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Post by kk on Aug 19, 2017 9:43:36 GMT -5
Thank you everyone. B'days and designated gift-giving days rank pretty low in my personal opinion. Have to follow suit for the missis and the kids, but try to keep it low-key when it comes to myself. I rather receive attention out of the blue for no other reason than...... Happy bday Kurt n John!!! May you enjoy many more! Hey Kurt u owe us a installment on your cabin? Going in a few hours for an overnight stay, to hopefully complete the outside patio. Other than that, nothing really changed visibly to make it a report. Just a little here and there.
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Post by kk on Aug 17, 2017 7:30:20 GMT -5
total number of unbagged pieces in both boxes 128 or 134 And should I by chance get the right number(s), I will take the cost of shipping as the charges over here are horrendous.
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Post by kk on Aug 11, 2017 19:34:01 GMT -5
I know you see all kinds of imported stuff in your area. Surprised at the amount of lapidary activity on FB from Indonesia. It does seem like a lot of people are selling from the same photos. Some have several 1000 'friends' and many of them sell lapidary. At the moment the overwhelming quantity flooding the market in China (and Hong Kong) is from Madagascar. The Chinese have settled in Indonesia, and import/exploit mostly specifically targeted material. Everyone has a phone, so every backyard-operation is open for international business. As far as I hear, local trade is cut-throat, but international business is fair game. Banking and exchange is strongly regulated, but Paypal and/or Western Union etc., at small amounts circumvent the system. In Indonesia, paypal at the moment is basically the same as bitcoin, no-one has yet managed to control it.
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Post by kk on Aug 11, 2017 12:34:12 GMT -5
Just be careful with that name. I have seen it pop up under quite a few different names. Eka Namora comes in a variety of pages, plus name variations.
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Post by kk on Aug 11, 2017 12:28:57 GMT -5
I have bought in small quantities from Indonesia, but its rare to get them to agree to it. So over the years, I only found two suppliers that I would trust, and basically never allow recent requests for FB-friends.
But the snakeskin is a timely reminder that I want some of that stuff. Never seen rough.......
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Post by kk on Aug 6, 2017 6:03:02 GMT -5
Yikes,.....I wanna vote 6 out of 6 cabs.....
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Post by kk on Aug 4, 2017 19:19:43 GMT -5
Looks like ingrown feldspar in arkose and granite?
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Post by kk on Aug 4, 2017 18:49:21 GMT -5
WOW, adore that Seraphinite. Love the colour as well as the chattoyancy. The Crimson Cuprite stands out to me, less for its colour, but the way you choose to do the edge to the table, creating those clearly formed corners, instead of the usual rounding.
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Post by kk on Aug 4, 2017 18:41:01 GMT -5
Don, what kind of rock is that? I love the color? Holly Blue???
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Post by kk on Jul 28, 2017 4:24:33 GMT -5
Nice entries all round. Congrats!
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Post by kk on Jul 22, 2017 11:34:34 GMT -5
I Have tried everything to down load Photo bucket no success i think i have a user name and password, but i still cannot see the rock carvings. Any suggestions? Mike OK, as promised, pictures restored. You should be able to see them now.
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Post by kk on Jul 20, 2017 11:34:52 GMT -5
You made a few references or inferences as to how much tighter things have gotten in China. Can you speak more to that? I am always curious about the lives of average people. Is there less access to the West? Do you feel less safe, as a foreigner. Do the people seem to be more suspicious of you? Is the government more strict to Westerners? Just wondering ... Overall things have improved dramatically in the past 27 years. For visitors and locals alike. I can only speak of the things that I see and what I have been told. If those things would be the same if I actually lived there would be questionable. In our area, close to Hong Kong, slums have disappeared with the closing of factories (manufacturing became too expensive around here and is moved farther and farther inland), and the average people seem to be more affluent. There are still restrictions on traveling within the country, and settling for locals. As cities attract too many able bodied people from the much poorer countryside. With the need of factory-workers, the city of Guangzhou had at one point a population of nearly 70% females. Allowing free access, would create a huge disaster, so the government stepped in and enforced previously set rules. Resulting in factories migrating their locations too. Military as well as police is virtually unseen these days. Have not seen machine-guns in the streets since late 1990's. In twelve days I only saw security personal with small Uzis at the train-station at our departure, and those two guys where the first anywhere in over ten years (that I saw). Security has gone underground. Just because, one does not see it, does not mean its not there. If one looks a bit closer, you will easily notice that there is virtually no corner in this city that is not covered by some sort of camera (I have seen cameras mounted on street lamps even in the older parts of the city). Internet/digital over-watch has become the main-method of policing urban areas. As a matter of fact, they are just as effective, if not more so, than having personnel stationed in the street, as they are there 24/7. The number of active military personnel is hugely overstated. They could easily have a standing army as recorded by the West, but....., the only real increase in personnel in the last twenty years has been on the technology warfare side. Some people claim that nearly 50% of the numbers of active military personnel only exists on paper. Google, FB and the like are banned simply because they are not allowed to share source-codes, by law, with China. While other governments are presumed to have free access to them, China can't. So its a simple matter of mistrust. For us visitors, its much better now. 30 years ago, there where obvious controls with only being allowed into certain parts of China. But most of the things that would have affected your stay would not have been something you would have actually noticed. As a tour-guide/escort, we saw things a bit differently than our charges..... We had to get approval for virtually everything, and we knew that someone was watching your/our movement even as you went to the washroom. Just crossing the street, to have a look at a market opposite a designated tourist-destination often led to being warned that our visa would be revoked. Bus-drivers reported on guides, guides on bus-drivers and a second escort on both of them. You could take pictures only at predetermined areas and pictures with the local escort where out of question entirely. Today, no-one seems to care really. You get a visa, and that allows you to move freely in 95% of the country. They still want to know where you stay, so accommodations are limited. Not all places are allowed to take in foreigners. In business, you need a local partner. Should you run into business trouble, going to court as a foreigner is useless in 99% of all cases. You need a local to get justice for your business. Corruption exists just like everywhere else. Get caught (getting government into trouble, locally or internationally), and you will not see the inside of a cell for too long. Life sentences are rather uncommon. Other than that, the law overall is not that different to the west. Tighter controls, yes. Swifter enforcement, yes. As for feeling safe: No problem encountered anywhere. Alone in dimly lit streets, I never felt uncomfortable anywhere in China. In general there seems to be a rule about crime against foreigners (in Hong Kong too) and that's, hands off. When something happens to foreigners its trouble to the government, and justice has to follow swiftly. Local problems stay local and are dealt with often under the table. That makes the whole area very safe for us, regardless to your gender. Naturally, things can happen to us too, but in comparison the problem is rather small. Crimes to foreigners are more often than not, committed by other foreigners. The jade carving is amazing, but how did they do those little moss agates? Is it 'scratched' into the surface and colored? In this case, they used either the skin of the agate, or the inclusions/moss itself. I held several, I'm no expert, but I could not detect any added colours. It looks natural to me. Look at the birds closely; they are in concave in order to follow the natural pattern of the stone.
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Post by kk on Jul 20, 2017 5:17:42 GMT -5
Did you get any photos of the Agate carving? I would love to see what they do with that. This time round only the two examples above. If interest exist, will take tons of pictures next time.
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Post by kk on Jul 19, 2017 19:08:32 GMT -5
Yep, yep and yep. Rhino in both; fake and real. Really big and very small. Add to that bears, Pallas's Cat and i'm 95% sure I saw a hide of a Himalayan Snow Leopard.
Alone, and as the only foreigner around, I had eyes on me at all times and I was not able to take pictures around there.
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Post by kk on Jul 19, 2017 18:43:09 GMT -5
Had a good time. The only downside/disappointment this time really (besides the fact that the digital wall becomes stronger), Is that endangered animal hides, bones and horns are back openly in the streets of the jade market. They where there 4 years ago, got hidden for two years in backrooms (I suppose), and now are back openly on the street. Could likely tick off a list of at least 20 different animals. The only thing I did not see was elephant, but....
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Post by kk on Jul 19, 2017 7:49:20 GMT -5
Hi there, Its been a while, was in China for a couple of weeks and did my usual rounds in the Jade Market of Hualin. Did not find the the nephrite I was looking for (yellow skin), so took some cheap Mookite (10$ per kilo), for me to cut up and try out. China bounty, Mookite, Kainzer Kurt by Kainzer Kurt, on Flickr Found also this little piece of Moroccan chalcedony. But have no idea how this should end up. The only thing for sure is that it will not remain a specimen. Anyone know how this strong green got in there? Morocco Chalcedony Kainzer Kurt by Kainzer Kurt, on Flickr Saw some nice pieces of nephrite's, fabulously worked Seen in market 2017, jade, Kainzer Kurt by Kainzer Kurt, on Flickr And, While still plenty-full, the percentage of jade is shrinking noticeably. Turquoise and amber too. Whats new is the use of impact-glass from Vietnam (real and fake, cant tell the difference), and slowly, every year the percentage of agates increases. This time they had even unfinished pieces on sale. In the near future, I predict to see more rough (some there now for the first time, but could not see anything for my skill-level to carve). Agates seen in market Kainzer Kurt by Kainzer Kurt, on Flickr It seems to me that some very talented jade carvers are switching to agate in general. Some of the agates are absolutely stunning and have been worked by anything but novices or regular factory workers. Thats a good thing overall, as with time there will be more value accepted for that type of material and Fire Agate might come in just fine alongside. Some of the fine works utilizing moss, are on par with the skills needed to work fireagate on highest skill-levels. Its a very recent development, but clearly noticeable over the past 4 years. 4 years ago, there was hardly any agate in that market (Hualin is pretty much the second-biggest permanent jade-market worldwide with 32000 registered businesses). Now, a good quarter of the former jade sectors have been taken over by agate. AND formerly street-vendors; now you find them in permanent shops. So much for the stones, now on to other fun parts on the trip..... As always, I go to China in order to hold Summer camp at a school for students aged 13 to 15. This year we had a super team of 3 and things worked out splendidly. To my surprise, close to the school, hidden just behind developments facing the roads, I found the Guanzhou that I remember from the early 1990's. Small brick buildings, tight alleys, wires hanging from just about anywhere, people actually smiling at you as you walk through and small family-businesses just about every few meters. Spend an hour in there, and one forgets that you are in effect in a 20 million people city till you see the next towering building......... Old city remains Guangzhou 2017, Kainzer Kurt by Kainzer Kurt, on Flickr Old City remains Guangzhou 2017, Kainzer Kurt by Kainzer Kurt, on Flickr But we where there to work with the kids. As every year, drama and art where my biggest projects. Kids are still shy, and at this age especially awkward about consciously moving their bodies. So of course, thats where I come in......... 2017 Drama project, Kainzer Kurt by Kainzer Kurt, on Flickr Lots of fun when they can laugh at "grandpa" first, until they have to try for themselves. Somehow feel old looking at that next picture.... Explaining how to create space for acting out something as simple as preparing "Milk-tea", drinking it, and follow through..... Looking old, Kainzer Kurt by Kainzer Kurt, on Flickr Next year should be fun; as our theme is Canada, I'm planing to have them learn to do a traditional FN Induit dance including making/improvising the drums...... The other project, as every year is to create something tangible. This year the principal asked if we could make a totem fitting the room (we did individual totems in the past, just drawing them up and rolling them up), So we asked the kids to come up with a design for their class and took the best designers out to create a 2.5 to 3 foot creation of their design. stages, Kainzer Kurt by Kainzer Kurt, on Flickr Wire mesh as the center to provide stability, and then paper for basic shape held down with tape. Then a couple of layers of kitchen towels with white glue. Ready for basic paint, before starting actual painting. step two,, Kainzer Kurt by Kainzer Kurt, on Flickr Stack them up Testing combinations, Kainzer Kurt by Kainzer Kurt, on Flickr And voila, we got a basic Totem representing the tribe of 3 classes....... Kainzer Kurt, 2017 project by Kainzer Kurt, on Flickr Unlike the past few years, I did relatively little with only the top, to serve as an example. The actual work this time is 90% from the students, instead of the other way round in the past. Was a good year, looking forward to next time Best regards, Kurt
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Post by kk on Jul 11, 2017 18:22:10 GMT -5
Looking great, but do have to ask which ones are considered blue?
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Post by kk on Jul 11, 2017 5:44:55 GMT -5
Yeah, hit the Wall. Literally! Lots of internet blocked, got a paid and a free VPN and still barely manage to get through. Its always a problem from over here, but this year for some reason its especially bad right now. Looks like, I get through to RTH about once or twice a day. Short message, before someone turns me off, yet again.
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Post by kk on Jul 8, 2017 19:18:10 GMT -5
I Have tried everything to down load Photo bucket no success i think i have a user name and password, but i still cannot see the rock carvings. Any suggestions? Mike Yeah, sorry about that. I'm in China right now until the 18th.. When returning home, I will restore pics to newer posts through another site. But until then can't do anything here from within the "Wall". Best regards, Kurt
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Post by kk on Jun 29, 2017 20:54:48 GMT -5
It was a REALLY old account from back when my yahoo email was SBCGlobal.net which became ATT. I can't contact ATT because I never had an actual ATT account before the whole thing became Yahoo. What a twisted mess and now I've got probably 500 photos locked on Flickr no way to access the account. It's gone forever. Thank for all the info and your relentless effort to keep RTH a superb place to go to on a daily basis. Yeah, yahoo is a downside, have had an account pretty much since the beginning of it. They periodically log you out (or, actually, I think Windows update does it once or twice a year), so password need to be stored elsewhere. I'm not sure if they still do it, but years ago, anything I put on Flikr turned up in Google search a few days after posting. So you might still have a way to recover your images if you named your pictures, or like I do, add my name to the title. For the time being, will go with Flikr, if that goes awry too, might come back to the system that you set up here at a later date. I'm only posting on 4 Forums, does your system allow sharing to other Forums? Thanks, Kurt
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