNYNLqXYvfH2E0xP6d02cDtR70DUvwxYsN4wYVN3A7TmrUmMd/s320/IMG_9352.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Understair drawers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I might not have considered trekking the distance from our downtownish B&B to the Palace site if I had not been alerted to the scale and importance of the UNESCO world heritage site by a energetic pair of globetrotting Canadian ladies.<br />
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My firsthand experience with the Nara Palace Historical Park is that it is long term project that is comparable to the ambitions embarked upon by the <a href="https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/" target="_blank">Colonial Williamsburg Foundation</a>, multiphase project to reinterpret the past in terms of material culture and traditional skills. The area that is referred to as the Heijo Palace Site is so large that a railway line cuts across it. A museum is located at the main entrance helps visitors understand what they are about to see while wandering over the still mostly empty landscape.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCPg7mz5dbydJTCYKcphZFBLOKbqVWJ4GohDpc0eHb4G7LtqKh5Rsdxij5LwSVh-lLbPCz_mQpVN6Rx3R1h_WbP_eZrdlwp2iqQgNYmBMkNmgTV7toPo0lr_SEcrAR9R4w98d7C2l3Nxb-/s1600/IMG_9335.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCPg7mz5dbydJTCYKcphZFBLOKbqVWJ4GohDpc0eHb4G7LtqKh5Rsdxij5LwSVh-lLbPCz_mQpVN6Rx3R1h_WbP_eZrdlwp2iqQgNYmBMkNmgTV7toPo0lr_SEcrAR9R4w98d7C2l3Nxb-/s320/IMG_9335.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map of the historic landscape</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8oqgtKnox3MHS0XUvttt1g9cgVfkMEjoiBpRu14gm-frvYaeBdhqn-Qay5PjA0ucxusej_4IMflvvve2oeqh0m8WzwP4uIdSsWV0GqQLgTxp7SrNBUH7k3oi0jG-cAD98j-jfPp0MVSI3/s1600/IMG_9336.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8oqgtKnox3MHS0XUvttt1g9cgVfkMEjoiBpRu14gm-frvYaeBdhqn-Qay5PjA0ucxusej_4IMflvvve2oeqh0m8WzwP4uIdSsWV0GqQLgTxp7SrNBUH7k3oi0jG-cAD98j-jfPp0MVSI3/s320/IMG_9336.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Local fauna </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU8jabzUgjLLEqOKjlavy6ssXwnARBNqnG4LlTMcNe82E0bwDavREtnqD_NKzzpvZAZfHhnP0AC9L98QcI7nbywQw2ys8t6-tXQAxEYlfrc7VmR1pyvZscMTVaGsaSr2xQKnu2PFHj3DlP/s1600/IMG_9338.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU8jabzUgjLLEqOKjlavy6ssXwnARBNqnG4LlTMcNe82E0bwDavREtnqD_NKzzpvZAZfHhnP0AC9L98QcI7nbywQw2ys8t6-tXQAxEYlfrc7VmR1pyvZscMTVaGsaSr2xQKnu2PFHj3DlP/s320/IMG_9338.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interactive Joinery display</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkgj4u-iCUDL6ZH2PnhKsFh2h6ByiV5hPdMxBORMwTbSUdvrFktsaKNxcTsaB4TPU_cZVv11AJoch7Oj2gibfRD6V3VomWw9glccWLbt7Q98d-ME1qdzKyRIlexDrXPpgC-eTw-xKCTNpk/s1600/IMG_9339.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkgj4u-iCUDL6ZH2PnhKsFh2h6ByiV5hPdMxBORMwTbSUdvrFktsaKNxcTsaB4TPU_cZVv11AJoch7Oj2gibfRD6V3VomWw9glccWLbt7Q98d-ME1qdzKyRIlexDrXPpgC-eTw-xKCTNpk/s320/IMG_9339.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Construction model</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRFwBnc5n-nBvg2vT7sitJf69y16vEgTJhKFB132W1xOj6EBW2Y72MEsTS4ZBJoJxgKoVGMSajKOqGzLsX3q7yobPHS9rD1HGmgN0ecBi-OKp-FXllp4jkbwfhySiICiIjx1saMltri85G/s1600/IMG_9341.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRFwBnc5n-nBvg2vT7sitJf69y16vEgTJhKFB132W1xOj6EBW2Y72MEsTS4ZBJoJxgKoVGMSajKOqGzLsX3q7yobPHS9rD1HGmgN0ecBi-OKp-FXllp4jkbwfhySiICiIjx1saMltri85G/s320/IMG_9341.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Archaeological recreation</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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One of the Canadian ladies who has also written on her <a href="https://montrealmadame.com/2019/05/29/were-done-with-osaka-and-moving-on/" target="_blank">weblog</a> about their travels through Japan and Nara shared with me the photos that she took on the previous day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhthxW5IYymJH-NbKsmJ1fEzxIA7nMed6MdQKjUdXDuezGb9MK1Gv-swyHTWjQdoa33eOgMATalK41mUe_OL7a3SAHIt4RtuVysMukT-ho0MJAYGHFth-wJW4EanZvhHfsuVL6EI9u2eBLC/s1600/IMG_1319.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhthxW5IYymJH-NbKsmJ1fEzxIA7nMed6MdQKjUdXDuezGb9MK1Gv-swyHTWjQdoa33eOgMATalK41mUe_OL7a3SAHIt4RtuVysMukT-ho0MJAYGHFth-wJW4EanZvhHfsuVL6EI9u2eBLC/s320/IMG_1319.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spear planing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhCenHWEpVT14VVhs-kvwKiGjSpXT68tP8o-37uszREfAAxagjsLSD586TfKUHag2WVpgrASjCyFgCqkFHHjVaz46ndl2TVwTQoDIs8xcmZRMspbKjcbOZT-EWvI1aEePsPFz6i4scHMqM/s1600/IMG_1313+megastructure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhCenHWEpVT14VVhs-kvwKiGjSpXT68tP8o-37uszREfAAxagjsLSD586TfKUHag2WVpgrASjCyFgCqkFHHjVaz46ndl2TVwTQoDIs8xcmZRMspbKjcbOZT-EWvI1aEePsPFz6i4scHMqM/s320/IMG_1313+megastructure.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foundation and covered construction site</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHqhYSGSiSgqKGqSeMm0PKi-DDpnyMLmwG26NxSeXfidyXp2b6de82OIpVnYSrbGMEGdN17k4Y10ioHvaOdHX5ngIellSdCGHnCLq3l-KADfOnVEcZ6fW2z6x6iqXdfiAsBeYqbPyL5CE/s1600/IMG_1308+adze.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHqhYSGSiSgqKGqSeMm0PKi-DDpnyMLmwG26NxSeXfidyXp2b6de82OIpVnYSrbGMEGdN17k4Y10ioHvaOdHX5ngIellSdCGHnCLq3l-KADfOnVEcZ6fW2z6x6iqXdfiAsBeYqbPyL5CE/s320/IMG_1308+adze.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">workman with adze</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGyGkTVgrGoqyDgPCuvqH5Ne-1zQ8LjXphgsmMI1DwHlDplBvVaDG90CmTpC0WW4YJ48SAA-0X0IDNWeXwmrhuRtkQ6xKrlCHrE97uhlZi30SWGI8eWdd3jrMAgdrR-f_GqPCMRbtbY-C-/s1600/IMG_1309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGyGkTVgrGoqyDgPCuvqH5Ne-1zQ8LjXphgsmMI1DwHlDplBvVaDG90CmTpC0WW4YJ48SAA-0X0IDNWeXwmrhuRtkQ6xKrlCHrE97uhlZi30SWGI8eWdd3jrMAgdrR-f_GqPCMRbtbY-C-/s320/IMG_1309.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Costumed timberframers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO5uXXZ1WulXbDfox_trt7BZWL79X4mT6_LF0GCAUo_Ue1D_yaWc7f59X4Mryy5Tust4QGa-eey-0w5O9_tVHfuJyNIoNSyJx0h0X9n8Dr3rNOj2mlZJ-4NLDX1cHiw6pKK2x2gMEilSa1/s1600/IMG_0164.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO5uXXZ1WulXbDfox_trt7BZWL79X4mT6_LF0GCAUo_Ue1D_yaWc7f59X4Mryy5Tust4QGa-eey-0w5O9_tVHfuJyNIoNSyJx0h0X9n8Dr3rNOj2mlZJ-4NLDX1cHiw6pKK2x2gMEilSa1/s320/IMG_0164.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Movable workspace covering</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I wasn't able to view the ongoing traditional construction under its purpose built superstructure but I did have a very engaging conversation with a docent at the assembly hall, who was very well informed and surprisingly honest about the potential shortcomings in interpreting the multitude of details of the reconstruction. I wanted to chat longer but there were other buildings that I wanted to visit before the park closed for the day.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgadAN4ri0gpo2bfU-PwmsAa5bqye1uNjDb-udHuXXFQk1nf1DBAg_OewacK0VWlQM6q9BCR5a8RVXlBsYKYI-U68MRdszRSlZJoZcWXCyvX3kxNZSdcUa61dPkwz1fdffKDi0JbO10bL3g/s1600/IMG_0165.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgadAN4ri0gpo2bfU-PwmsAa5bqye1uNjDb-udHuXXFQk1nf1DBAg_OewacK0VWlQM6q9BCR5a8RVXlBsYKYI-U68MRdszRSlZJoZcWXCyvX3kxNZSdcUa61dPkwz1fdffKDi0JbO10bL3g/s400/IMG_0165.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Completed Audience hall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjID3GAO2cke4FhyphenhyphenuQ9mgIGH9eP7NTtH-CUoe8ZE6JVz_4k4T0JRPosEfRvflCM3FVuGSFTLcQNoatSsK4jtwth4LDQZFDrvpFoEkgmVuLpp4M6asA1jnkLw1eCgK7dK-hX2PeuS5Oi2o59/s1600/IMG_0168.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjID3GAO2cke4FhyphenhyphenuQ9mgIGH9eP7NTtH-CUoe8ZE6JVz_4k4T0JRPosEfRvflCM3FVuGSFTLcQNoatSsK4jtwth4LDQZFDrvpFoEkgmVuLpp4M6asA1jnkLw1eCgK7dK-hX2PeuS5Oi2o59/s400/IMG_0168.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Audience Hall interior</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_9yZ8eoMWRv7FogBRmyr3u2jYzLzGejjdJws-H-BSDK50iNvT9syToAEWrD2mMItudMXdalS6on2KjvQyV9Z-YToTxPDvOzzzTzOIDFvLhXhQ1hsx1ubHfkA1eDOecpoNGjWKPEzRDzxd/s1600/IMG_0169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_9yZ8eoMWRv7FogBRmyr3u2jYzLzGejjdJws-H-BSDK50iNvT9syToAEWrD2mMItudMXdalS6on2KjvQyV9Z-YToTxPDvOzzzTzOIDFvLhXhQ1hsx1ubHfkA1eDOecpoNGjWKPEzRDzxd/s320/IMG_0169.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interior plinth</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfTxT4JDAf_1vSeiOv_sC2hLe7GqsLXc3KHTSnW7ACOFkZsmZ62ic17KrkjYM-vAyTRhnae4aRUcdJXzyZWNn_0nXKVxXTyk4NhsEwrfLlukqriLal0bcQiAUGnlw34CmCgzoKZwnR6ymD/s1600/IMG_0166.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfTxT4JDAf_1vSeiOv_sC2hLe7GqsLXc3KHTSnW7ACOFkZsmZ62ic17KrkjYM-vAyTRhnae4aRUcdJXzyZWNn_0nXKVxXTyk4NhsEwrfLlukqriLal0bcQiAUGnlw34CmCgzoKZwnR6ymD/s400/IMG_0166.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Audience Hall closeup</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBtYguf6yRVpJMblBNizJinhh7K3HIm9HjRjrVmFnaDz3tuyW8rDc2R5TPpC-GVi9zq_Ev6aPI1h96KZyGaGf3h1MxtFcLExuqTkRWdU5NYPg573cBVn7WLuHssvtyiokeOFg9eLOx-Bhr/s1600/IMG_1329+audience+hall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBtYguf6yRVpJMblBNizJinhh7K3HIm9HjRjrVmFnaDz3tuyW8rDc2R5TPpC-GVi9zq_Ev6aPI1h96KZyGaGf3h1MxtFcLExuqTkRWdU5NYPg573cBVn7WLuHssvtyiokeOFg9eLOx-Bhr/s320/IMG_1329+audience+hall.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Throne nook </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The park features reconstructed secondary buildings and perimeter walls along with preserved portions of the archaeological excavations left in situ and built upon along with museum commentary.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC0NrQ2z6iUGOjAelOUoVSFAYzS2CqpAl86WPHD9yfWmkQK9UmVoGGr3kfGi4q49tXwqZKcdVkqgKS-QqVCjpOkHmOEBAwbzfCWqgLirT8FLJHm51upK1hHU62kOBOb8utqXk3Eiwh8AWS/s1600/IMG_0173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC0NrQ2z6iUGOjAelOUoVSFAYzS2CqpAl86WPHD9yfWmkQK9UmVoGGr3kfGi4q49tXwqZKcdVkqgKS-QqVCjpOkHmOEBAwbzfCWqgLirT8FLJHm51upK1hHU62kOBOb8utqXk3Eiwh8AWS/s400/IMG_0173.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Historic plinths and elevated foundations </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhlQh4-pkw6IZvOolH7Xg3GTqmEhtfPT7k7j4wiDOmGt2URedt3goyLAjVMChnS1g6KKfMJv6j7l2wOrcGBXHpu7X9RAYffyVlrNsGohE1d8_QIpxnT51Mi2cmkFzP0Fjoacbq8zZjJ_Az/s1600/IMG_0174.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhlQh4-pkw6IZvOolH7Xg3GTqmEhtfPT7k7j4wiDOmGt2URedt3goyLAjVMChnS1g6KKfMJv6j7l2wOrcGBXHpu7X9RAYffyVlrNsGohE1d8_QIpxnT51Mi2cmkFzP0Fjoacbq8zZjJ_Az/s320/IMG_0174.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reconstructed rammed earth perimeter wall and gateway</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgixqQmiWEy7E9faZOwSiTC-zgiJMTzwXxfaXhtfnohl7khwE8de_wTF4xLWcDnNv6qAjmIobdwQ4SfI9kr9ALntgHY70Zfku8j6Gm9Nc3u1bhOP2eo8Q752AqHVRI1dHGcvoZ_n4K5jvIv/s1600/IMG_0175.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgixqQmiWEy7E9faZOwSiTC-zgiJMTzwXxfaXhtfnohl7khwE8de_wTF4xLWcDnNv6qAjmIobdwQ4SfI9kr9ALntgHY70Zfku8j6Gm9Nc3u1bhOP2eo8Q752AqHVRI1dHGcvoZ_n4K5jvIv/s400/IMG_0175.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reconstructed secondary buildings</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4LuHnuO35OX8oYsk9x9lkkkkv9qUoTbXPY12zxIGquzA6PeDZSRE6U962FbKhWC3Ph0jZrJSizuu2ITzgCiuIrppatzsQcBUrAYBLh7xrtkl5AfUHox3cCjKyqLeLBpmcQ523G92qQ3Nj/s1600/IMG_0183.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4LuHnuO35OX8oYsk9x9lkkkkv9qUoTbXPY12zxIGquzA6PeDZSRE6U962FbKhWC3Ph0jZrJSizuu2ITzgCiuIrppatzsQcBUrAYBLh7xrtkl5AfUHox3cCjKyqLeLBpmcQ523G92qQ3Nj/s320/IMG_0183.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ridgebeam and rafters</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZtgsbOOoJXpvl-zkSSsbRXZCEIwVMNrXGWeGxeBLiEiWYUhhXgGvaBMVZuDnN3krA5A4T_Sx1C8ZUgHKLKPkraFgjIuymxbo8aWrkAjupXfx3rI7UWTKC-P6Uf1T8Q4cO63IhzM2SeZx/s1600/IMG_0182.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZtgsbOOoJXpvl-zkSSsbRXZCEIwVMNrXGWeGxeBLiEiWYUhhXgGvaBMVZuDnN3krA5A4T_Sx1C8ZUgHKLKPkraFgjIuymxbo8aWrkAjupXfx3rI7UWTKC-P6Uf1T8Q4cO63IhzM2SeZx/s320/IMG_0182.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eave detail of reconstructed secondary buildings</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It's an education in archaeology and historical recreation. This is a location that I intend to return to again, fully prepared, and eager to see the progress of reconstruction and what programs have been developed to interpret this historic <a href="https://www.heijo-park.go.jp/en/about/" target="_blank">site</a>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs1XiiJimicUK782DmazBGEQ8Os5bPJ7-osufT_eDTYQec1ghSsHzbJiPO2BVEwhNm_m1EOom8fUQBMnfO0UlAMJiyqZgVEUty_jsS4y0jxdMclt5lN36ZGsRpnRpC8tKf0Gf3niaNYObG/s1600/IMG_9459+sign.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs1XiiJimicUK782DmazBGEQ8Os5bPJ7-osufT_eDTYQec1ghSsHzbJiPO2BVEwhNm_m1EOom8fUQBMnfO0UlAMJiyqZgVEUty_jsS4y0jxdMclt5lN36ZGsRpnRpC8tKf0Gf3niaNYObG/s320/IMG_9459+sign.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whichever direction leads to the destination</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBhv6JujYcrhXK1lHgrD_ZVKs1h2rVyUC2RUKhktxdFqo1mNcQNxC4Vgx9m7hNDAevG-lmFEsxm7Bjg6n87XpFjT9mx4c6tVqMr4sGGq_Y1ttaV8iD7zJFVtohyphenhyphent-Tc5D7Pv2eN7wx4D42/s1600/IMG_9460+entryway.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBhv6JujYcrhXK1lHgrD_ZVKs1h2rVyUC2RUKhktxdFqo1mNcQNxC4Vgx9m7hNDAevG-lmFEsxm7Bjg6n87XpFjT9mx4c6tVqMr4sGGq_Y1ttaV8iD7zJFVtohyphenhyphent-Tc5D7Pv2eN7wx4D42/s400/IMG_9460+entryway.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Takenaka gateway</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The Takenaka Museum of Carpentry Tools was only my list of places where I decidedly wanted to visit. As it happens, the most expedient manner of getting to there is by the Shinkansen. Experiencing just how well integrated this high speed railway was with the rest of the landscape further emphasized just how compact living is in Japan. From the exit gate of the railway it's simply a two block by foot walk to the Takenaka Museum.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO22w4mR2wxVJG9CDMNju46TELy-J5LpXJCzRazB47DAadzQotyujb6MYCI8dTWy_NaCQ7Ef3POg8W-GhuRWU4IlNagKp3jM4uMBVEnXVyDgmoVYjDv10TOp3XgfUXROFXLOYOt2OjuLac/s1600/IMG_9514.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO22w4mR2wxVJG9CDMNju46TELy-J5LpXJCzRazB47DAadzQotyujb6MYCI8dTWy_NaCQ7Ef3POg8W-GhuRWU4IlNagKp3jM4uMBVEnXVyDgmoVYjDv10TOp3XgfUXROFXLOYOt2OjuLac/s400/IMG_9514.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Campers on the bank of the Nunobiki stream passing under the Shiinkansen viaduct at the Kobe station</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The museum is mostly underground, the first floor is for reception and, on the day of our visit, an exhibition room featuring turned items and those of woven bamboo. Photography was forbidden. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpIB3WqRoAFAM-iR2t4tkHh8r0Chc5r28s76gE-yAqjwnD0pVdO5P6SurCkyMJMxkA6rCd2ChPzGVFJvRMhVuP4XjJhlmqIdw5ctBuYyPeQ4RB2LnBR-kSj7zASX0RXHyDI8WCQ_qn8Rh1/s1600/IMG_9463+adult+classroom.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpIB3WqRoAFAM-iR2t4tkHh8r0Chc5r28s76gE-yAqjwnD0pVdO5P6SurCkyMJMxkA6rCd2ChPzGVFJvRMhVuP4XjJhlmqIdw5ctBuYyPeQ4RB2LnBR-kSj7zASX0RXHyDI8WCQ_qn8Rh1/s320/IMG_9463+adult+classroom.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adult class in progress </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The second basement is where the classroom is located. I saw several examples of projects geared at children's classes, yet notably I watched an adult class being instructed on weaving a small basket.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge1pgw6wdHNXZH1dgP4TW8eDpxAEqq7Z1co7dxtMEjfP1r942SxWZS8EI1ZTxZ2cczBypx9CN-oc_ihpPiFutWZFD7dD-lIHmflx8SN6lmXvfEa7da2kZygjFQipBzu9IWi_1MLeVpaPCN/s1600/IMG_9466.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge1pgw6wdHNXZH1dgP4TW8eDpxAEqq7Z1co7dxtMEjfP1r942SxWZS8EI1ZTxZ2cczBypx9CN-oc_ihpPiFutWZFD7dD-lIHmflx8SN6lmXvfEa7da2kZygjFQipBzu9IWi_1MLeVpaPCN/s320/IMG_9466.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Junior level projects</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There was a teahouse with details on its construction, which is its own specialty trade.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEqS49Pgge3tYOedAfUBu0Z9UP3QeY6_KB5wEmTJzZHGnz8WZ-MPeHJXD9adimS6xRPEVWAapecS6oYnRBhXbwMtI_wlpJizNqj_YSFm_YvUIPzXWNfQjF5vAS7sflUiObEoZH-t1dIBIR/s1600/IMG_0236+teahouse+wall+section.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEqS49Pgge3tYOedAfUBu0Z9UP3QeY6_KB5wEmTJzZHGnz8WZ-MPeHJXD9adimS6xRPEVWAapecS6oYnRBhXbwMtI_wlpJizNqj_YSFm_YvUIPzXWNfQjF5vAS7sflUiObEoZH-t1dIBIR/s320/IMG_0236+teahouse+wall+section.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reproduction teahouse wall section</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There were several interactive exhibits and a recreation of a smithy.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpydUHHvqLkqfvSffMEBKm398YazUnRACdXJEj1PxkkzgLZ4EPuYFROmKtQLgQnE05VNPTL0xJTiGpnOJdDz2Z-YtFQCjJWNKtWJdhLqEUgOiYPeBRifVqB9RNKwhFHV-QZd_LLOh96lF8/s1600/IMG_0237+bellows+in+smithy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpydUHHvqLkqfvSffMEBKm398YazUnRACdXJEj1PxkkzgLZ4EPuYFROmKtQLgQnE05VNPTL0xJTiGpnOJdDz2Z-YtFQCjJWNKtWJdhLqEUgOiYPeBRifVqB9RNKwhFHV-QZd_LLOh96lF8/s320/IMG_0237+bellows+in+smithy.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bellows and forge</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmUy18GFxhYqcirUFDefUUPWMXTtY2inJ2LpXYEFBVLfSCmhV7k1yariOONn2yRNaXNHPr_VDzcGCU5l65YUfAEKSYL4CsQk-O60BVaJ9vuO_3clAGqiHdkKM-0dRpQ8C1psaJznbsuuZN/s1600/IMG_0238+smith+tool+display.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmUy18GFxhYqcirUFDefUUPWMXTtY2inJ2LpXYEFBVLfSCmhV7k1yariOONn2yRNaXNHPr_VDzcGCU5l65YUfAEKSYL4CsQk-O60BVaJ9vuO_3clAGqiHdkKM-0dRpQ8C1psaJznbsuuZN/s320/IMG_0238+smith+tool+display.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Files and scrapers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ-b_TzCkInfLd_0glDvrQkvp3MQG7gBsUJ3kquQflN7syC5uHkWkegEIkKXcYnVu46oz-AYsrJq76BJB79SZz-5m-KulF5aKJoqfSD5FlPdG2aSNjbqmKr6svclOo4M4kWm6wzMzJgQki/s1600/IMG_0239+breastdrill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ-b_TzCkInfLd_0glDvrQkvp3MQG7gBsUJ3kquQflN7syC5uHkWkegEIkKXcYnVu46oz-AYsrJq76BJB79SZz-5m-KulF5aKJoqfSD5FlPdG2aSNjbqmKr6svclOo4M4kWm6wzMzJgQki/s320/IMG_0239+breastdrill.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Imported tools, too!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
What caught my wife's eye was a reproduced carpentry booklet with construction notes from the 19th century. She pointed out to me that nothing similar exists in Chinese.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfP5NVN41XZPhUppHpmFq_izEUOgRXm-jVH1cm5JHY3X9mj40eu0HUPeox1B0viqqfQ_pXz7am3u5ARQUAnI4xc8A0Bv97vW28tSp8YfwpRY3ND3dzKKAJjCMWn4UJPwOLZcnPPzN-AqGP/s1600/IMG_0241+timber+tools.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfP5NVN41XZPhUppHpmFq_izEUOgRXm-jVH1cm5JHY3X9mj40eu0HUPeox1B0viqqfQ_pXz7am3u5ARQUAnI4xc8A0Bv97vW28tSp8YfwpRY3ND3dzKKAJjCMWn4UJPwOLZcnPPzN-AqGP/s320/IMG_0241+timber+tools.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Timberframing tools</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcIOZTFef3XWqz59VnnqIHUCulIcsEL1xFv7xYTsV58-lhpLm3MrrUY9PvN73C5eQLZ2XOkAFTN0sSCaMF98skCgkFHsgETsdeyh0Etw_9y3XZjjUtI9_WORIsnWyyG4TTy7MVjmiGJ3pw/s1600/IMG_9476.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcIOZTFef3XWqz59VnnqIHUCulIcsEL1xFv7xYTsV58-lhpLm3MrrUY9PvN73C5eQLZ2XOkAFTN0sSCaMF98skCgkFHsgETsdeyh0Etw_9y3XZjjUtI9_WORIsnWyyG4TTy7MVjmiGJ3pw/s320/IMG_9476.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Layout and marking tools</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBmlI6R4kfSi42uhOLhxcdSwQUecdtEX9RQp1GtuvZTa07D0JafHBAavBEp-xB1p_Q6qQwL-Le04pIb-csE_hCckEP1yHY9MFxUbVbDSdk1CIqijKVz7j7TsVo6taBU8B_LQAs4vvNOV5K/s1600/IMG_0243+jumbo+nails.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBmlI6R4kfSi42uhOLhxcdSwQUecdtEX9RQp1GtuvZTa07D0JafHBAavBEp-xB1p_Q6qQwL-Le04pIb-csE_hCckEP1yHY9MFxUbVbDSdk1CIqijKVz7j7TsVo6taBU8B_LQAs4vvNOV5K/s320/IMG_0243+jumbo+nails.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No nails in Japanese carpentry. Never</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And of course lots of tools.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOQm8p6_hrlfSqBCDnOK2SMGYb5rgHy5iHQWccSKmqetY5VqLa_beVKC0JzoyMqQRogkdQeWPR3cWGt9k-VwguYnCUSevkPFvbtlw7SGSFL2ueGl1J-LNbNC3tld2u9mH4kpiQvvV7r7cZ/s1600/IMG_0235+visitor+assembles+joinery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOQm8p6_hrlfSqBCDnOK2SMGYb5rgHy5iHQWccSKmqetY5VqLa_beVKC0JzoyMqQRogkdQeWPR3cWGt9k-VwguYnCUSevkPFvbtlw7SGSFL2ueGl1J-LNbNC3tld2u9mH4kpiQvvV7r7cZ/s320/IMG_0235+visitor+assembles+joinery.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joinery sample</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXEL12uOXL1kxpIFmiSFEv0KgMdGUZWGfqVqCAFOKw5JjGAWfwFAnQUcuFPr4MYVwe34i5roVBvMdhX_38HNZq19R4UO0K_RIfUtcoOvJ7UF5knzBLqRpbzPcr0ZIFtV7Eyj78DDKDWbBz/s1600/IMG_0244+gluts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXEL12uOXL1kxpIFmiSFEv0KgMdGUZWGfqVqCAFOKw5JjGAWfwFAnQUcuFPr4MYVwe34i5roVBvMdhX_38HNZq19R4UO0K_RIfUtcoOvJ7UF5knzBLqRpbzPcr0ZIFtV7Eyj78DDKDWbBz/s320/IMG_0244+gluts.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Riving timber with gluts</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU69N4dyP_lyvZBVk-XDt5rlm6h1SZDyb77z_9g2UPzzDKD5EWmkCO9i1S4DQng9R6FpTP_HhVK-fj0b589MW1PqBxVuVCWZUpCZVkVPuU4J6JUWW6cfueMdBO8w-bl0fYm6jhrv9KKFPt/s1600/IMG_9473+sawyering.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU69N4dyP_lyvZBVk-XDt5rlm6h1SZDyb77z_9g2UPzzDKD5EWmkCO9i1S4DQng9R6FpTP_HhVK-fj0b589MW1PqBxVuVCWZUpCZVkVPuU4J6JUWW6cfueMdBO8w-bl0fYm6jhrv9KKFPt/s320/IMG_9473+sawyering.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sawyering</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And how tools get used and a few interactive <a href="https://en.tripadvisor.com.hk/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g14127419-d7147573-i262899579-Takenaka_Carpentry_Tools_Museum-Chuo_Kobe_Hyogo_Prefecture_Kinki.html" target="_blank">display</a>s.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPKbK6ck_z_aMQ-PHQz8EI_EUw-lxMsP0enJNdRpkM0UadZtx4YSsSMvWgXNDnTxj7QS2KnvL6AXnTblhVxqWYt04GIIDsh0_bTd640Dv89yRJQoAHWGIDq88axlwpyGULQKkYnHk6wet/s1600/IMG_9470+dougong+components.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPKbK6ck_z_aMQ-PHQz8EI_EUw-lxMsP0enJNdRpkM0UadZtx4YSsSMvWgXNDnTxj7QS2KnvL6AXnTblhVxqWYt04GIIDsh0_bTd640Dv89yRJQoAHWGIDq88axlwpyGULQKkYnHk6wet/s320/IMG_9470+dougong+components.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dougong compenents</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXFam4V0T_I25FyFNIHWL2JvJzg0_La43x6PuS7TCkPKQpbGLYRTLjOZn2O2VFhdTaAifqieIUSe1RxOvTvPbpAdIhjS_BLcJv02wWizU9_epKGTckzFpTPZdUjkMbIA3kIw_xUkfuerwt/s1600/IMG_9471+dougong+lifesize.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXFam4V0T_I25FyFNIHWL2JvJzg0_La43x6PuS7TCkPKQpbGLYRTLjOZn2O2VFhdTaAifqieIUSe1RxOvTvPbpAdIhjS_BLcJv02wWizU9_epKGTckzFpTPZdUjkMbIA3kIw_xUkfuerwt/s320/IMG_9471+dougong+lifesize.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dougong roof display</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I was only disappointed by the lack of an English version of their museum book.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD8Mte3vnAnLfBEQS9td71bkMMpaQ5nlYAWns43doU2b_3yvYdtT5z2S3FKZ-UlhMJm4wzlcGulk3aHzW1N-C0NaGUl521ZfWV_hOwYXzHbBaNFGa2v64Vf4gCVIFll6MS723zoDpRYTAm/s1600/Mugged+by+Sika.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1438" data-original-width="1476" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD8Mte3vnAnLfBEQS9td71bkMMpaQ5nlYAWns43doU2b_3yvYdtT5z2S3FKZ-UlhMJm4wzlcGulk3aHzW1N-C0NaGUl521ZfWV_hOwYXzHbBaNFGa2v64Vf4gCVIFll6MS723zoDpRYTAm/s400/Mugged+by+Sika.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mugged in Nara by Sika</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Happy Summer!<br />
<br />Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com04-chōme-4-19 Nijōōjiminami, Nara-shi, Nara-ken 630-8012, Japan34.6859496678178 135.791612899913534.6826851678178 135.7865703999135 34.6892141678178 135.7966553999135tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-16746124232811974712019-06-10T22:19:00.000+08:002019-06-10T22:19:26.260+08:00A Shojimaker along the Kiho Bypass<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-qKWa_xSb6J3QBJLcrYWDjqCmONWFla4kvecojUy_YAGLh8to0-htQmIwNfhlKm1nwb9RSI9UOTs89YAzfH4awjGl8D0cINLcq0s9mLEElnkrd32z52JCUexrAkDGjsjGdfxIHIjf32uC/s1600/IMG_9615.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="1600" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-qKWa_xSb6J3QBJLcrYWDjqCmONWFla4kvecojUy_YAGLh8to0-htQmIwNfhlKm1nwb9RSI9UOTs89YAzfH4awjGl8D0cINLcq0s9mLEElnkrd32z52JCUexrAkDGjsjGdfxIHIjf32uC/s320/IMG_9615.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Safety Frist</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRg6NAr59MXpG0HGsZbZYVETtzHjn5j1wDZ-vFu6LbwszQ5YnqgThdaQXU9YSb9y9-lcF2wAuJCj8rh3ZUcEgwXrnaVyOg5qK0QuysbBKLkKbA8o7gqqQaw_rNKVtwH0jCDh_SYtRW_-5n/s1600/IMG_9614.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="450" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRg6NAr59MXpG0HGsZbZYVETtzHjn5j1wDZ-vFu6LbwszQ5YnqgThdaQXU9YSb9y9-lcF2wAuJCj8rh3ZUcEgwXrnaVyOg5qK0QuysbBKLkKbA8o7gqqQaw_rNKVtwH0jCDh_SYtRW_-5n/s400/IMG_9614.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The visa bearer and her spouse</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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My wife informed me that a bank that issued her a credit card would give us a pair of roundtrip air tickets. She refuses to tell me which bank out of a superstition that if the promotion becomes too well known, she might lose it. Last year she got a free weekend at a hotel from the same bank. We debated whether to travel to Taiwan or Japan, neither of which places we've visited and both require her to obtain a visa. Eventually she persuaded me to go to Japan with her. Japan is the most popular tourist destination for mainland Chinese where due to the use of kanji, Chinese tourists can read Japanese as though it were Chinese. For example the city of Osaka is known to Chinese as Daban. This causes problems for me and my wife. When I tried to insist that we chose one name for the Japanese name, she protested that she doesn't know the English names.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn02KgS3nNfPwvQfV4oRUuVB5R_IRtltFBcvVBdcv3ukydiGXYEZqEqGCOhK4JJvuBxG3-1dHXUaEMeBnXV_B9X2M7C16R9Q28kOGIbf__y0gKXurloPyhhUObH5g3A7-THs7uhMpiPPuh/s1600/IMG_0149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn02KgS3nNfPwvQfV4oRUuVB5R_IRtltFBcvVBdcv3ukydiGXYEZqEqGCOhK4JJvuBxG3-1dHXUaEMeBnXV_B9X2M7C16R9Q28kOGIbf__y0gKXurloPyhhUObH5g3A7-THs7uhMpiPPuh/s320/IMG_0149.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Suzuki garden ornament</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDRImFqrJZtEszfOekukp5fACPJX1jwGzNCXy7Os2dXVk54piLo_4uLiv-UFYfNk0rNp5eItVXlRIPzAmBpvOC_8eKu6UCnHLc_qaYLmxXdGqwfT88YJQnidCWHW4wE2bKjgn7z-ihBPO/s1600/IMG_0143.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDRImFqrJZtEszfOekukp5fACPJX1jwGzNCXy7Os2dXVk54piLo_4uLiv-UFYfNk0rNp5eItVXlRIPzAmBpvOC_8eKu6UCnHLc_qaYLmxXdGqwfT88YJQnidCWHW4wE2bKjgn7z-ihBPO/s320/IMG_0143.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interacting with the local wildlife</td></tr>
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To her credit, my wife chose to avoid the major destinations that draw in typical Chinese crowds. After touching down at Kansai International Airport, we rode the JR line to <a href="https://www.japanvisitor.com/japan-city-guides/tanabe" target="_blank">Tanabe</a> to spend our first night in a guesthouse converted from a century old single family home. This is where I first learned that much of Japanese architecture is not accommodating to tall outsiders. I thought that this might be due simply to the guesthouse being an older generation building. The next night after travelling to Kiho, just across the <a href="https://en.visitwakayama.jp/venues/venue_72/" target="_blank">Kumano </a>river from <a href="https://en.japantravel.com/wakayama/things-to-do-in-shingu-city/41171" target="_blank">Shingu</a>, we stayed in a guesthouse newly built by rice farmers where my scalp also suffered.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRF7-qeWiU9DUJEfh7JMsPvNX808BpZXEreCedc4eK96rctLq-2rfX4ZsLcB-fDT-BRr2O7SvWb3gY-evvhsnCrXqU3ou0_pk9Txh-E3ls3z1rTim_kGEZha-hR7JNcUkSasSBhuJzhWfQ/s1600/IMG_9183.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRF7-qeWiU9DUJEfh7JMsPvNX808BpZXEreCedc4eK96rctLq-2rfX4ZsLcB-fDT-BRr2O7SvWb3gY-evvhsnCrXqU3ou0_pk9Txh-E3ls3z1rTim_kGEZha-hR7JNcUkSasSBhuJzhWfQ/s320/IMG_9183.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vernacular landscape</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibOomGeSxAJ4frMzUE_GleSOkWRb7Yn99Drp_Dtkrv7zDsmpGxVVpGiaHOVIa7ByEnxmG4e4ChqQNZJVOQv6p8w_DuknvAEqj2-pYBxwd5HxyrXkQKrg3uIqp2MkRbT2i-hqWu5wmAh7jD/s1600/IMG_9190.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibOomGeSxAJ4frMzUE_GleSOkWRb7Yn99Drp_Dtkrv7zDsmpGxVVpGiaHOVIa7ByEnxmG4e4ChqQNZJVOQv6p8w_DuknvAEqj2-pYBxwd5HxyrXkQKrg3uIqp2MkRbT2i-hqWu5wmAh7jD/s320/IMG_9190.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oversized bracing</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc0dr9AhUn9UT81EUPiB8L4er38zSqOwFwDqt2l099Zb2x3rwL1fcvztILPDHSJ6xmgK4ztSOu3oSfvuuHsf4557FrR4viQhTLnHP1zTFG4BQmaifwr1ifCnmwMPKLqphL5X2AgNLFLzMQ/s1600/IMG_9243.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc0dr9AhUn9UT81EUPiB8L4er38zSqOwFwDqt2l099Zb2x3rwL1fcvztILPDHSJ6xmgK4ztSOu3oSfvuuHsf4557FrR4viQhTLnHP1zTFG4BQmaifwr1ifCnmwMPKLqphL5X2AgNLFLzMQ/s320/IMG_9243.jpeg" width="320" /><span id="goog_245790151"></span><span id="goog_245790152"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://es.japantravel.com/mie/sea-turtle-park/132" target="_blank">Sea Turtle Park</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg1VYXv8S5pEN8tQ-4TWa-uzFNWqEXKKPmpZwpVExzV1jmYrRgmEEyJzY5I5JWwzVhFRTm4Dcuf5JGmNbfxOLcCBzVsK9mdH3waBMo2lccyCEO99MHHxKOOHbmRGfkxCl_oStejs_fisdT/s1600/IMG_0114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg1VYXv8S5pEN8tQ-4TWa-uzFNWqEXKKPmpZwpVExzV1jmYrRgmEEyJzY5I5JWwzVhFRTm4Dcuf5JGmNbfxOLcCBzVsK9mdH3waBMo2lccyCEO99MHHxKOOHbmRGfkxCl_oStejs_fisdT/s320/IMG_0114.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Egret and Heron paddy interlopers</td></tr>
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We took advantage of the two bicycles at the guestroom to wander the many hillside pathways and intensively channeled watershed. I came across several dilapidated and neglected traditional timbered framed structures that find footings on nearly every bit of terraced slope, allowing agriculture to hold the flatlands.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8hFFF5YPVDik7McHZqxWF1xSD8ETrA1yj8w2_oVIvi1bmb5DypEooI0PUbRn4UXqIDRyeVtBa7YHNU5YZosJTT7lNdZa-vpbF1BMhYwaYMyvRWzcr97ehLyTrLMG9ir_AOh0lbrvZt362/s1600/IMG_0076+woodshop+sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8hFFF5YPVDik7McHZqxWF1xSD8ETrA1yj8w2_oVIvi1bmb5DypEooI0PUbRn4UXqIDRyeVtBa7YHNU5YZosJTT7lNdZa-vpbF1BMhYwaYMyvRWzcr97ehLyTrLMG9ir_AOh0lbrvZt362/s640/IMG_0076+woodshop+sign.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the workshop between the railway and rice paddies</td></tr>
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Somewhat late in the day it was after exiting a drugstore that I caught sight of enough recognizable kanji. I readily spotted 家具, which means furniture in the country that I had just come from, but in Japan is pronounced, kagu. The characters 木工 mean tree/wood and work. My curiosity was piqued and that of my wife. too.<br />
I could hear activity inside the building as we approached so I thought I could, at least, sneak a quick peak as a fellow woodworker. Body language and hand gestures should never be underestimated when communicating internationally. While my wife was still struggling with her translator app, I simply held up my camera while politely asking for permission to photograph and pointed to the inside of the building. The owner, Mr. Hiromasa Nakano whose name I learned much later, nodded his assent.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijtP-G_XBrwqg-2iet8VhjR8-9juuWI-hdEdwXclQpGp-wWyznvk80WFoDuLi2QdleUn4zMj66-IHuOP5uoWx9xH_KtIWXooHIdzNtWuzME18m6G4Wo7UrJ6eDyhpfeBxI05BEh9ietRLO/s1600/IMG_0028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijtP-G_XBrwqg-2iet8VhjR8-9juuWI-hdEdwXclQpGp-wWyznvk80WFoDuLi2QdleUn4zMj66-IHuOP5uoWx9xH_KtIWXooHIdzNtWuzME18m6G4Wo7UrJ6eDyhpfeBxI05BEh9ietRLO/s320/IMG_0028.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cutting a laminate board with a vertical panel saw</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYyacE2_Wmv_9xLrWtmoMw2n7lD2Ab3Uz6GzMsFXAmLLFmz45wYAcrxuYvZNDMs6RRq1o1BZmIbUZh-KeM4fC3_iV88yXSAjffRCu_z_Ic4KBtLVhvX4NjKUMwkQ8Fso-apSc4qEsMIKcx/s1600/IMG_0029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYyacE2_Wmv_9xLrWtmoMw2n7lD2Ab3Uz6GzMsFXAmLLFmz45wYAcrxuYvZNDMs6RRq1o1BZmIbUZh-KeM4fC3_iV88yXSAjffRCu_z_Ic4KBtLVhvX4NjKUMwkQ8Fso-apSc4qEsMIKcx/s320/IMG_0029.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a low table, perhaps</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There was only Mr. Nakano and another older worker in the shop as I began examining some of the machines. All were Japanese makes, evidently purchased some time ago and well maintained. Nakano-san explained that he is a third generation woodworker. The other term on the business sign, 建具, tategu, means 'joinery', which might be a term for shojimaker.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheEo_SGmfvoZwg6ZZXEKaiBjkxM_qJ1NLCR9u7FgQGarKWJjzUaR0npIk3vh8mljNOpaJFO3I1HC1W55e_SxCtRV2rNj0pB_5wkyDd0S8lidNJM9yUj696hcMJDZtst2JG0xBbdBJSLZAD/s1600/IMG_0031screw+presses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheEo_SGmfvoZwg6ZZXEKaiBjkxM_qJ1NLCR9u7FgQGarKWJjzUaR0npIk3vh8mljNOpaJFO3I1HC1W55e_SxCtRV2rNj0pB_5wkyDd0S8lidNJM9yUj696hcMJDZtst2JG0xBbdBJSLZAD/s320/IMG_0031screw+presses.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screw presses</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtBolMrIeJTgmceItURrLC9BWWTfREIuNj4XSpkeFBX82uhNr4_no8gHYZ0RnDvQNPylTTXZhpqtlcBTtpdS_Umxg7FdHp9BrviPL13w7stXmMWlViNRf7O347Tuz5boi06FhnhxTmHVF/s1600/IMG_0050+mortising+machine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtBolMrIeJTgmceItURrLC9BWWTfREIuNj4XSpkeFBX82uhNr4_no8gHYZ0RnDvQNPylTTXZhpqtlcBTtpdS_Umxg7FdHp9BrviPL13w7stXmMWlViNRf7O347Tuz5boi06FhnhxTmHVF/s320/IMG_0050+mortising+machine.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mortising machine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigx42He1TFyqM_UhLmFhXCyTMF1c-liQVoxFSwraqAyebbVmnKiTd6nQO4S7OwKqNQWWXMZJydlLKfw4gEj46du9VRm5REsmVuz5uok4-ODLFQv6vuJUqzyVfEMsbhtzHfpjiUcziuwooM/s1600/IMG_0032+tenoncutting+machine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigx42He1TFyqM_UhLmFhXCyTMF1c-liQVoxFSwraqAyebbVmnKiTd6nQO4S7OwKqNQWWXMZJydlLKfw4gEj46du9VRm5REsmVuz5uok4-ODLFQv6vuJUqzyVfEMsbhtzHfpjiUcziuwooM/s320/IMG_0032+tenoncutting+machine.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tenoning machine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjayqCzszKeNUvg-XPeL7O7MQVscrduXa_7xbDiYakbey70a499vEVDC1zUGYFm1BHIKkadqEyLaIkQCXTw02iQASgrsVbIMW8wxOSbwJuUdx2EL8rArbgwzJ4FSOlqBOZH6if7jyItITQU/s1600/IMG_0052+surface+planer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjayqCzszKeNUvg-XPeL7O7MQVscrduXa_7xbDiYakbey70a499vEVDC1zUGYFm1BHIKkadqEyLaIkQCXTw02iQASgrsVbIMW8wxOSbwJuUdx2EL8rArbgwzJ4FSOlqBOZH6if7jyItITQU/s320/IMG_0052+surface+planer.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Surface planer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After clicking some pics of the machinery, I focused my attention on Mr. Nakano since he was assembling some shoji screens. He had already prepared the components and went through the process of gluing and assembly. He squeezed a perfect amount of glue into the mortises to accept the double tenons in the four corners, which are the only joints that received glue. The mortise and tenon joints of the thinner member were tapped in dry.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidXOdBPRiVo6Sc8oPcbbz5AISXDBqo0s7K7S8t5Fw2Ph3Ed7fCMibS5V1omZxxoJ8Mtnhxp5lY9-PVnVJE157GN9gZDkKBGwo1R0ImsgR4oCf97NIg0EOJhQT1hegZNyyork7tlcKHYrgH/s1600/IMG_0092+chamfered+tenons.jp+g.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidXOdBPRiVo6Sc8oPcbbz5AISXDBqo0s7K7S8t5Fw2Ph3Ed7fCMibS5V1omZxxoJ8Mtnhxp5lY9-PVnVJE157GN9gZDkKBGwo1R0ImsgR4oCf97NIg0EOJhQT1hegZNyyork7tlcKHYrgH/s320/IMG_0092+chamfered+tenons.jp+g.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">chamfered tenons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4afG7uxIr8CN38reUt-_jNsLntFJJwwppAmqQClH3HtZA4yi3Vg_HiLSVxQruYo1khLLSe14unEhyphenhyphenNgo8N7H-6j41i2Hb3pIhf_qq8dl4XosIQdsS40dMMaZ93Tt1wpl62NLSdPCB4yvG/s1600/IMG_0039+adding+another+piece.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4afG7uxIr8CN38reUt-_jNsLntFJJwwppAmqQClH3HtZA4yi3Vg_HiLSVxQruYo1khLLSe14unEhyphenhyphenNgo8N7H-6j41i2Hb3pIhf_qq8dl4XosIQdsS40dMMaZ93Tt1wpl62NLSdPCB4yvG/s320/IMG_0039+adding+another+piece.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">driving rail onto uprights</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtinyD9rmZbffTdjZ_A6n6H8DY_UONmR3D2Hqu-0WDy8WjTcw9YwqTN9ozIiuExK1P5I_Cuj3WmLO0Zzan0lPGoKljj5K44tuq11MiCLz50ezEAQous2w4qi7iL0xroAxYj49u0B73_dz-/s1600/IMG_0043+taptaptap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtinyD9rmZbffTdjZ_A6n6H8DY_UONmR3D2Hqu-0WDy8WjTcw9YwqTN9ozIiuExK1P5I_Cuj3WmLO0Zzan0lPGoKljj5K44tuq11MiCLz50ezEAQous2w4qi7iL0xroAxYj49u0B73_dz-/s320/IMG_0043+taptaptap.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">tapping</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After the components of the first screen were adequately assembled, Mr. Nakano moved it to the 'clamping machine'. This was the first time my mind was blown. The upper section compressed the frame parallel and square. Unexpectedly, the corners slid in rather easily. To compensate, the craftsman placed a wooden block to maximize pressure on the dryfit joints. After withdrawing the screen from the clamping machine, he casually brushed the corner joints with a bit of water. There was no glue squeezeout. Later on, I gestured with my hands whether this was to expand the wood fibers, and he nodded knowingly.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNl09Tazr8-DZVKZKVBIIYDuw0kdfhqWpN1Te4LC1bytDJF_GRVl2VwAJ_zSBPwUzfYUnKgcgrKwK5OIXIw8muYAtKMNSP74iB4wKqkR_5VlyKqoT2zURK8EXNSN0hpzpXHCd70Wq7DcGD/s1600/IMG_0045+squeezing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNl09Tazr8-DZVKZKVBIIYDuw0kdfhqWpN1Te4LC1bytDJF_GRVl2VwAJ_zSBPwUzfYUnKgcgrKwK5OIXIw8muYAtKMNSP74iB4wKqkR_5VlyKqoT2zURK8EXNSN0hpzpXHCd70Wq7DcGD/s320/IMG_0045+squeezing.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clamping machine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYStS2eFqyiyiXcwxEi-Me7ffL60_N4c-qZD1U8BHP37S_ZEpp8T7ZPbLkGWG2x2O6cn5bsH6fZ12HBwXz8joWHN1AVBqZqRlPk5_PYAsX1jM5ObgyW2POY2VrzRES5gWUe_a8l_AKwDkC/s1600/IMG_0047+squeezer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYStS2eFqyiyiXcwxEi-Me7ffL60_N4c-qZD1U8BHP37S_ZEpp8T7ZPbLkGWG2x2O6cn5bsH6fZ12HBwXz8joWHN1AVBqZqRlPk5_PYAsX1jM5ObgyW2POY2VrzRES5gWUe_a8l_AKwDkC/s320/IMG_0047+squeezer.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">focussing pressure to close up all gaps</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The screen was then laid upon the workbench which was clearly made specific to shoji construction. On the working side was a block along the full length upon which the craftsman applied his tools to the screen; on the far side, another parallel block supported the unworked length of the screen, allowing tools and detritus to accumulate between the two risers.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh48aBHLS5e31vF99zgZBm8ms89rQqNjCzCi2v2uLV_RiPa7W6fZMLKJD8u1dOOrRrW120t_D3tuTagjrRjqJ61o7NPkwfGRQvbWEaG0qEm-jmtoN7w-3PpwbBi3UUZmdSpUM-xpI19AJr5/s1600/IMG_0081+tapping+in+fingerpull.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh48aBHLS5e31vF99zgZBm8ms89rQqNjCzCi2v2uLV_RiPa7W6fZMLKJD8u1dOOrRrW120t_D3tuTagjrRjqJ61o7NPkwfGRQvbWEaG0qEm-jmtoN7w-3PpwbBi3UUZmdSpUM-xpI19AJr5/s320/IMG_0081+tapping+in+fingerpull.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tapping the doorpull into a mortise</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilQuUqOxBBUX9rsqLbtyMpFKLqpVlPJIB_TpIht_XaHHNb2t-KbqLCKFFdly_iiLnvI_qZBGRIfAFKbP_fn-3clA-NN3mzOpaeOwVj7OL4HP2pA5BVBw2Ub8KBx4h_6SDtyH5dmWSzTHW8/s1600/IMG_0084+inserted+fingerpull.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilQuUqOxBBUX9rsqLbtyMpFKLqpVlPJIB_TpIht_XaHHNb2t-KbqLCKFFdly_iiLnvI_qZBGRIfAFKbP_fn-3clA-NN3mzOpaeOwVj7OL4HP2pA5BVBw2Ub8KBx4h_6SDtyH5dmWSzTHW8/s320/IMG_0084+inserted+fingerpull.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">planed flush</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Mr. Nakano then deftly proceeded to apply a modicum of white glue into a shallow mortise and tapped a hardwood doorpull into the void. When it was flush with the surface, he pulled a smoothing plane across the two surfaces and then started on the second screen. I assumed that he must have made this <a href="http://www.shaktishoji.com/images/insetwoodpulls.gif" target="_blank">doorpull</a> as any other component but he showed me the box that the doorpulls were shipped in. (yes, I should have photographed the box.)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgckqoKBm6kv_uaRGFl6nWozDquKQpkfFEBtESaI8pY79cvinVbDZTBz0Nz-nlefaRPYxn4ytkodhrToF7_nGG3v0NKi7g4_j_h_Uz7RnoHPpa1ibLS7SdmU2gJClSnKWQWEjIpxWPnjJtw/s1600/IMG_0086+intentional+bow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgckqoKBm6kv_uaRGFl6nWozDquKQpkfFEBtESaI8pY79cvinVbDZTBz0Nz-nlefaRPYxn4ytkodhrToF7_nGG3v0NKi7g4_j_h_Uz7RnoHPpa1ibLS7SdmU2gJClSnKWQWEjIpxWPnjJtw/s400/IMG_0086+intentional+bow.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">subtle bowing from head to toe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I attentively paced around the workshop, trying to visually absorb as much as I could manage, noticing the handtools and the other bench. When Mr Nakano had finished, I examined the screen still lying on the workbench and I saw for the first time that the shojiscreen had a noticeable bow from top to bottom. This appeared to be a defect. I asked naively whether this would be pressed flat with the screwpresses that lined the northeastern wall. He shook his head and sketched a diagram, showing a triple screen arrangement and explained using mainly hand gestures and relying on the insight of a fellow woodworker that the two outer screens were intentionally made to bow out in order to reduce potential for friction. Mind blown a second time.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOBJPIXLJzeiOnHJXuwM0dXdJKNUdhE4qVdOM5h6w-eY75Rm9veGfZWAQpZseuA-ZPtGC_gaYTco0QSbFzQVRtZKLGssay904EJj40WKESs3HhdpqhzdupGm19KEWdPz0h9pxwC5tNiFGe/s1600/IMG_9609+author+and+craftsman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOBJPIXLJzeiOnHJXuwM0dXdJKNUdhE4qVdOM5h6w-eY75Rm9veGfZWAQpZseuA-ZPtGC_gaYTco0QSbFzQVRtZKLGssay904EJj40WKESs3HhdpqhzdupGm19KEWdPz0h9pxwC5tNiFGe/s400/IMG_9609+author+and+craftsman.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nakano-san and Laowai</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRElVVzfpu001Wp_dX39V88FTpbZl0OFr0-gDnvLrorAh5rAAbGaCf8LvaxO2AgC1nlKsh9W7UVtn0jO3lmoJWQ5ORl8EAc2Yx0z_KeKsiITtuXY20O9Fbv5nL4E2y2ksyi3wp5acl-cq3/s1600/IMG_0054+stonepond.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRElVVzfpu001Wp_dX39V88FTpbZl0OFr0-gDnvLrorAh5rAAbGaCf8LvaxO2AgC1nlKsh9W7UVtn0jO3lmoJWQ5ORl8EAc2Yx0z_KeKsiITtuXY20O9Fbv5nL4E2y2ksyi3wp5acl-cq3/s320/IMG_0054+stonepond.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">stonepond</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The screens were put aside to let the glue dry. The end of the workday was upon us and before leaving to do some birdwatching I confirmed with Mr. Nakano that I would return early the following day if he were also working.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE4R2iu5OrFP7RSq0iRwVza4d74CDD02G_V_9IU03Y8WF_LK4-iymybvey9aoRGVc17owY1jMz0yVFoadx-pLcoONp61Dr_mhfTxs7kp3Y-b45zYlikvWD8RFASyEps5w7rst31m7uIqkA/s1600/IMG_0078+freehand.jpg+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE4R2iu5OrFP7RSq0iRwVza4d74CDD02G_V_9IU03Y8WF_LK4-iymybvey9aoRGVc17owY1jMz0yVFoadx-pLcoONp61Dr_mhfTxs7kp3Y-b45zYlikvWD8RFASyEps5w7rst31m7uIqkA/s320/IMG_0078+freehand.jpg+.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Freehandy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgpopNlmUeyNiKK2G1wfbmI7SBpHjbRDBAKwjMHg7zEhiqXguB3lQdGiy5iDZIxMfrKjEMVYO5Kv3ZAzBZqYEwVWonnhZCoptp6nTQT2eX0YntyrrJKAQhxj8tA0aK97GALh2MLs3a0WPH/s1600/IMG_0079+crosslegged+clamping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgpopNlmUeyNiKK2G1wfbmI7SBpHjbRDBAKwjMHg7zEhiqXguB3lQdGiy5iDZIxMfrKjEMVYO5Kv3ZAzBZqYEwVWonnhZCoptp6nTQT2eX0YntyrrJKAQhxj8tA0aK97GALh2MLs3a0WPH/s320/IMG_0079+crosslegged+clamping.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Body weight holdfast</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
When I arrived the next day, the craftsman was already cleaning up the corners of the rabbets that would receive the paper sheets. As he chiseled out waste freehand, I thought about using a router. It shortly dawned on me that the rabbet was merely to define a pasting zone for the paper and to bring the paper below the wood surface to protect from abrasion. Sharp chisels and straight, clear grain made quick work of this task.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaxIJ-2kIfWeM-R4MUpjYyWrr14RwLFH47Pg4XiV6Ght2n4HAz0R9X7GPeFVGPCbTZnMtcjOR-lE7uWCj5NjtksA6EgGyV99bTJt6213NIfQfcNrqh8g6lZyDKI2zRjyura5qjet29Xxt3/s1600/IMG_0089+cutting+rabbets+into+horns.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaxIJ-2kIfWeM-R4MUpjYyWrr14RwLFH47Pg4XiV6Ght2n4HAz0R9X7GPeFVGPCbTZnMtcjOR-lE7uWCj5NjtksA6EgGyV99bTJt6213NIfQfcNrqh8g6lZyDKI2zRjyura5qjet29Xxt3/s320/IMG_0089+cutting+rabbets+into+horns.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sawing with screen supported on parallel blocks</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCNFyR5gbCz4xWqgg77RdL2x-uTi0IXDzIPTLDQjEjNjG2p5SYqUrlWjCQ1remBpOt35qQXos6FPZrZ2qL1_1Wg7V-D2H8QCwSRxvRsYGjNrrgLQcmJ3WkcLEhIOxargqnPERwpKPrZbdy/s1600/IMG_0094+marking+gauge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCNFyR5gbCz4xWqgg77RdL2x-uTi0IXDzIPTLDQjEjNjG2p5SYqUrlWjCQ1remBpOt35qQXos6FPZrZ2qL1_1Wg7V-D2H8QCwSRxvRsYGjNrrgLQcmJ3WkcLEhIOxargqnPERwpKPrZbdy/s320/IMG_0094+marking+gauge.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marking the end grain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTyPsgBWmIXChDwWKlnCDCx-fgU9NMt26cNHOJ5yW8BFKdo2-g3npO6KxDRfytdVEU9eduZnB0v7hwl3ZG_PRWVVH99y2ds6awaFiNXBIgJsQF-h5EJ3wxATucOiPG2iSqiap67wU-mogr/s1600/IMG_0090+planing+flush+after+sawcuts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTyPsgBWmIXChDwWKlnCDCx-fgU9NMt26cNHOJ5yW8BFKdo2-g3npO6KxDRfytdVEU9eduZnB0v7hwl3ZG_PRWVVH99y2ds6awaFiNXBIgJsQF-h5EJ3wxATucOiPG2iSqiap67wU-mogr/s320/IMG_0090+planing+flush+after+sawcuts.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cleaning up the end grain surface after sawing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW8JMbQwR4gb77OZT-VKdSZ-K7L9vQ-gvevZysVdVeB6Ba9sFrk1a2cNKYk2kjLsFjPf2rvitPHkK6-VUhNXHVrlrIFXAEsgSe_G0gSmYffpuDVVz6uXdmsQCn9V-C_h5mDtHltzYhwts_/s1600/IMG_0095+inside+cut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW8JMbQwR4gb77OZT-VKdSZ-K7L9vQ-gvevZysVdVeB6Ba9sFrk1a2cNKYk2kjLsFjPf2rvitPHkK6-VUhNXHVrlrIFXAEsgSe_G0gSmYffpuDVVz6uXdmsQCn9V-C_h5mDtHltzYhwts_/s320/IMG_0095+inside+cut.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the mystery ryoba</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Mr Nakano positioned a screen on its side and marked with a pencil and square to cut off the horns of the bottom. After he sawed off the length, he extended the width of the sliding bit that gets inserted into the floor track with a marking gauge and he removed the wood, using a sawblade that he must have known that I had not seen before. I even took a photo of this saw side by side with the other more common <a href="https://www.qy1.de/img/ryoba-302055.jpg" target="_blank">ryoba</a> style. But that photo somehow got lost. I gesticulated that this was specifically for cutting inside cuts and he nodded.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2oUvJdhQAlOPMADtnjz7qxNAlFrgYl0_zSJ11SGjuTrG7tlRX7-5oocuA2q4TioFeCZpVdMDF_GXnaPA87_gycjxSCFP5U43zxH04YUsU05k_hXGemXs98-N727nRXXe2eJrD0a_N9tW_/s1600/IMG_9426+examining+a+bench.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2oUvJdhQAlOPMADtnjz7qxNAlFrgYl0_zSJ11SGjuTrG7tlRX7-5oocuA2q4TioFeCZpVdMDF_GXnaPA87_gycjxSCFP5U43zxH04YUsU05k_hXGemXs98-N727nRXXe2eJrD0a_N9tW_/s320/IMG_9426+examining+a+bench.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Studying on bent knee</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5oN4lXR-V31nQ3JmrU50SD9eXzycTupspu3e47eaS-Of6FNjzNs-yMeZ_qQSp7SsPMA_U1n5IUvQufYxGXmYqlzDDMP0w-VMN9qWVBZ7qnCyRv31xauWNv2F41xaDiDpukKgjYHGI43Z8/s1600/IMG_9214.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5oN4lXR-V31nQ3JmrU50SD9eXzycTupspu3e47eaS-Of6FNjzNs-yMeZ_qQSp7SsPMA_U1n5IUvQufYxGXmYqlzDDMP0w-VMN9qWVBZ7qnCyRv31xauWNv2F41xaDiDpukKgjYHGI43Z8/s320/IMG_9214.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stage completed</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I've searched online for any mention of this ryoba (if that's also its proper name) and cannot find a reference to it. So there is a mystery and my mind was blown a third time. It might be that this saw is simply modified by a clever saw sharpener on a piecemeal basis or it's available directly from the marketplace if one knows what to ask for. The craftsman that day only trimmed the bottoms of the screens and set them upright, declaring that his work was stopped for the day. I asked for his business card and thanked for the generosity of his time before departing.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3cOSEC0CjuZER1hyWEDGaCkXgbFPRqTBphKr1JeXYwhMAHvIOc_m9YJQsbheUf2ZySh1IX8TMFJIEIgg0tJ2HtcnaSDnlDo0rYb9EAh8-pB6o2BWbxgzCEXEf_d7RD4A_JXxnPjGGy1UZ/s1600/work+and+toolIMG_9530.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3cOSEC0CjuZER1hyWEDGaCkXgbFPRqTBphKr1JeXYwhMAHvIOc_m9YJQsbheUf2ZySh1IX8TMFJIEIgg0tJ2HtcnaSDnlDo0rYb9EAh8-pB6o2BWbxgzCEXEf_d7RD4A_JXxnPjGGy1UZ/s320/work+and+toolIMG_9530.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Work & Tool parking lot</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfiQZCQhLII9yx277UQD5od-gB6lm2Dqmeg6K4cvGBygD51hP_j3d0CHmjyOFcZEymkeIG37jHMamO_ws5F0zAHHMEVBNEIBg5SsPg_xvAaFan-H8teon6hiA0M4stRAKLByYiei4LPy2Q/s1600/IMG_9592.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfiQZCQhLII9yx277UQD5od-gB6lm2Dqmeg6K4cvGBygD51hP_j3d0CHmjyOFcZEymkeIG37jHMamO_ws5F0zAHHMEVBNEIBg5SsPg_xvAaFan-H8teon6hiA0M4stRAKLByYiei4LPy2Q/s320/IMG_9592.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shoji components</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTkuRDiLfnlCcefPAv0l1bEudARepJyV7xKi44DxZhZLWvstiS6nOID8I7CW1dGYMpYWJiXLVH_L3rxVOaVTBJBopcEr5m9u3b30F7Z2i-8fNJSxYenBIUB3ieVFj4m63HmJFvUtkeEspA/s1600/IMG_9545+offthessgelf+shoji.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTkuRDiLfnlCcefPAv0l1bEudARepJyV7xKi44DxZhZLWvstiS6nOID8I7CW1dGYMpYWJiXLVH_L3rxVOaVTBJBopcEr5m9u3b30F7Z2i-8fNJSxYenBIUB3ieVFj4m63HmJFvUtkeEspA/s320/IMG_9545+offthessgelf+shoji.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shoji DIY items</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The last time my mind was blown on this topic was while staying at another guesthouse near Kawachi-Hanazono <a href="https://www.kintetsu.co.jp/station/station_info/en_station03010.html" target="_blank">Kintetsu</a> station, a brief train ride to Osaka and the Kansai airport for the return flight. I came across an home center and home improvement outlet where I found commercially milled shoji components.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDysNX3cU3Pqlr1nooQr33EuEDWCt-pnH1VvoaxmWUwH2u-ONbpMlvIrvMyEMFKYiiwM5EqWWEJvtf4DeJiNhgdQeYZnIEacvn7aww87utFHgRUKhy6do2YWYAbrNoneejG6XFdculGjJF/s1600/IMG_0103+stickering.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDysNX3cU3Pqlr1nooQr33EuEDWCt-pnH1VvoaxmWUwH2u-ONbpMlvIrvMyEMFKYiiwM5EqWWEJvtf4DeJiNhgdQeYZnIEacvn7aww87utFHgRUKhy6do2YWYAbrNoneejG6XFdculGjJF/s320/IMG_0103+stickering.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">between tree and artifice</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I don't know why I would have resisted the idea that such a product might be available. My first exposure to shoji was in <a href="http://jayoyster.woodinsights.com/content/review-making-shoji-toshio-odate" target="_blank">Toshio Odate's book</a>, where he details making shoji entirely with handtools. That impression stuck with me, discounting that shoji are also just a basic component of Japanese homes. Perhaps the deepest impression on me is one that I have already concluded, Japanese consumers are some of the best educated of any country I know. Nakano-san still operates his workshop because despite having cheaper alternatives, there are consumers who can recognize the qualities of handmade shoji screens and are willing to pay a premium. He remains in business and his skill set thrives because enough consumers continue to recognize the distinctive value of his craft.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIJufmteQGuMVNVlDmOO5txQm3-qBG-JJQPAXGskMpPWOTmOPWxmAan-46fZaocDr6hxxmUHsIvzZn-Aoy5s9sp3m2lfNOitk9GE6Zx9gNm5EKFxap-kPHMjidHWtqTksO-R6vGd5ZkefO/s1600/IMG_9507.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIJufmteQGuMVNVlDmOO5txQm3-qBG-JJQPAXGskMpPWOTmOPWxmAan-46fZaocDr6hxxmUHsIvzZn-Aoy5s9sp3m2lfNOitk9GE6Zx9gNm5EKFxap-kPHMjidHWtqTksO-R6vGd5ZkefO/s320/IMG_9507.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nunobiki Falls, Kobe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
DuanWuJie Kualie!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com1167 Narukawa, Kiho, Minamimuro-gun, Mie 519-5713, Japan33.74029418704135 136.0021195001136233.739792187041353 136.00115400011362 33.740796187041347 136.00308500011363tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-15139039931762896542019-01-23T21:24:00.000+08:002019-01-24T11:08:11.233+08:00Corporatist WokenessI've written on a few occasions about Chinese manufacturing as it applies to woodworking, not as an expert with all the insights, but as a woodworker giving some sense of an outsider's perspective. I've been unemployed and that in part explains my motivation for commenting on the news about Pony/Jorgensen clamp company's decision to relaunch its website and to honestly outsource all of its manufacturing to a Chinese location.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHj8u_249AyOYPXGasRdjWC5NQnMlkQy6dWdnDvSpNHBPBhoY6yLlAs-yEbLlZwOq-0wWq19pQVhCDdJRFVQBayZlQ_rwc1IkqhK5r78zUYYYA9DaBrqoSsTs4Nrz4ZEFcoJeXE5QSEEL/s1600/IMG_2096.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHj8u_249AyOYPXGasRdjWC5NQnMlkQy6dWdnDvSpNHBPBhoY6yLlAs-yEbLlZwOq-0wWq19pQVhCDdJRFVQBayZlQ_rwc1IkqhK5r78zUYYYA9DaBrqoSsTs4Nrz4ZEFcoJeXE5QSEEL/s400/IMG_2096.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The right job for the right tool </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
If the Pony/Jorgensen product line relaunch were merely that simple, I could hardly offer anything more than as when I wrote about the <a href="http://remisquotable.blogspot.com/2016/04/planemakers-in-china.html" target="_blank">Stanley planes</a> revival through mainland <a href="http://remisquotable.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery-t-deer.html" target="_blank">Chinese manufacturing</a>. Instead, I found an interview from a newly installed Vice President of marketing that prompted this essay. The full text is <a href="https://ponyjorgensen.com/executive-interview-1/" target="_blank">here</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h4>
<b>Gregg: Did Pony Jorgensen go out of business a while ago?</b></h4>
Bill: We closed up shop for a bit to reorganize the company. But
we’re back in business and under new leadership. We are committed to
sustaining and growing jobs, distribution, and the overall brand. We’re
also dedicated to expanding retail distribution so our customers can
start purchasing their beloved clamps in stores once more.<br />
<h4>
<b>Gregg: Since the brand relaunch, a lot of customers have been asking: Is this the original Pony Jorgensen?</b></h4>
Bill: Yes, it is. This is the one and only Pony Jorgensen that
customers love and remember from our Chicago days. We remain committed
to upholding founder Adele Holman’s vision and manufacturing woodworking
tools of an uncompromising quality.<br />
<h4>
<b>Gregg: Is manufacturing taking place in Chicago again?</b></h4>
Bill: No, it’s not. Manufacturing and production have moved to China.
This move was not about cost; we could have manufactured our clamps
more affordably in a number of other countries. The decision to move
manufacturing to China is very strategic. In recent times, China has
emerged as a global market leader and a center of excellence for the
manufacture of these particular products. So our move eastward was to
ensure quality – not to compromise on it.<br />
<h4>
<b>Gregg: How will the new products live up to the standard of
quality that customers have grown to expect from Pony Jorgensen clamps?</b></h4>
Bill: We anticipated there would be some customers who would be
skeptical of the quality of our new line of clamps. And this is
understandable. Over the years, a plethora of companies have moved
manufacturing to other countries. The purpose behind many of these moves
was to cut costs. In the process, many have often compromised on
quality.<br />
However, our move serves an entirely different purpose. Our reason to
move production to China was rooted in our commitment to quality. We
wanted to capitalize on the level of quality, sophistication, and
specialization the manufacturing industry in China brings to the
production of these particular products. Additionally, we’re making
today’s Pony Jorgensen clamps from the original tooling and equipment
that was used in the original Chicago plant. We are fully dedicated to
delivering the same trusted tools our loyal customers have come to
expect. The quality of our clamps has not and will not suffer, and that
is of paramount importance to us.<br />
<br />
Thanks for the enlightenment, Bill!</blockquote>
<br />
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/billsokol/" target="_blank">Bill Sokol</a> is now a Vice President in charge of reviving the brand name of a former Chicago area tool manufacturer. He's certainly not one of the executives who introduced himself to me while I was still at Harvey. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/billsokol/" target="_blank">Sokol</a> is new to me but he comes from a diverse corporate background, none of which might suggest skills adapted to rebuild a struggling woodworking tool company. Having started out his career in eyewear, he also did a stint with Gillette. (and no, I didn't just make that up.) Today his job is that of a corporate mouthpiece who evidently prefers to be interviewed by another <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregg-malanga-6a8a447/" target="_blank">executive </a>who just happens to work at <a href="http://tileletter.com/2018/05/iconic-american-tool-brands-pony-jorgensen-goldblatt-to-be-relaunched-to-the-north-american-market-under-the-leadership-of-arrow-fastener/" target="_blank">Arrow Fastener</a>, which is also part of Hangzhou Great Star Co., Ltd., which outsourced manufacturing to Hangzhou, China. Thanks for the enlightenment, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregg-malanga-6a8a447/" target="_blank">Gregg</a>!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioi5ImMkKzicuWwnvQoNC0hEYzAukLby0bVVuL9TJ3jER2PzgbEUT0edAI0Nkrty_BAMCvaYIYiFhv5gzsLHYHxwQIn3rMYYjQJzpSyKjTv6DG6KyEGjaRayCHbLv5sGP2J_XbiK-f67_T/s1600/2017091448246605.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="740" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioi5ImMkKzicuWwnvQoNC0hEYzAukLby0bVVuL9TJ3jER2PzgbEUT0edAI0Nkrty_BAMCvaYIYiFhv5gzsLHYHxwQIn3rMYYjQJzpSyKjTv6DG6KyEGjaRayCHbLv5sGP2J_XbiK-f67_T/s400/2017091448246605.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GreatStar Industrial Co. Ltd., Hangzhou headquarters</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And what is this wonder center of manufacturing, Bill and Gregg? <a href="http://www.greatstartools.com/en/about.asp?info_kind=004" target="_blank">GreatStar industries,</a> of course. I have certainly met a number of Bills and Greggs in my lifetime. They ably move from desks in one front office to another unconcerned about the products or services because they are experts in the business of business, They are a pair of MBA shills who were hired by their respective corporate overlords because they can ably transcribe one another's businessese BS. Do Bill Sokol and Gregg Malanga truly believe that relocating manufacturing to China was about anything but reducing labor costs? Sokol plainly admits as much with a slight twist in his wording that requires context to understand clearly:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"This move was not about cost."</blockquote>
<br />
If we are to accept Sokol's claim at face value, then we must conclude that he is convinced that a Chinese workforce can produce at a higher quality standard than laborers in the USA. I suppose he makes the big bucks by persuading North American <a href="https://forums.woodnet.net/showthread.php?tid=7331931" target="_blank">consumers</a> that even though their local production standards are inferior to the workers in Zhejiang province, woodworkers, employed and unemployed, still ought to place their trust in the Pony / Jorgensen brand. Because as every marketer knows when trust is lost, it can so hard to restore, <a href="https://sawmillcreek.org/archive/index.php/t-191915.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="https://sawmillcreek.org/archive/index.php/t-191936.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://remisquotable.blogspot.com/2016/01/counterfeit-clamps-and-those-close.html" target="_blank">here</a><br />
<br />
If one thinks that praising the excellent quality of Chinese manufacturing doesn't play well given the legacy of, well, the recent history of low quality Chinese manufacturing, Lee Valley has formed a <a href="http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=31178&cat=1" target="_blank">similar</a> <a href="http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?cat=1,43838,43850,44648&p=65595" target="_blank">opinion</a>. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjD3tniOAAIwR6jfJRhE3IGZhfBkT87-qsokrnykuo2dzMwxTgS8Himp-9KJWF_7z3RtMU5UrahCV4PfMh7YAB_u434XNu9UzCVuHt7SsVGSFwwvNaIOaqSgMyo0KTrQmGYP5ABF7tLumK/s1600/different+patterns+in+head_2597.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjD3tniOAAIwR6jfJRhE3IGZhfBkT87-qsokrnykuo2dzMwxTgS8Himp-9KJWF_7z3RtMU5UrahCV4PfMh7YAB_u434XNu9UzCVuHt7SsVGSFwwvNaIOaqSgMyo0KTrQmGYP5ABF7tLumK/s320/different+patterns+in+head_2597.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I sent an email to learn which one was authentic</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Furthermore one might think that recapturing so much squandered good will might be difficult for a former Gillette executive, but that just shows how unwoke you are. Clearly you have not heard about the struggles of Adele V. Holman to raise a company up against the toxicity of patriarchy.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h4>
<b>Gregg: When and how was Pony Jorgensen founded?</b></h4>
Bill: Pony Jorgensen was founded in 1903 by Adele Holman in Chicago,
Illinois. A former professional opera singer, Adele envisioned a company
that could grow through product innovation and woodworking tools with
superior performance. But a woman running a manufacturing company was
unheard of at the time, so Adele famously signed company documents and
correspondences as “A. V. Holman” to hide her gender. She partnered with
Hans Jorgensen, a Danish cabinetmaker, and Marcus Russ, a tool
salesman. Adele’s pioneering spirit laid the groundwork for our company
values.</blockquote>
Famously, she signed her name! I now have a theory that misgendering is the reason that the a infamous airplane hijacker has never been found. D.B. Cooper was a woman!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Ai9SHyJFkKYiZlbm45BV8Mpwbqm3QGVRT0PB-WWUqFqRNR4c_acTuEEcWQS-h4G5kL295id9VnLne68nz1VlJgGGQIquOcc7D-473oxvS6mZ6-aMmsHghPXJyTgica8dNTwb34_iBQmV/s1600/db-cooper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="618" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Ai9SHyJFkKYiZlbm45BV8Mpwbqm3QGVRT0PB-WWUqFqRNR4c_acTuEEcWQS-h4G5kL295id9VnLne68nz1VlJgGGQIquOcc7D-473oxvS6mZ6-aMmsHghPXJyTgica8dNTwb34_iBQmV/s320/db-cooper.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Androgynous hijacker or pre-op transwoman in need of cash </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
When it comes to spinning their own <a href="https://www.crowleywebb.com/news/pony-jorgensen-brand-relaunch/" target="_blank">corporate</a> <a href="http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/greatstar-industrial-acquires-adjustable-clamp-company/" target="_blank">history</a>, one big advantage is that most of the insightful documents are proprietary. It's even more advantageous if the biographic subjects are long dead and cannot contradict press releases from the marketing department. <a href="https://ponyjorgensen.com/about/" target="_blank">Adele V. Holman</a> cannot, therefore, feel angry when it is insisted that her signature was written so as to hide her gender decades before the term, gender, became synonymous with sex identity. The new website goes out of its way to proclaim that they are continuing work now in the same spirit of this feminist pioneer. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Realizing the American dream.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Our story began in 1903 when a small
company opened up shop in Chicago, Illinois. Founder Adele Holman, a
former professional opera singer, envisioned a company that could grow
through product innovation, excellent customer service, and woodworking
tools with superior performance. She partnered with Hans Jorgensen, a
Danish cabinetmaker, and Marcus Russ, a tool salesman. It was an
unlikely combination at the time, but it laid the foundation for the
Pony Jorgensen brands that woodworkers have come to rely on for
high-quality clamps.</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="page-container pad-top-mobile-15 pad-bottom-mobile-15" style="padding-bottom: 25px; padding-top: 65px;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img class="adele-image" src="https://ponyjorgensen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/adele.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span class="orange"></span></b></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span class="orange">Adele’s secret identity and success.</span></b><br />
A woman running a manufacturing company was unheard of in 1903. But
that’s exactly what Adele Holman did. She famously signed company
documents and correspondences as “A. V. Holman” to hide her gender.
Under her leadership, the product line was expanded beyond the original
handscrews to include iron clamping products, such as C-clamps and bar
clamps, as well as the now-famous Pony pipe clamp. There’s no doubt that
Adele’s pioneering spirit set the groundwork for our company values.</div>
</blockquote>
So a former <a href="https://books.google.com.hk/books?id=kPJZTJtz1IwC&pg=PA297&lpg=PA297&dq=adele+v.+holman&source=bl&ots=_aSvSePUuM&sig=ACfU3U1XLlAhvyblOTTzVHdt4fN4oLqZeg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj3nr63iv_fAhVR7WEKHQJjDL8Q6AEwAHoECAMQAQ#v=onepage&q=adele%20v.%20holman&f=false" target="_blank">opera singer</a> with a secret identity founded a manufacturing business that would a century later mythologize her contributions in a smarmy appeal to the zeitgeist, employing a reliable combination American business school ethics and Chinese state capitalism. Does any of this story sound fishy? What's that? You don't automatically believe the revisionist history run up the flagpole by marketing professionals from New Jersey? Fortunately a local <a href="https://www.madeinchicagomuseum.com/" target="_blank">Chicago historian</a>, Andrew Clayman, put together a more objective version of the company's origin story.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihmnasYx-Q_jeDTQlzgd23TD2Qepg9HcGBdl6MH_BlSiT3tXS5SjU5LpTTW8WyJDQupd_oSVXtM7TZkJov5QX3ly9JrVIeYTc9V-caBWHXR2MZBxO5vmAhZEa6-zyGQdm8whtgs9DABgx1/s1600/848e7d_c5d05caa9942407d8f52e442edef9d0d%257Emv2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="443" data-original-width="547" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihmnasYx-Q_jeDTQlzgd23TD2Qepg9HcGBdl6MH_BlSiT3tXS5SjU5LpTTW8WyJDQupd_oSVXtM7TZkJov5QX3ly9JrVIeYTc9V-caBWHXR2MZBxO5vmAhZEa6-zyGQdm8whtgs9DABgx1/s400/848e7d_c5d05caa9942407d8f52e442edef9d0d%257Emv2.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Opera houses to Shopfloors</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
While Clayman doesn't set out to debunk the corporate claim that 'a woman running a manufacturing company was unheard of in 1903.' He makes it clear that Adele Holman wasn't running a manufacturing company at that date either! He <a href="https://www.madeinchicagomuseum.com/single-post/adjustable-clamp-co" target="_blank">writes</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><i style="font-style: normal;"><u style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "playfair display" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">In
any case, a little digging of my own revealed that the Adjustable Clamp
Company's beginnings actually came a few years before Adele Holman's
involvement, when Hans Jorgensen himself—inventor of our trusty hand
screws—got the ball rolling in 1903. Jorgensen had his product and the
skill to manufacture it, but he lacked the capital to start a business.
This brought him into contact with an opportunistic Chicago lawyer named
Marcus W. Russ, who agreed to fund the effort, serving as the first
company president and sole salesman. In the early years, the whole
operation ran out of one room, with a tiny staff of several workers
hand-making each and every clamp. As demand increased, Russ purchased a
separate manufacturing facility at 216 North Jefferson Street, with a
half dozen employees making a still meager 300 clamps per week. It was
around this time, in 1907, that a whirlwind of a woman named Adele
Holman walked through Russ's door. It was literally music to the
lawyer's ears.</span></span></u></i></b></blockquote>
and elsewhere:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><i style="font-style: normal;"><u style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "playfair display" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">With
her initial purchase of Adjustable Clamp Co. shares in 1907, she
replaced Walter Caddock as secretary, and while Marcus Russ was
technically still the president, Adele Holman immediately took charge.</span></span></u></i></b></blockquote>
It might seem difficult to be a founder of a business four years after the business was founded, but as feminist scholars have pointed out: chronology is simply another tool of the patriarchy. By 1914 as the principal stockholder, it was easy for her to bring her son into the business. So while the Holman family line owes their wealth to a female progenitor, it has more to do with her stock purchases and managerial efforts than being a founder of the Adjustable Clamp Company.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4wY1XzjLXH8sJVMo-dsWaG9x8lhcp_PsiVCd3ehiN7FIB9ToG0JSgviqN-0lwVhoK8wmgVmYJvRjx1va0jIsUSlZ2T2WxDpRGD8Ibp-8wfgQAXqDy2fPsbrqJeFk7biMCtFcgO0PC6y2V/s1600/closed+in+2016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="547" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4wY1XzjLXH8sJVMo-dsWaG9x8lhcp_PsiVCd3ehiN7FIB9ToG0JSgviqN-0lwVhoK8wmgVmYJvRjx1va0jIsUSlZ2T2WxDpRGD8Ibp-8wfgQAXqDy2fPsbrqJeFk7biMCtFcgO0PC6y2V/s400/closed+in+2016.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Closed in 2016</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Pony Jorgensen executives are basically fabricating history with Chinese characteristics. But, honestly, even while using the Adele v. Holman biography in an attempt to remake a brand name with a contemporary feminist spin, how is it advantageous to restore customer loyalty by promoting such a flawed company narrative? And is Sokol pretending to not understand how much damage was done when Lee Valley discontinued its product line due to poor quality from outsourced manufacturers in Asia? Or was he, in particular, brought in recently because he can claim with a straight face that he knows nothing about that nail in this as yet unburied coffin? Even if they would listen to me, I certainly don't want to tell business experts how to better do their jobs, but perhaps they can follow the example of an early businesswoman whose management style drove a century of profitability. <a href="https://www.madeinchicagomuseum.com/single-post/adjustable-clamp-co" target="_blank">Clayman</a> pointedly relates:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="font_7" style="font-family: "playfair display",serif; font-size: 18px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><i style="font-style: normal;"><u style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "playfair display" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">With
her initial purchase of Adjustable Clamp Co. shares in 1907, she
replaced Walter Caddock as secretary, and while Marcus Russ was
technically still the president, Adele Holman immediately took charge.</span></span></u></i></b></div>
<div class="font_7" style="font-family: "playfair display",serif; font-size: 18px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="font_7" style="font-family: "playfair display",serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6em;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><i style="font-style: normal;"><u style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="line-height: 1.6em;"><span style="font-family: , , sans-serif;">"Shortly after Mrs. Holman became secretary of the company," </span><span style="font-family: "playfair display" , serif;">reported the <span style="font-style: italic;">Manufacturing and Wholesale Industries of Chicago, Vol. 3</span></span><span style="font-family: , , sans-serif;">,
"<b>she decided that to insure the maximum success of the enterprise, the
business office should no longer be segregated from the factory</b>. [emphasis added] She
accordingly set definitely to work to bring about an orderly and
progressive administration of affairs, though she had virtually no
previous business experience. She established her executive headquarters
at the factory and by her careful and discriminating methods evolved
order out of chaotic conditions."</span></span></span></u></i></b></div>
</blockquote>
From this insightful passage, I know that Ms. Adele Holman would deem managing a Chicago business from offices in New Jersey decidedly unproductive but as it is pointed out: "...she had virtually no previous business experience." I can only imagine what salty language she might use to describe management offices in Saddle Brook, New Jersey segregated from its factory floors in Hangzhou, China, P. R. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9oFACu1N6QMmlqN5t2rZZ7ypy0djy6uE0O2_XeDqkUsRptv9FAOyQW-jTWSll89CS1xJGRgGnLPoE2biFX9evXaoPgXlt5WlppucJVYVrTRvzO8UxQrnK5HANtSS5C5dIlExe1BOhTxn0/s1600/Since+1903+38b4cadc%257Emv2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9oFACu1N6QMmlqN5t2rZZ7ypy0djy6uE0O2_XeDqkUsRptv9FAOyQW-jTWSll89CS1xJGRgGnLPoE2biFX9evXaoPgXlt5WlppucJVYVrTRvzO8UxQrnK5HANtSS5C5dIlExe1BOhTxn0/s1600/Since+1903+38b4cadc%257Emv2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emblematic</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Zhunian kuaile o! 豬年快樂喔 🐷🐷🐖🐖<br />
<br />Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com2China, 托乐嘉购物小镇148号31.943990459816863 118.7865174960264831.939893459816862 118.77879249602648 31.948087459816865 118.79424249602647tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-19875384586166488642018-11-15T19:22:00.003+08:002018-12-25T12:03:02.511+08:00Rotary Pumpkinning in BaGuaZhou 八卦洲<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlIEjuq2S_HaDcgDwUMkUdzfPvohQoXMCso-IvL5vF8IttY4zmILuhnoHFKEyVULM9ZuBH9hfzKksrAp5AvCN8jvm-WWdDUQ1_YyDw18N-_DErklqEvhZMzV9fKMHpPGGb562cXdmChskW/s1600/Observing+Chess_7689.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlIEjuq2S_HaDcgDwUMkUdzfPvohQoXMCso-IvL5vF8IttY4zmILuhnoHFKEyVULM9ZuBH9hfzKksrAp5AvCN8jvm-WWdDUQ1_YyDw18N-_DErklqEvhZMzV9fKMHpPGGb562cXdmChskW/s640/Observing+Chess_7689.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Studying Xiangqi (<span lang="zh">象棋) </span>moves<span lang="zh"></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On October 26th I was asked to participate in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Nonprofit-Organization/Rotary-Club-Nanjing-240179159812532/" target="_blank">Rotary</a> event by visiting a migrant school in the outskirts of Nanjing in order to demonstrate frisbee to primary students on the following Monday, the 29th. I was up for the opportunity and readily agreed. The following day I was reminded that I was in China. I received a message that the event was postponed until Friday, November the 2nd. It's often a feature of events in China that commitments are elicited before basic details are confirmed. On the 1st I was informed that the sport has been switched to <a href="http://bgcredwoods.org/tball" target="_blank">Tball</a>. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHBWNK3eojsSJANH6iRRvjBXz8NVw1IXAiTNWTo1ijUx_n2lUVopi7Id0QxzH7Dt7WyJfIkYiEFi_GWZVlkdz3P0mz-vCLl7qlZYmm3h_j0gmnWT4xeIiG-je6qBRGVFfMFqOhn39SFOkK/s1600/Simon_7746.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHBWNK3eojsSJANH6iRRvjBXz8NVw1IXAiTNWTo1ijUx_n2lUVopi7Id0QxzH7Dt7WyJfIkYiEFi_GWZVlkdz3P0mz-vCLl7qlZYmm3h_j0gmnWT4xeIiG-je6qBRGVFfMFqOhn39SFOkK/s320/Simon_7746.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Simon Laing explaining the subtleties of Tball</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On the Friday of the event, I shared a ride with a group of other Rotarians at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maigaoqiao_station" target="_blank">MaiGaoQiao</a> subway station, the end of the #1line. I learned later that we would be travelling to a school in BaGuaZhou where I had never spent much time. It's north of the river in a mixed industrial / residential area that characterizes much of the Nanjing urban suburbs.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ6pg49o_JlEbkI_IiDpo-T4IBKggJ58O6BLXra0UaoNc_0nAjOezsh5bbVxQtucRncH2XUShjMfrTjPN1nvPa557Mk8PWnPhb6rO38ggiVIYAVe9deYIZNsHIjuMNpl7V4s5tcZXRS955/s1600/red+robes+and+tea+servers_7670.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ6pg49o_JlEbkI_IiDpo-T4IBKggJ58O6BLXra0UaoNc_0nAjOezsh5bbVxQtucRncH2XUShjMfrTjPN1nvPa557Mk8PWnPhb6rO38ggiVIYAVe9deYIZNsHIjuMNpl7V4s5tcZXRS955/s320/red+robes+and+tea+servers_7670.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Well rehearsed greeters</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Some time between the subway and the school parking lot, I heard about the other activities planned for the day. Would I prefer to be involved in making masks or carving pumpkins? More of the Chinese style of event planning: I had not planned on doing either until I was in a vehicle on my way to an unknown facility. I was leaning towards mask making since it would likely involve fewer bloodletting tools. Christel, whom I has just met that day, holding out her smartphone to me in a reassuring gesture explained that she had some videos of pumpkin carving. She either knew in advance that we would only have no more than three students to contend with or had never been in front of a loud classroom before.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_eu2W0gQEVh4x3A_0Jk-UFI7mWjrPGu8hhcirRYeoPQxnlUvAN19IBj48uRJ629kwpzjmaXJPPdcTWXtgEEw7yQ5Rfk1un2ORW-t1dRSXXv5oWl1Hy0ujjz7ijcGXcdpLhJIQ6wmWacL/s1600/IMG_7690.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_eu2W0gQEVh4x3A_0Jk-UFI7mWjrPGu8hhcirRYeoPQxnlUvAN19IBj48uRJ629kwpzjmaXJPPdcTWXtgEEw7yQ5Rfk1un2ORW-t1dRSXXv5oWl1Hy0ujjz7ijcGXcdpLhJIQ6wmWacL/s320/IMG_7690.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Serving the role of a foreigner</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8sWyvmfbOePQ_O08gRJxkx5J3bX2DRki4TlJHbVM8AOUaIWYZHrB3Hus3gI6fKXQGdK4oubiPXtVaTYxLL_JBHlopFxvrd2ZUyYQf2pH9oEFCc_MF2WzKKSyRTuzTVxERyWhM2qmpZsST/s1600/Simon+Principal_7666.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8sWyvmfbOePQ_O08gRJxkx5J3bX2DRki4TlJHbVM8AOUaIWYZHrB3Hus3gI6fKXQGdK4oubiPXtVaTYxLL_JBHlopFxvrd2ZUyYQf2pH9oEFCc_MF2WzKKSyRTuzTVxERyWhM2qmpZsST/s320/Simon+Principal_7666.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last minute negotiations with the principal</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I was struck by how new the school appeared. It couldn't have been built more than two years prior and during a quick tour of the facilities, the array of new equipment confirmed this. But even before the tasks were formally assigned and finalized, we all were led outdoors to witness the welcoming ceremony.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC_vR2SMcW_ZCjapU30kiaTANNtlIpAIREzZb8aa13PHB2tCoUBlbumU6exT-ERzAQleJfMEeogp_nYHM1U55B1w6zTzQzmOmxllcf6Mmmv8_xOXkfV44U3Zi9WR1vILrAfC0CCsvWhFW5/s1600/welcoming_7745.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1600" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC_vR2SMcW_ZCjapU30kiaTANNtlIpAIREzZb8aa13PHB2tCoUBlbumU6exT-ERzAQleJfMEeogp_nYHM1U55B1w6zTzQzmOmxllcf6Mmmv8_xOXkfV44U3Zi9WR1vILrAfC0CCsvWhFW5/s400/welcoming_7745.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Perfunctory welcoming speech</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I am posting here photos of the longer than expected welcoming ceremony. I should be more accustomed to this degree of staging.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB1IrJepPR-c94bU-62vgIx21xTjmrW2OLJZAiwkx-Bi0sKs4fmmR-tatXh5SkC47tAmfPQAtY37oFcks70ZKtcCGWZznL10m8VVm0JFNMnYtVJ9kY_LcVRyM_HVjq5HPFgFAyxLgdfNkJ/s1600/Ceremonial+tea_7675.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB1IrJepPR-c94bU-62vgIx21xTjmrW2OLJZAiwkx-Bi0sKs4fmmR-tatXh5SkC47tAmfPQAtY37oFcks70ZKtcCGWZznL10m8VVm0JFNMnYtVJ9kY_LcVRyM_HVjq5HPFgFAyxLgdfNkJ/s320/Ceremonial+tea_7675.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tea ceremony and musicians</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmvf_NpWaNGsagR54mqPlW7zB72ACpzerCOF6EGIz25aH1UIHm_G5RS0y0SoQrxUjqd1O3f2mkbzAEBow5YwNcNPELvUkEP-14jCzJbw7ja-uZXYE47oBpknLSWMlW3WdmO-yji3_IgxuU/s1600/choreography_7697.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmvf_NpWaNGsagR54mqPlW7zB72ACpzerCOF6EGIz25aH1UIHm_G5RS0y0SoQrxUjqd1O3f2mkbzAEBow5YwNcNPELvUkEP-14jCzJbw7ja-uZXYE47oBpknLSWMlW3WdmO-yji3_IgxuU/s320/choreography_7697.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Willow dancers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikP4lySxrw61FAFqudbfs2alez70b8FFPS1w6FbtGq-21YWWSO_lNT66WZaZTLss9jU3WWZGL5_U4UQiMoqoTe_AvZMUoXlzJcMjKRxmkXvswmXmSRutUCPTac9S9y51-rRn5ntu6JOYIm/s1600/Tea+cups_7716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikP4lySxrw61FAFqudbfs2alez70b8FFPS1w6FbtGq-21YWWSO_lNT66WZaZTLss9jU3WWZGL5_U4UQiMoqoTe_AvZMUoXlzJcMjKRxmkXvswmXmSRutUCPTac9S9y51-rRn5ntu6JOYIm/s320/Tea+cups_7716.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tea service</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJ44je1RLBwTMA6D4vSwBL0e7rOQ6OXZPC3v0Lkhk7E_nG1PXE06xUA1K5Q41Q7Ng0M8XGebYdoJFGggF-DD_6fRYrKdOJ-eaTf-CGFCBE1P1BAf76vn3SSEaYIlGRd2qo7Yikzg9vIiv/s1600/IMG_7676.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJ44je1RLBwTMA6D4vSwBL0e7rOQ6OXZPC3v0Lkhk7E_nG1PXE06xUA1K5Q41Q7Ng0M8XGebYdoJFGggF-DD_6fRYrKdOJ-eaTf-CGFCBE1P1BAf76vn3SSEaYIlGRd2qo7Yikzg9vIiv/s320/IMG_7676.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two Xiangsheng ( <span lang="zh-Hans"><span style="color: black;"><a class="extiw" href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%9B%B8%E5%A3%B0" title="wikt:相声">相声</a></span>)</span> performers get a pep talk</td></tr>
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After the various performances concluded, seemingly to bring the ritual hospitality to completion, there was still the mass kungfu display after which there was still more to behold. Because what's a welcoming ceremony without a choreographed game of living chess players. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMiKRFBqrY7C2HW4TRi-vIQDrAWKfT9To6G12byVZsq5eG5W7h4X6CQ5uLEpGvpFf_BhI1x0qeSXv9xMlx8dB2xiCOolUzL6rXbzTqHBunWrF7PTYjlk4jEp0qK7ecCpGNwDLD3OQNj9-P/s1600/Gongfu+on+square_7679.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMiKRFBqrY7C2HW4TRi-vIQDrAWKfT9To6G12byVZsq5eG5W7h4X6CQ5uLEpGvpFf_BhI1x0qeSXv9xMlx8dB2xiCOolUzL6rXbzTqHBunWrF7PTYjlk4jEp0qK7ecCpGNwDLD3OQNj9-P/s320/Gongfu+on+square_7679.jpg" width="320" /> </a></td><td style="text-align: center;"></td><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">North Korea MTV video tryout</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzLUDSSghTNeOsPb99t84oHSRShO8myGexnyKUa7Yu3iDmHVEi-OHRUdgpEKwx-O8MdjTWoXxR0xKYcClZUPw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw0QdD_R96hLUeaW2QTnjtZdJaiM9_UEp7XAhooVtapBJxfy49YewkWWrQxH0P8XvmA_onv_KotSF0p31sZrw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
And then it was acknowledged that we had, in fact, arrived to do some activities with the students at which time I found myself responsible for the pumpkin carving session.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3A7HbEDFLkW4_zKvQkvzIGGJ1vvnzl-oFwhTLjDDm44mSmRFZdy_3o89ZzPl5QPL70rFhKsm3txtJgxEQ5ar3FHDiAfAMiXGtLseua69ykbW3vHVrx2J-mHLbvUVf7so2MJvUAT-i74qa/s1600/Jack+O%2527Lantern+classroom_7719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="999" data-original-width="1600" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3A7HbEDFLkW4_zKvQkvzIGGJ1vvnzl-oFwhTLjDDm44mSmRFZdy_3o89ZzPl5QPL70rFhKsm3txtJgxEQ5ar3FHDiAfAMiXGtLseua69ykbW3vHVrx2J-mHLbvUVf7so2MJvUAT-i74qa/s320/Jack+O%2527Lantern+classroom_7719.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Young Pioneers dutifully ignoring the instructor</td></tr>
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The main challenge was the lack of proper tools for the task. Simon had brought along two butter knives, which were more useful than the segmented utility blades and double ended chisels offered by the school staff. I did a very quick lesson that ignored the fact that we were two days past Halloween, but as I quickly found out, the students weren't much familiar with the holiday and their Chinese teachers had done nothing to prime them for this activity.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfo1S4qkHDqxHfXYCothlOYocM3vCRzvbEfusa2UCkATYb_5KrXTVxARd-m25z40feiMClWNhwYRxQOhqAvXRwzvyM53aHI7YN6QzmfwYjjdiwbiELuy2mFXYAse52FJCji7njQh9J9nZY/s1600/Carving+7727.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfo1S4qkHDqxHfXYCothlOYocM3vCRzvbEfusa2UCkATYb_5KrXTVxARd-m25z40feiMClWNhwYRxQOhqAvXRwzvyM53aHI7YN6QzmfwYjjdiwbiELuy2mFXYAse52FJCji7njQh9J9nZY/s320/Carving+7727.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The laowai consulting with vegetable butchers </td></tr>
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In the end, my Swiss army knife was the only blade that could safely cut the necessary depth to complete the Jack o'Lanterns. I worked the room cutting the lid after the subgroups had been taught to draw the top opening and advising them to not make details too small. At the last minute, a Rotarian showed up with a bag of oily votive candles to complete the effect. After the photos, the students scurried to play outdoors.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw9FU8geYPTGL3yyGA6tXRwtcGa-X6PBXDG5fhM3RaanyHFEqQf1Y2WLKMlzUnKH9EtCD5nNU7fh6xoIoL4Nnb52C_DedMcD567mATQnT7bS4t8lDcAPY8T5Ar-sPiEgkQv865RKVsYbjC/s1600/lighting+a+lantern_7696.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw9FU8geYPTGL3yyGA6tXRwtcGa-X6PBXDG5fhM3RaanyHFEqQf1Y2WLKMlzUnKH9EtCD5nNU7fh6xoIoL4Nnb52C_DedMcD567mATQnT7bS4t8lDcAPY8T5Ar-sPiEgkQv865RKVsYbjC/s320/lighting+a+lantern_7696.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Testfitting a pumpkin shell</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwUR7CwdvkeevIHX9jKC_u5IP1eaqUI4zv3I48LduD1cbt6Ld8wFycrFhwKussrPrjY2upo-HL1L5xYvkE7JgHIuoGuf1P2yWxw9vGAB68JPbBmmQUPYbA3cpderPV45IaWmhDNVUOKqF/s1600/IMG_7747.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwUR7CwdvkeevIHX9jKC_u5IP1eaqUI4zv3I48LduD1cbt6Ld8wFycrFhwKussrPrjY2upo-HL1L5xYvkE7JgHIuoGuf1P2yWxw9vGAB68JPbBmmQUPYbA3cpderPV45IaWmhDNVUOKqF/s320/IMG_7747.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mask masking session with Rotarian Nick</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsOthQKtBNpk3DCDM5dOOWzGRbtD-PxOlYLa410bZfuKc3n2DcTTAi10FICH9ogDHn-z6s612rzM6j6gDbuTIj5ZfYetHcguAAK-3o9ozSM-VPp-wRZFdeMIX52BS0s4vAZt6qiY13HkIi/s1600/Jacks_7729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsOthQKtBNpk3DCDM5dOOWzGRbtD-PxOlYLa410bZfuKc3n2DcTTAi10FICH9ogDHn-z6s612rzM6j6gDbuTIj5ZfYetHcguAAK-3o9ozSM-VPp-wRZFdeMIX52BS0s4vAZt6qiY13HkIi/s320/Jacks_7729.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready for Hallowe'en 2019!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZmFLjnPPQpZp4F6WLIkY9lq7DaZCoG5jIk6-9fQ4cqtFGEbI-48ZnxFTO2U-wjq884W_VyuEAuOuOJmLLqdhcxcg5Z3Tv6zu2016SNTHg50AvFMcOhyphenhyphenerCtoEZEHFOJ77TmuhEhxD1jt/s1600/Lanterns+and+masks_7728.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZmFLjnPPQpZp4F6WLIkY9lq7DaZCoG5jIk6-9fQ4cqtFGEbI-48ZnxFTO2U-wjq884W_VyuEAuOuOJmLLqdhcxcg5Z3Tv6zu2016SNTHg50AvFMcOhyphenhyphenerCtoEZEHFOJ77TmuhEhxD1jt/s320/Lanterns+and+masks_7728.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Masks and Jacks</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPau2pA9AiOfcmlsz4t42VW9sJcUJFXTAC04uePXPuC-TOm35YTOeMYeO-6BqUiGYrRPn65ZvvxA89V6vGcKeygXkVQacAmHkOG-ORVC1ZP9OMflQuoZzuaQQJAIvRvh35qKnQw_MpWlwW/s1600/Christel_7730.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="1166" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPau2pA9AiOfcmlsz4t42VW9sJcUJFXTAC04uePXPuC-TOm35YTOeMYeO-6BqUiGYrRPn65ZvvxA89V6vGcKeygXkVQacAmHkOG-ORVC1ZP9OMflQuoZzuaQQJAIvRvh35qKnQw_MpWlwW/s320/Christel_7730.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christel, my adaptable assistant, displays a lantern</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRA2DcWSgGPLIzu5ljsKEcYkl-H6ZQ724k0YGOMRLf9fqciidFHsGdnB9L0yqlZ53NgJyqywDcrOlgBVLyPFJv68OngMciIA46OHKzIa-urVMKgeEV2Vhd_NQ77WnCbsYRNRhM2iA1pZA5/s1600/IMG_7731.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRA2DcWSgGPLIzu5ljsKEcYkl-H6ZQ724k0YGOMRLf9fqciidFHsGdnB9L0yqlZ53NgJyqywDcrOlgBVLyPFJv68OngMciIA46OHKzIa-urVMKgeEV2Vhd_NQ77WnCbsYRNRhM2iA1pZA5/s320/IMG_7731.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Young Pioneers</td></tr>
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The evening sun began to set. And once last pose was taken for the newsletter. As we were packing up, I learned that the reason that the Monday event had to be postponed was due to a surprise inspection of the school.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXOoTbX7rCpvSue0M9lqDKcCdXz4_bYQVVNzxX08QAshn6LA_-IvjIOOWULZE_zd4n6S1_QHTnaTI8heGtPiCY1fzO99fwKkhDsX5sbpCZeW98UrNqNkXr0lsYT6KTrDqsTjZCOCD0h_ZN/s1600/long+shadows_7720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXOoTbX7rCpvSue0M9lqDKcCdXz4_bYQVVNzxX08QAshn6LA_-IvjIOOWULZE_zd4n6S1_QHTnaTI8heGtPiCY1fzO99fwKkhDsX5sbpCZeW98UrNqNkXr0lsYT6KTrDqsTjZCOCD0h_ZN/s320/long+shadows_7720.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anhui students and Rotarian volunteers</td></tr>
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Happy All Saints Day!<br />
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<br />Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com2Baguazhou Residential District, Qixia, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China32.171529 118.824231000000056.6494944999999994 77.515637000000055 57.693563499999996 160.13282500000005tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-30496119961772989312018-09-21T22:36:00.001+08:002018-10-15T10:10:29.931+08:00Essence of the Enfield cupboard<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_vEd-q1n15ptJjuT6YKoF4js7mlWuKjfb3H1Gwo2JiKgmKqTfF_DTOXP95R4yrNfIF1pM1_OFIhtiCzWDWQtdNsmwH6t4VKjDFQAQ8o4ZMhAM_1xygPqzow23h6g8u1B3_3Zw3lsi6o_L/s1600/IMG_7156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="863" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_vEd-q1n15ptJjuT6YKoF4js7mlWuKjfb3H1Gwo2JiKgmKqTfF_DTOXP95R4yrNfIF1pM1_OFIhtiCzWDWQtdNsmwH6t4VKjDFQAQ8o4ZMhAM_1xygPqzow23h6g8u1B3_3Zw3lsi6o_L/s640/IMG_7156.jpg" width="344" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iconic state of halted progress</td></tr>
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This project has involved several sources: principally, an <a href="https://www.popularwoodworking.com/wp-content/uploads/ShakerFurniture.pdf" target="_blank">article</a> in PWW written in 2006 by Christopher "<a href="https://blog.lostartpress.com/2018/07/18/my-whiny-little-friend/" target="_blank">Holy Crap</a>" Schwarz provided me with the most useful construction details and general dimensions, an <a href="https://www.finewoodworking.com/2015/09/30/the-enfield-cupboard-updated" target="_blank">article</a> in FWW from 2015 by Matt <a href="http://www.mekwoodworks.com/" target="_blank">'the boxer' </a>Kenney, and season 32 episodes 12-13 in 2012 of the Woodwright's Shop hosted by "Saint Roy" Underhill. Notably I did not directly reference the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0912944633/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i4" target="_blank">book</a>, Shop Drawings of Shaker Furniture by <a href="http://books.wwnorton.com/books/Author.aspx?id=22219" target="_blank">Ejner Handberg</a> aside from the comments in Schwarz' article and glimpses on the Woodwright's Shop episodes.<br />
This buildout process has prompted me to think more deeply about the distinctions between industrial woodworking and handtool aesthetics as well as what it means to refer to a furniture form as iconic and whether there is much meaning left to the term, Shaker.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMDAp0HC511cnleb_feg9JdUZhryVeLZZFcDlJUAi_2mJxtODqh1XqFVb8P8eZjtEK81FenGnnCexaU6QplU4Sw92Va38Nq87mSZWflgwUTnnCIeqkTqOwLRDrmXhtfuLOyp1HolAKF5Ch/s1600/IMG_7153.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMDAp0HC511cnleb_feg9JdUZhryVeLZZFcDlJUAi_2mJxtODqh1XqFVb8P8eZjtEK81FenGnnCexaU6QplU4Sw92Va38Nq87mSZWflgwUTnnCIeqkTqOwLRDrmXhtfuLOyp1HolAKF5Ch/s320/IMG_7153.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cornice detail</td></tr>
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Chinese customs agents can arbitrarily decide when a woodworker is buying too many books, but that's only one reason for not having bought the Urtext by Handberg to make this piece. The Schwarz article makes clear that the book itself isn't necessarily helpful where it most matters. It's still not clear how some pencil sketches on repurposed cardboard ended up as published books with so much subsequent influence on American woodworkers. Here is a mystery that remains to be solved. Schwarz elucidates the problems in this matter and then proceeds to explain how he decided on the principal joinery for the piece. He claims to have been able to confirm his construction hunches based on images posted online by the Smithsonian, which is entrusted with the Demming collection. I've tried to track down the same images of the original on the museum website but they appear to have been taken down. He might have seen the pics <a href="https://americanart.si.edu/pr/library/1999/03/shakers/" target="_blank">here </a>or <a href="https://www.si.edu/Exhibitions/Shaker-Furniture-and-Objects-from-the-Faith-and-Edward-Deming-Andrews-Collections-Commemorating-the-Bicentenary-of-the-American-Shakers-5224" target="_blank">here</a>. His comments though highlight that there really are no definitive answers as to how the original cabinet was constructed. There isn't even a satisfying explanation as to the odd shelf spacing although I have my own theory. In this vein, Underhill's program became much more of a helpful guide than the other sources because he wants to recreate the spirit (the handtool methods) of how the piece was made. While I am grateful to having the dimensioned plans in the PWW article, I followed Underhill's advice to follow in the Shaker craftsman's workflow and defined the project with the lumber that is available.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhSslZt6Q5oefKTYU5_l5V63XdbgzsiHfDnGZDJUjYCQWrMFVLC3pRSvcEUjoT-moUt2ek7rK2s7dIvPyMDeNZ6fmVf83_MDURwwEHbJrac7hXZkc4cYCxUI4jv9TOxJdM1slGdX3uz5jV/s1600/beaded+T%2526G+backboards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhSslZt6Q5oefKTYU5_l5V63XdbgzsiHfDnGZDJUjYCQWrMFVLC3pRSvcEUjoT-moUt2ek7rK2s7dIvPyMDeNZ6fmVf83_MDURwwEHbJrac7hXZkc4cYCxUI4jv9TOxJdM1slGdX3uz5jV/s320/beaded+T%2526G+backboards.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The two boards that define the other dimensions</td></tr>
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And thus following his sage counsel, I used the 2x12 SPF and SYP that I had on hand. I selected out two relatively knotfree lengths of SPF (patched with tapered plugs) that would be the backboards of the cabinet. They are wedged together by a tongue and groove joint that allows for seasonal movement and the tongue half received a beaded edge to minimize by highlighting this expandable joint. The width of these backboards determines, therefore, by default, the maximum width of the cabinet overall slightly more, potentially, because of the rebate cut into the sides.<br />
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I have the impression that the Handberg diagrams simply shows the cabinet assembled with the shelves dadoed into the sides, lacking any details about hardware fixtures or otherwise. Schwarz says as much as he debates the utility of securing the sides with sliding dovetails. He eventually decides that dadoes secured with brads and glue are his best solution. I agree and disagree with his line of thinking. I don't have any prejudices with regards to nails per se in furniture. But I disagree with his reason that nails continue indefinitely to function. He writes:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"There is a snobbery that nails in woodworking are low-class wood-butchery. Don't believe it. If you've inspected much antique furniture, you'll find nails used extensively. But you have to look close. The the nails might be easy to spot in moldings and carcase backs, some of the others are harder to find. Look inside a piece and you might find nails that toenail the shelves or drawer runners to the sides. lots of the interior guts of a piece can be (and were) nailed. It's a fast way to build. The nails will be there if the glue gives way. And the correct nail will wedge the joint tight for decades, maybe centuries..."</blockquote>
Schwarz makes many assertions here that merit comment. First, low class wood-butchery is often defined by misuse of nails. His examples of where one finds nails are some examples, in fact, of low quality furnituremaking e.g 'toenail... drawer runners to the sides." This construction style is often a mark of factory production since the nails are hidden on the interior away from the mindful eyes of consumers. Most annoyingly, Schwarz makes no distinction between mass produced and handcrafted antiques in his support for nails. I have examined many examples of antique furniture under repair and one point I can stress is that not all nails found in furniture were put there originally both from factory and individually produced pieces. Not every discovered nail is, therefore, evidence of nail usage by the maker. The most encouraging part of Schwarz' thinking process is that he intends his furniture to last decades or longer. Yet as every furniture repairman knows, furniture lasts a century not because it is made indestructible but is made in order to be easily repaired. The use of brads in moldings allows for it to be gently pulled away from from the carcase with a puttyknife and patience, simplifying predictable repairs. This happens only because the original piece was constructed in a manner that allowed for ease of repairs. This explains why it is easy to spot nails in molding upon close inspection. A futureminded craftsman wants a repairman to find them!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTwJggWo68tqRfeBPCvCxxiBZQdabMJK2mc0-b7aTatsMBbqdnAxNDL1aJZ9Qnjvz2_wv1E-QB4H_ApR0DKNIlCeeAuSeakNhf93AWWK_r79Zq5qlQouEE3fUyl3luzAeURGRzzkuOF61n/s1600/cove+curve.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTwJggWo68tqRfeBPCvCxxiBZQdabMJK2mc0-b7aTatsMBbqdnAxNDL1aJZ9Qnjvz2_wv1E-QB4H_ApR0DKNIlCeeAuSeakNhf93AWWK_r79Zq5qlQouEE3fUyl3luzAeURGRzzkuOF61n/s320/cove+curve.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Full-size drawing from the Schwarz article</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0MNLvfXeeQYPwSmw81_UeFUR3PfxUikd5FYNqQyAqe3MVIdVvlFbw6awf_twt96p5H6cLfDuFgo0KjXu2Fjyt4ax6PvJ2NpifvPxk1x15zBZTOOrS62YXuchrkv-FYh2ulFTZkYeGWZii/s1600/beading+blades.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0MNLvfXeeQYPwSmw81_UeFUR3PfxUikd5FYNqQyAqe3MVIdVvlFbw6awf_twt96p5H6cLfDuFgo0KjXu2Fjyt4ax6PvJ2NpifvPxk1x15zBZTOOrS62YXuchrkv-FYh2ulFTZkYeGWZii/s320/beading+blades.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Checking the beads against the plans</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYNP10nwVGJ4A50mSiwUfo7A02OIcWUgZO-C9yTpI4JHv5ZoYs59KJ13mhPAqfGEU6RZijLVP_y-tG48ygXI3zNS6vsAllGAhBUyunOYdSuo9IYDfV50KBrNS3YoUway6mm1caeeaD9SOd/s1600/astragal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYNP10nwVGJ4A50mSiwUfo7A02OIcWUgZO-C9yTpI4JHv5ZoYs59KJ13mhPAqfGEU6RZijLVP_y-tG48ygXI3zNS6vsAllGAhBUyunOYdSuo9IYDfV50KBrNS3YoUway6mm1caeeaD9SOd/s320/astragal.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bulk waste removed before planing and scraping</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio3aCMoHn-DRj5kmwFbp5J1JUi2fzPveaunk7MseNigjZeVANeQBiANFRzIcMTbDUBVx5dbAdm0-ImOcBbI8Vucgmfulm25P_BbnEbd7zZ42qtwaKFNkWOLmZr5q9qz3gPyoQhnVYr5RKN/s1600/finished+astragals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio3aCMoHn-DRj5kmwFbp5J1JUi2fzPveaunk7MseNigjZeVANeQBiANFRzIcMTbDUBVx5dbAdm0-ImOcBbI8Vucgmfulm25P_BbnEbd7zZ42qtwaKFNkWOLmZr5q9qz3gPyoQhnVYr5RKN/s320/finished+astragals.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Astragals before rabbeting and gluing to cove and bead section</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm3WEBuvA6-PvvjkQ8fKVlLrJcy09O083RlvOiGTB2-bK8ij0W38hWPAqB7_2vaP2YjnxGmyFvzp0BHMEQPkV9Mnl4ha5kXKlb_Xwl1HBHXCI7OSTejHapQ2nV657fZeSMwisAH0kxYXPk/s1600/IMG_6870.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm3WEBuvA6-PvvjkQ8fKVlLrJcy09O083RlvOiGTB2-bK8ij0W38hWPAqB7_2vaP2YjnxGmyFvzp0BHMEQPkV9Mnl4ha5kXKlb_Xwl1HBHXCI7OSTejHapQ2nV657fZeSMwisAH0kxYXPk/s320/IMG_6870.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ripsaw cuts to remove waste</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifHfYjppRojHaLKSGXzmJ1cAW-5LOJbZCU7RfTwFU1Mg8Qzcp_Pgo3tfgYNcLAkLC8sHvA_iTFHjIIm72t6jhRwoGo3BVMpJ_CFz-4LF5J_vrvdf6XZ9qFgyo0J6HnrOotpD-udOuGw0kn/s1600/IMG_6875.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifHfYjppRojHaLKSGXzmJ1cAW-5LOJbZCU7RfTwFU1Mg8Qzcp_Pgo3tfgYNcLAkLC8sHvA_iTFHjIIm72t6jhRwoGo3BVMpJ_CFz-4LF5J_vrvdf6XZ9qFgyo0J6HnrOotpD-udOuGw0kn/s320/IMG_6875.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early mockup</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht8Crw4GpD6-d9q2woa_obV-3IH5RCFyr8XDzTB2MALttcrm2fpQkVTzFKHDt1uuxKZ-0ZrL_U5xCKot3yTc8Ie5w84KGOnEzggJHxNM4zNpt_SreMNZXuyWZ0UhJY8JlKXMGHf60glNM4/s1600/relief+cut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht8Crw4GpD6-d9q2woa_obV-3IH5RCFyr8XDzTB2MALttcrm2fpQkVTzFKHDt1uuxKZ-0ZrL_U5xCKot3yTc8Ie5w84KGOnEzggJHxNM4zNpt_SreMNZXuyWZ0UhJY8JlKXMGHf60glNM4/s320/relief+cut.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rabbet (as per Schwarz) and relief cut to simplify fitting of cornice</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb7uAEQB5iyZLUWNKiGGhtgzAvUsaQ7CHs8FbAdLsrgvFRau94LUIFB3MfBwGaEFGhkOmGGB3BYlVPNUcq5fDDv0m1ybmmglNNLF1B0B6XmZ0Xh5M4izh41S_mUhObg5Cybut9t_usshwB/s1600/IMG_6920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb7uAEQB5iyZLUWNKiGGhtgzAvUsaQ7CHs8FbAdLsrgvFRau94LUIFB3MfBwGaEFGhkOmGGB3BYlVPNUcq5fDDv0m1ybmmglNNLF1B0B6XmZ0Xh5M4izh41S_mUhObg5Cybut9t_usshwB/s320/IMG_6920.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Completed molding section</td></tr>
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This makes his comment about nails holding after glue has failed rather distressing. A failed gluejoint originally reinforced with nails likely invites a handyman with a hammer, usually somebody's brotherinlaw or a cheapskate retiree, decides that a piece of furniture only needs a few more nails to put it all right lickety-split. Schwarz gives a very mixed message in this regard, writing later in the article:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Then take everything apart and reassemble with glue. Although this isn't particularly complex assembly, I would choose a slow-setting glue (Such as Titebond Extend) or perhaps a liquid hide glue (such as Old Brown Glue), which is both slow-setting and reversible with heat and water. You could also a polyurethane glue, which sets slowly, but there can be some foamy-squeeze-out problems if you're not an experienced user of this product." </blockquote>
This list of adhesives suggests that any of these three can equally contribute to constructing a piece of furniture with the potential to last a century. It's only the reversibility of the animal protein glue that makes it possible to repair a piece with minimal intrusion. The hidden nails that Schwarz insists on adding to the dadoes are not only more difficult to spot but much more damaging to extract than headed nails driven from the outside of the carcase, which he advises in a later book. I don't suggest that his method of using a gimlet to prebore the holes for nails is wrong or ahistoric, but hiding nails on the interior with a nailgun is a method that industrial furniture manufactures perform routinely, too. Despite using more handtools than Kenney ever considers in his later reinterpretation, Schwarz does appear to be following the guidelines for an industrial manufacturer, which are not at all aligned with the original celibate woodworker.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjMsqNngF_prZcGwDl8BPWZp5FOu1PC-B-j9mpJmHz0HcQqREJSa2JiKcVNgBkUu3sEOiShu5y_xGV9C1HG0gTGn1wyoA7HsSuewtrWokM63qWYAPlOuIbwp1Ebg9V5S1m-7N3oBQdrHFU/s1600/IMG_7115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjMsqNngF_prZcGwDl8BPWZp5FOu1PC-B-j9mpJmHz0HcQqREJSa2JiKcVNgBkUu3sEOiShu5y_xGV9C1HG0gTGn1wyoA7HsSuewtrWokM63qWYAPlOuIbwp1Ebg9V5S1m-7N3oBQdrHFU/s400/IMG_7115.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Backboards removed: shelf spacing</td></tr>
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After rereading the PWW article, I decided that I need to rethink his approach. I wanted this cabinet to be built along the same set of compromises and aesthetic concerns as are represented in the original. This calls into question what it means to make Shaker furniture in a postindustrial world, especially one in which most people have only ever interacted with, if at all, modern factorymade reproductions of Shaker pieces. with varying degrees of fidelity to the originals. 21st century woodworkers are much more likely to be making copies of reproductions of Shaker originals. While the general appeal of furniture styles can wax and wane with other fashion trends, I think I can explain the present day appeal of the Shaker aesthetic.<br />
First the minimal decorative elements and boxy forms appeal to modern woodworkers who have centered the tablesaw in their workshop. This is not a recent development but a trend that has been building up so that today it's possible to buy mass produced Shaker style pegs for any project that requires them. A weekend woodworker can feel reasonably confident that he can complete a project that looks good enough to justify to his wife why she is unable to park her minivan into their two-car garage.<br />
There is also a sense that Shaker is an American (Unitedstater) form that rejected European extravagance while celebrating Yankee utilitarianism. As usual, there is a modicum of truth to many legends. Lastly, I think that Shaker style furniture as it has been redefined by manufacturers is easy for them to produce and for consumers to identify regardless of how closely it resembles the originals. More recently, it fits in nicely with the Real! Wood movement since the Shakers used only real wood from real trees and they tended to use natural figure as decorative highlights The fact that they also loved bright primary colors has conveniently been overlooked, at least, until instant milk paints started showing up in the market. Besides most of the photographs of original dwellings are in black and white so it's rather common to forget that anything was brightly painted until RCA began selling color TVs.<br />
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Complicating this discussion is the long length of the Shaker era, which bridged industrialization in the USA. It might be helpful if more is made of the distinctions between domestic and commercial Shaker pieces; and handmade and industrially produced items. I have not yet come up with a satisfying term for the distinction between original Shaker pieces and modernized, simplified versions. Perhaps industrialized Shaker, NeoShaker, or Normite Shaker?<br />
I cannot return to the local timber stands that an anonymous cabinetmaker in Enfield drew his primary materials from to source my lumber. He used local because that is mostly all he could procure. I use construction grade SPF and SYP because, in the same spirit, that is what I can readily procure. Underhill stresses the importance of finding high quality, dense white pine, calling SPF marshmallow wood. I decided that SYP would do better for construction of the casework. It's a compromise but I feel more confident that the end grain certainly wears better for the feet than SPF among other factors. Neither Schwarz nor Kenney explain their decisions to use Cherry and Maple respectively for their cabinets. Kenney mentions that the cupboard's intended use is for his wife's sewing notions. I doubt that her pastime demands a more durable case than a jelly jar cabinet. I certainly hope that their decisions didn't involve antiPine snobbery!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIiyzHFqeYz_74x5U-yMRDilQltIF46_We5yQ3AoQIZ80tas1elRCDp-gp5l1EeZdlNL48dIrXpoxwEk4vXRTKUyynjEnJ0BOVOFRZ3rNJzbHbLCNppM2URrW9yveH_B5Q6OcE3vHGnzO/s1600/transferring+tails.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1054" data-original-width="1600" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIiyzHFqeYz_74x5U-yMRDilQltIF46_We5yQ3AoQIZ80tas1elRCDp-gp5l1EeZdlNL48dIrXpoxwEk4vXRTKUyynjEnJ0BOVOFRZ3rNJzbHbLCNppM2URrW9yveH_B5Q6OcE3vHGnzO/s320/transferring+tails.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Balancing the side to transfer the the tails</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEoCSYmXrivquJ8czz4xlNbat0ioLLq0LJYRQfRId2iOZIIb_v1f92eiBEx37ZVGraLy8cGvqTRlX0hhPsU0LOQby9jc8VmADBsWcl_ZHgi55OiO4FCIL0m1DwADF6WuBTMCMjN3BuX3FH/s1600/pinboard+in+Moxon+vise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1368" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEoCSYmXrivquJ8czz4xlNbat0ioLLq0LJYRQfRId2iOZIIb_v1f92eiBEx37ZVGraLy8cGvqTRlX0hhPsU0LOQby9jc8VmADBsWcl_ZHgi55OiO4FCIL0m1DwADF6WuBTMCMjN3BuX3FH/s320/pinboard+in+Moxon+vise.jpg" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moxon vise</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJbnHbFvJC6xmBR0-tWYUghsXlqv_txwVFejkB6eG1judjAoCk7HaG6ycfC6I9GyKx4dtjHu0SFcC1E7qncQbxwK7HmykhEopg-cLuxTBHO98Ecu5YiLPxbShDUpRDfW-tWL6Tyu8-biVO/s1600/IMG_6074.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJbnHbFvJC6xmBR0-tWYUghsXlqv_txwVFejkB6eG1judjAoCk7HaG6ycfC6I9GyKx4dtjHu0SFcC1E7qncQbxwK7HmykhEopg-cLuxTBHO98Ecu5YiLPxbShDUpRDfW-tWL6Tyu8-biVO/s320/IMG_6074.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I seldom use a coping saw on smaller stock</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6PnkPoIBYJsx4X7zbwRpMyxmgAalIrK5aBEb2lCVHtF-JDG-eEnBT5jhkyo0_G7N7ddAmKfGkrK9wmcOwE8HPZf40eVJ2Br6bQnsVt1a0nTs1mwEULKXQ8OZRsSxmjq4AXXoWauKhhG43/s1600/IMG_6082.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6PnkPoIBYJsx4X7zbwRpMyxmgAalIrK5aBEb2lCVHtF-JDG-eEnBT5jhkyo0_G7N7ddAmKfGkrK9wmcOwE8HPZf40eVJ2Br6bQnsVt1a0nTs1mwEULKXQ8OZRsSxmjq4AXXoWauKhhG43/s320/IMG_6082.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dryfitting</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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My own construction details of the carcase joinery came about because I didn't look at the plans of Schwarz very carefully. I think I would have used halfblind dovetails at the top corners because that seems what the piece calls for. The detailed description of the dovetail jig and setup in the Kenney article might have convinced me that all three woodworkers did the same. Schwarz rejected sliding dovetail between the shelves and the case sides as too great a challenge. But he assumes that all shelves must employ the same joinery option. I believe that I fell upon a better solution.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz9B52QJVfnsr4uusqQjh-X6nM4sqWB9ZiiN-qzrqEgetiWDxYqDrzF2jW-CwGDntlgsFQU4VIgyXLBX-pgMXebk_H97VxaSFvDPXd0qHaSdJTIOfI9M4zHc7QIsWA6QZ9aH5qDc6C49s6/s1600/IMG_6104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="1600" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz9B52QJVfnsr4uusqQjh-X6nM4sqWB9ZiiN-qzrqEgetiWDxYqDrzF2jW-CwGDntlgsFQU4VIgyXLBX-pgMXebk_H97VxaSFvDPXd0qHaSdJTIOfI9M4zHc7QIsWA6QZ9aH5qDc6C49s6/s320/IMG_6104.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Single sided dovetail</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjujvFB8Rjoe6J3qhF9ouisngDRIG2Epbd-yZOTLnm1q6ZWtukdYRIwqpSgSiJ9ZPxuB6Wf_Gy8jSWiknixnFoZczaPKArPw_4a2MqHRNjZ0ON4sM5tblbQQJuOCP-fbbkZgjfdepku-uUu/s1600/IMG_6105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1226" data-original-width="1600" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjujvFB8Rjoe6J3qhF9ouisngDRIG2Epbd-yZOTLnm1q6ZWtukdYRIwqpSgSiJ9ZPxuB6Wf_Gy8jSWiknixnFoZczaPKArPw_4a2MqHRNjZ0ON4sM5tblbQQJuOCP-fbbkZgjfdepku-uUu/s320/IMG_6105.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tapered sliding dovetail joint</td></tr>
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I decided to do only one shelf with a sliding tapered dovetail joint. This along with other features can provide sufficient strength for keeping the sides linked together and square. Then during glueup I would only attempt to glue this shelf, the halfblind dovetails, and two other shelves with plain dadoes. These four horizontal components would assure that I could clamp up the assembly square. With glue dried and the clamps removed, It might seem counterintuitive but a tapered sliding dovetail is easier
to construct than a straight one. The layout requires a bit more
attention but the final fitting involves less potential for screwups. I then fettled and slid the last two uppermost shelves into place snugly, applying hide glue only at the front of the joint.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYvXU0R7vThPxe8O-WU2r-JzzcI295o_OesRpgcy1tvSyBK5vC8X26p6_HpTm0fJDBYUzuKVSgKRMa3PNaCF58ClmtMqLaOClV7Ulek5i6fFgNEaA2T_O-Jnr4J2oOsaCdETMvDAOMN1aB/s1600/cutting+dadoes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYvXU0R7vThPxe8O-WU2r-JzzcI295o_OesRpgcy1tvSyBK5vC8X26p6_HpTm0fJDBYUzuKVSgKRMa3PNaCF58ClmtMqLaOClV7Ulek5i6fFgNEaA2T_O-Jnr4J2oOsaCdETMvDAOMN1aB/s320/cutting+dadoes.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dado joints</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
To keep the layout simple, I set the depth of the dadoes with a marking gauge to be the same as the amount of material that is removed from the tailboard sides. I then could use the inside marks of the top to define the width of the shelves.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIixjA4jq9TeR_zB2yKEH0m1MCZdQeKl3IPBjjB9ImNUunhKNEcQ76OqANh9_uL-gaTnc_X8c-h_3WdnQ6rC_X5YuheLzcc_2piSOJbQiopYyNWx8EUUihSww1ViQwGJoSUDrqykacDzNy/s1600/shelf+gllueup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIixjA4jq9TeR_zB2yKEH0m1MCZdQeKl3IPBjjB9ImNUunhKNEcQ76OqANh9_uL-gaTnc_X8c-h_3WdnQ6rC_X5YuheLzcc_2piSOJbQiopYyNWx8EUUihSww1ViQwGJoSUDrqykacDzNy/s320/shelf+gllueup.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making do with 2x10 stock</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
One other detail that merits mention is in the depth of the shelving boards. The upper shelves are cut to the same width as that of the measurement from the front to the rabbet of the sides. The two lowermost shelves, however, are wide enough to engage into dadoes cut into the back boards. I doubt much but these might afford a modicum of additional support to the lower shelves. Ideally, the heaviest items for storage ought to be placed here. The principal benefit is that these dadoes prevent racking of the carcase. The backboards will eventually be nailed in place after *spoiler alert* the rest has been painted with nails driven in the rabbet recess above and below the shelves and a short distance from the sides into the shelves and through the dadoes. This arrangement creates a triangular nail pattern, bracing against horizontal forces while still allowing the backboards to expand and contract across the tongue and groove joint.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf2gUuFIoAOWZy1_0m3p1PlOe1_8eqoqboIe1Mvb9GOPm0lFi62KJJBeFhL5GRMuwouCOylDqwQ6Jv8tcLHJzmo2D5FnDRq4pXzK9qpOGYjRBYDojr969i8upZ-6IIoTg6vrgY3F9IZnhq/s1600/IMG_6934.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf2gUuFIoAOWZy1_0m3p1PlOe1_8eqoqboIe1Mvb9GOPm0lFi62KJJBeFhL5GRMuwouCOylDqwQ6Jv8tcLHJzmo2D5FnDRq4pXzK9qpOGYjRBYDojr969i8upZ-6IIoTg6vrgY3F9IZnhq/s320/IMG_6934.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spacer block in action</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Then it follows to apply the faceframe to the carcase. Schwarz here makes a very useful suggestion. I cut a spacer block at the same time as I cut the shoulders of the tenons on the top rail. This piece is useful during glueup of the frame to keep the vertical pieces parallel and also to maintain alignment when nailing the frame to the carcase.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFX5Dy2GAsOwrmg35qeatmiQW-ZhGeNLz7_2Yqd_Sm8p0hkbq0XpmuCzWxm4lPn7gQc1IwAPLEKN7mM9h6T136Ssd5FZYUZQ8B3SFJz-0NkKfbKG93hL6iK7ysATmHZejAWiA65En5PfpU/s1600/IMG_6947.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFX5Dy2GAsOwrmg35qeatmiQW-ZhGeNLz7_2Yqd_Sm8p0hkbq0XpmuCzWxm4lPn7gQc1IwAPLEKN7mM9h6T136Ssd5FZYUZQ8B3SFJz-0NkKfbKG93hL6iK7ysATmHZejAWiA65En5PfpU/s320/IMG_6947.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Faceframe glued and clamped</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_1cMk4T0M6MEQHDYhTA0CGgEjWoJu5UDop3YabTJyruClNFQczSaeu6Ov3Af_EjXT9qlcqpB9Q_m6WUoDMIsZQdQe38bJk7abeRwAg929ZyH6ql14IY8gR4a8XzThnUnOysk73e3gAx2/s1600/tapered+plugs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_1cMk4T0M6MEQHDYhTA0CGgEjWoJu5UDop3YabTJyruClNFQczSaeu6Ov3Af_EjXT9qlcqpB9Q_m6WUoDMIsZQdQe38bJk7abeRwAg929ZyH6ql14IY8gR4a8XzThnUnOysk73e3gAx2/s320/tapered+plugs.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making plugs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7gUsUyqoZ4ZyfUdurP5HfCMxQcsrV_qg8XiMx9G4acTzXWly-w_DGQE_3JeNZl4i2TtT0A3D8QEbp7f2QDRkzc9PiabdBkCEtTbfTjGlM-ZAr53xyDmcYvfyjGgVumApaCPELjUNiRY0W/s1600/predrilled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7gUsUyqoZ4ZyfUdurP5HfCMxQcsrV_qg8XiMx9G4acTzXWly-w_DGQE_3JeNZl4i2TtT0A3D8QEbp7f2QDRkzc9PiabdBkCEtTbfTjGlM-ZAr53xyDmcYvfyjGgVumApaCPELjUNiRY0W/s320/predrilled.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Predrilled prior to gluiing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEo4PNgRqOaoLQxUPICc6P7SQydfB9H4SOlU1xS18bcZsRjgnKl6I_hJxdmM-mn9eHx2kiLbQnZxgO0XmIf9CLMWkzCONkl_RbFHCpQJtyJRD0yKYgqkHMdgLO3i6xJyBhAI7-GBuGMWqG/s1600/nailed+and+plugged.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEo4PNgRqOaoLQxUPICc6P7SQydfB9H4SOlU1xS18bcZsRjgnKl6I_hJxdmM-mn9eHx2kiLbQnZxgO0XmIf9CLMWkzCONkl_RbFHCpQJtyJRD0yKYgqkHMdgLO3i6xJyBhAI7-GBuGMWqG/s320/nailed+and+plugged.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nailed and plugged</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
I first clamped the faceframe in place, anticipating a bit of overhang. I then drilled the pilotholes for the Tremont finishing nails. Setting the nails into these holes, I spread glue and was able to reapply the faceframe into the holes and then to nail quickly, obviating the need for as many clamps.<br />
I set the nailheads about an 1/8" below the surface with a pinpunch which left a round hole ready to receive the wooden plugs, which I sharpened just enough to create a snug fit that, consequently, are held in place with hide glue.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKh3hbmvJcnyVPN6QBG9G3QCIvB0n80T4IP0da65M4_nLskyq5RurEF_RPd9KSyRfNG8jNfvySADCjYVVFWOKFl1E_0HnoTF-kQ1dZPvhR3ARAUhl34m1nTarMCiioD1YoyPDFUhF9DfEf/s1600/planing+faceframe+flush.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKh3hbmvJcnyVPN6QBG9G3QCIvB0n80T4IP0da65M4_nLskyq5RurEF_RPd9KSyRfNG8jNfvySADCjYVVFWOKFl1E_0HnoTF-kQ1dZPvhR3ARAUhl34m1nTarMCiioD1YoyPDFUhF9DfEf/s320/planing+faceframe+flush.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Planing off the excess wood and adding chamfers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I decided against running a bead up along the front to corners. I don't like seeing a bead run under a cornice. This creates an unsatisfying visual conjunction; instead, I put a chamfer along the lengths and allowed it to taper off just below the cornice.<br />
The next step is making and hanging the paneled door. The frame is standard; the distinction lies in the beaded panels. I certainly don't know enough about furniture of this period to say whether this was a common feature or an innovation. The challenge in creating this bead is highlighted by the fact that only Underhill bothers to mention it. His suggested technique is to use a sharpened flat head screw secured in a block of wood that acts as a fence. I've used this technique in the past and it does work fairly well but in this situation, the sharpened screw cutter must span the gap that fits into the frame.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCzReI9V7cz6ON8w6cafsKKrA-pJoKJWwwym7DnBHPBLlCieBTa_XHP8d5U8EMD6c-XBrC8S6yeTTmSBJhFyG826hUPiaPfEYoVOZjdzXIuyhRGqLLul0mgqAKT3IQjhnrN526avv2cY6v/s1600/replacement+panel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCzReI9V7cz6ON8w6cafsKKrA-pJoKJWwwym7DnBHPBLlCieBTa_XHP8d5U8EMD6c-XBrC8S6yeTTmSBJhFyG826hUPiaPfEYoVOZjdzXIuyhRGqLLul0mgqAKT3IQjhnrN526avv2cY6v/s320/replacement+panel.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">learning curve on display</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The inherent problems Underhill's stickandscrew device compelled me to work out a method of my own. I based the dimensions of the bead on a cutter from a LN beading plane. I then used a cutting gauge to cut two parallel lines that define the groove. The bulk of the waste was chopped out with chisels to avoid crossgrain tearout. Some deft paring work then rounded the sides of the beaded, the contour of which was refined with cutter held in hand, paying attention to the slope of grain.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_PrT8TzX_BgiYMW1zlZE9PjoANyv2zIABNJyiWWX2IrlNoGMFCBQsYrwBA37QHIoAZbowvDJPjhzNpnkedSLwyhXeuytyUr8FsOvWtPIgzk2tJ-NUotnjQbEZKPgwzbZYHSiKnCPHhc6T/s1600/grain+orientation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_PrT8TzX_BgiYMW1zlZE9PjoANyv2zIABNJyiWWX2IrlNoGMFCBQsYrwBA37QHIoAZbowvDJPjhzNpnkedSLwyhXeuytyUr8FsOvWtPIgzk2tJ-NUotnjQbEZKPgwzbZYHSiKnCPHhc6T/s320/grain+orientation.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sloping right; sloping left</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOfwseif1RyFwWP0QxRrc3LnDaqn_BKhf2DzM2qHmOwZI-ElfNgWW6ecHaPebQxTsjymoohMu3_0WawjKuaWneG8yAK7-8RWHXdRP5WX-M7tNmW7sot9lkY1FginAQvBAibjJeNyO0Ag8F/s1600/taper+plugs+in+doorback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOfwseif1RyFwWP0QxRrc3LnDaqn_BKhf2DzM2qHmOwZI-ElfNgWW6ecHaPebQxTsjymoohMu3_0WawjKuaWneG8yAK7-8RWHXdRP5WX-M7tNmW7sot9lkY1FginAQvBAibjJeNyO0Ag8F/s320/taper+plugs+in+doorback.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maple plugs tapped from the door back</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Although I did not peg the faceframe, I decided to try a new method of pegging on the door. Once again the discontinued <a href="http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/Page.aspx?p=32280&cat=1,180,42240,53317" target="_blank">Plugger</a> was called into service. I glued the frame first and then predrilled with 2mm drills. I then used the Plugger on the interior surface, pressing until the tip just poked through the front. Tapered pegs are, in fact, are easier to drive home in this manner. There is certainly no danger of splitting out fibers on the show surface. In the case there is a need for repairs, removing such pegs is equally simpler. The obvious benefit is that there is minimal end grain on the front surface. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFstIR1hyphenhyphenTw6rFZbC140VoMLdMSuyUDbPEphe0q5c4nDEotqFQmT65EdPP0WXOdPZ1inwVlpf0Ielogcl3TvLm9H16-dU-jMhG_hkJ9yd-L188nEvoquWe-nizVtx5HE-gnqStR2jakcqR/s1600/IMG_7099.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFstIR1hyphenhyphenTw6rFZbC140VoMLdMSuyUDbPEphe0q5c4nDEotqFQmT65EdPP0WXOdPZ1inwVlpf0Ielogcl3TvLm9H16-dU-jMhG_hkJ9yd-L188nEvoquWe-nizVtx5HE-gnqStR2jakcqR/s320/IMG_7099.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">poking through</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv1qv46UUI6QzdZHeD5ckP4NgOFCuAOWP76T9xF6ngrMLXjET7-qNhoURHluFRBRcvDvtlbpzp7THsiuzcL9WJqh8hLH2MrIFAkn42FrYj5bbMdQNoywvOqWaGh3nF6ewsZ-qKfUaK0KXq/s1600/flush+trimmed+pegs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv1qv46UUI6QzdZHeD5ckP4NgOFCuAOWP76T9xF6ngrMLXjET7-qNhoURHluFRBRcvDvtlbpzp7THsiuzcL9WJqh8hLH2MrIFAkn42FrYj5bbMdQNoywvOqWaGh3nF6ewsZ-qKfUaK0KXq/s320/flush+trimmed+pegs.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sawn flush</td></tr>
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I pause here in the build to consider what makes the Enfield cupboard iconic and renders it distinctive from other small cupboards. Despite the popularity of this piece, there is truly no fully detailed description of it to create an objectively accurate reproduction. Schwarz confirms this suspicion. The Smithsonian, as well as I have been able to assess, has never published interior photos of it, nor allowed knowledgeable woodworkers to examine its construction details. I cannot even say whether it has ever been publicly displayed there. The principal source of information is the publication based on a Danish furniture repairman's working sketches, which as Schwarz unironically writes, were done "Sometime in the 20th century...". I have not been able to track down any more information about the genesis of this publication. Given all the questions raised by the the source material and its delayed publication, it is safe to say that the Handberg drawings cannot be considered definitive. Ejner Handberg was laid to rest in 1985 but the original cupboard is behind the walls of the Smithsonian.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0v5xrJfeysJYNVHXjMj-YzPDvQACDAebLEVc8vjElfimR2aZcgKe2KOw3nJBz3z3qY0U3VVMtnIEgtRO7lALkNDX4zIbv5WxdpWIM4p7OAWHM150ufsvdX20L9GczwXg74BGXFZtu7jwp/s1600/chopping+leg+profile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0v5xrJfeysJYNVHXjMj-YzPDvQACDAebLEVc8vjElfimR2aZcgKe2KOw3nJBz3z3qY0U3VVMtnIEgtRO7lALkNDX4zIbv5WxdpWIM4p7OAWHM150ufsvdX20L9GczwXg74BGXFZtu7jwp/s320/chopping+leg+profile.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chopped endgrain before sawing the leg profiles</td></tr>
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And so we must consider what elements make a cupboard an Enfield cupboard as we presently understand it. I think one notable feature is its size. Its dimensions make it functional and yet not so large that it can overwhelm a small space. It has simple, straight lines but it is not devoid of decoration. The cornice molding, therefore, is a distinctive element, which, as Underhill points out, is essential to concealing its joinery. Lastly, I think the door construction also defines this piece as what it is. The simplicity of the all wood pull and turnknob are essential for me. The threesided faceframe also is de rigueur. I also believe that the beaded panels fall into this category. The doorframe is made quite light with stock that is too thin to support beads, which for aesthetic reasons then are moved to the panel. I think the linear emphasis is undeniable in the original's appeal.<br />
More research is warranted to better understand beaded panels. I still haven't determined the best method for this nor has anybody proposed the method how the original was cut. The closest that I can compare this with is purfling and I thus wonder whether a specialized tool was similarly used to create the perimeter groove in the original.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOAGW4XivpJ57VEnZv5Hy15MLJ7HEFPwNu5tfWzHDmpOUhria-JFfmY08wqJh3hCAE4tpz3MZfv75Ni4pMTbxtAm1KnrMODvDQTrkzJxENPnj51IeS7_NOrZMJIK6MVBSCu48ZmRVCHnur/s1600/alternate+dovetail+layout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOAGW4XivpJ57VEnZv5Hy15MLJ7HEFPwNu5tfWzHDmpOUhria-JFfmY08wqJh3hCAE4tpz3MZfv75Ni4pMTbxtAm1KnrMODvDQTrkzJxENPnj51IeS7_NOrZMJIK6MVBSCu48ZmRVCHnur/s320/alternate+dovetail+layout.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Simpler method of dovetail layout</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB6rDw98G-N178CZNCmkDx22vTBUkgrrA9jvZM5On_0l5bOsEKwzujdoEUMK79hkx4PcizP3KM3wToDkcJK3i8_EaZcOLF1HbLmua7BCVrJ-Mb0bhSoVeUufMQSgrs0iSuztG3hFOohi2i/s1600/IMG_7116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB6rDw98G-N178CZNCmkDx22vTBUkgrrA9jvZM5On_0l5bOsEKwzujdoEUMK79hkx4PcizP3KM3wToDkcJK3i8_EaZcOLF1HbLmua7BCVrJ-Mb0bhSoVeUufMQSgrs0iSuztG3hFOohi2i/s320/IMG_7116.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Improved dovetail layout accommodating the back rabbet</td></tr>
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Other features seem adaptable to today's woodworker. Pine is used in the original and I think this material, carefully selected, is more than adequate and lends itself malleable to the crown molding and beaded panel details. I suspect that the original cabinetmaker wanted a lightweight cupboard from a material that would work readily with handtools. The decision by modern woodworkers to use hardwoods seems to be a function of the ease of planing wide boards speedily and effortlessly with electric surface planers. Perhaps even more to the point, however, is the perception that pine is not worthy of handmade items, especially for items that are intended to command a high enough price to justify the labor costs. It's hard to discern the real motives behind such hardwood preferences. Wood selection is certainly the primary concern in China. I speculate that Schwarz' choice of Cherry says more about what his customer expected. I don't know why Kenney chose maple any more than I can fathom why he installed a drawer that wasted so much interior space with the drawer addition. In writing this essay, it's become evident that Kenney's article for FWW guided me the least in my own build. Visually his cupboard shows the least similarity with the original and the greatest amount of industrial aesthetics. At best, his cupboard is about the same size as the Enfield cupboard. And yet, it was the title of his piece:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The Enflield Cupboard, Updated; An iconic Shaker cabinet gets a face-lift</blockquote>
which set me to pondering how any piece gets labeled iconic and how then its iconic features can be so casually <a href="https://www.finewoodworking.com/2015/09/30/updating-the-classic-enfield-cupboard" target="_blank">downplayed</a>. I think it's fair to say that Kenney's reinterpretation drifted the farthest from a Shaker preindustrial spirit as FWW has drifted from the editorial focus of the f<a href="https://www.finewoodworking.com/issue/1975/12/issue-1" target="_blank">irst issue</a>. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCc9WYwruB0ANALLQeaX-Y5XeFGR_NNFRXI3Vg0Bi-V1ZBpuKklbAR8McYjkAPaNtGdmwfOfAyxvqb1Rmeygg1pTGo4nOGKt63sGhqBXoqbKVJl4Bibq48os5lqrmWyhhNUQmzIJqn5B5D/s1600/IMG_5990.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCc9WYwruB0ANALLQeaX-Y5XeFGR_NNFRXI3Vg0Bi-V1ZBpuKklbAR8McYjkAPaNtGdmwfOfAyxvqb1Rmeygg1pTGo4nOGKt63sGhqBXoqbKVJl4Bibq48os5lqrmWyhhNUQmzIJqn5B5D/s320/IMG_5990.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Knots determine application</td></tr>
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Lastly, there is the matter of the odd shelf spacing, which I deem more of a quirk than a feature. It certainly remains a riddle that is never to be answered without the interest of equally curious curators. I have a theory that the shelf spacing was determined by the positioning of knots and difficult grain, but until the Smithsonian publishes the interior details, it shall remain just a theory.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLK2Y7XLvnGb3A8iur1AJDSERLnBJ9kqSQrhg7lK3hMsM60WDIZf7VXCrNIkVSg8UKWQG6vXMA2GQRL4vVUKwls889gJZe7k1tqIwy2sED5gXWkQJBmiX_RGQQ1OcqB886NcTlmAp6j6Mw/s1600/packed+for+moving.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLK2Y7XLvnGb3A8iur1AJDSERLnBJ9kqSQrhg7lK3hMsM60WDIZf7VXCrNIkVSg8UKWQG6vXMA2GQRL4vVUKwls889gJZe7k1tqIwy2sED5gXWkQJBmiX_RGQQ1OcqB886NcTlmAp6j6Mw/s320/packed+for+moving.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Packed for indefinite storage</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9pmeyhw0dQARy9mWHNiAXzVLnQ4YGlw4CVR7W1tuHtigv54l72_CbpAQuBxOFHfpadRrzMYKKMgzhCY5aMT3V96UpgnXrri4C12UGDffcaUAugURHCR-Zmi5mTvTO0CUV4W0byRJZjWYD/s1600/packed+and+padded.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9pmeyhw0dQARy9mWHNiAXzVLnQ4YGlw4CVR7W1tuHtigv54l72_CbpAQuBxOFHfpadRrzMYKKMgzhCY5aMT3V96UpgnXrri4C12UGDffcaUAugURHCR-Zmi5mTvTO0CUV4W0byRJZjWYD/s400/packed+and+padded.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bundled until further notice</td></tr>
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I had intended to publish this weblog posting with photos of the completed piece in its intended location, but then the fickle finger of fate intervened. The woodshop was deemed too dangerous by security authorities after two years of operation. We were ordered to vacate the parking garage with two weeks' warning. Briefly a nearby unused four storey residence was offered as a consolation at a reasonable rent, but it was withdrawn shortly afterwards. The woodshop chief has relocated into a four stall garage and I have moved my equipment, materials, and uncompleted projects into the house of a former student sympathetic to my circumstances. So I'm in the lurch as to my next move. Updates to follow.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjolDo8NYOQtByAA5u_ZIr-MGgTVJaLA_dWKKpgz5AJNZZQcIET1E7f5NmGvGCLLxm-ch_tH9rdOAPR2-j5rpoArhsFXX6ZzBTlLQW-_OtszW48bUPOGBlJAMkkrSESj_pYrZFkKGB3gOrA/s1600/IMG_7181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjolDo8NYOQtByAA5u_ZIr-MGgTVJaLA_dWKKpgz5AJNZZQcIET1E7f5NmGvGCLLxm-ch_tH9rdOAPR2-j5rpoArhsFXX6ZzBTlLQW-_OtszW48bUPOGBlJAMkkrSESj_pYrZFkKGB3gOrA/s320/IMG_7181.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very unfinished mansion </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE6nsQgneIh3J3Idq2fjFhIhkrbP9nvYchG4dd7lMntfd7rA5uNsR0nGs0oqzLXisHCwBpae2szbBihvvkg20aWi3sarb6jqQ78ybbTdcd86KlhQ3Es-vnpEdW5MTBglFezV4eUEm7sZNT/s1600/IMG_7174.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE6nsQgneIh3J3Idq2fjFhIhkrbP9nvYchG4dd7lMntfd7rA5uNsR0nGs0oqzLXisHCwBpae2szbBihvvkg20aWi3sarb6jqQ78ybbTdcd86KlhQ3Es-vnpEdW5MTBglFezV4eUEm7sZNT/s320/IMG_7174.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Putative woodshop for a day</td></tr>
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During the transition period, I was compelled to dispose of two sacks of accumulated scrap pieces. This was done by dumping them in a designated tip area located on the apartment complex grounds. I happened to catch sight of a sidetable that was left there to be carted away with the rest of the construction rubble. If I had spotted this same piece a few months earlier, I would have rescued it, repaired it to the best of my abilities, and after studying it, I would have written up a weblog posting here and postponed all that I have written hereabove. Feeling defeated and exhausted, I saw this piece as a portent. It's possible that there are not enough middle class Chinese yet who appreciate handmade furniture.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQxKjcNp2W2UFncqZB8-rQXsTe6x3aE0sFAXJQqQC7oeQ1noUveYnVzV28Hmsmh0D46sl5pLlDVcXg9arXpK0klc31Tj8lNtfJAk4EIst_QoW26JvWaVmfvb_IEpxTNzreB4v7twiskWU/s1600/Idiscarded.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQxKjcNp2W2UFncqZB8-rQXsTe6x3aE0sFAXJQqQC7oeQ1noUveYnVzV28Hmsmh0D46sl5pLlDVcXg9arXpK0klc31Tj8lNtfJAk4EIst_QoW26JvWaVmfvb_IEpxTNzreB4v7twiskWU/s320/Idiscarded.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Replaced by Ikea</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBC2MHZ0pDa_7uKkzMtU8IgsBkk8O2O6RwoGe1WtXsSd_-TucvCAXAZ12N1dNl_zREX6c6RzYGscLCCScC7tM7rVKF3IbMqpon9OXHKxScRMaePcL-HFG_IiqOWWOv1NmZu2EUeQvLdtZq/s1600/discarded_7217.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBC2MHZ0pDa_7uKkzMtU8IgsBkk8O2O6RwoGe1WtXsSd_-TucvCAXAZ12N1dNl_zREX6c6RzYGscLCCScC7tM7rVKF3IbMqpon9OXHKxScRMaePcL-HFG_IiqOWWOv1NmZu2EUeQvLdtZq/s320/discarded_7217.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Handicraft landfill</td></tr>
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Zhongqiujie kuaile!<br />
<br />Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com0Pukou, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China32.059093 118.6278939999999731.628404999999997 117.98244699999996 32.489781 119.27334099999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-35011015363163723872018-08-09T18:41:00.000+08:002018-08-09T18:43:44.791+08:00Latest Project; New Tools<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOphxQzB9wGD8qQPLdho5BtYwNX3fP0AAm8B-Nus-gO5CxpfUKwYgo-mHsL3b2DCiOjdxhC032VzFNsbrQVoKQMmi4ZVaPwnGK22PB643ud9e8_RbsXNIVhKMADyOLRVSIOLekIJQX5xp/s1600/IMG_6850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOphxQzB9wGD8qQPLdho5BtYwNX3fP0AAm8B-Nus-gO5CxpfUKwYgo-mHsL3b2DCiOjdxhC032VzFNsbrQVoKQMmi4ZVaPwnGK22PB643ud9e8_RbsXNIVhKMADyOLRVSIOLekIJQX5xp/s320/IMG_6850.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">two round planes </td></tr>
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My most recent project left me with a dilemma. I've been using three sources for this reproduction effort, which I shall write fully about anon. The piece is full of interesting details, each with its merits and relevance. In particular is a crown molding detail that required me to consider purchasing new tools to adequately complete it or to get by just using card scrapers. Since I am in China, I must abide by the market limitations in choosing what I can reasonably obtain.<br />
Mujinggfang is a woodworking tool company that I have written about and <a href="http://remisquotable.blogspot.com/2014/12/mujingfang-remade.html" target="_blank">critiqued</a> previously so this essay follows in that vein. I was able to buy these planes readily from <a href="https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z02.1.2016030118.d2016038.1215782dZc5jXp&id=566503969226&scm=1007.10157.81291.100200300000000&pvid=9011bd5a-721f-4f69-931e-53dd799e8962" target="_blank">Taobao</a>, guessing at what sizes might suit my needs to create the cove of the lower section of the molding. The planes are marked as veining planes, which likely accords to their intended uses in Chinese woodworking, which I cannot comment on because I have never seen anybody using these planes in China. As such they don't conform in terms of geometry with European style hollows and rounds.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4aQ16KycDK4-eTYiUDH4sM4acE7hC-V_Sw-EqCEMFH4q54ToVYA0eOQPt0mgHQRmGfzQMrlzaC8_4Qh2hFMSLC1xhy1OvXv_BWXPEYnd5h9bY8WHqJWbAFBfXg-cPwDLFzXQtseX5QQDF/s1600/IMG_6904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4aQ16KycDK4-eTYiUDH4sM4acE7hC-V_Sw-EqCEMFH4q54ToVYA0eOQPt0mgHQRmGfzQMrlzaC8_4Qh2hFMSLC1xhy1OvXv_BWXPEYnd5h9bY8WHqJWbAFBfXg-cPwDLFzXQtseX5QQDF/s320/IMG_6904.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not quite circular but roundish</td></tr>
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I bought 6mm and 10mm models, thinking that I could makedo within this range. I knew that I could rough in the contours by ripping on a tablesaw but that refining the profiles with only a card scraper would be too tedious.<br />
After receiving the planes, I set about to sharpen them. I found that the blades can do with an upgrade. It's not clear why there is a slight taper along the length but this isn't even the main problem. The blade appears to be stamped out of a rather soft steelish metal. I noticed while lapping the back of one that the length appeared warped; so with finger pressure, I merely pressed it flat enough to continue. Yeah.<br />
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The bed angle is at about 45 degrees but that is about the only overlapping feature. This is not a side escapement so keeping the throat clear is markedly more difficult, As can be seen with the above wedge, it doesn't have a flat bottom. I don't know whether I have a faulty model or this is how it is supposed to look.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipSlR5-0nirMudf1B7iWsm8LceRhyphenhyphenVjMpaCri7BwOOyC0xTgaiANhSnxW18tJxvLukO5EeUgblFCiPet07JA9xy5GxhdGYhjxr1sfPEGQQBnK-MAPDXnCe5Fg78hyphenhyphenwQHvzD_TRPhGAw-Lo/s1600/IMG_6870.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipSlR5-0nirMudf1B7iWsm8LceRhyphenhyphenVjMpaCri7BwOOyC0xTgaiANhSnxW18tJxvLukO5EeUgblFCiPet07JA9xy5GxhdGYhjxr1sfPEGQQBnK-MAPDXnCe5Fg78hyphenhyphenwQHvzD_TRPhGAw-Lo/s320/IMG_6870.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roughed out cove and astragal</td></tr>
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Adjusting this plane is also very challenging. Since the plane has such little mass, the blade cannot be tapped back with a hammer. The small chamfered head of the wedge makes tapping it forward and retracting it also a challenge. I managed to shape the cove section of the molding. Upon reflection, these veining planes are likely intended for making fluting on furniture elements. They were difficult enough to use in SYP so I am mystified as to how Chinese furnituremakers, who routinely use tropical hardwoods, manage to use these same planes effectively.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkAgYZciISRj_XK8yT_qMxHW9YviuXDBQAATsSReGt8OHeZ9h3E6piRXAAkQIkYjWDqiTsnam7_DW4I-9QbbbU9MdV7B5xmWn2UMF8D0AB4HwwNsZW7SFs8lNuxR41iXkiOmkrmre7Uqh2/s1600/IMG_6925.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1342" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkAgYZciISRj_XK8yT_qMxHW9YviuXDBQAATsSReGt8OHeZ9h3E6piRXAAkQIkYjWDqiTsnam7_DW4I-9QbbbU9MdV7B5xmWn2UMF8D0AB4HwwNsZW7SFs8lNuxR41iXkiOmkrmre7Uqh2/s400/IMG_6925.jpg" width="335" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The completed molding profile</td></tr>
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I don't have many complaints about the results. I was in a bind and these planes helped me out. And so I present a sample as a teaser for those who follow as to what the ongoing project is. I shall be writing more fully about it and offer a critique of its significance. <br />
Happy Summer<br />
<br />Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-46757130943371754672018-08-01T21:11:00.001+08:002018-08-08T19:56:12.098+08:00Real Wood Needs a Better Name<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiexLeXHIFwkOQkhL6eGYjAEnz8GbtASMEPQ227FG6qccSbci1V5hL3xxI7ShyvQ2yh49R2jC5g1VJx-6ILxGzxS6Ta3SO99CChx2VpyLlX95fiOxXw4RBj7CpoBK-LT3SePf_Z9nlH8I2m/s1600/IMG_6943.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiexLeXHIFwkOQkhL6eGYjAEnz8GbtASMEPQ227FG6qccSbci1V5hL3xxI7ShyvQ2yh49R2jC5g1VJx-6ILxGzxS6Ta3SO99CChx2VpyLlX95fiOxXw4RBj7CpoBK-LT3SePf_Z9nlH8I2m/s640/IMG_6943.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seating furniture which only great designers could imagine</td></tr>
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I've written a few times about the manner in which plastics have altered our collective perception of modern material culture, namely plastic items made to resemble wooden objects, and the ways in which industry has both exacerbated and exploited this uncertainty. Even as one can observe trends, it's difficult to both accurately identify the causes and, importantly, to give such a phenomenon a proper name, which is easily associated and neither too narrow nor too broad in scope. Recently I came across the above example that compelled me to finally find a name for this undeniable phenomenon that according to the trends, which I have been witnessing with growing alacrity, is getting only worse and more comical.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijkgklbVW6Q2svnQc7HOWLWNFbFp55qlBYa7DXdnQDR7X9VXExK5AcvIU_REB7lPKWklrRlYqEPW7pNSc1qFU0-tx8WLY3Kt8znZb0UDLn8d3n9aTwYzfcbJPTFM8GehDgobZGITAar6nw/s1600/IMG_6945.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="901" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijkgklbVW6Q2svnQc7HOWLWNFbFp55qlBYa7DXdnQDR7X9VXExK5AcvIU_REB7lPKWklrRlYqEPW7pNSc1qFU0-tx8WLY3Kt8znZb0UDLn8d3n9aTwYzfcbJPTFM8GehDgobZGITAar6nw/s320/IMG_6945.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barked as in nature</td></tr>
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I first came across these images on a Chinese WeChat thread where they were likely reposted from this <a href="https://design-milk.com/di-corte/" target="_blank">website</a>. It's indicative of how fast these viral images spread that reveals how much so many see such design features as desirable. I can only directly comment on the situation in China but even citizens of the middle kingdom only casually interested in woodcraft salivate upon seeing such products. This is a country built of concrete with few forests. Most interiors are finished with plastic surfaces that is not expected to last long. The desire to recover a market friendly idealization of the natural world might explain some of the appeal. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggBMINAgsHSnEFyRURCcarDb0vum5CGl16khKtIjlEgGFlnGrLKH63NxGZpDeDmjAtcO3ZesUyrKK-PfC0nl8yXifi22Dz_4gXmV8kuavd-ZHCcYGS_PQC6VNTA_-1zAwKd1hv-bpCiV1s/s1600/mdf+drawer+bottom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggBMINAgsHSnEFyRURCcarDb0vum5CGl16khKtIjlEgGFlnGrLKH63NxGZpDeDmjAtcO3ZesUyrKK-PfC0nl8yXifi22Dz_4gXmV8kuavd-ZHCcYGS_PQC6VNTA_-1zAwKd1hv-bpCiV1s/s320/mdf+drawer+bottom.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Real Masonite on an Ikea 'real wood' cabinet</td></tr>
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In at least one essay, I recall putting quotes around 'real' to highlight how industrial designers go to extremes to demonstrate that their products are constructed of real tree material, even when they are constructed of plastics to some degree. These ironic quotations marks have lost their meaning now that I notice that <a href="https://rudemechanicalspress.wordpress.com/2018/07/08/cauls-fancy-cauls-to-the-rescue/" target="_blank">craftsmen</a> have also incorporated such extremes to proclaim that real trees were killed in their craft. This is no longer a phenomenon limited to industrial design and manufacturing. It's sad when the standards and aesthetics of industrialists redefine those of handicraft. I don't think that Nakashima personally has this mind but this is where we find ourselves. Industrial woodworking manufacturers first duped consumers into believing that uniformity and glossy surfaces were the marks of quality furniture. As it happens, that is also what industry consistently produces the best! Similarly, the fashion industry must love that consumers have become so willing to buy <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4726702/Why-wearing-ripped-jeans.html" target="_blank">clothes</a> that have been intentionally torn and ripped. Because the holes makes them more real according to the common wisdom of fashion magazines! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3tCd5mBng5dHAyLi0FsAgdhti4DkZXtlQZ0jE_RBjOL8cGBNVz6RtwfCV6yCw1obgAjiquS8bo7fYLEgmvZV-9ieDfMr68OhoUsg7CvjwnJtZezftRrPzrRi4I9PTT761sKGueKdYxS1q/s1600/IMG_6961.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1210" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3tCd5mBng5dHAyLi0FsAgdhti4DkZXtlQZ0jE_RBjOL8cGBNVz6RtwfCV6yCw1obgAjiquS8bo7fYLEgmvZV-9ieDfMr68OhoUsg7CvjwnJtZezftRrPzrRi4I9PTT761sKGueKdYxS1q/s320/IMG_6961.jpg" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ragged chic in the prezombie apocalypse era</td></tr>
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And in deference to all fashion victims the world over, I came up with a name. The best term is to refer to this trend as Real! Wood in the same pathetic vein that the GOP tried to rebrand the other Bush for president as Jeb! as though a bit of punctuation would override all the associations with his brother's disastrous and ruinous presidency. Did I mention <a href="https://www.larouchepub.com/eiw/public/1997/eirv24n06-19970131/eirv24n06-19970131_015-waging_aggressive_war_is_a_nurem.pdf" target="_blank">criminal</a>? <br />
Looking at these rebarked chairs and wondering how the bark (is it even of the same tree species?) has been affixed to the surfaces, I recall a story of a similar theme. It happened that a master housewright was involved in a dispute with an architect as to the reconstruction of historically accurate slave cabins at a very progressive living history museum. The drawings of the cabins showed the logs having retained their bark. The experienced housewright mentioned that even if the bark were not manually peeled off, it would drop of its own accord after a season of weathering. The architect insisted that for the sake of rustic authenticity that slave quarters would have the bark reattached to abide by his vision. While the specific wording of this spirited academic debate is lost to the mists of fading memories and professional decorum, one member of this conversation felt compelled to submit his resignation over the architect's aesthetic insistence. I even had a chance to <a href="http://www.woodcentral.com/chats/chat_underhill_40323.shtml" target="_blank">chat </a>with the housewright but I only have heard this eventful story secondhand. Calling out nonsense is seldom popular. Consumers who buy purposefully torn trousers with holes made in them by anonymous tailors in third world sweatshops believe that they are acting fashionable and expressing their indivuality; not mindless and duped. The world is much better off for his <a href="https://www.woodwrightschool.com/" target="_blank">stand</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikVedCmlTtu-MTrtPfJnOd_ji1M6k-2HUhInafvOZwjRsNcKIJATRi4235L65uUAlqn5pz7srZ1-mwHaV3gs5iiSe0qB-5Wa8lv5ezqFLMi9c1qLi4Ka5k513qxte40f0z2K4vRWBh6Iba/s1600/IMG_6944.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikVedCmlTtu-MTrtPfJnOd_ji1M6k-2HUhInafvOZwjRsNcKIJATRi4235L65uUAlqn5pz7srZ1-mwHaV3gs5iiSe0qB-5Wa8lv5ezqFLMi9c1qLi4Ka5k513qxte40f0z2K4vRWBh6Iba/s400/IMG_6944.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Real!</td></tr>
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<br />Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com0Xue Fu Lu, Jiangning Qu, Nanjing Shi, Jiangsu Sheng, China31.944078140663684 118.7879025936126731.943236140663686 118.78664209361267 31.944920140663683 118.78916309361267tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-65181017384540429872018-07-19T23:59:00.000+08:002018-07-19T23:59:24.836+08:00A virtual guided tour of Jinze<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcuSmVLM4nBN2YI6pYPV2wpKJQYqNrBK7gaQu5K-gVitVKrlKSWQ7o9MP_VRUUjQYtcLqgpRedp3WqzDB5TCVJee5NwYLYRfDkBfqatYF713d_PTeSFA4_hoef46o0lNPaqjHUPj68_-W4/s1600/IMG_6491.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcuSmVLM4nBN2YI6pYPV2wpKJQYqNrBK7gaQu5K-gVitVKrlKSWQ7o9MP_VRUUjQYtcLqgpRedp3WqzDB5TCVJee5NwYLYRfDkBfqatYF713d_PTeSFA4_hoef46o0lNPaqjHUPj68_-W4/s400/IMG_6491.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bridge among many</td></tr>
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Jinzezhen is located in a suburb of the prefecture of Shanghai. It is still far enough from any subway that makes accessibility fairly limited. It retains many of the endearing qualities of Chinese canal cities. It is neither poor nor wealthy which might explain its relative lack of modernization although it shows signs of attempts by the CCP to create a workers' paradise. The damage is not yet completed.<br />
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At one end of the city are a few underused factory buildings constructed some time after 1949. They all seem to have been based on a standrd construction method. I saw similar details at the Shanghai Expo where the former industrial site of Pudong was given over to adaptive reuse.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXW1nXHG85suimb9gFlipCJbHinmLkb0g2mMuKfnOp_mWmrRBMuJFy1-v3i_FvC45I8Ooq1hSRPrrFolH9Mjk8kRsdqqxy6_UXGEMBXvGzCXNUu8Dred538WLQN_1Kgt7UF10fiAyPJXq1/s1600/IMG_6490.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXW1nXHG85suimb9gFlipCJbHinmLkb0g2mMuKfnOp_mWmrRBMuJFy1-v3i_FvC45I8Ooq1hSRPrrFolH9Mjk8kRsdqqxy6_UXGEMBXvGzCXNUu8Dred538WLQN_1Kgt7UF10fiAyPJXq1/s320/IMG_6490.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Branded Factory</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waterfront factory</td></tr>
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We were told that a Hongkong businessman was running a kind of architectural salvage and reuse operation in these buildings. It's certainly positive that some of the building elements were appreciated and perhaps some of the salvaged pieces might go into restoring designated buildings, but the bulk of the business likely served to act as decoration in new construction.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWRWvRADvLrwotN7D791Ha-N_dR5hkvqfvovZmkKMDaRR8lNBC46P6bYhQceWHBtyhhoziJEecnSSFADY3qb1XzapMoh2SQ0dirM0oD2mAlUVhxHIn4Ctww8pX6EJLggnVJNLgTTAEiPBo/s1600/IMG_6472.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWRWvRADvLrwotN7D791Ha-N_dR5hkvqfvovZmkKMDaRR8lNBC46P6bYhQceWHBtyhhoziJEecnSSFADY3qb1XzapMoh2SQ0dirM0oD2mAlUVhxHIn4Ctww8pX6EJLggnVJNLgTTAEiPBo/s320/IMG_6472.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screens awaiting new breezeways</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrOuepyxxhh4qGoVWG35-j2hQYnUSrGorvMaeCvi89nKkfVML8w1jkfRtryjRVUkRST1aVWXVL6Jz-EbGxsLGPyiIBn9IF1cU-japwajv9EpWGudy0zx-_1n57fo1CTj7sx4Ue5HBqWQuK/s1600/IMG_6482.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrOuepyxxhh4qGoVWG35-j2hQYnUSrGorvMaeCvi89nKkfVML8w1jkfRtryjRVUkRST1aVWXVL6Jz-EbGxsLGPyiIBn9IF1cU-japwajv9EpWGudy0zx-_1n57fo1CTj7sx4Ue5HBqWQuK/s320/IMG_6482.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stone column bases</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxNl6yhnuVp0VgkBD-R7qhSeXEsR_rTzogCTT3O7UNkzyz89gc9Mi4wcuHC4if9cYiMtzGVOgnDRZzOtztxjIDsbGPUTUmMwEMbOdj0yJvmVSFyogKT7Ix3rH2Zual1rYwWB8uP-vB0IY_/s1600/IMG_6470.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxNl6yhnuVp0VgkBD-R7qhSeXEsR_rTzogCTT3O7UNkzyz89gc9Mi4wcuHC4if9cYiMtzGVOgnDRZzOtztxjIDsbGPUTUmMwEMbOdj0yJvmVSFyogKT7Ix3rH2Zual1rYwWB8uP-vB0IY_/s320/IMG_6470.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Upcyclable building materials</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCFGjs0Sm4ug1s0a5B1pLSD5lxi12Sc7-faNnyBjOYEhOhXn3dZUg8CKr7bxS57DeQfuoncLX0boaUsj5d96G5d7zXOZfZ4Ztw9rnGtTk1BnxaveNpleeTqj2QfUcweLoTM8ZOrut1rtIQ/s1600/IMG_6474.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1202" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCFGjs0Sm4ug1s0a5B1pLSD5lxi12Sc7-faNnyBjOYEhOhXn3dZUg8CKr7bxS57DeQfuoncLX0boaUsj5d96G5d7zXOZfZ4Ztw9rnGtTk1BnxaveNpleeTqj2QfUcweLoTM8ZOrut1rtIQ/s320/IMG_6474.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Familiar timber framing elements</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
I was impressed by just how much salvage had been amassed in one place that still felt empty. The workmen were getting ready to leave for the day so I wasn't interrupting their workflow and they seemed happy to know that a foreigner was interested in their work.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-1bPchxhR_yDYDpMrL8NSHeIz0DmSbVFbjMWonkUo_0HCHEZcxE6aMYX5GF5O-PTSM_kD2ZhnBC9kgjGDsGKldglQFaCsbvY4wI9ebmM6LtCBI8QAKSmK_OYVq3emqTu6tUXh54reS_1C/s1600/IMG_6471.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-1bPchxhR_yDYDpMrL8NSHeIz0DmSbVFbjMWonkUo_0HCHEZcxE6aMYX5GF5O-PTSM_kD2ZhnBC9kgjGDsGKldglQFaCsbvY4wI9ebmM6LtCBI8QAKSmK_OYVq3emqTu6tUXh54reS_1C/s320/IMG_6471.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The most common style Chinese tablesaw</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzFgC8p3ZmMwz31_FC1dd1kKK-tJOMswGHPIJyb6zWQREGOalIe3XT2Gmet_asDGt3XNCM8K84cUlaa33OOTHxfy0xQ-lGFXgu_yNv6WWoHcGwWsdYg1ug9sv0LKQ1LgEqo7vkRprNNkbB/s1600/IMG_6476.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzFgC8p3ZmMwz31_FC1dd1kKK-tJOMswGHPIJyb6zWQREGOalIe3XT2Gmet_asDGt3XNCM8K84cUlaa33OOTHxfy0xQ-lGFXgu_yNv6WWoHcGwWsdYg1ug9sv0LKQ1LgEqo7vkRprNNkbB/s320/IMG_6476.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Planing bench</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ne9VUPRhhyx69TCvEPBJgAxMr0xH_dc1F6t4jxXi5iySD6xSVlfNi9rbNJ4PFT-_eCRUu4zCgEXTw3-u75rPll7OocfoYpK30dUOdlYclJStV-1X7mDMAMYo2QYYyvSq5sSY58pLtgsj/s1600/IMG_6478.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ne9VUPRhhyx69TCvEPBJgAxMr0xH_dc1F6t4jxXi5iySD6xSVlfNi9rbNJ4PFT-_eCRUu4zCgEXTw3-u75rPll7OocfoYpK30dUOdlYclJStV-1X7mDMAMYo2QYYyvSq5sSY58pLtgsj/s320/IMG_6478.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beam in transition</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKlt7vRwaoFsLsipuQOjvbkgbj8UrO-TXGHGuY-R4gnPmj36pDnBlqCWnfZv2EDYJWYXLx3HihTXjPDz0XXdvWKP8AuUnWH5l3iEYVzMXAZl4z5yKJly7VxN8NUyt21-uBbLEK2X9nbLr2/s1600/IMG_6477.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKlt7vRwaoFsLsipuQOjvbkgbj8UrO-TXGHGuY-R4gnPmj36pDnBlqCWnfZv2EDYJWYXLx3HihTXjPDz0XXdvWKP8AuUnWH5l3iEYVzMXAZl4z5yKJly7VxN8NUyt21-uBbLEK2X9nbLr2/s320/IMG_6477.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The most common style of worksite bench</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifVrKQzMWXZOQOFnuTnFT9zk2x144qCosFGiWxmarsBqQAIjBrlh-6TWUqwQJXxmfmKJJE-ukqCJsBQoM29PxUOxjh6usN5PkJvus1CnkP2Xmm41LGe8emZIvbYQh7j1TAgwMH6zObApTX/s1600/IMG_6486.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifVrKQzMWXZOQOFnuTnFT9zk2x144qCosFGiWxmarsBqQAIjBrlh-6TWUqwQJXxmfmKJJE-ukqCJsBQoM29PxUOxjh6usN5PkJvus1CnkP2Xmm41LGe8emZIvbYQh7j1TAgwMH6zObApTX/s320/IMG_6486.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Repaired timbers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_wCfQWD4P59IA5duQObVcwqdGGlQWOe1o5QANBqMZ5QkzDyfeKZR06Vkt1n0HR0fOldiOhVNQavCuVWBb-n9ZTmYUMud2oaHIqFGNsTNgN7V-XhRhaazaOq2MtRM3eAJSoDD0idnyWpiM/s1600/IMG_6479.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="953" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_wCfQWD4P59IA5duQObVcwqdGGlQWOe1o5QANBqMZ5QkzDyfeKZR06Vkt1n0HR0fOldiOhVNQavCuVWBb-n9ZTmYUMud2oaHIqFGNsTNgN7V-XhRhaazaOq2MtRM3eAJSoDD0idnyWpiM/s320/IMG_6479.jpg" width="190" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New wood with witness marks</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The projects spilled out into the courtyard of the former industrial site. All this activity was adjacent to an armory that served multiple regimes, which also sat mostly empty except for an artist <a href="https://www.facebook.com/untitledcn/" target="_blank">residency</a> <a href="http://theuntitled.cn/" target="_blank">program</a>. Where once was a military tank assembly line, a sewing factory had been in the same buildings which explains the remnants of dropped acoustic ceiling tiles.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi87CNImSXlPkLKWCWTLTNPTJCZoMK8gMoy3fvyMU1pigjPa8wN5VqoEmCwNLyDGC2hkP8Adsh3Wb6dw6oYR6D4SSD59tlvf4pxJWZ3-HMOMZSm8bfhysTBVLSgnWdzdQkaWzY-8J05AMYH/s1600/IMG_6496.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi87CNImSXlPkLKWCWTLTNPTJCZoMK8gMoy3fvyMU1pigjPa8wN5VqoEmCwNLyDGC2hkP8Adsh3Wb6dw6oYR6D4SSD59tlvf4pxJWZ3-HMOMZSm8bfhysTBVLSgnWdzdQkaWzY-8J05AMYH/s320/IMG_6496.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foreign artists and workspace</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_DT_wjIhS8GvG8BV1JTAdncAc2b8zWioLgeVuhyBe5k2y084Mijj613Mixv8mnGW3Y4VFmencYY06-gtiPtLNGSf_FNRn1TeA6klSJs98sHyvBL5bP58XNy0P110MjJkoXDDQsYkT0d1J/s1600/IMG_6520.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_DT_wjIhS8GvG8BV1JTAdncAc2b8zWioLgeVuhyBe5k2y084Mijj613Mixv8mnGW3Y4VFmencYY06-gtiPtLNGSf_FNRn1TeA6klSJs98sHyvBL5bP58XNy0P110MjJkoXDDQsYkT0d1J/s320/IMG_6520.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clerestory windows of former arsenal</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
My wife and I ended up spending the night in one of the artist residences. I learned from the director about the location's history and his pessimist attitude to the program's long term viability. It's seldom that one receives a straightforward, logical answer in the Middle Kingdom. The concern is that the Shanghai municipality wants to protect its water supply by moving heavy industry away from waterway areas, which is completely understandable as it applies to foundries and metal plating factories, less so to sewing machines. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghsaKy5jhwWJeufUk_JkkPH_lWzJci78SzU6HO6mIy7K6NnrtQcLuKAFFQ3-c6ZhCD3a51bB8fnQrtyG0vCEdLa9fM06f8toAYvIlf04VZ1Af4V2NC3anttq8caSlM8RwUPgi0Qap4N0R5/s1600/IMG_6381.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghsaKy5jhwWJeufUk_JkkPH_lWzJci78SzU6HO6mIy7K6NnrtQcLuKAFFQ3-c6ZhCD3a51bB8fnQrtyG0vCEdLa9fM06f8toAYvIlf04VZ1Af4V2NC3anttq8caSlM8RwUPgi0Qap4N0R5/s320/IMG_6381.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Every campus must have its perimeter wall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuWerHxn4e3m9L1uGRNi6tUxBoI_Z42ycOcWYywCnf7WZ26f_esWw5049B5e8VEyfRzngw2JGDCBU4BFORXSjHav43MTbvCuWVv98Tn8kaPTVcMPqz0It0APwvCNCe0FgjiAMmmicA3XX_/s1600/IMG_6383.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuWerHxn4e3m9L1uGRNi6tUxBoI_Z42ycOcWYywCnf7WZ26f_esWw5049B5e8VEyfRzngw2JGDCBU4BFORXSjHav43MTbvCuWVv98Tn8kaPTVcMPqz0It0APwvCNCe0FgjiAMmmicA3XX_/s320/IMG_6383.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Jinze Art Center main gate</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
One unexpected discovery was an <a href="http://art school " target="_blank">art school </a>located centrally. I'm stil not clear as to all that is taught therein; the gate was closed during both times that we passed by.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzojN3hdrjzt4pko15SoSfazQ7TMImwvhjkdz_0ez5A6c1mY3eRgE5DqFGKvY8uDD60yhNZCkeKSeFcbOBNaVK8KcLj7nfTAoxl15wRb9JCwxUjzdZt1XZiVOCxtzYgOs7i7S3JeIDrzHp/s1600/IMG_6399.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzojN3hdrjzt4pko15SoSfazQ7TMImwvhjkdz_0ez5A6c1mY3eRgE5DqFGKvY8uDD60yhNZCkeKSeFcbOBNaVK8KcLj7nfTAoxl15wRb9JCwxUjzdZt1XZiVOCxtzYgOs7i7S3JeIDrzHp/s400/IMG_6399.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stone posts lying next to brick pile in a garden </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPeE3JAv0m6XHZ_6QOgMUWiuK1cpKY3oOrK9fP_DlqH-MX7EGP222gmXU7PUrzXu9_7A5xITEnJuuI7WLYgtU24-hBoBfiDPa19yUnNB1UG9OEyXRIS1CGe1sYeGQPOaorEG0c0_2aQ70D/s1600/IMG_6611.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPeE3JAv0m6XHZ_6QOgMUWiuK1cpKY3oOrK9fP_DlqH-MX7EGP222gmXU7PUrzXu9_7A5xITEnJuuI7WLYgtU24-hBoBfiDPa19yUnNB1UG9OEyXRIS1CGe1sYeGQPOaorEG0c0_2aQ70D/s320/IMG_6611.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stacks of used rooftiles</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbbBEuxQf9U4KccCqdTqYYQ1goty-H-3PD2X4QiBvluXcLUGBqKRrB-m2QOHGU1pzzPU4xZscVnzWKZAmDiM19HqrsE8_Ol0lS-YxRcLUO6n15uxXNZWTn2mY-8M4voShTvdc09oWmRtmT/s1600/IMG_6614.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbbBEuxQf9U4KccCqdTqYYQ1goty-H-3PD2X4QiBvluXcLUGBqKRrB-m2QOHGU1pzzPU4xZscVnzWKZAmDiM19HqrsE8_Ol0lS-YxRcLUO6n15uxXNZWTn2mY-8M4voShTvdc09oWmRtmT/s320/IMG_6614.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warehoused cut stone </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIW3kwKm0SkXS_buWPZW4qxUZjdVfmGpJM_NlPRexUQkpSnWZCD7byktFdk1otTbZk1aw7seaGsOrHO3V-Gepj6VpEJoJkFazU69-ipLzTKzfq92xAxhi_hKxI_xN01dk-XV_In-wQHADN/s1600/IMG_6613.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIW3kwKm0SkXS_buWPZW4qxUZjdVfmGpJM_NlPRexUQkpSnWZCD7byktFdk1otTbZk1aw7seaGsOrHO3V-Gepj6VpEJoJkFazU69-ipLzTKzfq92xAxhi_hKxI_xN01dk-XV_In-wQHADN/s320/IMG_6613.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cut stone stacked between empty industrial buildings</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Walking deeper into Jinze and away from the canal sides, I began to discover that the whole area was dotted with piles of architectural elements in odd corners in surprisingly large amounts.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Vda4vVwA64AQ25iccvkHekHbzjyHT2r9DlnDg9nloPkeduGsW7il_fy9q57V7j8NtKfENpZfVEtCoK8BL7gtj9rVC-l_Ml0la0j8ipAZOcCAHJV-NMRdBFbK17SSJM3FpgfX5t2s73SM/s1600/IMG_6541.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Vda4vVwA64AQ25iccvkHekHbzjyHT2r9DlnDg9nloPkeduGsW7il_fy9q57V7j8NtKfENpZfVEtCoK8BL7gtj9rVC-l_Ml0la0j8ipAZOcCAHJV-NMRdBFbK17SSJM3FpgfX5t2s73SM/s320/IMG_6541.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Xu Family Hall, protected status in 2010, left hand side plaque; street sign indicating 12 residences </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQWWul6T7DsOvRGEv79g3OQ4UTf5QY4gS1UUgllJZSWWNQqneQ11_A90VJDNsa8swOAN63VR1ZXzLb7wD14L2Ud6vUFkvIfHq4o1CxU0AqhEAQWoUDZS2viQ6EifInPBUcK8MqNhv6sbFK/s1600/IMG_6435.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQWWul6T7DsOvRGEv79g3OQ4UTf5QY4gS1UUgllJZSWWNQqneQ11_A90VJDNsa8swOAN63VR1ZXzLb7wD14L2Ud6vUFkvIfHq4o1CxU0AqhEAQWoUDZS2viQ6EifInPBUcK8MqNhv6sbFK/s320/IMG_6435.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Xu Family Hall plaque,(right side) updated protected status 2017</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
One complex in particular afforded many intriguing clues as to its erstwhile splendor and the degree of laborious details that were lavished upon it. Two plaques apparently issued by two different legal entities hint at the importance of this structure. Although it appeared that some of the residents were no longer present, it's impossible to confirm how many still called this a home.<br />
<br /><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja1BjKmWvO2k-rnVkpE1ziAy445V7bB4j5PNqcHqnjgzK9sITpO8q6lzdv7Nlb3m3cygXWFGzttNwCVFuOpq_LzMrPYAnFQUgOn8mc20bmgWOMhTRdg4yzIzZccejzgAXTskO-6zyocmmP/s1600/IMG_6431.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja1BjKmWvO2k-rnVkpE1ziAy445V7bB4j5PNqcHqnjgzK9sITpO8q6lzdv7Nlb3m3cygXWFGzttNwCVFuOpq_LzMrPYAnFQUgOn8mc20bmgWOMhTRdg4yzIzZccejzgAXTskO-6zyocmmP/s320/IMG_6431.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interior courtyard looking outwards</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpiJtZsQqA4A-U7Vpmlyiih-VvO8JMJQrpXDkmHyERaSx_7hddtdHnxxVfeDCaGkQriGgXBuo85t5GdDOGvvNHnYNQGVPWIYSqo__REBLwpLWyGEhqeL6Z0t7j3t6fjxV4twhkmesNUJWq/s1600/IMG_6432.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="964" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpiJtZsQqA4A-U7Vpmlyiih-VvO8JMJQrpXDkmHyERaSx_7hddtdHnxxVfeDCaGkQriGgXBuo85t5GdDOGvvNHnYNQGVPWIYSqo__REBLwpLWyGEhqeL6Z0t7j3t6fjxV4twhkmesNUJWq/s320/IMG_6432.jpg" width="192" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stone carving details</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The layout is a sequence of courtyards with doorways at each threshold, presumably indicating degrees of transition from the public to the private and various household functions. The<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY-ejtUQucEb4YBfsoYlTTCiSxwZ2WhtAIFqTsfBq__B84ZfpalslSjPTi6qcPChI-xrXpS4e_VYd1sdT5gTrwhCvPbo2M820EnR_Wi1PwfXzGTcvTge9luE7fjgpGr6BzTN-HT7ol34Ej/s1600/IMG_6423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1262" data-original-width="1600" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY-ejtUQucEb4YBfsoYlTTCiSxwZ2WhtAIFqTsfBq__B84ZfpalslSjPTi6qcPChI-xrXpS4e_VYd1sdT5gTrwhCvPbo2M820EnR_Wi1PwfXzGTcvTge9luE7fjgpGr6BzTN-HT7ol34Ej/s320/IMG_6423.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Purlins and carved roof beams</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip2qCJV4BzYMX_XBo5p0PTPcKevtq7hYGZcyHKmt_3H0duMMvCJdcxpZJbjPgRVD-1vU9p8KV4qMjQHdRPCns5P4F0-Zf8ofrpP-UhKi9TMrYvx4puIfE2n9UsUPMcdyx1CvVTKdrVnZlO/s1600/IMG_6426.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip2qCJV4BzYMX_XBo5p0PTPcKevtq7hYGZcyHKmt_3H0duMMvCJdcxpZJbjPgRVD-1vU9p8KV4qMjQHdRPCns5P4F0-Zf8ofrpP-UhKi9TMrYvx4puIfE2n9UsUPMcdyx1CvVTKdrVnZlO/s320/IMG_6426.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dougong motif in relief (<span lang="zh">斗拱)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVOvMblR7rCeFVs1CUUhhbxSmaNdxDwo-2AsUcipYbi0CHUafDHrEGMJFiGUm_e9tfWna0xyNYFWF3-AZYH8onPrrxUXtWG6oDy7zPDsScX9X2d3wTd1ytkY36Rl2fofmIaWVkof9qSGmQ/s1600/IMG_6424.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVOvMblR7rCeFVs1CUUhhbxSmaNdxDwo-2AsUcipYbi0CHUafDHrEGMJFiGUm_e9tfWna0xyNYFWF3-AZYH8onPrrxUXtWG6oDy7zPDsScX9X2d3wTd1ytkY36Rl2fofmIaWVkof9qSGmQ/s320/IMG_6424.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Portico connecting courtyards</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit77oEx0MIbUjofSqMbWlYRptg5Kz78y4UiHGA8HkNKiLU-O_hyphenhyphenpV1UjVNvtXLsFtPuEE0DYFYzoxpWdshBf4kBOAGKowrLPImEdh6k496Z2jPb69fcFIcGa3OoQ5kGjK8buqdqSwZXrIi/s1600/IMG_6429.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit77oEx0MIbUjofSqMbWlYRptg5Kz78y4UiHGA8HkNKiLU-O_hyphenhyphenpV1UjVNvtXLsFtPuEE0DYFYzoxpWdshBf4kBOAGKowrLPImEdh6k496Z2jPb69fcFIcGa3OoQ5kGjK8buqdqSwZXrIi/s320/IMG_6429.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breezeway tracery</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmnSFGxlPaMqVFlTf4kAvvEnS5iid66CIxiSjaqbs1ucD5ZCyGeHMwk4weMb9SwA5nW6Ks46T-IHitcyHNRjdnHmXbp3VtC1IUdy990ZdijZFKaG-hgHSvVkD7T0dbepcKmggjqxMoVClF/s1600/IMG_6439.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmnSFGxlPaMqVFlTf4kAvvEnS5iid66CIxiSjaqbs1ucD5ZCyGeHMwk4weMb9SwA5nW6Ks46T-IHitcyHNRjdnHmXbp3VtC1IUdy990ZdijZFKaG-hgHSvVkD7T0dbepcKmggjqxMoVClF/s320/IMG_6439.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stairwell</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiElUdDP1U8kkDx089U4NxfjFDq_WaQRB4CtVkFtY9XeITyZyBRIijI4TE6PEnyIGMyBGePNjKL007C3Hr93vbNNZOtwIxtrQo2_lmHU7OgBUiZj3KtBDjRGHeGkB41gnkeUMSkbfbm64tD/s1600/IMG_6441.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiElUdDP1U8kkDx089U4NxfjFDq_WaQRB4CtVkFtY9XeITyZyBRIijI4TE6PEnyIGMyBGePNjKL007C3Hr93vbNNZOtwIxtrQo2_lmHU7OgBUiZj3KtBDjRGHeGkB41gnkeUMSkbfbm64tD/s320/IMG_6441.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2nd floor apartment</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
There are no clear indications that preservation measures are yet underway on these or any of the other plaqued 'protected' buildings. Keeping residents in these apartments until formalized preservation begins might be a low cost form of security. Much of the damage due to conversion and utility upgrades occurred decades ago.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizLZzZ22RZKwPUBRa7OnI54H_ytjzmPt2H4c-dQHqW6BiirR7cwe5aGhknKb3JO2eaoxSxzFe0WrnOJNozYN9NoZRUiG7gyyMTLhEfd2nRJTKyAV2E-OBnhrFWbHZzcao-l069QWPQ3wwL/s1600/IMG_6411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizLZzZ22RZKwPUBRa7OnI54H_ytjzmPt2H4c-dQHqW6BiirR7cwe5aGhknKb3JO2eaoxSxzFe0WrnOJNozYN9NoZRUiG7gyyMTLhEfd2nRJTKyAV2E-OBnhrFWbHZzcao-l069QWPQ3wwL/s320/IMG_6411.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">safety scaffolding</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBw8xzmjT29JcbxFt3ZritzNk3eNlujKVDWEFBt5BhxyStwT-heuBT5oL73_d5GG1mPxDoukcd84IzsPTetU1DlhJtokHsHimg9HD93qn20pzSI8r-qHf5WJ3P9OxkuMmzoX7UtJuX-SYv/s1600/IMG_6415.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBw8xzmjT29JcbxFt3ZritzNk3eNlujKVDWEFBt5BhxyStwT-heuBT5oL73_d5GG1mPxDoukcd84IzsPTetU1DlhJtokHsHimg9HD93qn20pzSI8r-qHf5WJ3P9OxkuMmzoX7UtJuX-SYv/s320/IMG_6415.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">vegetables amid the rubble</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I did see one example of a vain attempt to encase a building with scaffolding that is sadly too far gone to save. The scaffolding now seems to act as a barrier to protect residents and other houses when it finally does collapse. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAuZPDcvZTQDBF0s3Q4U2zQ2qxYmPROFOb7n76qr5EpnWpYj4Xnc60dqVWR2kWkU5DJ6sQJKGd90o-lh1THL6puAqrFsE3wyFhcGeDinUAmoFBc_7PkWGqDjet7rraEV2ZtDPG_9OOlFB7/s1600/IMG_6580.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAuZPDcvZTQDBF0s3Q4U2zQ2qxYmPROFOb7n76qr5EpnWpYj4Xnc60dqVWR2kWkU5DJ6sQJKGd90o-lh1THL6puAqrFsE3wyFhcGeDinUAmoFBc_7PkWGqDjet7rraEV2ZtDPG_9OOlFB7/s320/IMG_6580.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Signage seemingly only used in Jinze</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDF0LxR-M8lZWnkn5xc6H02SndVOuN0Cj8lhleipiiQPhvJpd_v1hdqEKrEmn24V6Il8zXQbadDL_x7uqxN8C6SDMn37Cy8G9sqhbtkgawelFfyU6oDCa9FlD86L05EPWQ_lMbjnc4RG95/s1600/dangerous+building.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDF0LxR-M8lZWnkn5xc6H02SndVOuN0Cj8lhleipiiQPhvJpd_v1hdqEKrEmn24V6Il8zXQbadDL_x7uqxN8C6SDMn37Cy8G9sqhbtkgawelFfyU6oDCa9FlD86L05EPWQ_lMbjnc4RG95/s320/dangerous+building.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"This is a dangerous house; pedestrians attend to safety; no entry, no loitering/ squatting (?)" </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As I wandered more deeply and confidently through the twisting alleyways, I lost track of the number of structures that are likely too far gone to save. I spotted a sign that is far more detailed than most Chinese warnings yet equally ambiguous as to intentions. My wife conformed that she had not seen such a sign elsewhere. It's not clear whether a legal authority was condemning the buildings, giving fair warning to explorers, or subtly encouraging longterm residents to leave of their own volition.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaY6xOYV_aiZQ6jpT73pC8MevdPx601VeTW06TJ5qZKzzN1W7_51qSzhqLjMl1gaHp03PjA89bNzLVQ-yJFz2I5ntvsfyRm3Xkow2vj4-u-hMT7VhiN3XHJa4_tu-b6OAh-vOXoAVFHafG/s1600/IMG_6598.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaY6xOYV_aiZQ6jpT73pC8MevdPx601VeTW06TJ5qZKzzN1W7_51qSzhqLjMl1gaHp03PjA89bNzLVQ-yJFz2I5ntvsfyRm3Xkow2vj4-u-hMT7VhiN3XHJa4_tu-b6OAh-vOXoAVFHafG/s320/IMG_6598.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">dereliction porn centerfold</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij9gChS4XTEorVsqqHNWOZKT3kP_729ob2qZoahUMKUMuuPAzDifllEhAT4sBTRbRENovN68FLzKbl1Ds_eksyZGusjwy8mb82gvyVm0yqIdsz1_s58qHhUkXDH1iRUcehjlSlXJhpFHm8/s1600/IMG_6588.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij9gChS4XTEorVsqqHNWOZKT3kP_729ob2qZoahUMKUMuuPAzDifllEhAT4sBTRbRENovN68FLzKbl1Ds_eksyZGusjwy8mb82gvyVm0yqIdsz1_s58qHhUkXDH1iRUcehjlSlXJhpFHm8/s320/IMG_6588.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">before the fall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9QAHmNKGt9uRtmXGQvXpIVDyzJ96ukb2ZwLhdt49fykNe6eFzKWzRLkd8KrtgbXkJXOj8t1U8iCJpVqNLaVtAjZXXemhviK3Qkh2fBT8YqPI9lvlIMkEQsmvcqNTNQdXlcYTxLenbH5CC/s1600/IMG_6583.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9QAHmNKGt9uRtmXGQvXpIVDyzJ96ukb2ZwLhdt49fykNe6eFzKWzRLkd8KrtgbXkJXOj8t1U8iCJpVqNLaVtAjZXXemhviK3Qkh2fBT8YqPI9lvlIMkEQsmvcqNTNQdXlcYTxLenbH5CC/s320/IMG_6583.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Impending rubble</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFGil2OKQDxk-LXz9mrarL-OLhE5BFjTqJtNUzHWPwIKT5nfPOtvAOqkcK8_efCw68fsK4AG7hW9Eb15O31GW54E-xurp_dZx0zD9EEMOKlLJkWMARnS4R1RBGJVrOg2uK-mwvA2oTWfqt/s1600/IMG_6559.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFGil2OKQDxk-LXz9mrarL-OLhE5BFjTqJtNUzHWPwIKT5nfPOtvAOqkcK8_efCw68fsK4AG7hW9Eb15O31GW54E-xurp_dZx0zD9EEMOKlLJkWMARnS4R1RBGJVrOg2uK-mwvA2oTWfqt/s320/IMG_6559.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">residential area</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNKalzRns4MRwbSbhqlJVw8OlSJMcFdc0XCsMFPJNxBwyLT1ZdayxIdSoXEvruqLmy1X5Hd36ijVF-T-aJsrvqcPapgd-fHOdAfcUhH8QnbJVTns7pPRbMXui9r8ouRmXqizto4sH_Wvnm/s1600/IMG_6575.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNKalzRns4MRwbSbhqlJVw8OlSJMcFdc0XCsMFPJNxBwyLT1ZdayxIdSoXEvruqLmy1X5Hd36ijVF-T-aJsrvqcPapgd-fHOdAfcUhH8QnbJVTns7pPRbMXui9r8ouRmXqizto4sH_Wvnm/s320/IMG_6575.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">garden feature</td></tr>
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Many buildings didn't even merit this sign. Lack of ownership or title leaves so many salvageable houses to succumb to demolition by neglect. Perversely, many locals might simply regard these old structures as resources to be mined for their materials. It's a sad tangle of neglect, poverty, and complacency as best as I can fathom.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_Hnjxf8q6HZxwRbeo63JxMP7M44JeYl7ZOTdcd9lZlKwrIIml5ROuIWLaFeel8uRoCVxmzJ-t5sWl6_ovfhN-8TriLPpxJafJ163KXL-R4UnoEaHZ2L-0N_8EEZh-9-PEtDD8JriT8Kf/s1600/IMG_6591.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_Hnjxf8q6HZxwRbeo63JxMP7M44JeYl7ZOTdcd9lZlKwrIIml5ROuIWLaFeel8uRoCVxmzJ-t5sWl6_ovfhN-8TriLPpxJafJ163KXL-R4UnoEaHZ2L-0N_8EEZh-9-PEtDD8JriT8Kf/s320/IMG_6591.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Ming style Cabinetry</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZhLwvL40PEhVlj66GKhJ6llQlq1GOPOIdAS-xMJTepYkX2nJyteoMfVz_w-jhFAsi6VHfTesYZubhPwFNMc6_kdp8xdCm4kWuUGfslxLSvjhKcDZaZlq3SOTPItWH6unC7gD7kM1TQp4C/s1600/IMG_6593.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZhLwvL40PEhVlj66GKhJ6llQlq1GOPOIdAS-xMJTepYkX2nJyteoMfVz_w-jhFAsi6VHfTesYZubhPwFNMc6_kdp8xdCm4kWuUGfslxLSvjhKcDZaZlq3SOTPItWH6unC7gD7kM1TQp4C/s320/IMG_6593.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cabinets inside the porn dereliction building</td></tr>
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Amazingly these derelict structures are often still full of stunning pieces of furniture. Even one building with a partial roof was being used as a warehouse for packaging materials.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB4X0Kim0QLVhvuAv2nhr3P2fKQynCSiRh_vI4uW9WqKzYf3BrFFp3F-XrTZz-tpiFMDwUkNNp-x63yEGphfJtMJ_gb8D5nEBh6CNTYgpSHcZO2C9_PLs_JF0KeyFNsvnQUkpvRvemEMfg/s1600/IMG_6554.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB4X0Kim0QLVhvuAv2nhr3P2fKQynCSiRh_vI4uW9WqKzYf3BrFFp3F-XrTZz-tpiFMDwUkNNp-x63yEGphfJtMJ_gb8D5nEBh6CNTYgpSHcZO2C9_PLs_JF0KeyFNsvnQUkpvRvemEMfg/s320/IMG_6554.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Simianping </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_gP41iVPPOVKYh_hVc1H0baNQcCbh81rQDU7zvxzrXCzTqIyqytbeRtmuCtvlW7vL1y0LNl0j7he7bqPRT736Ek-lZ6XD_zH7BifHB_Na8fZQRDvsiMfM6ICNZR6MqJY8UYViHq_2P3a/s1600/IMG_6555.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_gP41iVPPOVKYh_hVc1H0baNQcCbh81rQDU7zvxzrXCzTqIyqytbeRtmuCtvlW7vL1y0LNl0j7he7bqPRT736Ek-lZ6XD_zH7BifHB_Na8fZQRDvsiMfM6ICNZR6MqJY8UYViHq_2P3a/s320/IMG_6555.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">abandoned housewares in unsafe house</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeImIpexvSkNZ0MIADt5m-hlAPOwXQkFbudgXvVTyMbqCqVxRpRAzpduIaC6LjldfvqyGzF5_3kvWIs49FptcQXtst93Q71ZTvIMUHzmfvf1WM3VdUJhI8nf4yAI_ZuvW7UGodFVraAIji/s1600/IMG_6551.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeImIpexvSkNZ0MIADt5m-hlAPOwXQkFbudgXvVTyMbqCqVxRpRAzpduIaC6LjldfvqyGzF5_3kvWIs49FptcQXtst93Q71ZTvIMUHzmfvf1WM3VdUJhI8nf4yAI_ZuvW7UGodFVraAIji/s320/IMG_6551.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traditional wooden door hinges</td></tr>
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As it happens so often old things are left outside or abandoned. There is an emphasis on newness and f<a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2149977/meet-chinese-artist-mission-record-countrys-ancient-heritage#add-comment" target="_blank">ew Chinese</a> know how to evaluate high quality furniture or preindustrial architecture. Even fewer know how to repair it. I was often able to photographed these items by extending my arm through unglazed window openings so exposed these areas are to the elements.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNlnMUNHPHEx1XKQeadI_5tIKG75q7-iVKxi2ch6DEFAdl6l2-5he6rFd8oiLhrKRlGCHghttSvP8cRdB016B7MWZ8bMyqXiWgIOlaeCssw-tVlrRFX2a92nHv1WYi4dlLphGsSbQyKuM1/s1600/IMG_6546.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNlnMUNHPHEx1XKQeadI_5tIKG75q7-iVKxi2ch6DEFAdl6l2-5he6rFd8oiLhrKRlGCHghttSvP8cRdB016B7MWZ8bMyqXiWgIOlaeCssw-tVlrRFX2a92nHv1WYi4dlLphGsSbQyKuM1/s320/IMG_6546.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coopered chamber pot</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTZbyFmvGOsLrHvBy7_ToweffEleGkw7GZDhoz4pSTQKF0gPpB0meB42cx8ork4s9V9njE4RXHIVsPYjaDLIhIzHPqE5UW92y-2fdvKbqL_-w4Ns9ZvEcgp2v0S4GhA0cznA62Heqi_amy/s1600/IMG_6545.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTZbyFmvGOsLrHvBy7_ToweffEleGkw7GZDhoz4pSTQKF0gPpB0meB42cx8ork4s9V9njE4RXHIVsPYjaDLIhIzHPqE5UW92y-2fdvKbqL_-w4Ns9ZvEcgp2v0S4GhA0cznA62Heqi_amy/s320/IMG_6545.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">yoke and rack table </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3hgaVUrDNReXV6BgMDVmMorwE_P5v2UhLSyZVdtdGhE7_QNjlxQiQrmvwqrve1QHRxZRcfTBsj7lrOho209KXxit30lhJ3H0ODEd7AymQOtSORUKTziTG-ylbEO7WMIfrOfKe676W13M5/s1600/IMG_6416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3hgaVUrDNReXV6BgMDVmMorwE_P5v2UhLSyZVdtdGhE7_QNjlxQiQrmvwqrve1QHRxZRcfTBsj7lrOho209KXxit30lhJ3H0ODEd7AymQOtSORUKTziTG-ylbEO7WMIfrOfKe676W13M5/s320/IMG_6416.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">discarded handmade cabinet near trash bins</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif0TnKR3OJkNA2CfgtGjV_PrpFy1SNJ5nT5GtOhFiAkBxZGOmumbmC2_ySaYLdPgeblhqL1BIpL1w_C6eoqoUpXzNiN2HIAQmSMxSDAIpw51mD-haQiImFs_0mmVYxE8NZJFCGGADTUQov/s1600/IMG_6544.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif0TnKR3OJkNA2CfgtGjV_PrpFy1SNJ5nT5GtOhFiAkBxZGOmumbmC2_ySaYLdPgeblhqL1BIpL1w_C6eoqoUpXzNiN2HIAQmSMxSDAIpw51mD-haQiImFs_0mmVYxE8NZJFCGGADTUQov/s320/IMG_6544.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Splayed leg table</td></tr>
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And in other places handmade furniture is left outdoors, almost as to highlight the contempt for such reminders of the past. My plan is to return in a year, and yearly thereafter to witness how Shanghai manages the challenges of preserving and renovating Jinze to respect the past while acknowledging the needs of the present future residents. I am cautiously hopeful since I see the greatest amount of civic pride amongst Shanghai denizens. The most positive changes in the PRC often enter in through Shanghai.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1aX8Z8PJuLT5ML1-plWuVlguLWESijwBqRRYYZ_5d53EO9A95g8WVoRJsq8tIhPzR5QKZjm7ol8JDp_w7_wPCcow_2w_ygohcfhfGr7t9YbqtHh8jjup9FN2KEL2NtK0TyMzodQE8uET9/s1600/IMG_6459.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1aX8Z8PJuLT5ML1-plWuVlguLWESijwBqRRYYZ_5d53EO9A95g8WVoRJsq8tIhPzR5QKZjm7ol8JDp_w7_wPCcow_2w_ygohcfhfGr7t9YbqtHh8jjup9FN2KEL2NtK0TyMzodQE8uET9/s320/IMG_6459.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a bridge and commemorative plaque</td></tr>
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<br />Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com0Jinzezhen, Qingpu, Shanghai, China, 20171831.036218 120.9217260000000429.2643625 118.33993900000003 32.8080735 123.50351300000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-72480555132436305962018-07-03T17:06:00.000+08:002018-07-04T10:34:15.121+08:00Making bridges from Boston, to Jinze, and back to Saalburg<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ePl8RXAMPxduYb98DSQGuBRV9VGAFPVKUohUVV8y-I_bRq9CTx3vTTjhVTP8zj402AEgrj5m1xTRa9WPLtKDHgLSNaiN-AlY6CvPsxGapr2h2J9boM-qxmeZRF4xtWthqBJtX-4SsNPT/s1600/Kaifeng-bridge-c.1100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="448" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ePl8RXAMPxduYb98DSQGuBRV9VGAFPVKUohUVV8y-I_bRq9CTx3vTTjhVTP8zj402AEgrj5m1xTRa9WPLtKDHgLSNaiN-AlY6CvPsxGapr2h2J9boM-qxmeZRF4xtWthqBJtX-4SsNPT/s320/Kaifeng-bridge-c.1100.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail view of <i><span style="font-style: normal;">清明上河圖</span></i></td></tr>
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I have the vaguest of recollections of watching the <a href="http://original/" target="_blank">original </a>Nova episode. It was a lifetime ago and I've watched so many interesting programs made by Nova that I might be mistaken. Somewhere, however, in the back of my mind, I have had some desire to track down this example of reconstructive archaeology and gaze upon it firsthand. I rewatched the <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostempires/china/builds.html" target="_blank">episode</a> to gather enough clues to help my wife track down its location, Jinze.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXngjmHNOrLFO8M-AvgeS79YnuQ3Rs5MCXnTMMhVrawF78ktpNIrtTrJdKlnZSnOB1h-RGaA33b92FxYONVm5DmZpsdxdZBk1P5MOLOCE9Umu08OQ7TJsVGBOamYu69gTBfRtcMnFztlEe/s1600/IMG_6327.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXngjmHNOrLFO8M-AvgeS79YnuQ3Rs5MCXnTMMhVrawF78ktpNIrtTrJdKlnZSnOB1h-RGaA33b92FxYONVm5DmZpsdxdZBk1P5MOLOCE9Umu08OQ7TJsVGBOamYu69gTBfRtcMnFztlEe/s640/IMG_6327.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canal front in Jinze <span lang="zh-Hans" title="Chinese language text">金泽镇</span></td></tr>
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Jinze itself merits a visit all of its own. It's a network of canals and a showcase of timberframed and brick courtyard structures that are in desperate need of sensitive preservation and historical documentation. It has so far escaped the commercialized rebuilding that happens to all designated tourist destinations. Throughout the area, I spotted several signs conferring historic preservation status to many buildings, all with the date of 2017. There is hope and dread as to how the Shanghai government decides to manage this treasure on the past.<br />
There are no garish pointers leading travelers to the new rainbow bridge. My wife asked a shopkeeper who gladly and patiently explained which canal to follow to reach the bridge. It has been nearly 20 years since the NOVA crew was there and I wanted to see how the structure was holding up. The documentary mentions that this style of bridge had stopped being built and so I wanted to do my own follow-up. On our way there, a woman approached us, ostensibly to offer us a 'gondola' ride along the canal. My wife explained what we were looking for and she proudly led us there; she ran her boating business from a structure right next to the bridge. My attention was divided between a very interesting cabinet that stood outdoors and getting a better look at the bridge.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1JbQxFZXQKesHFvgl3LnuoH_3ExUWkgKgiG1n9UzRH2Sk1JBNA92xJGUe1GYpZzuKdAQHsaRC9R2b9lNJfgXMhFEAbIepM2dd9Ail7u7k29WlsPhfGt6vCJK6RWdLZr_Et4Uh_HrTDHG/s1600/IMG_6349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1JbQxFZXQKesHFvgl3LnuoH_3ExUWkgKgiG1n9UzRH2Sk1JBNA92xJGUe1GYpZzuKdAQHsaRC9R2b9lNJfgXMhFEAbIepM2dd9Ail7u7k29WlsPhfGt6vCJK6RWdLZr_Et4Uh_HrTDHG/s320/IMG_6349.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Integrated lock mechanism</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8U616uF9Tzt7gjWB6TMxduzhI47hysfMM0mDycw56TKetLvuYjOIcG_5O9mzgBKzSBYGs8PJ5PSBZjTYRXqrM94jVQrwxMuW1sA4SGqJ4lW3_tJvbNehfvvPTAVM59pc2q_7hfwmi6jbB/s1600/IMG_6343.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8U616uF9Tzt7gjWB6TMxduzhI47hysfMM0mDycw56TKetLvuYjOIcG_5O9mzgBKzSBYGs8PJ5PSBZjTYRXqrM94jVQrwxMuW1sA4SGqJ4lW3_tJvbNehfvvPTAVM59pc2q_7hfwmi6jbB/s320/IMG_6343.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iron ringpulls on a foodsafe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Immediately all the woven timber components stood out to my eyes that they were of the same diameter. I knocked on one to confirm my suspicions. The originals had been replaced with iron pipes. Despite not being an engineer, I suspect that this is not the best way to use iron in bridge building. The boatwoman explained that the bridge started to show signs of decay in the second year. In the fifth year, the bridge needed replacement, by which I interpreted to mean that the pipes had been substitued although there are still a few wooden beams rotting in place. I doubt there was any report as to what caused the failure nor further research for how to better make a rainbow bridge. A facsimile was made using pipes to sufficiently copy the appearance. I also suspect that the present day decking has also been replaced on more than one occasion, its appearance is nothing as was shown in the NOVA program.<br />
The gondolier was a very welcoming hostess, filling our ears with her civic pride. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbso6Lf7h5K_Z5P3aDxc0PMJBSMuVri0yrj_MCoarelA3CWoEd1kuk6M57JVERgob-rLswaECpkUxYM-qfwOdbPYLiTS7JDEkXi3ELWMQ_0A62FC8Xq0zh-mT2gIUTY8iOIpkUuT0nal_w/s1600/fallen+beam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1600" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbso6Lf7h5K_Z5P3aDxc0PMJBSMuVri0yrj_MCoarelA3CWoEd1kuk6M57JVERgob-rLswaECpkUxYM-qfwOdbPYLiTS7JDEkXi3ELWMQ_0A62FC8Xq0zh-mT2gIUTY8iOIpkUuT0nal_w/s400/fallen+beam.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Upstream view with fallen timber</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVojmmR0GNOPbUq5LRnX5l9rrd09YoJFUM9a-LTXGNm2Xonle26G3ZyXp3eOEJ-e0tcZz3UABzgjaBcW-hDgxOaTer1twkIGo6IbpsMyVcoAmpyCVqw9ry4de3xIvWsUukmscS2pBoe69i/s1600/NOVA+plaque.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVojmmR0GNOPbUq5LRnX5l9rrd09YoJFUM9a-LTXGNm2Xonle26G3ZyXp3eOEJ-e0tcZz3UABzgjaBcW-hDgxOaTer1twkIGo6IbpsMyVcoAmpyCVqw9ry4de3xIvWsUukmscS2pBoe69i/s320/NOVA+plaque.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PBS Nova stele </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_dWBgVDcUcJz4j48uGnakuD2Qe8KbAMib7H-7i_p4Qfn-W6tX4i4w-a8iNY71no-C6uNZitpS84GN5a-hspxKYoRzWzDLU0oMuKgRuc-96P8i3suuCyDozScIiGlT1VyI_LsO0-FszNxA/s1600/underside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_dWBgVDcUcJz4j48uGnakuD2Qe8KbAMib7H-7i_p4Qfn-W6tX4i4w-a8iNY71no-C6uNZitpS84GN5a-hspxKYoRzWzDLU0oMuKgRuc-96P8i3suuCyDozScIiGlT1VyI_LsO0-FszNxA/s320/underside.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">underside view</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWqwQgijfZj76HhuK5G9wUtl99246_tXERH8a8wXI2IjoIuz0v_3xshucbAVK11nlbSq9U2B2fa5ILeAwUggEKlRxSlaCneu_bRi1nO-kbi1nrx_jMABTHBwouQDZAMuH_AaU3U_MFMdT/s1600/view+01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWqwQgijfZj76HhuK5G9wUtl99246_tXERH8a8wXI2IjoIuz0v_3xshucbAVK11nlbSq9U2B2fa5ILeAwUggEKlRxSlaCneu_bRi1nO-kbi1nrx_jMABTHBwouQDZAMuH_AaU3U_MFMdT/s320/view+01.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">downstream view</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I was glad to have found the rainbow bridge and see that some of the NOVA project was still in effect. But it's evident that there is no more interest amongst the Chinese scholars for working with this model. This destination is not a major attraction for tourists, most of whom were retired Chinese traveling with their <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_unit" target="_blank">danwei </a>more interested in a boat ride and singing patriotic songs while taking photos of riverside views as my wife disdainfully pointed out. The red painted views of the bridge with the lion medallions seem mainly for their appreciative viewing. I mention to point out that this international experiment in reconstructive archaeology is today just another bridge among many that are necessary for this canal city. So what are the results of this experiment? Did it function as such bridges commonly once did? What can one conclude from its short utility? Is there something about the design or material choice that might have prolonged its lifespan or does the rotting explain why such wooden bridges were eventually replaced with stone structures? Does it, in fact, say more about present day Chinese workmanship where nothing is built to last very long. It's sad and disheartening because there are extant <a href="http://www.chinesetimeschool.com/en-us/articles/1000-year-old-wooden-lounge-bridges/" target="_blank">examples</a> of such timbered bridges that have lasted much <a href="http://www.thebookblog.co.uk/2014/01/jinze-rainbow-bridge-shanghai/" target="_blank">longer </a>than the Jinze bridge.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMYepO-L2ZyUjwLDFjyJ80egEPv78HY1o9huIStfFMSlJ_O31Rfphyphenhyphen5UKCK5AThO5a8_EXaCZV3m2STQBzjPARSI43SAiDSGZF7SOw4SvMnVjcd2LE74dkOk3AZPVdoupSN7MOB-fNi9Va/s1600/rotting+at+joints.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMYepO-L2ZyUjwLDFjyJ80egEPv78HY1o9huIStfFMSlJ_O31Rfphyphenhyphen5UKCK5AThO5a8_EXaCZV3m2STQBzjPARSI43SAiDSGZF7SOw4SvMnVjcd2LE74dkOk3AZPVdoupSN7MOB-fNi9Va/s320/rotting+at+joints.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready for another rebuilding</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3n3qHhZrgskk_hzW7amIMEF3EhNwJjwP1k1JlneLYDV6nAOeKyEjd71ODRkYUgXtH0NlhnxHVcbzPOQddVktuTCSR-ye_V1U6AIud2wTJqpgIUu9lxkHv-y6BF6cLSXgt1S4-CdgEEUfK/s1600/porcelain+lionhead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3n3qHhZrgskk_hzW7amIMEF3EhNwJjwP1k1JlneLYDV6nAOeKyEjd71ODRkYUgXtH0NlhnxHVcbzPOQddVktuTCSR-ye_V1U6AIud2wTJqpgIUu9lxkHv-y6BF6cLSXgt1S4-CdgEEUfK/s320/porcelain+lionhead.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chinese bailer twine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLAhvyKFc4s6uZZRLRfj-SHg4Hwqe82OUtyuxt7NqdoyAKczOPT5X5jPpzH2ITD-riJh8lKJWWapBVeX28iGJ2PmBStWpaHAxE9p4WdX6lmd4ytorTUUoHexxoaghj4-tiY2k3R8CEGUHN/s1600/dry+rot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLAhvyKFc4s6uZZRLRfj-SHg4Hwqe82OUtyuxt7NqdoyAKczOPT5X5jPpzH2ITD-riJh8lKJWWapBVeX28iGJ2PmBStWpaHAxE9p4WdX6lmd4ytorTUUoHexxoaghj4-tiY2k3R8CEGUHN/s320/dry+rot.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">persistent dry rot</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGC3epoxXvWhauxdymDwM0PVwaKyfZuyKYfzwYdXFBWmuHZo0xbzyajySPLCRb59SlCzY1QKsp9F26Fswjhm7Y4cPz2jVQaJJfyr6MQGMctsJdETab4eGTyD0P2NHO2aonb92KUOHU7Mkm/s1600/curved+railing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGC3epoxXvWhauxdymDwM0PVwaKyfZuyKYfzwYdXFBWmuHZo0xbzyajySPLCRb59SlCzY1QKsp9F26Fswjhm7Y4cPz2jVQaJJfyr6MQGMctsJdETab4eGTyD0P2NHO2aonb92KUOHU7Mkm/s320/curved+railing.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cambered railing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
This opportunity might have led to a deeper understanding of how to recover traditional, and evidently more effective methods, but the opportunity has been squandered. On so many levels, this bridge represents modern construction within the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XopSDJq6w8E&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">Chinese context</a>. I feel as though I've seen examples of this bridge in all new construction. I can only add to this by pointing out how strongly motivated the Chinese are by literary and artistic paradigms and their adherence to copying them. On another level this construction is a copy not of a bridge but of a painting. And as much as paintings are merely interpretations of reality, this bridge is an image of a Chinese tradition that was codified by the painter on the Qingming scroll. It continues to be copied on many media right through until today.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsbqhyNJ50F9fn60wUkR0btpMlZ15O6427-tlS4xalOfm08DnlJd1pRSbaewtRFLWSDcPYXSeUKntf99TavHvpQIs7M9gUYokt6pL62lrcRif0prSUiTndLkKVqpK8yz0ujGsRQ9ttmAq6/s1600/IMG_6395.mp4" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsbqhyNJ50F9fn60wUkR0btpMlZ15O6427-tlS4xalOfm08DnlJd1pRSbaewtRFLWSDcPYXSeUKntf99TavHvpQIs7M9gUYokt6pL62lrcRif0prSUiTndLkKVqpK8yz0ujGsRQ9ttmAq6/s320/IMG_6395.mp4" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">enjoying the golden years</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQ6MJJAFrLclS_NZCwgFXjYvx_lk4Tnhb63QrhokaUPfMPrHUO27RAKt53P7SjB2-h9RstCjqnL5Iwq0m8yZW6zwxzMFGvGdTKF5g8OGJz4UY56Pef-WXojtX-7RH8eYLxP8t7ld157r2/s1600/silk+tableau_6637.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQ6MJJAFrLclS_NZCwgFXjYvx_lk4Tnhb63QrhokaUPfMPrHUO27RAKt53P7SjB2-h9RstCjqnL5Iwq0m8yZW6zwxzMFGvGdTKF5g8OGJz4UY56Pef-WXojtX-7RH8eYLxP8t7ld157r2/s320/silk+tableau_6637.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A copy of a copy of a copy in silk embroidery suitable for framing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In this respect, the Jinze bridge needs to only look like the picture bridge that inspired it; it needn't function as a woven timber arch bridge.<br />
I couldn't have predicted all that awaits to be explored in Jinze. I plan on posting another essay highlighting the many architectural gems that can still be detected and admired here and there, but I shall end this essay with one last unexpected discovery. One result of the takeover in 1949 was that formerly large courtyard houses were split up into smaller units, effectively turning the courtyards into public throughways.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm2gL6n6ylks3Nd_iGPYLC3x7XnFpIjpmseL0UVdZssd7NVWvldmLCAe7sRtAqP47OqSwdjj4cq4OxYpJcExiI3bf2L4SaKOWJAp7ogE8jmzJZcLQhBdTsVgfK1SVvrxsnfkSevMDEbtUD/s1600/IMG_6339.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm2gL6n6ylks3Nd_iGPYLC3x7XnFpIjpmseL0UVdZssd7NVWvldmLCAe7sRtAqP47OqSwdjj4cq4OxYpJcExiI3bf2L4SaKOWJAp7ogE8jmzJZcLQhBdTsVgfK1SVvrxsnfkSevMDEbtUD/s320/IMG_6339.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Street sign indicating 9 addresses</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This pattern is repeated in many places. I was at first reluctant to walk down such streets that were once private corridors. Sometimes a foreigner can get away with doing such things because locals are reluctant to confront a western face. They gawk but they say nothing. In this case, I was not an intruder since I was walking into a public space. Long live the Communist party!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYSTFC4a40ScpSUtyv1Z7svdRJgzp1CrskN1wSpmi2FiJrtHD8lUxjO897QRqhg-VrtETJwV9a3GHc5IiuXMKZfBccf5vRhLk9W9r_DhldDmk7tb02NTsFfhIFEJWekCStOS1-_tKvyv3S/s1600/IMG_6328.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYSTFC4a40ScpSUtyv1Z7svdRJgzp1CrskN1wSpmi2FiJrtHD8lUxjO897QRqhg-VrtETJwV9a3GHc5IiuXMKZfBccf5vRhLk9W9r_DhldDmk7tb02NTsFfhIFEJWekCStOS1-_tKvyv3S/s400/IMG_6328.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Publicly liberated opulence</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Following deeper into the passage, I glanced up to spot this carved beam and arched roof. It immediately spoke to me as to the precarious nature of so much of Chinese traditional architecture. I had to lighten this photo to make the details visible. As I was angling my iphone to get the best lighting, my wife shouted that there was a bench.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhujpHKIenIA29BSiS0aFgXL871QfCDWtNE3uPSt0eMifnzXT6V36TfFl7sPDaZ9Y3CCkKGzCeb3uPWEUb9x4z4_s1N5Bok3dOi6s79dt04RT5ajh52iD6vvKcgjuIu20nJvpZe7hW8ur-/s1600/IMG_6332.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhujpHKIenIA29BSiS0aFgXL871QfCDWtNE3uPSt0eMifnzXT6V36TfFl7sPDaZ9Y3CCkKGzCeb3uPWEUb9x4z4_s1N5Bok3dOi6s79dt04RT5ajh52iD6vvKcgjuIu20nJvpZe7hW8ur-/s320/IMG_6332.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> noteworthy workbench hidden in plain sight</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Even she could recognize its general form as a woodworking bench, yet I was dumbstruck by how much it resembled a Roman bench from Trier with many of the holding devices that Christopher Schwarz has been <a href="https://blog.lostartpress.com/2017/10/02/roman-workbenches-isnt-quite-right/" target="_blank">documenting</a> and <a href="https://blog.lostartpress.com/2017/09/25/saalburg-workbench-the-first-cut/" target="_blank">recreating</a>. I had to tweak these photos since this covered area was also dark.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeUJ9HnY8lZfzzbaHJItB_loLucsfHRKFbc0JXiOPpZp-NoaJJ0AQa573YEu7h1xQW4Vo-tn49hcVxwZ974dgxBMjAxZOd27STZ2VQW6KL2nwUu51lSSuGXXxe62DM0GaOhC5qvUCgGhEQ/s1600/IMG_6336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeUJ9HnY8lZfzzbaHJItB_loLucsfHRKFbc0JXiOPpZp-NoaJJ0AQa573YEu7h1xQW4Vo-tn49hcVxwZ974dgxBMjAxZOd27STZ2VQW6KL2nwUu51lSSuGXXxe62DM0GaOhC5qvUCgGhEQ/s320/IMG_6336.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">end vise with missing hardware</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK0qUzSH2ugSInngkiK2wwQS_eAuz3eJVN5dyzVyO1k2whS8cMSTn4MxEirXQwaqYXthpfCLwUZlrlNUxVilf8Aa-67HzYSfjT9R-pcmEa8QCflwhYEwtQ8OOApS0A6CnprSKtd7Qill23/s1600/IMG_6334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1507" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK0qUzSH2ugSInngkiK2wwQS_eAuz3eJVN5dyzVyO1k2whS8cMSTn4MxEirXQwaqYXthpfCLwUZlrlNUxVilf8Aa-67HzYSfjT9R-pcmEa8QCflwhYEwtQ8OOApS0A6CnprSKtd7Qill23/s320/IMG_6334.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">broken dog in dovetail housing </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwkrH9AoEeKbgnlmaSyrH2TwimIwCKpafmPMH9-g81YpG0EClU_GVq_5zH6A4MZ4Qpq6eoBaPQVv1p8iBl-uG9oo9U7y6iN93mkvb49vM6Ne0cz8QghrLy_5JOd4ZWommU2TJlSXJKMqOX/s1600/IMG_6333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1434" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwkrH9AoEeKbgnlmaSyrH2TwimIwCKpafmPMH9-g81YpG0EClU_GVq_5zH6A4MZ4Qpq6eoBaPQVv1p8iBl-uG9oo9U7y6iN93mkvb49vM6Ne0cz8QghrLy_5JOd4ZWommU2TJlSXJKMqOX/s320/IMG_6333.jpg" width="286" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crochet and bench surface</td></tr>
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I have no idea why such an artefact was left in this public space. It might have been used to build the original dwelling. There are plenty of tool marks and some hints of a tail vise. It's too well built to be used by a contemporary carpenter who typically nails together a flimsy table that is abandoned on the worksite after the job is done. This bench has mass of thick timbers and might have been left in this location because it's too heavy to carry away and too thick to be chopped up for firewood. And so, Mr. Schwarz, do you think you see an <a href="https://lostartpress.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/chapter7.jpg?w=640" target="_blank">example</a> that is worthy of replicating?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmZbv5sU4yPl1kXdZNA1KFlhhwG679PSOaoQTs3MavDQDyscgJRJ0GBn61CODGORz1SMGqtIjofdHUgcKyNlIPaRrHzduNltoTSt3jEE7fW8ZaAbS7Laq9dOeY_DVGHr7z8yEVAV3LgTt0/s1600/sloped+planing+bench.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="847" data-original-width="1080" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmZbv5sU4yPl1kXdZNA1KFlhhwG679PSOaoQTs3MavDQDyscgJRJ0GBn61CODGORz1SMGqtIjofdHUgcKyNlIPaRrHzduNltoTSt3jEE7fW8ZaAbS7Laq9dOeY_DVGHr7z8yEVAV3LgTt0/s320/sloped+planing+bench.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">one style of a Chinese planing bench</td></tr>
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This bench presents a mystery since it doesn't appear to follow in Chinese traditions. The next post will show more of Jinze.Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com2Qingpu, Shanghai, China31.150681 121.1241780000000330.715671 120.47873100000002 31.585690999999997 121.76962500000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-86640726715379167092018-06-09T12:05:00.003+08:002018-06-09T12:05:47.921+08:00Table Forms and Wood This essay was inspired when I looked over this table that seems to be a commissioned piece. I've been working in a new situation in the Qingpu district of Shanghai. I'm still growing into this work <a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/t_BS0NBxSzo5vPp7rx4kvw" target="_blank">environment</a> and adapting to the circumstances.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXMuuX5jtABrmFXIDCx6YltVWhjos8tbW_Kwgv988bWdmOGTXP4XPUyXtDGKrUTmqT7g-RgK6Uq1n1UsiVWBq3LkDdSZN4c2q0q13dBKoN79uSIGrHjFydWYF4V-YEG5pxgz9d9j0RToZ/s1600/simianping+slab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1415" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXMuuX5jtABrmFXIDCx6YltVWhjos8tbW_Kwgv988bWdmOGTXP4XPUyXtDGKrUTmqT7g-RgK6Uq1n1UsiVWBq3LkDdSZN4c2q0q13dBKoN79uSIGrHjFydWYF4V-YEG5pxgz9d9j0RToZ/s400/simianping+slab.jpg" width="353" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wood and metal</td></tr>
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This is certainly part of what the market demands and woodworkers can happily supply. I've written before about why I think there is an aesthetic by which consumers need reassurances that they possess 'real ' wood. (More on this to follow) This explains the use of slabs and wane, now marketed as 'live edges'. And that is what this table represents. It's a hunk of solid wood mounted on four welded leg assemblies. While looking over this piece, I thought about how odd it was that the legs were screwed up into the slab, flush with the corners when the piece would have looked better if the legs had been tucked just under the surface, hiding the low quality welds from direct view. I was looking at this table as a westerner but this was a table in the Chinese style despite its modern aesthetics. For those who are unfamiliar with the concept of Simianping, here is an example that I spotted on a sidewalk in <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g308272-d1793301-Reviews-Jinze_Ancient_Town-Shanghai.html" target="_blank">Jinze</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiumQXTP6i6O3P1y1LuiOTI83a6DMGH_EqPto4IsgQ76NU2T9dpbWc1YxZg_lmC0ccuakz9p0trgINUHb-KIUYgFXVXaDgh3nnChu9JRJQt0lLDg9QFl6RLybirDk7urF2h-MAf06y7EulK/s1600/simianping+on+Jinze+street.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1321" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiumQXTP6i6O3P1y1LuiOTI83a6DMGH_EqPto4IsgQ76NU2T9dpbWc1YxZg_lmC0ccuakz9p0trgINUHb-KIUYgFXVXaDgh3nnChu9JRJQt0lLDg9QFl6RLybirDk7urF2h-MAf06y7EulK/s320/simianping+on+Jinze+street.jpg" width="264" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Box with legs: Chinese table archetype</td></tr>
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The table is a box in overall form. A<a href="http://www.chinese-furniture.com/c_furniture/j_cornerleg.html" target="_blank">nother term</a> for this is corner-leg construction and it is embedded into the Chinese psyche as to what a table ought to look like. And this mental model goes far to explain why the maker of the table above felt compelled to create the resultant form, which, despite being trendy and modern with its 'real' solid wood tabletop, maintains a very conservative Chinese root. As it happens, I came across another example of a table that displays a mixture of conservative and modern construction with its own results in compromise.<br />
Just around the corner from the Chen Yonggang Woodcraft Studio is a cafeteria that is frequented by me and my coworkers, which is where I discovered tables that imitate simianping. Understandably the joinery is greatly simplified, in part to keep construction costs down, but simply because HongMu joinery requires dense tropical hardwoods to succeed.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaZVV-xZnQeZ0Xd8AdTUMFRq9bQ704O0u-70q5K_QV239QNQKfTPAmQV_gnNK7qhDV-57Bg9zupv-TvNzJkgs8cWMwtliP0QnC1g5A9Sygp8ihaSyQja3p_AKv9QKoEPQcVJlqa_4LbPW2/s1600/simplified+hongmu+joinery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaZVV-xZnQeZ0Xd8AdTUMFRq9bQ704O0u-70q5K_QV239QNQKfTPAmQV_gnNK7qhDV-57Bg9zupv-TvNzJkgs8cWMwtliP0QnC1g5A9Sygp8ihaSyQja3p_AKv9QKoEPQcVJlqa_4LbPW2/s320/simplified+hongmu+joinery.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waisted, simplified, corner-leg construction </td></tr>
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As I have written before, one weakness of Simianping is the panel and frame tabletop assembly. This makes such a table difficult to clean since water unavoidably seeps into its gaps, compromising the joints and filling them with crud and schmutz, which is just the kind of situation that one might want to avoid in a busy restaurant when choosing tables to serve customers. Yet again the archetype of what makes for a 'good' table trumps the functionality of any specific tables.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFgtYx4ENtsz5WvaDZVc8vz2D2J1GbeZaCRwiBGIJdG3z7U_fd3k163YFWvi87VdbXtD9N_G-32808ALkxcpdse4HD8-NSJGefz-HRxFoUk6yhaBb1XqXNQCQG0ua1vCaTpwp8PRdph4uM/s1600/grooved+tabletop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFgtYx4ENtsz5WvaDZVc8vz2D2J1GbeZaCRwiBGIJdG3z7U_fd3k163YFWvi87VdbXtD9N_G-32808ALkxcpdse4HD8-NSJGefz-HRxFoUk6yhaBb1XqXNQCQG0ua1vCaTpwp8PRdph4uM/s320/grooved+tabletop.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Faux panel and frame construction</td></tr>
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I just wonder what process was used to cut such a narrow groove along and across the grain. Impressive even as it only adds difficulty to a busser's routine tasks.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjer2D3-fwZcMGIhhYgDl8TGNhW8tG5azK4FMsUT_Pl72iWTPOXmLYqsR5h71ZprtDYeIlgNu_aTERZV0bq1wZzyC2JCM2rtvK_VaYsoxowGkPk3lP6eNd_lW7lyBNu4d0zIbiHyUidqgBE/s1600/Baoshan+Ikea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjer2D3-fwZcMGIhhYgDl8TGNhW8tG5azK4FMsUT_Pl72iWTPOXmLYqsR5h71ZprtDYeIlgNu_aTERZV0bq1wZzyC2JCM2rtvK_VaYsoxowGkPk3lP6eNd_lW7lyBNu4d0zIbiHyUidqgBE/s320/Baoshan+Ikea.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A popular restaurant chain that happens to sell furniture</td></tr>
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I think this points out a chicken or egg dilemma. If a laudable goal is to put better constructed furniture on the marketplace, is it better that consumers are educated about furniture construction, or is it more advantageous for manufacturers to build such furniture in anticipation of attracting consumers? In the long and short run, my opinions is that consumers primarily determine with their purchasing decisions what manufacturers respond to. Better informed consumers push standards higher (certainly in the absence of guilds, or selfimposed industry guidelines, or governmental regulations) It's, therefore, frustrating, in particular, when manufacturers mislead or exploit consumer's own confusion with their furniture designs.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS5Bkg6QIelcGiClmwb8H0FMjI9nZivZyN7ds-kCBMElrE-2p98EScpEAAzOnKtXcLQgzJAMqDlxx4b0ZUSXVGiyAAlvm9Ks7y1WAoFvALPpQ9N5JkH7cE28bjhi46lXiKf4tPw4WSr1dd/s1600/Stockholm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS5Bkg6QIelcGiClmwb8H0FMjI9nZivZyN7ds-kCBMElrE-2p98EScpEAAzOnKtXcLQgzJAMqDlxx4b0ZUSXVGiyAAlvm9Ks7y1WAoFvALPpQ9N5JkH7cE28bjhi46lXiKf4tPw4WSr1dd/s320/Stockholm.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Magical trees go into its manufacture</td></tr>
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I first spotted this coffeetable at Ikea but I only single this business out because I spend so much time there. Deceptive design is not their exclusive domain. This is their Stockholm table, which the <a href="https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/tables/coffee-side-tables/stockholm-2017-coffee-table-ash-veneer-art-50345071/" target="_blank">website</a> refers to as made of Ash veneer. I apply veneers to many of my pieces, but this type of example is one that has given much of the general public a alse notion that veneer is a sign of low quality construction in furniture. I've heard this stated with confident authority and it explains much of the 'big slab' furniture aesthetic, which unsurprisingly this Stockholm is trying to imitate even as it also is fooling most consumers. I don't have any problem with the application of ash veneer and even though end grain veneers present their own challenges, visual and adhesive , they are not the thrust of my objection to this piece. I object to cheating the consumer into believing that this is made with staked construction which is associated with solid wood. The through tenon, again a weakness as explained above when it comes to routine cleaning, overtly misleads that the solid leg passes through a solid wood tabletop, which to a casual observer the veneers create a false impression that it is. What is the purpose of the choice of exposing through round tenons but merely to confuse a potential buyer (it certainly offers no structural advantage) even as it compromises the veneered surface from normal use. It's an example of a manufacturer exploiting ignorance and capitalizing on it in a race to the bottom. Caveat emptor et aut disce aut discede Ikea! And yet this is not the only example that I found during my visit to buy a needed coffeepress.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLBJ4FzLcYcn6llD0ogGGKB-UEeOb-8Mu7lWfdyM01V3_HzK2tDrqI1aqVUCK9i__Opb3aabM4F-LiuA6tKqgpl03h2tqfVMbzjI0d3I6qqto30qgbZCTEWmLi9QtIDKTHwJ0Yi2mntgoA/s1600/Industriell+surface.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLBJ4FzLcYcn6llD0ogGGKB-UEeOb-8Mu7lWfdyM01V3_HzK2tDrqI1aqVUCK9i__Opb3aabM4F-LiuA6tKqgpl03h2tqfVMbzjI0d3I6qqto30qgbZCTEWmLi9QtIDKTHwJ0Yi2mntgoA/s320/Industriell+surface.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I struggled to get the proper raking light necessary to highlight the travesty of this design feature on the <a href="https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/tables/dining-tables/industriell-table-light-grey-art-00394525/" target="_blank">Industriell line</a> of table, bench, and side chairs. Whereas, the Stockholm is described as 'ash veneer', the Industriell table is vaguely described as 'light grey' both as to material and color. Even though my VPN routed me to the UK Ikea website, I presume that 'light grey' is intentionally obtuse in all versions of English. And all because they don't want to state that the pieces are made from pine laminate. And to further mislead consumers, the surface is somehow treated to resemble a rough sawn surface as though it came directly from a sawmill as a slab! Is the greater sin miseducating the general consumer or exploiting his lack of consumer acumen? By the way, the underside of this tabletop is perfectly smooth, the kind of smoothness that one wants on a tabletop to help keep it clean. And yet this faux rough sawn surface is put proudly on top, the direct opposite that one would do in traditional construction. Are manufacturers really so exploitative of consumer ignorance or are designers so far removed from traditional woodcraft that they blithely turn a flaw that was once dutifully hidden in construction into an industrially fabricated feature to deceive consumers?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoKdCH95SrTOnrAOpRTGSkvPEkYAPEbQEdIwmYcYf03JdCAIUa1al1M9uZ0xa3I84irOI27gyo7TGI3ahHLj0CFO2NEPkYWrOijnJ4UXWt6GhXUCsql1CKR8ZLH3cwtYI45duaqrIAKjwq/s1600/IMG_6230.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoKdCH95SrTOnrAOpRTGSkvPEkYAPEbQEdIwmYcYf03JdCAIUa1al1M9uZ0xa3I84irOI27gyo7TGI3ahHLj0CFO2NEPkYWrOijnJ4UXWt6GhXUCsql1CKR8ZLH3cwtYI45duaqrIAKjwq/s320/IMG_6230.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can a sawyer ever do this?</td></tr>
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And if you thought it could not get worse. My last criticism is for the the Hurdal linen cabinet. This piece first caught my eye on a showroom floor because lacking a plinth, it looked oddly squat. Its proximity to the floor is the least of its flaws. I don't know whether the <a href="https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/wardrobes/free-standing-wardrobes/hurdal-linen-cabinet-green-art-10268852/" target="_blank">Hurdal</a> is marketed in all countries with the tag below: <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4wRv6yieyhLmZIHsxAZ4lSIA0k3iZ7NJBpHC23-lAlq9xhDYB21vwMR-_8bitJPwlRqaIoFGCJUp1gT50HGlMwazC-V5-CKdl01J343p5UsdToMFBmLIYIo1Eh9U7O3yxkwVSWeM4U5Ir/s1600/solid+wood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1244" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4wRv6yieyhLmZIHsxAZ4lSIA0k3iZ7NJBpHC23-lAlq9xhDYB21vwMR-_8bitJPwlRqaIoFGCJUp1gT50HGlMwazC-V5-CKdl01J343p5UsdToMFBmLIYIo1Eh9U7O3yxkwVSWeM4U5Ir/s320/solid+wood.jpg" width="248" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a tree, a common source of wood, as imagined by a designer</td></tr>
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It doesn't take very long to find example that contradict this assertion. Or is the goal, in fact, to redefine what solid wood is? As long as consumers fail to educate themselves, it only follows that salespeople and grifters will dazzle them with their marketing strategies regardless of the reductions of language and functionality that are the results.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXk6kOmOhGM9ReRdFsaYLg06wR0UEUDKmg3BLCFDnpWUdztTDHj4IIuuHMidauMbOyfmOfmG98IGP1f8Nb9v7zsza2s20Ixk-JaTf7k3D9k1bq8_ip8mlHz5ABZqaMrnkNTE__WRVEX50/s1600/mdf+drawer+bottom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXk6kOmOhGM9ReRdFsaYLg06wR0UEUDKmg3BLCFDnpWUdztTDHj4IIuuHMidauMbOyfmOfmG98IGP1f8Nb9v7zsza2s20Ixk-JaTf7k3D9k1bq8_ip8mlHz5ABZqaMrnkNTE__WRVEX50/s320/mdf+drawer+bottom.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">definitionally unsolid wood for the drawer bottom</td></tr>
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The piece is rickety and it's probably due to the manner in which 'solid wood' is used less as a structure element than as a meretricious feature. The piece uses solid wood gliders, which might be an improvement on the more common stamped steel glider. And yet for some confounding reason, the manufacturer undermines this refinement.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMDDJMuB-1SQst5sLUYNT1evn_uM73ZOjZNjFw2r4yQSsmLNIbxlWI83y0ZMoQsBBmSBUpvcMR6rEOlEyOisAtobFrPDTYVg_WgmuC_idk01I0hR1sk9pCZVS6EdBWyPoa4hciraNQTtcO/s1600/beech+glider.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMDDJMuB-1SQst5sLUYNT1evn_uM73ZOjZNjFw2r4yQSsmLNIbxlWI83y0ZMoQsBBmSBUpvcMR6rEOlEyOisAtobFrPDTYVg_WgmuC_idk01I0hR1sk9pCZVS6EdBWyPoa4hciraNQTtcO/s320/beech+glider.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Profiled beech glider component </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In order to simplify assembly, or perhaps manufacturing and packaging, both left and right sides of the drawer are identical. So while the drawer sides are made of solid wood, albeit, industrially laminated, which is potentially an improvement, they are needlessly milled with grooves that serve no function and render the drawer construction weaker.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRqUYxCY1UchBSLSRFzjsrwR7Jfz6ME2cThb5UaJyxay6kKJKw64CXS1dS9ZvecdzjOX7khGO6MwH5ffjau_lYoE2R8bwY6twrkzIuYLlvk-xQQt5fQFQrWEpd7_qmbgOqy1HCSsrcUlo0/s1600/double+slider+grooves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRqUYxCY1UchBSLSRFzjsrwR7Jfz6ME2cThb5UaJyxay6kKJKw64CXS1dS9ZvecdzjOX7khGO6MwH5ffjau_lYoE2R8bwY6twrkzIuYLlvk-xQQt5fQFQrWEpd7_qmbgOqy1HCSsrcUlo0/s320/double+slider+grooves.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Double milled in vain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0E9nJlgUSArm53zBZoGHFCziGDqYpS29dkq_qU3COQAcmSIzZ-tWsz7Xn3RsUsQA-vbuFVqp3TkYhrsliEc_DwqRyPiTwvYjYFTHnqmpdicKlynWTEk1eJBtkjNUbeQj_nPDeFgXPlnR/s1600/double+bottom+grooves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0E9nJlgUSArm53zBZoGHFCziGDqYpS29dkq_qU3COQAcmSIzZ-tWsz7Xn3RsUsQA-vbuFVqp3TkYhrsliEc_DwqRyPiTwvYjYFTHnqmpdicKlynWTEk1eJBtkjNUbeQj_nPDeFgXPlnR/s200/double+bottom+grooves.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Needlessly grooved, so ungroovy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I don't know whether Ikea has had to answer any criticism about this, officially from its headquarters or from its own salespeople. A real designer would never deign to respond to such a query I suspect that a spokesperson will emphasize that it's made from solid wood (!) and that it can be more easily assembled by those who don't know their left from their right hands. Solid wood doesn't mean any more what I thought it did.<br />
Duanwu jie kuaile!Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com3Baihezhen, Qingpu, Shanghai, China31.259145 121.1431649999999530.389462 119.85227149999996 32.128828 122.43405849999995tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-82335972823943169192018-05-06T01:34:00.003+08:002018-05-11T00:19:27.459+08:00Discovering woodwork while strolling in a corner of Nanjing<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlO8G8WWn1aythL6vZLBO1gWk1hY5trjXLiuN1d5PBjdAI8iIHmDUf4ihOh9mIwZgZWHdd1hPm9cEE56Vw5uw64OWaNEjdX3Vzndx7Ws8sZ5zsqru1i9lp2h1nKOdpIOrYsu0jhlbKoJWe/s1600/490E77DA-329E-46C4-96A4-F0D20E1E452E-1586-0000025082E571EE_tmp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlO8G8WWn1aythL6vZLBO1gWk1hY5trjXLiuN1d5PBjdAI8iIHmDUf4ihOh9mIwZgZWHdd1hPm9cEE56Vw5uw64OWaNEjdX3Vzndx7Ws8sZ5zsqru1i9lp2h1nKOdpIOrYsu0jhlbKoJWe/s320/490E77DA-329E-46C4-96A4-F0D20E1E452E-1586-0000025082E571EE_tmp.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Uber of woodshops coming to your city</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFe1eWKqD5HFNDDlFYqdUCe41krUHPxfockHclzb6vWTYmqIrukWB7jU3lrIPm57JuZXSd8HDOCREstvgRUB4IX8mCNp0yzrd0ERSvEssfHqH-j1gGl3hh1zAcfCdT1yW8mjdRtJfUDEtN/s1600/IMG_5860.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFe1eWKqD5HFNDDlFYqdUCe41krUHPxfockHclzb6vWTYmqIrukWB7jU3lrIPm57JuZXSd8HDOCREstvgRUB4IX8mCNp0yzrd0ERSvEssfHqH-j1gGl3hh1zAcfCdT1yW8mjdRtJfUDEtN/s320/IMG_5860.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The #13 building XinMenXi Commerce and Trade Zone</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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A former employer has announced its plans to expand its operations into several large Chinese cities and Nanjing is one of them. I asked my wife to accompany me to see what to make of the new location somewhere near JiQingMen <span class="st">集庆门</span>.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpkQ2NQ17xQPckDPEyWnHnmFPoBU0kgML5hKG_A3zyxdY3Inyep4Dp_1cnGuOfwe7sJWgZCJ8zbSQj96kWIDrfEKzSgAdsykDOilcP6goIwl77cNzGTI3E9wQ67hZjDKcP1cTmH1VEkLEx/s1600/prposed+mylab+facility.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpkQ2NQ17xQPckDPEyWnHnmFPoBU0kgML5hKG_A3zyxdY3Inyep4Dp_1cnGuOfwe7sJWgZCJ8zbSQj96kWIDrfEKzSgAdsykDOilcP6goIwl77cNzGTI3E9wQ67hZjDKcP1cTmH1VEkLEx/s320/prposed+mylab+facility.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">better than underground</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It was evident early on during our stroll, that it was located within a new construction site that involved a lot of demolition and a lot of bland new construction that would be certain to attract many new consumers. The ubiquitous Vanke was at the center of the activity, semmingly having taken over the operations from Mingfu construction, that would be the new headquarters for an internet company.The building in question was eventually discovered in the center of the Xinmenxi sport area. Even my wife made the comment that the bosses don't seem to value windows.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb13vizqH5F_5Edaewv5AdHNerSeVr8FMh_xFL_35FrsgqwKfZL87L1bM5Y8nZzgbdIYBONkfEIhfsZ0FFlkPoSO0NeJs5XrZ2VSxHmc-SjN1CLUO3Hy-oXQJA2nVn1EoHgquvVLlY8dAu/s1600/Xinjingmen+entryway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb13vizqH5F_5Edaewv5AdHNerSeVr8FMh_xFL_35FrsgqwKfZL87L1bM5Y8nZzgbdIYBONkfEIhfsZ0FFlkPoSO0NeJs5XrZ2VSxHmc-SjN1CLUO3Hy-oXQJA2nVn1EoHgquvVLlY8dAu/s320/Xinjingmen+entryway.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">entryway architecture</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisOLQbQqPsKbLEUX8mhrxtK2cnIuZivMtJQPpuXSn8nj4S46U_3iu8WPA6CGnMGbWc8H7RrWxx0g3jYnbj9wmHRpvRrgGvKbSGMkcgcohlFVPyNKMY1tULYrYvLydHN7nNHxOVl39EScxn/s1600/IMG_5852.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisOLQbQqPsKbLEUX8mhrxtK2cnIuZivMtJQPpuXSn8nj4S46U_3iu8WPA6CGnMGbWc8H7RrWxx0g3jYnbj9wmHRpvRrgGvKbSGMkcgcohlFVPyNKMY1tULYrYvLydHN7nNHxOVl39EScxn/s320/IMG_5852.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Safety First</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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We saw no signage nor 'woodshop' construction so we continued wending our way along jiqingmen jie until we crossed Fengyousi lu. I recognized the character of si as meaning temple so I suggested that we try to find the temple that the street was undoubtedly named after. I learned only later that the whole neighborhood was named after the FengYou Temple. She asked a fruitseller in her corner shop who explained after a bit of confusion that there was no temple because it had been torn down to make way for a school. Drat. I could neither find any history of the temple online.<br />
We decided to head in the direction that she indicated where the replacement school has been built.<br />
I also later learned that the school that rests on the formerly sacred site is the Nanjing #43 middle school on HuaLu Bei Gan.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfClHGt506kOwcmsGbZfXI8BIXiRYe2_lZveqDH0__Q3u2Um7G8mx0Huk65ov4bMLg9a2zIIfEE518ad89XjglkOjBOyZImOt0j7OhCw9aAAgJsN91qY0JlQ22I6bwKm85tug2XhhyQAN0/s1600/new+temple+street+entry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfClHGt506kOwcmsGbZfXI8BIXiRYe2_lZveqDH0__Q3u2Um7G8mx0Huk65ov4bMLg9a2zIIfEE518ad89XjglkOjBOyZImOt0j7OhCw9aAAgJsN91qY0JlQ22I6bwKm85tug2XhhyQAN0/s320/new+temple+street+entry.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">securely bolted from the interior</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We were drawn along this road and spotted the locked door of an unnamed building built in an older style. On the left I spotted the sad remains of a once proud brick structure that had been allowed to selfdemolish, its roof long since collapsed as well as the roofs of the shanties that been built up against it. I have learned that this was once the Nanjing Shanghai Electric Insulating factory. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjUx2ZLaYLnKREtLw4_NNw1PvsehOqwL12HdqDnv4WS-ruKI_CuNZLIUwippw21C2Hn3rNa3djJJe93ldKteyMxqagFZMfYTA8ArT6eRzfnICaGV3g0l4T5Z-aaM8gJ-h5YZCD_W4CfXMP/s1600/abandoned+factory+and+shanties.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjUx2ZLaYLnKREtLw4_NNw1PvsehOqwL12HdqDnv4WS-ruKI_CuNZLIUwippw21C2Hn3rNa3djJJe93ldKteyMxqagFZMfYTA8ArT6eRzfnICaGV3g0l4T5Z-aaM8gJ-h5YZCD_W4CfXMP/s320/abandoned+factory+and+shanties.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">electric insulator factory, view from Hualu Bei Gan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6fs7OxOGnCpRwXLrrK2YE0yi4MnBG2p0RdfDMblr0L1AVCHdnAhFAL8TqIpScd0dpEbEAdHi9JmxfyLtkJoVLssJvUTIk-hBInII5a7feRZ0WDtgAHAoXZTr7vEVSGF73c3NbCjpUyMoH/s1600/collapsed+rooline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6fs7OxOGnCpRwXLrrK2YE0yi4MnBG2p0RdfDMblr0L1AVCHdnAhFAL8TqIpScd0dpEbEAdHi9JmxfyLtkJoVLssJvUTIk-hBInII5a7feRZ0WDtgAHAoXZTr7vEVSGF73c3NbCjpUyMoH/s320/collapsed+rooline.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Electric insulator factory gable end</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I was more appalled by the stench of human waste than the likelihood of
PCBs and dioxins that lingered around the site. I turned into a narrow
alleyway to find a perimeter wall built with embossed brick spolia taken from the
citywall.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3qfVLqqW13YIr4n0W_eAjVDer_FBs0ycBj-pnzbet4Hf6PjGCww45nmz58AnjrR7Csn7JLlL_c6aNR0j-Qt5T1k2u5YAd-6cpsLwip-jQdy3fVtZkjmm9-D7UPv5rUA8ggk36gTLz5ltd/s1600/fallen+rendering.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3qfVLqqW13YIr4n0W_eAjVDer_FBs0ycBj-pnzbet4Hf6PjGCww45nmz58AnjrR7Csn7JLlL_c6aNR0j-Qt5T1k2u5YAd-6cpsLwip-jQdy3fVtZkjmm9-D7UPv5rUA8ggk36gTLz5ltd/s320/fallen+rendering.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">falling rendering revealing the ancient monument beneath</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFI_Bsg15Ai_6uiVt5eUjeChuMCEpgUIYJnnLvAL9NRq5OVl7l7o6xi1EeJhbr-TB8vor8KPzJRnNcwEKokv9uytzIikPwckRc42R_WY1aEJUHZlCvGVf_j9QoypZPy1NrYeDm_HQTL46t/s1600/alleyway+behind+abandoned+factory+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFI_Bsg15Ai_6uiVt5eUjeChuMCEpgUIYJnnLvAL9NRq5OVl7l7o6xi1EeJhbr-TB8vor8KPzJRnNcwEKokv9uytzIikPwckRc42R_WY1aEJUHZlCvGVf_j9QoypZPy1NrYeDm_HQTL46t/s320/alleyway+behind+abandoned+factory+.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">wall from spolia possibly taken from the JiQingMen construction</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Further along the street, on the south side of the street another building caught my attention.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxVs7Qqd9DZnDEKUN62Klc1BhBjuxtzraIOojzgVxlzY9tdbFtJFHS9i4whb8wDlO6JC_m9O0VTdbUJntDG9UFt-HKr090ioLPxa4Hxu9m0EfAIxdh5_AkmQek9knVEzXWtLxzg8jpNKs2/s1600/IMG_5884.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxVs7Qqd9DZnDEKUN62Klc1BhBjuxtzraIOojzgVxlzY9tdbFtJFHS9i4whb8wDlO6JC_m9O0VTdbUJntDG9UFt-HKr090ioLPxa4Hxu9m0EfAIxdh5_AkmQek9knVEzXWtLxzg8jpNKs2/s320/IMG_5884.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">citywall stones repurposed</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The mass of the foundations seemed so very out of place. The large stones could be hiding a courtyard houeshold, invisible from the streetside. It was difficult to say but I suspected that the upper courses had been rebuilt a few times more than the lower. At the Gu Wanguansi, a temple that is still in operation but under threat of eviction according to a member, we turned left onto Hualu Gan.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEIqQpQhfq0w66ELKisUMPL08QRhyZZ0c3t7I6_3dUYhxhLAfSPJO3b1DzCWhZGMMPhEqa2-Uaeu-Rhy09lI0toDThjutj0XDTYDy9YdMvKzOhOk8rrf3x4GlEPgaX_-F8CV2XYBRL_bEX/s1600/rotting+timbered+roof+beams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1301" data-original-width="1600" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEIqQpQhfq0w66ELKisUMPL08QRhyZZ0c3t7I6_3dUYhxhLAfSPJO3b1DzCWhZGMMPhEqa2-Uaeu-Rhy09lI0toDThjutj0XDTYDy9YdMvKzOhOk8rrf3x4GlEPgaX_-F8CV2XYBRL_bEX/s320/rotting+timbered+roof+beams.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rotting remnants of timberframe roof structure</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjgAy2XuUmsoSz4bf_GRFgPN1DHeNfF2JqONYZzmbXTjIbR8n7lpGEUxpBP_ZXk6wwD6kO39FyLTe8Zrry7pAFpEm4-BZyZAujp-4uFBJdRwI7OHNA6WDSZh3-M62fdKOlaDAFnU9OYXhm/s1600/IMG_5886.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjgAy2XuUmsoSz4bf_GRFgPN1DHeNfF2JqONYZzmbXTjIbR8n7lpGEUxpBP_ZXk6wwD6kO39FyLTe8Zrry7pAFpEm4-BZyZAujp-4uFBJdRwI7OHNA6WDSZh3-M62fdKOlaDAFnU9OYXhm/s320/IMG_5886.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cut stone spolia awaiting its next application</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We were able to view some of the buildings that we had passed along the streetside.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMFkykkKf1P2yv1tHYuxptkcCf4YRU0mQZV2UYRI13Yf9x3A92lqFTzaLAhEuGACJmb0F-QOVwH0xqrb5ovrfLtUNI4qMy2AmW9SQw4iyvC8H5zyM6eWCjxJXhUSNh7A4OcBES-_Q69fBs/s1600/archaeological+pit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMFkykkKf1P2yv1tHYuxptkcCf4YRU0mQZV2UYRI13Yf9x3A92lqFTzaLAhEuGACJmb0F-QOVwH0xqrb5ovrfLtUNI4qMy2AmW9SQw4iyvC8H5zyM6eWCjxJXhUSNh7A4OcBES-_Q69fBs/s320/archaeological+pit.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abandoned archaeological pit, perhaps</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6270pbBlzFL7A8aT2xtpUD4HZuDO5xquGXdxySBtLf5CHHtT5tsfXDNDk7UDsXrtiHDI5-aBMKjy2SMIhQmVCg3h4D8nxGKDFvW-HuCur-LH0ZoQiuhh4U7KKhhbwJBTVXdLmF0PH6LmZ/s1600/IMG_5891.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6270pbBlzFL7A8aT2xtpUD4HZuDO5xquGXdxySBtLf5CHHtT5tsfXDNDk7UDsXrtiHDI5-aBMKjy2SMIhQmVCg3h4D8nxGKDFvW-HuCur-LH0ZoQiuhh4U7KKhhbwJBTVXdLmF0PH6LmZ/s320/IMG_5891.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">pallets can help avoid having to move stones so often by hand</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Despite usually tight security on Chinese construction sites, the new temple back door was left ajar, calling out to us to enter. How dare we refuse such a sacred invitation?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ1efHlm5rzmLDyy94Trm3wBbaWaqQn4UqejmRkEnkuTD1pUDzIuQQD1RGU55QDNESHGaB67V8axq5EhtWo4Jpe9iaws2McRrr3f8iT3D-0Rmsf5bfVzS0KfXE8d6KMvH4hKqUOCt4l7G-/s1600/interior+courtyward+doorway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ1efHlm5rzmLDyy94Trm3wBbaWaqQn4UqejmRkEnkuTD1pUDzIuQQD1RGU55QDNESHGaB67V8axq5EhtWo4Jpe9iaws2McRrr3f8iT3D-0Rmsf5bfVzS0KfXE8d6KMvH4hKqUOCt4l7G-/s320/interior+courtyward+doorway.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Temple doorway</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5nsshwsvjYrjA5Tf-nSYHFbSE7pfKdZWZaJ-evjmwVle2h2Jf-g8GsNWhgZo9RfAhAnlSNzms2RmHCn5gDV3O6WFK_mT_8_nas90pJW7tWVwViXYk1XKr4XS2rhBIKKNnl5EsSxv1eDkk/s1600/new+temple+interior+courtyard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5nsshwsvjYrjA5Tf-nSYHFbSE7pfKdZWZaJ-evjmwVle2h2Jf-g8GsNWhgZo9RfAhAnlSNzms2RmHCn5gDV3O6WFK_mT_8_nas90pJW7tWVwViXYk1XKr4XS2rhBIKKNnl5EsSxv1eDkk/s320/new+temple+interior+courtyard.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interior temple courtyard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN5OWuiQEPTlURma1X5A0aVqwfjnEqYATXnxo2zgv8CRyjV55t5H6oUS6ZgQlHhAfLUDf25OOHM5F785w8N6l-D-EuQJEikpL9zYK0Ln8Ciyi6yeCf6TKbZdDWYOEmrlhherZ1DBTj_IIV/s1600/UYBNE6951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="600" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN5OWuiQEPTlURma1X5A0aVqwfjnEqYATXnxo2zgv8CRyjV55t5H6oUS6ZgQlHhAfLUDf25OOHM5F785w8N6l-D-EuQJEikpL9zYK0Ln8Ciyi6yeCf6TKbZdDWYOEmrlhherZ1DBTj_IIV/s320/UYBNE6951.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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All construction had apparently come to a halt some time before our arrival (I estimate at least a year) even though much remained to be done. The woodwork that was more exposed to the elements had begun to decay in its unpainted condition. Or perhaps, the intention was to buck tradition and follow the modern trend of preferring the 'real wood' style.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_SPxvEr8aRho5ptF83P-_4KVsj6N7mJldk8p0Tyox-f5-SIUVL4qvxygVEj7Qb4RvWyQbjIeBBjXmkZfoL4cG746ZdrPa2BL8qqFlffP1P2JvI3WSL09s-HIEnHNuHm4kuOHjn8sgKFSM/s1600/IMG_5902.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_SPxvEr8aRho5ptF83P-_4KVsj6N7mJldk8p0Tyox-f5-SIUVL4qvxygVEj7Qb4RvWyQbjIeBBjXmkZfoL4cG746ZdrPa2BL8qqFlffP1P2JvI3WSL09s-HIEnHNuHm4kuOHjn8sgKFSM/s320/IMG_5902.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Contemplating interior decoration</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZ4qF7ztTTVFHuBpzJH9P7ufqHU8nWHy_0zpxgsSqOJUwKjq3zIaH6s-QYNt8vB_KewpfYbCqpdbd_OZqkO3hcoRYvbmqWxQPUQSx3l_yLLBr3eovSm23S91Op_jvRnKJ6zM2scBQeCSY/s1600/new+temple+interior+timberframe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZ4qF7ztTTVFHuBpzJH9P7ufqHU8nWHy_0zpxgsSqOJUwKjq3zIaH6s-QYNt8vB_KewpfYbCqpdbd_OZqkO3hcoRYvbmqWxQPUQSx3l_yLLBr3eovSm23S91Op_jvRnKJ6zM2scBQeCSY/s320/new+temple+interior+timberframe.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">modern sprinkler systems</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPLNmMHKzA1o_803Uif4qljex5Tqc_pU2esDg5xSr7P1EKKFYo3zuOQZU47X7i92-Bdz6SEKcySuzPJVtV2NYmbI_IZpatgQ76gzeUveExfnQncKJ6sK02VKCFm7wHd7b4MVPe3fAgQCTS/s1600/IMG_5897.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPLNmMHKzA1o_803Uif4qljex5Tqc_pU2esDg5xSr7P1EKKFYo3zuOQZU47X7i92-Bdz6SEKcySuzPJVtV2NYmbI_IZpatgQ76gzeUveExfnQncKJ6sK02VKCFm7wHd7b4MVPe3fAgQCTS/s320/IMG_5897.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ham-fisted sensitivity to aesthetics</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOOLKS4Hpt7ugCzlFJs26jbhHF7TgMf_S2YfIOuNZA5mgeK5JmR2bNuy1ECdpnC6gwBQFw_m0eZkOBxaTQrFkhRMF9WZqifraPPD5PYV2qTM55OcmnIv2hbQ6RM3G1_7hiKvxfHiBPlnaF/s1600/graffito.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOOLKS4Hpt7ugCzlFJs26jbhHF7TgMf_S2YfIOuNZA5mgeK5JmR2bNuy1ECdpnC6gwBQFw_m0eZkOBxaTQrFkhRMF9WZqifraPPD5PYV2qTM55OcmnIv2hbQ6RM3G1_7hiKvxfHiBPlnaF/s320/graffito.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">door bolt</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Further inward we trod with assurance to avoid being told that we were trespassing. It still amazes me what can be considered habitable housing. Out of respect, I didn't photograph the worst examples.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkUKxuQPIQqxwoGpfFGFOhYJ66qK3DCIrIkPFF_FyNG8DdUBYs60wJmdK8qIi8-_P0D4f8rKLak4PzJXh2lO8SxNBYq9YVtVRYMrCojq8LFrCqH1PBr46vfaQHombA8yEGM8o4YRbhjv1/s1600/74955BD9-3190-46B2-A4D4-F7A56D142FD9-1586-0000025111B23BCB_tmp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkUKxuQPIQqxwoGpfFGFOhYJ66qK3DCIrIkPFF_FyNG8DdUBYs60wJmdK8qIi8-_P0D4f8rKLak4PzJXh2lO8SxNBYq9YVtVRYMrCojq8LFrCqH1PBr46vfaQHombA8yEGM8o4YRbhjv1/s320/74955BD9-3190-46B2-A4D4-F7A56D142FD9-1586-0000025111B23BCB_tmp.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early modern dilpidation</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In piles placed here and there between the half demolished structures were recyclable items and trash for stripping of resalable materials. My eyes were drawn to short sections of a timberframe structure, which did not resemble the members of the new temple that we had just been through.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiijBDfG4amNckajsPXwqNzcKKD_u6f1bh2F-_UHwn7aV7DMFHEsLzgFDhyphenhyphenYErTL6jqZ724j3zewB3tGbsy9OWzFuT8lfGXBKmiOsrGXPFT6MF6t2euCj0ut-Hn0QEF3l-227m1_ARLa8Vd/s1600/abandoned+timberframe+members.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiijBDfG4amNckajsPXwqNzcKKD_u6f1bh2F-_UHwn7aV7DMFHEsLzgFDhyphenhyphenYErTL6jqZ724j3zewB3tGbsy9OWzFuT8lfGXBKmiOsrGXPFT6MF6t2euCj0ut-Hn0QEF3l-227m1_ARLa8Vd/s320/abandoned+timberframe+members.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Discarded timberframe members</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJP3YPW4HpGhinyWv81Erk2fDvhf3r7lZnBpWlQKgbdVc-U9vGwvAcRYFXu02ifSBkejAYTW0e2qxEcQWqTrbfVDisJ7-spv-FxwHMph4AlombFxGPxoQKzZuzktainaNTL3F_D9tTYytp/s1600/IMG_5905.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJP3YPW4HpGhinyWv81Erk2fDvhf3r7lZnBpWlQKgbdVc-U9vGwvAcRYFXu02ifSBkejAYTW0e2qxEcQWqTrbfVDisJ7-spv-FxwHMph4AlombFxGPxoQKzZuzktainaNTL3F_D9tTYytp/s320/IMG_5905.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> workyard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxWW4_xqI0K8GY54k7em7AwPFfRphp9TmJ8nhQxRCv58I80Y7BFeSJXcwuxa55SDx_zJBjdr4HBDUHYlsaNT7qPhrvwxyn7UlmgE-MPmnXgFu2cE4U-E0rucXuxamfO2VwoQbn01qBH143/s1600/Chinese+timberframe+schematic_tmp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="434" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxWW4_xqI0K8GY54k7em7AwPFfRphp9TmJ8nhQxRCv58I80Y7BFeSJXcwuxa55SDx_zJBjdr4HBDUHYlsaNT7qPhrvwxyn7UlmgE-MPmnXgFu2cE4U-E0rucXuxamfO2VwoQbn01qBH143/s320/Chinese+timberframe+schematic_tmp.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chinese timbered roof structure</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
A section of Haulu Gan had been covered over to form a makeshift woodshop complete with a homemade tablesaw that is more typical on construction sites than factory made machines. It was evidently used in the reconstruction of the protected building that was adjacent to it.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDagEKCY-no52q8KyrsKcRvT70f1Akok0jOM7l8wtQon7HPEZytv4zmyZTmRt7vYxVNROid2SN-86MLc-8UJx2MVEYr7j27bKrKMOv-X2tP0HWjravj7v0Ie2MfZrUOLdn4aUS4GnKmPBz/s1600/alleyway+workshop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDagEKCY-no52q8KyrsKcRvT70f1Akok0jOM7l8wtQon7HPEZytv4zmyZTmRt7vYxVNROid2SN-86MLc-8UJx2MVEYr7j27bKrKMOv-X2tP0HWjravj7v0Ie2MfZrUOLdn4aUS4GnKmPBz/s320/alleyway+workshop.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">semipublic woodshop</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxReJ_2s6KUy-dUzu5Dm4VgYs_oTM-t-rcnb1jo3RYWbZERoC6MkCUyIDP5O2Z6OUSxkOCzfBnp-DSlq1sohf2oUT-CbAAKUltBAw97nBYApFcz02UmIRZ0u0bzvGdnIcT4x05R2o0pSfT/s1600/XPFSE6912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="552" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxReJ_2s6KUy-dUzu5Dm4VgYs_oTM-t-rcnb1jo3RYWbZERoC6MkCUyIDP5O2Z6OUSxkOCzfBnp-DSlq1sohf2oUT-CbAAKUltBAw97nBYApFcz02UmIRZ0u0bzvGdnIcT4x05R2o0pSfT/s320/XPFSE6912.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the designated historic building</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJW5ihN2D6oq_ub4z6-alE-Vvovx1tfj-JpPPv_VhH0I1sDkf7Ny1IuDG4bPDHPNWqoHGwsA2Nmy4zCTF-OH1DXjdk3KYaCX2jUWiQxuU9ZuiuxEC69S_APkq-L6Vtsq7iF_-d4AjMQsJu/s1600/VQOLE9254.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="714" data-original-width="470" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJW5ihN2D6oq_ub4z6-alE-Vvovx1tfj-JpPPv_VhH0I1sDkf7Ny1IuDG4bPDHPNWqoHGwsA2Nmy4zCTF-OH1DXjdk3KYaCX2jUWiQxuU9ZuiuxEC69S_APkq-L6Vtsq7iF_-d4AjMQsJu/s320/VQOLE9254.jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">examining the street name sign</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLBjL_GTwAXvR_5eq6hYnW9iS9q12F4mDSvVuSayBvXF_z_twUEyyYL4xQ1TSGEnNQ9141gmgoCCBPhsoYPupeE9Ym77YFhC7-dzPWegI2C8y6YYLZ5t8SDXvrtYOGr0D4pfzxiSzzVT27/s1600/rendered+wall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLBjL_GTwAXvR_5eq6hYnW9iS9q12F4mDSvVuSayBvXF_z_twUEyyYL4xQ1TSGEnNQ9141gmgoCCBPhsoYPupeE9Ym77YFhC7-dzPWegI2C8y6YYLZ5t8SDXvrtYOGr0D4pfzxiSzzVT27/s320/rendered+wall.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rendered wall</td></tr>
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The protected building, which doesn't appear on googlemaps, sported a plaque that announced it as being 'unable to be moved'. I would have photographed this for its information but it was made of a reflective brass that was nearly impossible to read clearly and certainly impossible to photograph.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaEOZafvjohhyphenhyphen4QqhODthRJwquratVrDueNumRsO-SPIcQkoNJNn4XhEFarDgPNdg1M_ZPFCqXS9SLJzw2iwHXR0iC_t_RgyCQa0mhyphenhyphenlTzJ9QytpdXWc6YN8BLGMbM2fHXdM8goDCTOTm0/s1600/88C450FB-F190-4EC1-B876-0767A2FCC391-1586-00000250ED830C15_tmp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaEOZafvjohhyphenhyphen4QqhODthRJwquratVrDueNumRsO-SPIcQkoNJNn4XhEFarDgPNdg1M_ZPFCqXS9SLJzw2iwHXR0iC_t_RgyCQa0mhyphenhyphenlTzJ9QytpdXWc6YN8BLGMbM2fHXdM8goDCTOTm0/s320/88C450FB-F190-4EC1-B876-0767A2FCC391-1586-00000250ED830C15_tmp.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a wing of the protected building</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB3AS3nMJfyWxp8sDJV8NlmA2e6XMLQoxfPiHk3oubWD__-hPYEQMnJD8jb6xGH9eThLhG1Kjie9lOQvG4oRXyr-l69UBwa1-BsV_1MuzBo5U5tMfGVJUQ-WPZVvisu45PtsYTCkpYM948/s1600/IMG_5912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB3AS3nMJfyWxp8sDJV8NlmA2e6XMLQoxfPiHk3oubWD__-hPYEQMnJD8jb6xGH9eThLhG1Kjie9lOQvG4oRXyr-l69UBwa1-BsV_1MuzBo5U5tMfGVJUQ-WPZVvisu45PtsYTCkpYM948/s320/IMG_5912.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A hidden view taken by craning over the perimeter wall</td></tr>
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It was an expansive compound that was better guarded than the new temple.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTXxUEjjaABN1zt6p2c6uyi5F3HNtncGRTiJQghgRXmDe8AHy4JIh4lSgFp62ZAFrkxdirJQaphwRB2_j6IhJQJUvkPNwD1aFCR7TZw8z6OGYSudu6yvGILlKZgacUvO70CYq_PLJIKrw0/s1600/IMG_5911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTXxUEjjaABN1zt6p2c6uyi5F3HNtncGRTiJQghgRXmDe8AHy4JIh4lSgFp62ZAFrkxdirJQaphwRB2_j6IhJQJUvkPNwD1aFCR7TZw8z6OGYSudu6yvGILlKZgacUvO70CYq_PLJIKrw0/s320/IMG_5911.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saved former industrial building</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgaYIELn72XwEC5RzvMvaVpL68tvPnVH7lXbCgl8UfuzWelZ7xG-xpzqlJSBPNufPu1l__Q9SF_hMwSkJI-gLw1Pux8DeVR5aTpW3JzQGOZMbNxoqY5YFZ1oc4awnebylqwnIwU6JImjP5/s1600/bricked+exhaust+vent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgaYIELn72XwEC5RzvMvaVpL68tvPnVH7lXbCgl8UfuzWelZ7xG-xpzqlJSBPNufPu1l__Q9SF_hMwSkJI-gLw1Pux8DeVR5aTpW3JzQGOZMbNxoqY5YFZ1oc4awnebylqwnIwU6JImjP5/s320/bricked+exhaust+vent.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">evocative of the electrical insulation factory</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGP3Tg7ZlJ-uxFEmaZ5qlPwqZpsv6XJ9W5OQXMuEGUiCB6nq8s6mU9WAMwsCDZvsMjzQjksTJ3kuxY-KdtNRPdXh3MAWxK2_DLRxmCtDhyKv5pOH2a5ZoE4ShMaSfCmeURmIqTw6XCFDg2/s1600/saved+building.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGP3Tg7ZlJ-uxFEmaZ5qlPwqZpsv6XJ9W5OQXMuEGUiCB6nq8s6mU9WAMwsCDZvsMjzQjksTJ3kuxY-KdtNRPdXh3MAWxK2_DLRxmCtDhyKv5pOH2a5ZoE4ShMaSfCmeURmIqTw6XCFDg2/s320/saved+building.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Too bulky to demolish, perhaps</td></tr>
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Further ahead we came across another former factory that somehow managed to remain intact.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj76bc_u_vH6NiYgn-mvgqQx18wR-FJ-ZTHC8b6wTJoueQ-KL2WaOf4g78mWY0rtKW03A6DXtZNZ9SKqBxANDJd2cq1sK_t6PSIM9iAd3dvwcRhBGtCmOJv_FrMKiwYeS2PMb7o8NmDZFcR/s1600/razed+zone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj76bc_u_vH6NiYgn-mvgqQx18wR-FJ-ZTHC8b6wTJoueQ-KL2WaOf4g78mWY0rtKW03A6DXtZNZ9SKqBxANDJd2cq1sK_t6PSIM9iAd3dvwcRhBGtCmOJv_FrMKiwYeS2PMb7o8NmDZFcR/s320/razed+zone.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">historical dead zone</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The razed area next to the empty factory, which escaped our exploration and awaits further development.Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com4Feng You Si, Qinhuai Qu, Nanjing Shi, Jiangsu Sheng, China32.0167455 118.7704936999999732.010014 118.76040869999997 32.023477 118.78057869999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-87891704233777778612018-05-05T20:47:00.000+08:002018-05-05T20:47:44.674+08:00Shaker style New Lebanon worktable<br /><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjahBtrePVM04YkLYEwGSDO9XquH0IyhSAojTHTCTGkhLiXNEojsvymg4k-v4KHfM38xlT6PenjnOUP-3EMaXvvbYw_kbtjHslNUnu9d05-xqnb4J7unoiolgIA_FOXMD8LLJdq2AzHosuN/s1600/finished+piece.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1539" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjahBtrePVM04YkLYEwGSDO9XquH0IyhSAojTHTCTGkhLiXNEojsvymg4k-v4KHfM38xlT6PenjnOUP-3EMaXvvbYw_kbtjHslNUnu9d05-xqnb4J7unoiolgIA_FOXMD8LLJdq2AzHosuN/s400/finished+piece.jpg" width="383" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'lifted' ends</td></tr>
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I don't make a habit of incrementally posting updates throughout my buildouts. I approach every posting from this side of the great firewall with a bit of frustration and a modicum of dread. Having to negotiate blogspot.com with an unreliable internet service and mandatory VPN means that basic postings require more time than is necessary for those outside the Middle Kingdom and there is always the lingering potential to unexpectedly lose data. I have wondered whether posting more often might increase comments or having more commenters might more likely increase my willingness to post. Chickens and eggs.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRVpC2eYXKNqcDEW89lVAqQwRjQgcAvzcoPcG6vclCIrzXum1tC1OMiorc3QEJT0SZR7iP_gpkkMIQS5K-14HSvZ8-jJObT85HkiWvBqhSS69TA6CsQeV2obk6nY_f9EnQ47VcIp0HKcbE/s1600/thinned+ends.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRVpC2eYXKNqcDEW89lVAqQwRjQgcAvzcoPcG6vclCIrzXum1tC1OMiorc3QEJT0SZR7iP_gpkkMIQS5K-14HSvZ8-jJObT85HkiWvBqhSS69TA6CsQeV2obk6nY_f9EnQ47VcIp0HKcbE/s320/thinned+ends.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>
I had been playing with the idea of a drawered table for a time but I wasn't fully sold on a design until I came across the example from the Metropolitan <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/66.10.17/" target="_blank">Museum</a>. I had seen corner tables with drawers on two adjacent sides but this example convinced me to take a plunge. Knowing the overall dimensions made it fairly easy to determine the other essential dimensions with a set of dividers and a large printout.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjonX-3wap9bSOkeDiruE0te_zMj_gCiQEbOCBJvgJ3H9inBQbDsxPK2zvdoiM2KG5NAeWyjxAO5izkJltZyXZf1PGItQbV1brZXz90jhwk4ff24tPpt_175HOQPsHPEcGgPOrjeaqFXQDR/s1600/masterplan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjonX-3wap9bSOkeDiruE0te_zMj_gCiQEbOCBJvgJ3H9inBQbDsxPK2zvdoiM2KG5NAeWyjxAO5izkJltZyXZf1PGItQbV1brZXz90jhwk4ff24tPpt_175HOQPsHPEcGgPOrjeaqFXQDR/s400/masterplan.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the starting point of the build</td></tr>
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Museum curators generally focus on external appearances even when the internal details are the greater focus of interest for woodworkers. I am confident enough to aver that I can recognize best practices of drawer construction, both from reading and from having repaired antiques. Before making this piece, I was less confident with knowing what best practices are with regard to what the drawers are pulled out of and slid back into. The most basic method is a box inside a box construction. I've been also making some 'spice cabinets' and so this method has been at the front of my mind. Scaling up from such a small cabinet requires a different approach. Modern woodworking practices have all but abandoned wooden construction in favor of metal slides. The main advantage I can see to these devices is that they do not allow for pulling out a drawer too far. The photocopy above shows a few construction details but also leaves many out. One can see the bottom runners that support the middle drawer. I also deduced that the kickers for this same drawer are the bottom rails which support the two smaller drawers. This double duty of one element is just one appealing aspect of this design. There were still more internal details that needed to be worked out as work progressed.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVDBaDjseS0ZfvOaLsDVw9LgG1wzYrdnxO9lX0Q758hZdAnAPsnqsrwh9YrZ3dcYnMEgsxUqWKF1bl6c_hu0sgvAgRrP0DtAxSYkNFmuANRzrwJleFo9PcYGPjHAMT-RQGpdhcR08lbd00/s1600/runner+and+guides.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVDBaDjseS0ZfvOaLsDVw9LgG1wzYrdnxO9lX0Q758hZdAnAPsnqsrwh9YrZ3dcYnMEgsxUqWKF1bl6c_hu0sgvAgRrP0DtAxSYkNFmuANRzrwJleFo9PcYGPjHAMT-RQGpdhcR08lbd00/s640/runner+and+guides.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the single piece runner and guides</td></tr>
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My first innovation was to make runners and guides out of one rabbeted piece. Most often when doing repair work on antiques these the guides and runners are found to be nailed together and to the interior. In general, I want to avoid this shoddiness. Starting with the center drawer, I aligned and cut the guides to fit between the legs and then inset the the runners into dadoes in the front and back legs, securing the pieces to the front legs (where greater stresses come into action) with a single 5mm screw in each and only gluing into the back legs with hide glue.<br />
I then cut the runner section of the similar rabbeted length to fit between the spaces of the lower rails, letting the guide portion merely touch the legs. These were attached with 8mm dowels, using dowel centers that I bought in Amsterdam.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMoaNkWgAPXfPrFNgxNgp0dC7A6Yfg5Mqr67sq2DqS5XqNPTH81Vd_qgRAj1IbOtSvJVWmypiidweA3Su2szcCqGwHnwzmk-MRba88JCpjhvwEEyH-aZeA5H5XVELD1wpJ_dhfP2EArmzB/s1600/tapered+drawer+pulls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMoaNkWgAPXfPrFNgxNgp0dC7A6Yfg5Mqr67sq2DqS5XqNPTH81Vd_qgRAj1IbOtSvJVWmypiidweA3Su2szcCqGwHnwzmk-MRba88JCpjhvwEEyH-aZeA5H5XVELD1wpJ_dhfP2EArmzB/s320/tapered+drawer+pulls.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shaker refinement</td></tr>
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In keeping true to the high standards of Shaker craftsmanship I turned tapered drawer pulls, using a tapered deburring tool. A fluted reamer would likely leave a smoother surface but this tool, nonetheless, is adequate. I left enough length to allow a compressed fit with just a touch of glue to hold the joint together.<br />
I made a few changes that, I believe, are worthy of mention. I added a beaded edge to the bottom of the rails. I think it just looks better, giving a clearer visual cue. The original piece is assembled from a variety of wood species by a craftsman who knew their properties and how to select the best pieces from a much better quality lumber supply. I used the best of the SYP stock that I have on hand and some hard maple that was sawn in Dongbei some time ago, (The woodshop chief bought a large pallet of it because much of it is spalted.) and a limited stock of German red beech. Clear, straight grained maple was selected for the legs; whereas, the original has cherry (by eye).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNVnaKN7IDM2kuZCgugIk-s_UlAc3ifHieRf83nTygsykj0oM4d8Y-mPg_rpuVp2vw2Eq8uOgMss0DVkDPLCE0AUF-KBCj6at18HiYXCFowrWzLiNoRmWLdM3S7XkK9xbdKg9wYa66Dstp/s1600/halftail+and+reinforced+side.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNVnaKN7IDM2kuZCgugIk-s_UlAc3ifHieRf83nTygsykj0oM4d8Y-mPg_rpuVp2vw2Eq8uOgMss0DVkDPLCE0AUF-KBCj6at18HiYXCFowrWzLiNoRmWLdM3S7XkK9xbdKg9wYa66Dstp/s320/halftail+and+reinforced+side.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">maple on maple</td></tr>
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As anybody who has repaired <a href="https://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/editors-blog/antique-drawer-repair" target="_blank">antique case furniture</a> quickly learns, one weakness of drawers is that the sides, usually made of softwood to reduce weight, are worn down from years of being abraded across hardwood rails and runners. It's a <a href="https://s22293.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/restore_2D00_chest_5F00_no_2D00_musty_2D00_smell1.jpg" target="_blank">routine repair</a> to remove the sides and attach new wood to replace this loss. I decided to forego this eventuality by gluing a strip of maple along the bottom of the sides before milling them to final dimensions. It remains to be seen how well this solution benefits this piece. A hundred years of in and out will bear witness.<br />
Since this is a worktable (of an unspecified function), it's understandable that the original tabletop was made with reinforced edges. It also has a raised lip on all four sides that appear to meet at mitered corners. I don't need a raised lip and I considered attaching a breadboard end of hardwood, which is still an option on any additional pieces. Somebody using the woodshop for an order of beech tabletops had left a bundle of beech strips that I pulled from the waste and happily applied to strengthen the sides.<br />
{insert expository photo here of innovative design feature}<br />From one of the Metropolitan Museum's online <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images/hb/hb_66.10.17_av1.jpg" target="_blank">photos</a>, there appears to be a stop that prevents accidental overwithdrawal. (It's a word!) I started to think about this (safety) stop as well as backstops. I eventually decided to simply focus on the backstops. Since it's not a typical configuration to have two opposing drawers in case construction, the goddess, Moulariprionia, blessed me with this inspirational solution. I surface planed a length of maple stock to a thickness that snugly rested between the backs of the drawers so that they both were flush with the exterior. I then cut out recesses, scribed and centered from the inside dimensions of the long upper rails. Onto the upper projections I pared tapered slopes into one side, which was then used to transfer the receiving mortises. After sawing into the rails the mortises were fully chopped out. Thus one piece was made to function as backstops for two drawers and a support for the tabletop.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsA_GZaQzpW5WWG1mAE-DxKCtAyFbtyuPTCzGMQ1BYQlfEnxnUeUiMMV1nKJyqCwm05oAfmZa3O3VC4bKPqUSGU6bbnY0Q-mokI1MJrlIdI9AdLvMThrTOx6trZPpn_ExreuQ6wrw_SpEB/s1600/affixed+backstop.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsA_GZaQzpW5WWG1mAE-DxKCtAyFbtyuPTCzGMQ1BYQlfEnxnUeUiMMV1nKJyqCwm05oAfmZa3O3VC4bKPqUSGU6bbnY0Q-mokI1MJrlIdI9AdLvMThrTOx6trZPpn_ExreuQ6wrw_SpEB/s320/affixed+backstop.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the only backstop available for viewing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I swear I took a photo of this joinery before screwing through the upper rails with three screws on each end, the two screws on the left and right driven into crossgrain slots, into the tabletop, which would have made this wordy description moot. Praise the ongoing mysteries of the goddess!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDmG9W1Tw4sWr0I69qLekmUsmTdmYriYLSGY33SMBtn2NYNbI1-08XHhC-0-7nKWGkv4ItjmPVwOjJw1dNPUKrSqu_GDVRKLN7Xm4oFcLYYw6DGrY5zlSd8NuayIkerRTThXhNQzr7lzAF/s1600/screws+in+slots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1201" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDmG9W1Tw4sWr0I69qLekmUsmTdmYriYLSGY33SMBtn2NYNbI1-08XHhC-0-7nKWGkv4ItjmPVwOjJw1dNPUKrSqu_GDVRKLN7Xm4oFcLYYw6DGrY5zlSd8NuayIkerRTThXhNQzr7lzAF/s320/screws+in+slots.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a handy angle drive</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I know from experience that backstops on bottom rails can lead to problems. Many backstops bang up against a small surface of the drawer sides. I decided that it is better to spread this force across the drawer back as with the above example, which inspired me to simply attach a length of pine, properly thicknessed and tested with double sided tape, to a rail with hide glue. In a hundred years or so, we can evaluate its effectiveness. Lastly, the piece received a beeswax finish cut with linseed oil and mineral spirits.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifF1nFX94hfnsStuH7PYmBxZHTG7wZWpGbNsXcG3lOuoe5ysayZ2-6en_QsEHHmNEe7GAcy2gDzqeTEPlO7QggEPO396-moGocyWnGDGSafJ2_xH8oUAZKZBZ1B-gOSa0KpwUw2z0liDMb/s1600/IMG_5944.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1318" data-original-width="1600" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifF1nFX94hfnsStuH7PYmBxZHTG7wZWpGbNsXcG3lOuoe5ysayZ2-6en_QsEHHmNEe7GAcy2gDzqeTEPlO7QggEPO396-moGocyWnGDGSafJ2_xH8oUAZKZBZ1B-gOSa0KpwUw2z0liDMb/s400/IMG_5944.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Simianping with drawers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCc3QZh66hrdqWVu0sXNIS6RxTk8hx9vdzgRXwJd3l0amnHYoMEIePBh1UXRS9t1_rZgOtpvIoo9xV0YXvIx4pPqYNSs1p0rGZWzuKNusb-2TptCFp4rdxoVn06n6ByOXMvy1olzsmgwjF/s1600/IMG_5945.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="1600" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCc3QZh66hrdqWVu0sXNIS6RxTk8hx9vdzgRXwJd3l0amnHYoMEIePBh1UXRS9t1_rZgOtpvIoo9xV0YXvIx4pPqYNSs1p0rGZWzuKNusb-2TptCFp4rdxoVn06n6ByOXMvy1olzsmgwjF/s320/IMG_5945.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Symmetrical profiles</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I thought it would be instructive to examine a simianping that has been gathering dust in the woodshop. I can only suspect that the woodshop chief owns this table but he is as indifferent to its condition as its previous owners. While there is excessive water damage to both feet and top, it manages to hold together despite the many nails that have been pounded into it over the years in vain efforts to repair it. After my rescuing the simianping that was set to the curb, I was interested in this table to learn how the drawers were made and inserted into the structure.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdoSowM5Gmaaf6rijjt65ydDhcaYulD6LbEwUMKjiu4e_Odxc71eC42pcShUzeCOpmXJQDoWch_9pip5dESgDzhGv3PfX2WM6F2hyZ_rMbNCsI6deq6dVyAwo5P9hXVw3sOZdF1Kd8rGh/s1600/IMG_5955.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1146" data-original-width="1600" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdoSowM5Gmaaf6rijjt65ydDhcaYulD6LbEwUMKjiu4e_Odxc71eC42pcShUzeCOpmXJQDoWch_9pip5dESgDzhGv3PfX2WM6F2hyZ_rMbNCsI6deq6dVyAwo5P9hXVw3sOZdF1Kd8rGh/s320/IMG_5955.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">bottom boards and drawer runners</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhonRgLKWbojJit6QaAE5FkCGmKS24GpHgI3YHpk_0B_MBS-XZpU482gFcldvtF2WDu6jJWoxDIf51DsormRgoma2M-PQr6xJJzkkLcsQ_G8hFvoShQM-kF9ZF0eLyIl0ur8FJkNTNWX-NG/s1600/IMG_5949.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1306" data-original-width="1600" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhonRgLKWbojJit6QaAE5FkCGmKS24GpHgI3YHpk_0B_MBS-XZpU482gFcldvtF2WDu6jJWoxDIf51DsormRgoma2M-PQr6xJJzkkLcsQ_G8hFvoShQM-kF9ZF0eLyIl0ur8FJkNTNWX-NG/s320/IMG_5949.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">deep socket halfblind dovetail construction</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
My intention is not to diminish some of the esteem surrounding Ming style furniture construction, but if these photos have such a result so be it. I looked at all four drawers to be certain that I had not pulled out an odd one of the four. The bottom panels have grain running lengthwise front to back locked within plowed grooves as with the tabletop, as with the tabletop, some sides have shrunk leaving gaps. The drawer fronts have deep socket to receive the sides that pass very loosely into their opening.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioD5W5qI3-rNGkuqjcPKrcNA5XOtB65BjmU2WB6fDl3R7dxXQcPXAVhXI8UsVj-AtqrnKMVHCJm544t-n5gEAM-11uxi3MtOl-uYWRRtzifqBJdSKChX5UPWxrXxf7sN4yZtyw1Yjzm59T/s1600/IMG_5961.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1600" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioD5W5qI3-rNGkuqjcPKrcNA5XOtB65BjmU2WB6fDl3R7dxXQcPXAVhXI8UsVj-AtqrnKMVHCJm544t-n5gEAM-11uxi3MtOl-uYWRRtzifqBJdSKChX5UPWxrXxf7sN4yZtyw1Yjzm59T/s320/IMG_5961.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">drawer with bin pull</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnewWCn8Gh-EuLdB0vAoq4WaG-ITSQWaKq_6yrKzKE9302AQmz4VdqDPOdjEMstwCKR-Ab3ijfe6P3YhC-t6KJu_HjRNuN2VygxgWzrArAaM4PvupfA1efl04ry35150M3mOWxbaozF0FK/s1600/IMG_5952.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnewWCn8Gh-EuLdB0vAoq4WaG-ITSQWaKq_6yrKzKE9302AQmz4VdqDPOdjEMstwCKR-Ab3ijfe6P3YhC-t6KJu_HjRNuN2VygxgWzrArAaM4PvupfA1efl04ry35150M3mOWxbaozF0FK/s320/IMG_5952.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paneled drawer bottoms</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It was a challenge to photograph the interior due to the low light levels in the woodshop, but honestly, there is nothing to see. The underside of the table is thin deal also trapped into grooves. This surface is all that supports the drawers, one big empty void that the drawers enter and exit. If it's anything, it's simple.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG-8kvNQyVVj4-l0dDSRo7LnDwxfHkLxrmLVwnyG21obZbTwo3EKjVX6Zu4tCU45mfmJxYsX1owOqr-9DBDB5c7D0aPvKzELuzHVECvnXP7VAgNlq528WCWVm7A0GHZJIMgBT9JvzFO9x2/s1600/IMG_5959.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1344" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG-8kvNQyVVj4-l0dDSRo7LnDwxfHkLxrmLVwnyG21obZbTwo3EKjVX6Zu4tCU45mfmJxYsX1owOqr-9DBDB5c7D0aPvKzELuzHVECvnXP7VAgNlq528WCWVm7A0GHZJIMgBT9JvzFO9x2/s320/IMG_5959.jpg" width="268" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">superfluous and problematic extensions</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Two additional points are worthy of mention. Very often drawers on Chinese furniture are constructed with sides having an extension at the bottom which is then trimmed for a final fit as a backstop. In some examples I have seen, the extensions are nearly as long as the rest of the drawer so that they might also function to prevent overwithdrawal. Despite the complete absence of anything for these extensions to butt up against, the craftsman added them to all four drawers. Many have been snapped off so evidently this projection represents a weakness. I hold the opinion that the craftsman who made these drawers, the same worker or another working alongside the principal builder of the table, made all drawers in a perfunctory manner, bound by conservative tradition, despite the additional labor and material. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-2WGRtJTkKZOTZ83MV35M4wkdkidoPRA0PaEFnp8iVXDD9p9ByJtvmDENSmxHUQsUS7FljlwJJD6QW1MLF2QySn9zDPromWPVv6bBgdjWN611Hawg2k86ziFZA3kjVyWdLyiXOaCoBTHl/s1600/foot+detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1379" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-2WGRtJTkKZOTZ83MV35M4wkdkidoPRA0PaEFnp8iVXDD9p9ByJtvmDENSmxHUQsUS7FljlwJJD6QW1MLF2QySn9zDPromWPVv6bBgdjWN611Hawg2k86ziFZA3kjVyWdLyiXOaCoBTHl/s320/foot+detail.jpg" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a pony hoof</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There is a common feature of <a href="https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/a-very-rare-waistless-huanghuali-flush-corner-leg-5978867-details.aspx" target="_blank">Ming</a> furniture legs that is referred to as a horse hoof, 马蹄脚. This can be compared to a reverse cabriole leg, lending visual weight to the base while maintaining an overall cubic form. It is an extravagance on one level because a much larger stock piece is necessary from which much wood of the leg is cut down to create the horse hoof. This detail perhaps is a frugal innovation or because a sufficient stock piece couldn't be obtained. It has indentations shaped with a curved rasp. It's effective in its execution.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqECihmKtl9EUyThoQWny1Iv7TCuoRfbGybwFoSK1Ro-7uPqjjMy1Vk6Yw2Ph5GLRlMbBPeibl_sfJGldBrWfCltE3TFs2OqJ1wMlu6UkpkLudV6WPN8UcA89MwbP1lKEr6YMzFS0BKP-I/s1600/IMG_5817.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1176" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqECihmKtl9EUyThoQWny1Iv7TCuoRfbGybwFoSK1Ro-7uPqjjMy1Vk6Yw2Ph5GLRlMbBPeibl_sfJGldBrWfCltE3TFs2OqJ1wMlu6UkpkLudV6WPN8UcA89MwbP1lKEr6YMzFS0BKP-I/s320/IMG_5817.jpg" width="235" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">historical advertisement</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_cJ5s3HG0sAiYjWummWtCeqF1AN7EQxA9lJeuHQWO9o0LQEc_z5fNnNKIMlABBl8QdrF1Oco22cBxU0bAIIfRe6uYabtJH7Y1Lrj5M7z1gjcNJ3HbXHQegoFkx7WOFQUCki5FGgBhBw0/s1600/IMG_5820.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_cJ5s3HG0sAiYjWummWtCeqF1AN7EQxA9lJeuHQWO9o0LQEc_z5fNnNKIMlABBl8QdrF1Oco22cBxU0bAIIfRe6uYabtJH7Y1Lrj5M7z1gjcNJ3HbXHQegoFkx7WOFQUCki5FGgBhBw0/s320/IMG_5820.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Promotional calendar</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQEvgjSB3j1i_E1ZVKN_tFrgQ8gNbWTy1SV0Kz-fCW5Vwcqw-h0QAX7yP7UcXf2k60CISo09Rm9XQbeolSpFeLpuFR3yY6CTJwO43r4JITkRilztBxwYePY7ExPlfeCJr-_1tz_zxIw1Bi/s1600/IMG_5818.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQEvgjSB3j1i_E1ZVKN_tFrgQ8gNbWTy1SV0Kz-fCW5Vwcqw-h0QAX7yP7UcXf2k60CISo09Rm9XQbeolSpFeLpuFR3yY6CTJwO43r4JITkRilztBxwYePY7ExPlfeCJr-_1tz_zxIw1Bi/s320/IMG_5818.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">vintage cheongsam</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
A short time ago, my wife invited me to an exhibition in the Jiangsu Provincial <a href="http://www.jsmsg.com/" target="_blank">Art Museum</a>. I went along mainly to humor her, expecting very little from this outing as from any museum in China. As it happened, I was pleasantly surprised by a display of early lithographic advertisements from the early republic that detailed the evolution of the modern and modernizing cheongsam which is based on a more squarish Qing era qipao. I strongly suspect that this collection was curated by a Shanghainese due to its high quality although the display notes were only in Chinese. Nearly all the advertisements appeared to be from Shanghai businesses.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJw42oJMeSxFHNycn24CBwt-dsvQEAHLbx5K5Bpn5qAF8PTsIxbEcxzlcFvegMadJLOkKgBTB7HdMHBqICJrn651GueYOzojgroSTtyJP3_CRYBppC2surLuiR8hxBq7CdItvXR9j1n7NZ/s1600/museum+piece.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJw42oJMeSxFHNycn24CBwt-dsvQEAHLbx5K5Bpn5qAF8PTsIxbEcxzlcFvegMadJLOkKgBTB7HdMHBqICJrn651GueYOzojgroSTtyJP3_CRYBppC2surLuiR8hxBq7CdItvXR9j1n7NZ/s640/museum+piece.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chinese museum quality furniture</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Amongst the dresses, calendars with pretty ladies, and vintage artefacts was a full display of a household interior that featured a sort of dressing table. What caught my eye was the poor state of this desk's condition. Not only was it uncleaned, it showed damage and significant loss. I don't want to speculate but there is, in my mind, a connection between the casual state of disrepair in this museum display and the disregard for a table built around the same era (note the similar bin pulls) and neglected in a dank parking garage. <br />
<br />
<br />Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-79752765641267799402018-02-13T14:01:00.000+08:002018-02-17T13:04:24.650+08:00DTC Coping saw introfit<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgML96VgZV2ZC76MTYKSsnTCkUhdhw69MmXz3ygfrE7J-K3m2SOeklmG6X0QjMBP83pA6FZMxGkkF5pe-NPLg_gkMrpP2brXiCjZIUwD21n1eUshhfV5jOpcfkKps-30V3EVdZM35_QW21T/s1600/before+lid+view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgML96VgZV2ZC76MTYKSsnTCkUhdhw69MmXz3ygfrE7J-K3m2SOeklmG6X0QjMBP83pA6FZMxGkkF5pe-NPLg_gkMrpP2brXiCjZIUwD21n1eUshhfV5jOpcfkKps-30V3EVdZM35_QW21T/s320/before+lid+view.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Work in progress</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I finally bought a Knew Concepts coping saw. Of course, I've been lusting after one since I first tried out a model while still working at Harvey. I planned on buying one from Lee Valley and schlepping it back through customs during my last trip to the States. I had to reduce the economic impact of that order for marital reasons and so the high priced piece of aluminum was deleted from the shipment.<br />
During my work developing the children's classes, however, I was introduced to a local Taobao merchant, Plawood, that carries the <a href="https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.5-c-s.w4002-16238638217.86.18846c0eoyURwt&id=537138182812" target="_blank">Knew Concept</a> saws. I was a bit confused and examined the sample attentively, thinking that it must be shanzhai since <a href="http://www.harveyworks.cn/mgjxxx/&productId=1033.html" target="_blank">Harvey</a> has exclusive distributorship on the mainland.<br />
I cannot explain what the business relationship is between Plawood and Harvey, but it's evident that <a href="https://plawood.taobao.com/index.htm?spm=a1z10.3-c-s.w5002-16238638184.2.6bbb181eHZh2bn" target="_blank">Plawood</a> is selling items imported by Harvey. Is this an example of outsourcing the domestic retail distribution of the woodworking imports? It seems that they might even reexport <a href="https://www.yoycart.com/seller/%E7%8E%A9%E4%B8%AA%E6%9C%A8%E5%A4%B4/#" target="_blank">internationally</a> as long as one doesn't order during the lunar new year holiday. It's yet another market mystery with Chinese characteristics. I was not allowed to leave Harvey with any of the tools that I was encouraged to purchase while there and thus I swore not to ever buy from them again. This latest development somehow carved out a workaround to this dilemma.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz5W4OSceCM6RgtfG7hEsPLOlrncDaka3D0YhCZ54qGTjeJI2QXzhFDTbuQq7nW1Vl_GqbGRmIWqIb-g5Jn2wwBuZ8XrE-58MryXMlgFtzFHvwizWE6hyPQPsIxXIFHaYZzltWoKC63TpR/s1600/other+example.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1022" data-original-width="1022" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz5W4OSceCM6RgtfG7hEsPLOlrncDaka3D0YhCZ54qGTjeJI2QXzhFDTbuQq7nW1Vl_GqbGRmIWqIb-g5Jn2wwBuZ8XrE-58MryXMlgFtzFHvwizWE6hyPQPsIxXIFHaYZzltWoKC63TpR/s320/other+example.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photogenic and visually available</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And now with the saw in hand, I tasked myself with making a home for this coping saw inside my toolchest. There is inherently a trial and error approach to this sort of project. Like most tool users with access to the internet, the first step typically involves searching online for other examples of whatever we are trying to make. I don't know whether this method is more inclined to generating inspiration or more about procrastinating. Despite the growing collection of handtools cluttering the DTC since I first built the fixtures to secure my LN saws, I knew that there was still enough room for this addition, but it would be tight fit and a compounded challenge.<br />
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My first prototype was meant to take advantage of the strutwork of the frame. I think I was overly influenced by online examples, believing that there needed to be knobs and holddowns with springs or threaded fixtures to make this work.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2S4AKrEUyVCwYFulLl9H1HV9jvwZ7BvTVtMbwwh136nrzIw6pe2FA4wuj0OaG_38eZhdcoEbTOYdLQGbHkPkHk0wTEyfOvSVp4RUWOsM0xm697B-JCwn5hO_6BYVjBA3fqfEIMA4WR7iu/s1600/first+prototype.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2S4AKrEUyVCwYFulLl9H1HV9jvwZ7BvTVtMbwwh136nrzIw6pe2FA4wuj0OaG_38eZhdcoEbTOYdLQGbHkPkHk0wTEyfOvSVp4RUWOsM0xm697B-JCwn5hO_6BYVjBA3fqfEIMA4WR7iu/s400/first+prototype.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First internetworthy prototype</td></tr>
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Certainly there were many contact surfaces to help support it, but I still needed to find/fabricate some sort of springy tines or turnknobs in order to complete it. I found some springclips for hanging clothes that would have required cutting, drilling, and coating the tips with rubber to prevent from scratching the softer aluminum. There was still some doubt as to whether these would hold securely and not fail over time. This design process endured a few days as I considered possible mechanical solutions, visiting the nearest B&Q to stock up on from their very limited supply of fasteners. But I did get sucked into buying another metric/imperial tape measure and a pump sprayer for the phalaenopses.<br />
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During one of my commutes and inspired by the aetheric spirit of John Harrison, I abandoned this prototype and reimagined another. By the time I arrived at the woodshop, I had the steps in how to cut the fixture plotted ahead mentally. To be clear, I screwed up the first attempt by crosscutting the back of the grooved section, but it was easy enough to make a second which is shown.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg46f9TBiZlTn1Ol7drTZvL8nzywF2CHnUVsMnMfnOkd_x863fZ6emAQwmXXO-o1iamqJUo5K88vQXSnfe-P-jURHnj1zr0_xz-BBNljr5lBsB3zd_1dplBF30s4_u8bbvXufYm92gjuP9M/s1600/IMG_5361.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg46f9TBiZlTn1Ol7drTZvL8nzywF2CHnUVsMnMfnOkd_x863fZ6emAQwmXXO-o1iamqJUo5K88vQXSnfe-P-jURHnj1zr0_xz-BBNljr5lBsB3zd_1dplBF30s4_u8bbvXufYm92gjuP9M/s320/IMG_5361.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Friction fit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I still thought that I needed to apply at least one turnknob at the top, but the friction is enough to keep the aluminum frame secure. With this sort of arrangement, I might need to wait until the summer humidity proves this design's parameters. If there is any excess looseness then, I can readily add some sort of improvised hardware to solve the issue.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSeCAKk5ijGj0LAzkzMV-XCMeIGc_0LQSWFdnaWosgtvaKNo9TXFspiRCH5ATSW5TjaG2UWN5ngdTEItoy3B3faPuWC4ud7PqAQwPN3zXYS4I3uvJ9mzKo0hpbVpHlnhqRx-QJWOh3atZ3/s1600/handle+view+side.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSeCAKk5ijGj0LAzkzMV-XCMeIGc_0LQSWFdnaWosgtvaKNo9TXFspiRCH5ATSW5TjaG2UWN5ngdTEItoy3B3faPuWC4ud7PqAQwPN3zXYS4I3uvJ9mzKo0hpbVpHlnhqRx-QJWOh3atZ3/s320/handle+view+side.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">layering</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It was necessary to undercut the back to allow for the slides that hold the beam to a panelgauge.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ6TSPdzEX6cpXXWAL_F1jrLiDx8h4kt_FRt4kNXxhJTxHRt2KdsikMCls0goHpO35C74mTOuuWp5_x76RS7z7GBUvpm1LdBbz0oqM80nBfubqiASTLu5tlDWK0FXWUOXVD7rYvq5gjjgb/s1600/Final+installation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ6TSPdzEX6cpXXWAL_F1jrLiDx8h4kt_FRt4kNXxhJTxHRt2KdsikMCls0goHpO35C74mTOuuWp5_x76RS7z7GBUvpm1LdBbz0oqM80nBfubqiASTLu5tlDWK0FXWUOXVD7rYvq5gjjgb/s400/Final+installation.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The coping saw in its new home</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Gongxi Facai!Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-20140698363888335332018-02-05T22:25:00.000+08:002018-02-05T22:25:12.020+08:00Sunday Schooling<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9zNpGzBPTcZrvHqNd4jns5MVFWXaQm2XRzhjmyLqwtFCxcoZaXpcqmxrHuNiqHfDhAJeWrtVPiombSG-XuZ8QD146MXt_Re3OaI-vaFb6a1aF2RG2ibh3F5tpYXYr8PH4QcbuYjnB9zTe/s1600/milkpainting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9zNpGzBPTcZrvHqNd4jns5MVFWXaQm2XRzhjmyLqwtFCxcoZaXpcqmxrHuNiqHfDhAJeWrtVPiombSG-XuZ8QD146MXt_Re3OaI-vaFb6a1aF2RG2ibh3F5tpYXYr8PH4QcbuYjnB9zTe/s400/milkpainting.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">applying fresh milk paint to climbing toys</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
While the recent unusually wintry spell has reduced my productivity in the Pukou woodshop (I usually work until my feet get too numb or the sunlight puts too much of a strain on my diminishing eyesight at about 5:00), I've been engaged in a new teaching venture. Initially I was interviewed for what was an attempt to promote, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/touchwoodclub/" target="_blank">TouchWood</a>, an established Taiwanese<a href="https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=18,23,45,18&post=24325" target="_blank"> woodcraft hobby</a> brand in the Nanjing schools. It's a foreign brand so the director wanted a foreign face. (I cannot explain it but this is so common that the mainland Chinese don't even understand why it's questioned.) There was a lot of back and forth and vague promises about making me famous. I just saw a lot of money being thrown at a project with little understanding of its pedagogical function but backed with the marketing dominance of the <a href="http://en.ppm.cn/" target="_blank">Phoenix Publishing</a> head office already well positioned within the school system. The first meeting, scheduled early in the day, revealed a near complete lack of preparation as to its purpose so a second meeting was scheduled in order for me to meet somebody who understood something.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9YY08oGdzbQZPHKlb_a0JK-IePKCKYvA5wjQYsRmp-SRs0J5ihNmo5ppBlrT5J6lauRtkK3SD8MtFbg4N9NtUbzhjww3G96nbA1Aoi4tzt5JOc-b7uI2aorwSW0n5MKazZmmYTMQYYfm6/s1600/WangMeng_5254.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9YY08oGdzbQZPHKlb_a0JK-IePKCKYvA5wjQYsRmp-SRs0J5ihNmo5ppBlrT5J6lauRtkK3SD8MtFbg4N9NtUbzhjww3G96nbA1Aoi4tzt5JOc-b7uI2aorwSW0n5MKazZmmYTMQYYfm6/s320/WangMeng_5254.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wang Meng's ukulele kit assembly class</td></tr>
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And at the second meeting I met Wang Meng who was operating a little woodcraft boutique across town while also a university instructor. I think that I've mentioned this phenomenon. There are little shops for leathercraft, cake decorating, pottery, and other sundry activities with varying degrees of competence. I didn't see much in his shop that stood out, but he did express an interest in working with me to develop more 'instructional' classes for children. He gained my confidence by expressing an understanding of my objections to the Phoenix approach with TouchWood. And so for the last few weeks, I have been collaborating to create new classes that fit within the constraints of a woodshop installed on the 31st floor and the constraints of students with short attention spans. 3 hours.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI1sbH7gEbuu6NqBqPq-T5WmpZqcq8GPBkIH4ewuMEfQ5eZ03A_y2Al7M1QJeSnu1p-J5KxxB17uxPCa2xMxSNLHtqDCNlmcbUVwo8KGJGJE6AUoFQ7bLijaKjZbWywrf6hza6p7gSSe-x/s1600/crosscut+guidance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI1sbH7gEbuu6NqBqPq-T5WmpZqcq8GPBkIH4ewuMEfQ5eZ03A_y2Al7M1QJeSnu1p-J5KxxB17uxPCa2xMxSNLHtqDCNlmcbUVwo8KGJGJE6AUoFQ7bLijaKjZbWywrf6hza6p7gSSe-x/s320/crosscut+guidance.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Childsafe saw proving difficult for a child to use</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGMyPM7JJA7WRXE2PxYPo7qzFmAhsgaBVBAkL1DQ8BsSsvtCRvplIgHBYAlDaiXGCV8LbYqmTtjz__TV3Jt-Fu2ZObqxk6dNg_qvp-RstijAwsJl0XVE20mEONMO-l6KOWZHPkAQ7lCJwf/s1600/young+painter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGMyPM7JJA7WRXE2PxYPo7qzFmAhsgaBVBAkL1DQ8BsSsvtCRvplIgHBYAlDaiXGCV8LbYqmTtjz__TV3Jt-Fu2ZObqxk6dNg_qvp-RstijAwsJl0XVE20mEONMO-l6KOWZHPkAQ7lCJwf/s320/young+painter.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Painterly</td></tr>
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Phoenix is also a distributor of many foreign brand educational toys. We were given a supply of childsafe tools from <a href="http://www.corvus-toys.de/kidsatwork.html" target="_blank">Corvus</a>. The easiest way to describe their products is that they make dull edged tools. It's clear that a saw that cannot cut tender flesh can no more even cut softwoods. It became evident early on that we needed to upgrade the supplied fretsaw blades if we ever expected students to complete their projects in the allotted timeframe. I suspect that Phoenix was planning to sell such tools to hyperanxious Chinese mothers. I'm surprised, though, that there are enough German mothers to have initially created a market demand there. Do any German parents give their children dull knives, too, when teaching them how to do kitchen tasks? <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAC0iQF3b1KXTdffnEivy8mn7haHsCImsamJg9Zi2T7yJf6ONzMu9jLKXTT0XLPVvcVCVRPr7z08IsUPTEu6r17i9dznu0CPBhyZc80oe-soX3w1ZJ8q5U8wSHW-2dkIg-HvcIGda5C87b/s1600/happy+mama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAC0iQF3b1KXTdffnEivy8mn7haHsCImsamJg9Zi2T7yJf6ONzMu9jLKXTT0XLPVvcVCVRPr7z08IsUPTEu6r17i9dznu0CPBhyZc80oe-soX3w1ZJ8q5U8wSHW-2dkIg-HvcIGda5C87b/s320/happy+mama.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Motherly pride</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Although I should not have been surprised, it was made manifest throughout the day that parents were as keen or moreso to participate in learning about woodworking. Some of this can be attributed to the children's short attention spans and low motor skills, but it can be more easily explained by adults who were denied such opportunities in their own childhood. I concluded with Wang Meng that if we saw that the parents were happy, then we could be confident that we had done well with the classes. And yet there is also an element of Chinese parenting that sees every aspect of their childrearing as a competition for their children's future. Two mothers, in particular, exhbited this kind of anxiety.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXZCzuypaxFQJ6ZZj7_oypUNTvlKBy2RrJheo3MMuR5aD0Tuz3H5SN6M4kolChG_RiTOWQms7kB4jvXI6-4Wm0BOsINnYLz_SiHRGDN0riEAbGHVzKUnVnr6Z4LABk-UzOSyhtPrxjPVNy/s1600/helicopter+woodworking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1411" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXZCzuypaxFQJ6ZZj7_oypUNTvlKBy2RrJheo3MMuR5aD0Tuz3H5SN6M4kolChG_RiTOWQms7kB4jvXI6-4Wm0BOsINnYLz_SiHRGDN0riEAbGHVzKUnVnr6Z4LABk-UzOSyhtPrxjPVNy/s320/helicopter+woodworking.jpg" width="282" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">helicopter woodworking</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV_jW8FjXdxraHQhCCc7QjME-IodY0VVUFrW8fmxeIpjECiUCBU9I8MZwuLuXA6QtXklSvypf7P7LB_-L-pvrnDgCC6RNW4VMGo9Ip55KONh-bJAM7pw3BJR273c8-MVvY9FXyXs-IXw_S/s1600/anxious+mothering.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1288" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV_jW8FjXdxraHQhCCc7QjME-IodY0VVUFrW8fmxeIpjECiUCBU9I8MZwuLuXA6QtXklSvypf7P7LB_-L-pvrnDgCC6RNW4VMGo9Ip55KONh-bJAM7pw3BJR273c8-MVvY9FXyXs-IXw_S/s320/anxious+mothering.jpg" width="257" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">body language</td></tr>
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But overall, most parents enjoyed themselves along with their restive youngsters. These photos were taken during two sessions conducted on the 4th of February, 2018 of our first class offering.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaRvSjflnG50tM948iQ7h4EIaeppP9o2J386n-NC0hjPzegi5etvjtW5u1eVoLpsrsVt1TZvy762sosHNmYvax6mX-KELNzGQ7okIjfd-NDTtNaAzQTOzlbrBPqwToMWyf1CeQQXWKX6s1/s1600/motherwithchildren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaRvSjflnG50tM948iQ7h4EIaeppP9o2J386n-NC0hjPzegi5etvjtW5u1eVoLpsrsVt1TZvy762sosHNmYvax6mX-KELNzGQ7okIjfd-NDTtNaAzQTOzlbrBPqwToMWyf1CeQQXWKX6s1/s320/motherwithchildren.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mother and strings</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1xgFJcZOzN18wWEFTEkaDVnYCNzcj6zcRHm53Ppb6lIsZ61P9-QMg54ScweiK7j2ukaAkYEvxwumbzyttCHVkZgdEgmN5f1lW39HtKJIuQjill2fl2svOkfNPfBtvNZ6apl3ZD8SAfSc7/s1600/racing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1xgFJcZOzN18wWEFTEkaDVnYCNzcj6zcRHm53Ppb6lIsZ61P9-QMg54ScweiK7j2ukaAkYEvxwumbzyttCHVkZgdEgmN5f1lW39HtKJIuQjill2fl2svOkfNPfBtvNZ6apl3ZD8SAfSc7/s320/racing.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joy from playing with toys made by one's own hands </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3KKB_w8dYJFxxGQGvEELlPD8Qxbu0XFKLxL6iUyAk_rHv0tfCNYP1EczHRLOR_B6TSyeDANGtq5Sz7WbEoZqdoh_SaONLBp34anktz1P7WjtAghnEc31tXxcCoG8WyMegAgxj8VkLd0Tk/s1600/mysteries+of+milk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3KKB_w8dYJFxxGQGvEELlPD8Qxbu0XFKLxL6iUyAk_rHv0tfCNYP1EczHRLOR_B6TSyeDANGtq5Sz7WbEoZqdoh_SaONLBp34anktz1P7WjtAghnEc31tXxcCoG8WyMegAgxj8VkLd0Tk/s320/mysteries+of+milk.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Demonstrating some mysteries of milk</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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There will likely be more class offerings after the Lunar New Year festival. Gounian kuaile, dajia!Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com2Feng Huang Tai Fan Dian, Gulou Qu, Nanjing Shi, Jiangsu Sheng, China, 21000832.068519773738814 118.7807679176330632.066837773738811 118.77824641763306 32.070201773738816 118.78328941763306tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-80440209527651843982017-12-28T20:59:00.000+08:002017-12-28T20:59:35.633+08:00Christmas gifts misgiven<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJpyX7OdxgNKkUnqmCvF8vIKPWqMPiOQndxCUelRjUNrLoFRzVj7m3Rf9JKNXlwReaYFYe_M37HTk_5rlH7eQFy3lv0GpH__SNrsxZ3CcFPIunt4a67GM1xCZoZv9nfvKJ_a-Zd_shY3wC/s1600/IMG_4986.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJpyX7OdxgNKkUnqmCvF8vIKPWqMPiOQndxCUelRjUNrLoFRzVj7m3Rf9JKNXlwReaYFYe_M37HTk_5rlH7eQFy3lv0GpH__SNrsxZ3CcFPIunt4a67GM1xCZoZv9nfvKJ_a-Zd_shY3wC/s640/IMG_4986.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seasonal wood movement and season's greetings</td></tr>
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I regularly make Christmas gifts. Some years the items come from the kitchen, but this year I again had access to a woodshop. I distributed some of the stools from the milkpaint openhouse to parents with young children. These were begrudgingly accepted in the spirit of the season. I must have been falsely expecting more enthusiasm for handmade furniture.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigO2dQxip2oGDAx4uYjmhtJ3SO8e0h-DiHDDZtrqN7Yf-e6yHXP1wzG_sqBHHLMtQWwZ_OvD_1afxnFkY7bhCUItBDhCjNm2OWqz-ZOe9pqeYo9VjlCZhBAR9gzSsnYcqi8uEYE7wbzPhE/s1600/IMG_5175.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigO2dQxip2oGDAx4uYjmhtJ3SO8e0h-DiHDDZtrqN7Yf-e6yHXP1wzG_sqBHHLMtQWwZ_OvD_1afxnFkY7bhCUItBDhCjNm2OWqz-ZOe9pqeYo9VjlCZhBAR9gzSsnYcqi8uEYE7wbzPhE/s320/IMG_5175.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It must be the thought that counts this year</td></tr>
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I made a set of candleboxes and included the hotpad from the most recent class. These pieces along with a few other Chinese themed gifts were picked up by an employee of a parcel delivery company. A few hours later, my wife then received a call from the head office explaining that wooden items could not be sent to the USA because they might contain a virus or caterpillars. It's good to know that China is vigilant when it comes to proper <a href="https://www.citylab.com/equity/2016/04/emerald-ash-borer-midwest-china-trade-shipping-crates-ash-trees/478866/" target="_blank">phytosanitary procedures</a>. I feel safer already! Merry Christmas, Dad. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtpkJ5vGQZ6zjchhhrmN39opBsXv4zAaEsRFXraQs-dv7o_dmCiAKrBt57pnoJ20qZ6uycQDT_3SCrT8KY-eMZVtNfQWAgwmgsm7gvrWvN-EWXxJJppCVMl5RllvvZVWYm_cvfvY90odh-/s1600/IMG_5171.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtpkJ5vGQZ6zjchhhrmN39opBsXv4zAaEsRFXraQs-dv7o_dmCiAKrBt57pnoJ20qZ6uycQDT_3SCrT8KY-eMZVtNfQWAgwmgsm7gvrWvN-EWXxJJppCVMl5RllvvZVWYm_cvfvY90odh-/s320/IMG_5171.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">pegged battens</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ19MJt6M5fBLPtIwVICsfMzERpwZ7SKpDmg4pUoxJ2qlsVz6_b1TH6306axLHlGziAiN4Kndc241FYobywEHHGyr7PaXdRqaEPBCsWPCRhY3ywpPanBFX16FeNrxSnojwXIly5AGxvdXX/s1600/IMG_5173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ19MJt6M5fBLPtIwVICsfMzERpwZ7SKpDmg4pUoxJ2qlsVz6_b1TH6306axLHlGziAiN4Kndc241FYobywEHHGyr7PaXdRqaEPBCsWPCRhY3ywpPanBFX16FeNrxSnojwXIly5AGxvdXX/s320/IMG_5173.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meretricious inkwell drawer</td></tr>
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Lastly I got around to making a lapdesk, following a pdf file, which I once came across online, from <a href="http://www.finewoodworking.com/2015/05/12/build-a-shaker-lap-desk" target="_blank">Christian Becksvoort, </a>found so long ago. This <a href="http://lumberjocks.com/projects/174274" target="_blank">project</a> seems to have become a fairly <a href="http://trevorsworkshop.com/?p=882" target="_blank">common</a> build. The main challenge of this piece is getting thin stock to stay flat. The battens on the lid are a definite necessity. I had the small inkpot drawer sliding smoothly in the woodshop, but having been brought into a heated apartment, it now sticks.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAsL9Zp9AwB479mM4sBrnYiuJDEQNxbLD1dR8QIehatN1bxyn97DigyVFRR1E8_wuLgHARuB_eSegTQGFmSUsGPcGwfxbAg595u69qJvAfG6D9k_fYET7Frn1eXb042GfHRb-yzyYgJIyW/s1600/IMG_5172.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAsL9Zp9AwB479mM4sBrnYiuJDEQNxbLD1dR8QIehatN1bxyn97DigyVFRR1E8_wuLgHARuB_eSegTQGFmSUsGPcGwfxbAg595u69qJvAfG6D9k_fYET7Frn1eXb042GfHRb-yzyYgJIyW/s400/IMG_5172.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Somebody has found a use for this one</td></tr>
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It's mainly a decorative feature, truth be told. I think that I was subconsciously motivated, in part, to construct this casework because it presented so many opportunities to use up little scraps of various tropical hardwoods that I cannot stand to see wasted. The goddess, Moulariprionia, shares her blessings of creativity with those who do more with less. It was a fun challenge and I have already dimensioned stock for a second build. Shengdanjie kuaile!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd28uX5pd699SSzUeZN10ogLlqDZVbzPajeDbsj5Ziueq8hkweDuh0Ej_uDd6EhwjtUxxsiCxcQFhSAOT8F8R_2J9ZXlCIAcl_RdxrdHL64uEP-cuhlSqEiKWUhGAWQiIQ4wtOTvEFhwyJ/s1600/IMG_5178.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd28uX5pd699SSzUeZN10ogLlqDZVbzPajeDbsj5Ziueq8hkweDuh0Ej_uDd6EhwjtUxxsiCxcQFhSAOT8F8R_2J9ZXlCIAcl_RdxrdHL64uEP-cuhlSqEiKWUhGAWQiIQ4wtOTvEFhwyJ/s320/IMG_5178.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zambian highlights</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNFcwGCyEr7ldfX6AOlyJ7tvLhAzp2eb8CwsCtUCKFfiJ3q98wp9Z5Jw2ChHEZo_6qoL6WuDkr5l8d5UMTYwbqQaPEGwYDh-klAhQt08IedcqWfP0w7bRi8XxtOeHfPDo-zYjFsrL1DkQy/s1600/IMG_5174.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNFcwGCyEr7ldfX6AOlyJ7tvLhAzp2eb8CwsCtUCKFfiJ3q98wp9Z5Jw2ChHEZo_6qoL6WuDkr5l8d5UMTYwbqQaPEGwYDh-klAhQt08IedcqWfP0w7bRi8XxtOeHfPDo-zYjFsrL1DkQy/s320/IMG_5174.jpg" width="320" /> </a></td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;">Shengdanjie kuaile! </td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hongmu edge banding</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com0Xue Fu Lu, Jiangning Qu, Nanjing Shi, Jiangsu Sheng, China31.944459299064906 118.7873125076293931.943617299064908 118.78605200762939 31.945301299064905 118.7885730076294tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-48060357194111864752017-12-21T20:26:00.002+08:002017-12-22T14:33:49.550+08:00A bookcase of necessities<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuN7gTGKBLZEyMBr_OUqFpISbiW3lociykhdLvQcLTHE6u2g39N5WElwUSUAKs1HOi3WCvBaIwDviKJAY7iOnF27mTv6fR-3NDcp7I_2d55GsOmQzIEYV3HmWUAe-b0en-z8j7fEXJsoS/s1600/assembled+prepainted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuN7gTGKBLZEyMBr_OUqFpISbiW3lociykhdLvQcLTHE6u2g39N5WElwUSUAKs1HOi3WCvBaIwDviKJAY7iOnF27mTv6fR-3NDcp7I_2d55GsOmQzIEYV3HmWUAe-b0en-z8j7fEXJsoS/s400/assembled+prepainted.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the raw</td></tr>
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Frequently it behooves a woodworker to build something that will stand as convincing evidence to settle impromptu disputes with regards to the amount of money spent on tools, books, and other necessities of life. It followed, therefore, that I needed to build a bookcase to house my ever growing book collection, which can stand in the livingroom to create a more peaceful home environment. I bought Schwarz's The Anarchist Design Book primarily for his information on seating furniture, but as it happens, I followed and completed the plans for the boarded bookshelf first.<br />
I don't know whether I reached the conclusion from experience or from one of Schwarz <a href="https://blog.lostartpress.com/2015/07/12/vinylcase-bookcase/" target="_blank">weblog </a>postings that he wrote during the writing and research on the book, but I knew that I preferred fixed shelving. I won't bother with my own reasoning since the Kentuckian lays out his case fairly well. I'll go through some of what I have learned in making this piece of basic carcase construction and point out my own variations and the one place where I think Schwarz's design can be significantly improved.<br />
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The first point that requires attention is that this is a large piece, larger than most projects for those who primarily use handltools. It requires a correspondingly large assembly area and adequate tools to the task, which I learned conclusively that I didn't have. Because of the nature of globalism, I was only able to buy a single 48" parallel clamp and 3 at 36" from a Taiwanese distributor. At least, I thought I bought the 36" clamps, but the maximum capacity as I learned from making this piece is 31", which is what I had to cut my final width down to, removing 5" from the 3 shelves.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQcyma363gMslzTT0I24x-TMWtfJYUiJ4WAqY-fEdGYszNdpa231Ls1ZtN-29n4EbktkkSCUUlCGSfXOMqoJIL7sSj5ngYB7rPWTZP13Tc_xShot9ML1zNHa5hxOpwa-_1rgzjSnq0Uw2Q/s1600/shelf+sections+beech+banding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQcyma363gMslzTT0I24x-TMWtfJYUiJ4WAqY-fEdGYszNdpa231Ls1ZtN-29n4EbktkkSCUUlCGSfXOMqoJIL7sSj5ngYB7rPWTZP13Tc_xShot9ML1zNHa5hxOpwa-_1rgzjSnq0Uw2Q/s320/shelf+sections+beech+banding.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">15" of excess beech banded shelving</td></tr>
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But it's easier than trying to cut boards longer after discovering a snag in the middle of construction. Only because there was somebody else in the woodshop making tabletops from imported beech, did I have a handful of strips which I then glued to the edges of the shelves with the expectation that this will reduce problems with abrasion and denting. This detail is not intended to be equated with the dropped edge that Schwarz mentions. That construction method limits the height capacity of the shelves with little structural benefit in my opinion. I chose nominal dimension pine lumber for this piece because that is what I readily can obtain. This required glueup to make the 13" sides that Schwarz recommends. After resawing to approximate thickness, adding the beech strips was just another part of the process of sizing the major stock pieces.<br />
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Clamping up the three shelves into their corresponding dadoes is an acrobatic challenge even if all the pieces are uncupped and perfectly fitted.
Trying to apply warm hide glue beforehand only adds to the complexity. I
found that I could partially assemble the shelves and then allow some
hide glue to trickle into the joints before tightening the clamps.
Because I was working in an unheated workspace, I squirted some hot water
into the joints to help the glue flow down the full length. The
main function of the glue at this stage is to hold together the assembly until the
nails are driven in. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjreoDyZC9yZkiEtR7e5_ykfGP5OvW9xjAmfG3n4ui6D8qQ5DJpQhLazco6QRbWMDvzQLQfanlLKd1GPxn4NStAzSjq6WqkY-DKHBAUCJbkwI1psH_wlc02Gb2lUbInr7eXTXqg5oG2s5_N/s1600/assembling+kickplate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjreoDyZC9yZkiEtR7e5_ykfGP5OvW9xjAmfG3n4ui6D8qQ5DJpQhLazco6QRbWMDvzQLQfanlLKd1GPxn4NStAzSjq6WqkY-DKHBAUCJbkwI1psH_wlc02Gb2lUbInr7eXTXqg5oG2s5_N/s400/assembling+kickplate.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gluing the kickplate to the main ssembly</td></tr>
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Schwarz made his bookcase in a minimalist, modernist style, eschewing ornamentation, except beaded backboards, and moldings. This makes construction fast and easy, yet it also allows for individualist flourishes to express themselves. I decided that the bottom kickplate merited some attention. It helps to provide rigidity to the bottom shelf and squareness to the carcase. If I make this piece again, I will trim it just above the floor level. As it is. I assembled the kickplate proud, gluing it in the dadoes and to the lowest shelf, planing it flush afterwards. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhskQtVSkHRIrG3ByCD5dWnfAOYoY6BFs778klxxrlACgSFWqIVyF8-cpxiysBBH-SBJ9trBasH2rRHA9dWnxstkURvIq29ACV7ns9Ol-XiuGzN9AgnOqW6Yqurzaa-WFHGPEOU1mY_t3rV/s1600/back+assembly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhskQtVSkHRIrG3ByCD5dWnfAOYoY6BFs778klxxrlACgSFWqIVyF8-cpxiysBBH-SBJ9trBasH2rRHA9dWnxstkURvIq29ACV7ns9Ol-XiuGzN9AgnOqW6Yqurzaa-WFHGPEOU1mY_t3rV/s320/back+assembly.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Playing card shims</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVdfPEzQF00G5ZoqfqdqNGUgj5jOhVc3n0SdLOAKIVenkdUiqeNzvxI3WqbGVhQ9wQN1W4EB-6Y6SWk3sEUWezmAIHi0zUk4Lf_mXTPxM3z77o8h5HEMQlEqm8zsWxD2jCLava_bl7CcEt/s1600/historically+accurate+backboards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVdfPEzQF00G5ZoqfqdqNGUgj5jOhVc3n0SdLOAKIVenkdUiqeNzvxI3WqbGVhQ9wQN1W4EB-6Y6SWk3sEUWezmAIHi0zUk4Lf_mXTPxM3z77o8h5HEMQlEqm8zsWxD2jCLava_bl7CcEt/s320/historically+accurate+backboards.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the historically accurate back</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjZipOyyONWeOyTfjGL9izRCMgVsnmvvNuIhssUSqMsAHrw43Ou38NkpLv6BKsSNIX6VWlQcThQ15jDscuoXreO9Lp1KRzvmB6vt8hxW-_LfFo5LmXWlOT72GY39tY1mJc6_JW0hqZzsm/s1600/rabbet+back+top+rail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjZipOyyONWeOyTfjGL9izRCMgVsnmvvNuIhssUSqMsAHrw43Ou38NkpLv6BKsSNIX6VWlQcThQ15jDscuoXreO9Lp1KRzvmB6vt8hxW-_LfFo5LmXWlOT72GY39tY1mJc6_JW0hqZzsm/s320/rabbet+back+top+rail.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rabbeted top rail back discreetly receiving the backboards </td></tr>
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There is one element of the boarded bookshelf design that I suggest be altered to improve the function and simplify the construction. I think that this detail also follows more closely to the handicraft tradition. After resawing construction lumber to dimension the 3/4" stock, I was left with stock that I used for the shiplapped, beaded backboards. There was severe cupping in this waste stock, which I split before surface jointing. The backboards are effectively random widths, ripped to create stock without voids nor problem knots. The thinner stock was rabbeted with a tablesaw on the backsides and the thicker stock was rabbeted and beaded on both edges with an upgraded Veritas plowplane and <a href="http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=74143&cat=1,230,41182,43698,74147" target="_blank">beading blade</a> to the frontside. These pieces also received dadoes to receive the shelves, lending support and stiffness to the frame. I chose to make a top rail with a rabbet along the back for two reasons. It hides the back completely from view. More importantly, it saves effort and material when attaching the backboards, allowing the use of odd lengths that don't require a flush edge along the top since it is tucked underneath the top rail. I also made the top rail cap the ends, covering any potential gap in a clear line of sight. This type of top rail also gets inserted into a rabbet in the sides rather than a dado, which immensely simplifies the joinery. Even in perfectly clear stock, cutting out a rabbet is easier than chopping out a groove.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-4qOdVf0r_puN4ZVL47vkn2g5X51MpiLweyFEWqxZczYzTXjccK_e5K58e8FJbmEnMF6jpBd6g784Qo1JySfh3IE5U-p1qvuP4rt0Z8Nm-XMBEBqxRVaP0LT5Ed2VefnOrhZUOpk3IWmk/s1600/determinative+knot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-4qOdVf0r_puN4ZVL47vkn2g5X51MpiLweyFEWqxZczYzTXjccK_e5K58e8FJbmEnMF6jpBd6g784Qo1JySfh3IE5U-p1qvuP4rt0Z8Nm-XMBEBqxRVaP0LT5Ed2VefnOrhZUOpk3IWmk/s320/determinative+knot.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The knot around which the bookcase was constructed</td></tr>
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A dimension of the top rail is specified as 4" wide. This also happens to be the same width of the kickplate so the number was likely chosen to keep the parts list easy to remember. While the kickplate's is determined by the height of the lowest shelf, the top rail's width isn't so constrained. The wider the top rail can allow for using shorter length of backboards; if the top rail is too wide, however, the beaded back details will appear out of place. I chose to allow a defect of the stock to determine the width. I chose to stop the rabbet on the sides that receive the top rail just above a knot to avoid the difficulty of paring close. I let the tree determine the final appearance.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU8jvzGa7KlD3_pvFsesVgJHerpolYiP2JwQ0J7_htYnXtdpnBCnSQTFV6DwvqcXsLDvYxwz8EaaHB9qCYglAjTR5pUCUK9zd3G3fbQPhuga1sdbpwYnifvq0fua8u2gMwKmoXgCdANCvv/s1600/painted+cutout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU8jvzGa7KlD3_pvFsesVgJHerpolYiP2JwQ0J7_htYnXtdpnBCnSQTFV6DwvqcXsLDvYxwz8EaaHB9qCYglAjTR5pUCUK9zd3G3fbQPhuga1sdbpwYnifvq0fua8u2gMwKmoXgCdANCvv/s320/painted+cutout.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a painterly effect</td></tr>
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I always intended to paint this piece. Pine and other softwoods lend themselves to painting despite recent trends and modern aesthetics. The idea to paint the stripes on the highlight the dado joints came to me as a means for obscuring the nail heads. Milkpaint doesn't adhere to metal surfaces reliably well. I use Tremont nails, which are effective fasteners but not decorative. And with the paint in hand, the muse, Moulariprionia, casually whispered to me: "it will be ever so lovely to paint a false leg detail along the side bottoms." And she's correct with her guidance as usual. I chose iron oxide black to hide the nails because I had the pigment in stock, but in retrospect, I think the Umber/Sienna pigment would be more appropriate. The trompe l'oeil lightens the mass of the piece. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghAUQ2xQcnEc4b1cbvBj6kGdefJ3Zbt2XEfFBjf2gdhYe6AOtNvGk0RCRAuHKgrTiV50NXWuy7Wxf2B-5uDilmOEK-tVECTgvSN19tfB5SPVXpx8CVGoSKZAVIX8LOUg5gHHOLKIbEi7Ri/s1600/completed+project.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghAUQ2xQcnEc4b1cbvBj6kGdefJ3Zbt2XEfFBjf2gdhYe6AOtNvGk0RCRAuHKgrTiV50NXWuy7Wxf2B-5uDilmOEK-tVECTgvSN19tfB5SPVXpx8CVGoSKZAVIX8LOUg5gHHOLKIbEi7Ri/s400/completed+project.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Completed and awaiting a librarian's touch as soon as the BLO has dried</td></tr>
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<br />Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com0Pukou, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China32.059093 118.6278939999999731.628404999999997 117.98244699999996 32.489781 119.27334099999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-91275012495279916532017-11-27T12:05:00.003+08:002017-11-27T12:06:25.462+08:00Last class of 2017 in this cold, dark world<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWjz-nBtPKOX2alYIdHC40yad213rB8AyAsIG6bXx6YpqawKieSeC7jB7i-9T20pBpVRWorFuY3KVP-b4r7bPed9g-F1YnCyAGs8XwFJFUWtKW8u8sDNWaNOYgGSIQpeSiLKmcr54eyWKW/s1600/Perfunctory+group+photo+first+day_tmp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWjz-nBtPKOX2alYIdHC40yad213rB8AyAsIG6bXx6YpqawKieSeC7jB7i-9T20pBpVRWorFuY3KVP-b4r7bPed9g-F1YnCyAGs8XwFJFUWtKW8u8sDNWaNOYgGSIQpeSiLKmcr54eyWKW/s400/Perfunctory+group+photo+first+day_tmp.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Instructor and students</td></tr>
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This past weekend, November 25-26th, I guided a couple who teach English courses at <a href="http://en.hhu.edu.cn/" target="_blank">Hohai </a>University through the A1 class, which covers marking a lapjoint, sharpening, and a strong grounding in handsawing. They live a subway stop away from my apartment and I have come to know them through playing ultimate frisbee. Both budding woodworkers made comments as to how much they appreciated my teaching style. This touched me since pedagogical skills, especially to foreign teachers, are seldom positively acknowledged in China.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDuza_NgAuQV7Ic50QNfFUjFZ2Iy_JjWdqEQhX0TSX_5YAaE38ZUJS-Ts76ScgvUB1fm8zLjX0fLPooWg8qsJq-LLBJsD2IDigaO7ptwDpCyTy2JlwquX_6pwT68h4Kh039WszJXLEz1j0/s1600/paring+to+a+line.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDuza_NgAuQV7Ic50QNfFUjFZ2Iy_JjWdqEQhX0TSX_5YAaE38ZUJS-Ts76ScgvUB1fm8zLjX0fLPooWg8qsJq-LLBJsD2IDigaO7ptwDpCyTy2JlwquX_6pwT68h4Kh039WszJXLEz1j0/s320/paring+to+a+line.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Proper use of paring chisel</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdu4svY7lk7UwFSKq-9PHR4DXfOdiRq90nnL7B-Fo8dhStBBjEyjJBeivpefPITToCdD6EL3c9uxOyEODj5yVr9HjBpy-iLyBnfvXiorE2DLrJ300P6GVaV7cazdiqCPTd3FhbHqOx22Vc/s1600/sawing+straight+and+true.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdu4svY7lk7UwFSKq-9PHR4DXfOdiRq90nnL7B-Fo8dhStBBjEyjJBeivpefPITToCdD6EL3c9uxOyEODj5yVr9HjBpy-iLyBnfvXiorE2DLrJ300P6GVaV7cazdiqCPTd3FhbHqOx22Vc/s320/sawing+straight+and+true.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bench sawing</td></tr>
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They shared with me some of their frustrations as teachers and working within the mainland Chinese education system. They wanted to know how long I had been doing woodworking, I explained that I had started at 13 in a middle school class. Their only equivalent example was learning about welding in a high school physics class.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoi2dq_MQGXHP5yM_ZqACJboTeWebfDIeIsLrlY3BDr7wX4urafOjjZg8WF76qj_deiwPBH2pyvoOYFI-iSF3DLzn2Da065vGyNyGnMt2-yM3FOhyphenhyphenRPQbbUt3WttpumBm_zGshQEAKIcWV/s1600/table+mat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1436" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoi2dq_MQGXHP5yM_ZqACJboTeWebfDIeIsLrlY3BDr7wX4urafOjjZg8WF76qj_deiwPBH2pyvoOYFI-iSF3DLzn2Da065vGyNyGnMt2-yM3FOhyphenhyphenRPQbbUt3WttpumBm_zGshQEAKIcWV/s320/table+mat.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Table mat</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXgE6rAtnaS-9X_YxQlsBZHPq-_lcQxdHyePPvLNa_NXMLg88EnTlTEyWMvqef8q_SbahQoyVIhXnjlF4bOCty9TYncUPdiOGWT0dKL6QDPsqndyF-Y8SYH94JQQgYIkzzAtb8r59mZh5/s1600/Mentor+mentee_tmp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXgE6rAtnaS-9X_YxQlsBZHPq-_lcQxdHyePPvLNa_NXMLg88EnTlTEyWMvqef8q_SbahQoyVIhXnjlF4bOCty9TYncUPdiOGWT0dKL6QDPsqndyF-Y8SYH94JQQgYIkzzAtb8r59mZh5/s320/Mentor+mentee_tmp.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">demonstrating a combination square to verify a sawcut</td></tr>
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These two happily concluded the class and posted these images on their own WeChat photostreams. During the ride back home, they mentioned plans for wanting to convert their garage into a functional workshop. I'm looking forward to collaborating with these two.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwGp5lEREd4rCsm25cmIKGC22skYA4Jl5nNA4WVjtcpuqgJYxMNRohEDGqxbdbIbCum8kSxdbblo5kAxoU2zu-6vLSq7rCONk7zl0G64hqziOD7NTkrapmaDO6f7gsSOz88Ur45YQMvAbg/s1600/Kevin+posting.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="792" data-original-width="731" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwGp5lEREd4rCsm25cmIKGC22skYA4Jl5nNA4WVjtcpuqgJYxMNRohEDGqxbdbIbCum8kSxdbblo5kAxoU2zu-6vLSq7rCONk7zl0G64hqziOD7NTkrapmaDO6f7gsSOz88Ur45YQMvAbg/s320/Kevin+posting.png" width="295" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christine's husband's posting</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdVOZPNDSiLYCPVTtI96QMw-PKUjy-Fc1awUndc-RYvhxrWGZ_tdlza5HrSN9enGEUu1-rHRpu0BxkYVyLAdfsv-xSFfjRO41U7msYv63Nfa1UI_TwECFZjxUa1-j6GJHFi-EE9RU9n_16/s1600/Christine+posting.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="738" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdVOZPNDSiLYCPVTtI96QMw-PKUjy-Fc1awUndc-RYvhxrWGZ_tdlza5HrSN9enGEUu1-rHRpu0BxkYVyLAdfsv-xSFfjRO41U7msYv63Nfa1UI_TwECFZjxUa1-j6GJHFi-EE9RU9n_16/s320/Christine+posting.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kevin's wife's posting</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTkgExGZXSnBfM2xs4ap3oULqhL339iqy1cefMoFc1FMigZFe6qWh6mCOilpsWS8f7c2pQZkHsLJwwkSvrC-i4J2PaDb9ImEaSKbXa9f45RX9lKgWsNN-x8nYcIjptDagjw1FdWY0CtMqZ/s1600/Self+posting.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="729" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTkgExGZXSnBfM2xs4ap3oULqhL339iqy1cefMoFc1FMigZFe6qWh6mCOilpsWS8f7c2pQZkHsLJwwkSvrC-i4J2PaDb9ImEaSKbXa9f45RX9lKgWsNN-x8nYcIjptDagjw1FdWY0CtMqZ/s320/Self+posting.png" width="290" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you're not on WeChat, then where are you?</td></tr>
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<br />Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com2Jiangning, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China31.953702 118.8396850000000331.0906305 117.54879150000004 32.8167735 120.13057850000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983485256875683341.post-11365092254868468732017-10-11T18:07:00.000+08:002017-10-11T23:02:58.285+08:00First Woodshop OpenhouseI managed to organize a free public event at the woodshop during the National Day holiday. I had tried to coordinate this with the woodshop chief but this proved to be fruitless. I simply plunged ahead and let the woodchips fall. WeChat (weixin) is the default mainland China chat application and it is equally used for both commercial and personal communication. Since I don't have a national ID, I cannot take full advantage of its business options so I must post on my photostream and then some Chinese supporter can manually repost.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUFN-nLIKHkdVaq_eSVuNdi_O6bzBYgLzpk60cUmPIbIY8DQDrYVbY2payjMYOtW4I8nOeia39W5zLc3QCNSgVhYHGNE70o1YhhoW5Mtt4FyqyMTOkjdbuM_iXLmqIZ49RwhhzZ7s5Qrx/s1600/request+for+interest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="750" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUFN-nLIKHkdVaq_eSVuNdi_O6bzBYgLzpk60cUmPIbIY8DQDrYVbY2payjMYOtW4I8nOeia39W5zLc3QCNSgVhYHGNE70o1YhhoW5Mtt4FyqyMTOkjdbuM_iXLmqIZ49RwhhzZ7s5Qrx/s400/request+for+interest.jpg" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The initial inquiry</td></tr>
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This was the first posting to mention the event. It didn't generate much response, except for a couple who teach at university. I set a date based on their availability. And they did come and expressed an interest in classes at the end of November so I can claim a modicum of success.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_oXBr54TxYh4I3BAQmD3qH_ikG0h_sBTA4OpPUI1kYSSqDrl-xEazdcd20SnaNQTZLJYQ9F4StqH4TBFQmS4hO7DWQubHStj93VP_hiMVcshUapguoTQ1e6fYuiYsBj4ITmLzTW_Cwcsh/s1600/Invitation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="750" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_oXBr54TxYh4I3BAQmD3qH_ikG0h_sBTA4OpPUI1kYSSqDrl-xEazdcd20SnaNQTZLJYQ9F4StqH4TBFQmS4hO7DWQubHStj93VP_hiMVcshUapguoTQ1e6fYuiYsBj4ITmLzTW_Cwcsh/s400/Invitation.jpg" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The invitation</td></tr>
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When I was ready to advertise the time of the event I posted this, which generated much more eager enthusiasm for reposting. Nobody appreciated my reference to Tom Sawyer with a 'free' painting party and nobody dared to ask about this reference. And even before the event, I heard the apologists perfunctorily suggest excuses for the low turnout. Unprompted they consoled me: "National holiday. Lots of people go out for traveling." and "The timing is not good. All the Chinese travel outside for the festival." Because what I mostly need to know is when I might be doing anything wrong, not a better option. And naturally it is imagined that potential students are freer to visit during their regular workweek. The concept of RSVP, as I have just learned, is not part of Chinese culture. As it happened, most visitors were my wife's colleagues with whom she gained some face as a result of her reposting and the majority of them arrived without announcing their intentions.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEharsh9Gqm44SRNenDNBVq4TmTA0fgC_Pns66DmUCBeKG5DyS4ak9kRjKgdiNBnnZ8bbGWGpljwRjh8BHNiVk3Xu9WHYjgtVVm31ybLn29IFFrdS3o8rQHd8AN_OoJGLH2aaJo8kAvScy1r/s1600/Christine+painting+green.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEharsh9Gqm44SRNenDNBVq4TmTA0fgC_Pns66DmUCBeKG5DyS4ak9kRjKgdiNBnnZ8bbGWGpljwRjh8BHNiVk3Xu9WHYjgtVVm31ybLn29IFFrdS3o8rQHd8AN_OoJGLH2aaJo8kAvScy1r/s320/Christine+painting+green.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A professor picks up a brush</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnFfSze9ThkrB20b_U4B3X3mAtzCFzjyFYhR5EN1MzwYKCTXu3r9_69tvt-9Sp4amj1HF7RZUEvIMB0vuAmQl8VPeAE4quyDxX2gFwDRgx2wQZwQhgV_Al_2QjJZbO8EH8mByGe_3_Vmqf/s1600/Adults+on+task.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnFfSze9ThkrB20b_U4B3X3mAtzCFzjyFYhR5EN1MzwYKCTXu3r9_69tvt-9Sp4amj1HF7RZUEvIMB0vuAmQl8VPeAE4quyDxX2gFwDRgx2wQZwQhgV_Al_2QjJZbO8EH8mByGe_3_Vmqf/s320/Adults+on+task.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iron Red, Iron Yellow, Chromium (III) oxide</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHJruVeL7fq0VbY0uDsuG3ckzGZW17rY2CCukERmHXln-UlIjbRY9sb5qSXpBM3rnUITjT9VhGmS5pW8T_cItJqTB4gKJZP8aEAoo5ibpzmGH8hx6gi99d-4yCOWGmpLgsV5dYAdfdCgpy/s1600/adult+painters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHJruVeL7fq0VbY0uDsuG3ckzGZW17rY2CCukERmHXln-UlIjbRY9sb5qSXpBM3rnUITjT9VhGmS5pW8T_cItJqTB4gKJZP8aEAoo5ibpzmGH8hx6gi99d-4yCOWGmpLgsV5dYAdfdCgpy/s320/adult+painters.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Students on task</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZTzELfWiqCpSUTuHv72J1FgM2Y4X-3VLmuYJSy-47fsQ3aFDoAP1CdxlgCBNylwVGTCmSwU390Y5mAnP6ol786jNY-sNWqOCei5Qa1rGZ7V2mVibNCKg9GI6AhFTe6E2_SLnBSws2jjY/s1600/painting+details+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZTzELfWiqCpSUTuHv72J1FgM2Y4X-3VLmuYJSy-47fsQ3aFDoAP1CdxlgCBNylwVGTCmSwU390Y5mAnP6ol786jNY-sNWqOCei5Qa1rGZ7V2mVibNCKg9GI6AhFTe6E2_SLnBSws2jjY/s320/painting+details+6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two Moravian stools (ein Schemel) and a computer desk organizer</td></tr>
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The three young men attending with their mother, a former colleague of my wife, seemed eager to learn about woodcraft, the smallest in particular. They're at an age, however, junior middle school students, when it's unthinkable that they devote any but all their time and mental energies to preparing for the gaokao examination. They were fun to have around and provided a satisfying counterbalance to the younger 'little emperors' who showed up, and who demanded more attention from the grownups.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQee-nrF7D0xmEqCUFBZxPJuOHgnRMiQGeRHHtST7pp6DiGftHctOqcZqO4MDhKQvjuZpbnpOpeTL5pjKKHKW-UOEbavUUg8B3rKQwZj9JNY3VotbHeGwBof7Ca4INRAfk02bmGT_DE5tB/s1600/Brushing+techniques.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQee-nrF7D0xmEqCUFBZxPJuOHgnRMiQGeRHHtST7pp6DiGftHctOqcZqO4MDhKQvjuZpbnpOpeTL5pjKKHKW-UOEbavUUg8B3rKQwZj9JNY3VotbHeGwBof7Ca4INRAfk02bmGT_DE5tB/s320/Brushing+techniques.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">explaining how to use a paintbrush</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbLOPapVi2ydUPWqLKRWhmEgVWJ4sfby3zp37YKKHxN2LGbSifjEZFpOlmG3I4vwHefXyeYClkb6E9ByW4CpEsj6xcUUbMkJAhEwz-NPxfecciPemE5AWryAKdXqyXOz_hqkqZ1WJwrlVz/s1600/Family+effort.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbLOPapVi2ydUPWqLKRWhmEgVWJ4sfby3zp37YKKHxN2LGbSifjEZFpOlmG3I4vwHefXyeYClkb6E9ByW4CpEsj6xcUUbMkJAhEwz-NPxfecciPemE5AWryAKdXqyXOz_hqkqZ1WJwrlVz/s320/Family+effort.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A family who does woodcraft together...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkF0iH2UHJBtq82A972KDq8eJx9UvPXugNkG_jsINZHsSlSWrtIFFfuGR2BsZhnM89ir9nIxsAfds6vGEhDBY4G1Ko1oR7FYW9DVVtc1KvzLQ1WSbGs-hUjcwsxeExilMfi8Bd1UFwXdX6/s1600/setting+up+for+paints.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkF0iH2UHJBtq82A972KDq8eJx9UvPXugNkG_jsINZHsSlSWrtIFFfuGR2BsZhnM89ir9nIxsAfds6vGEhDBY4G1Ko1oR7FYW9DVVtc1KvzLQ1WSbGs-hUjcwsxeExilMfi8Bd1UFwXdX6/s320/setting+up+for+paints.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the importance of keeping the paint properly stirred</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKUe7oGp3-4ToiEk_xLhQ42KvMjfVCbspDRrKDZamPXKEVblaRnIXcXnHlcQiupMZXYyeszOuQYlVxmEQg1vJy8H-mCoFhp16viwG3xPiICw4LNGAgm0nZER7xYZJZQAV98sFMrGYVSvHC/s1600/Youth+painter+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKUe7oGp3-4ToiEk_xLhQ42KvMjfVCbspDRrKDZamPXKEVblaRnIXcXnHlcQiupMZXYyeszOuQYlVxmEQg1vJy8H-mCoFhp16viwG3xPiICw4LNGAgm0nZER7xYZJZQAV98sFMrGYVSvHC/s320/Youth+painter+.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">focused on task</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2d1KoHYCGeHTzplv1CWjhrsP5eCmw3d9yKCkO-mwKH70Zcvo3n6BVRD8k3tjKa1no6_4qMnbOjXuXVsfiaoMDU0XQeSMXSWlHaZ1kFfYH2X_UPbEq_4TPTkuuGLpnAcdvqgNH5S64UUqn/s1600/Mother+and+sons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2d1KoHYCGeHTzplv1CWjhrsP5eCmw3d9yKCkO-mwKH70Zcvo3n6BVRD8k3tjKa1no6_4qMnbOjXuXVsfiaoMDU0XQeSMXSWlHaZ1kFfYH2X_UPbEq_4TPTkuuGLpnAcdvqgNH5S64UUqn/s320/Mother+and+sons.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a mother learns a lesson </td></tr>
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I did the preparations for the milk paint in the apartment owned by the woodshop chief. It's still mostly unfinished and so I used the sink in the bathroom. I would have taken photos but it seems weird to take photos in such a place, especially since it was so crowded. I carried the prepared curds back to the underground<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Cf9X5FHvB1wJdRLvZeTTn-u2dQ7itvutzmDJ6X_fhPGmO6u6SzN4FhzCGn_Ju4txRaqJG3YLz9VH4JDIoZxFIOx9RTL8XPppW2K2E3rtwf5Y5p1mRXM_zmr7Mxw89DR65-2rbtMmO_2Q/s1600/Group+photo+6E1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Cf9X5FHvB1wJdRLvZeTTn-u2dQ7itvutzmDJ6X_fhPGmO6u6SzN4FhzCGn_Ju4txRaqJG3YLz9VH4JDIoZxFIOx9RTL8XPppW2K2E3rtwf5Y5p1mRXM_zmr7Mxw89DR65-2rbtMmO_2Q/s320/Group+photo+6E1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Obligatory group photo</td></tr>
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In the end, stools were painted; word was spread; goodwill was shared; and connections were established.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1zKwS0PnRjjOJ8MYcA0F1WSAPqHafhHxPZgECyvt3mWIG6VJmZir0_OX_m14rLmtwUW4VrCNEbFXE2oVZcC9phqLvpXv_fubdld44t9LA7ypbWp8dZ9ctW-jQTPcM1-tbvJpcliVH0IZs/s1600/painted+results+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1zKwS0PnRjjOJ8MYcA0F1WSAPqHafhHxPZgECyvt3mWIG6VJmZir0_OX_m14rLmtwUW4VrCNEbFXE2oVZcC9phqLvpXv_fubdld44t9LA7ypbWp8dZ9ctW-jQTPcM1-tbvJpcliVH0IZs/s320/painted+results+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inspired by the works of Samuel Clemens</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8EK74Xv3z6QzR0ny3akyZxkjLMoMqTSNxdck_RjW-DPmKGr0JY3GQ8Nv0U_0xLN7Dy744mPZqk9RixJjYNLBT-osQ-KoSEbGa2N-cuKtMloTnxsDaEPQDTE1YT_MUhTV_Qxzkg92xyPaq/s1600/Family+group.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8EK74Xv3z6QzR0ny3akyZxkjLMoMqTSNxdck_RjW-DPmKGr0JY3GQ8Nv0U_0xLN7Dy744mPZqk9RixJjYNLBT-osQ-KoSEbGa2N-cuKtMloTnxsDaEPQDTE1YT_MUhTV_Qxzkg92xyPaq/s320/Family+group.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As gratifying as whitewashing Aunt Polly's fence, I reckon</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNo8pDsK8Sw3LxMZqKLXjmLo9mCJo1QyUjCDtvRJUwJ3py9qvRT6TGrAd7bpf6TZpIAoPND6YrnEJFX_fv_u4dWVD3AMAFmCXRewK6igh86a2x8TyvJ_UYDC9S6eKVLGRHkcq_hvh7THtt/s1600/backturned.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNo8pDsK8Sw3LxMZqKLXjmLo9mCJo1QyUjCDtvRJUwJ3py9qvRT6TGrAd7bpf6TZpIAoPND6YrnEJFX_fv_u4dWVD3AMAFmCXRewK6igh86a2x8TyvJ_UYDC9S6eKVLGRHkcq_hvh7THtt/s320/backturned.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then for a moment my back was turned</td></tr>
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<br />Potomackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02047837559244141708noreply@blogger.com0Hua Shan Lu, Pukou Qu, Nanjing Shi, Jiangsu Sheng, China32.056973500000012 118.5913123999999932.056973500000012 118.59131239999999 32.056973500000012 118.59131239999999