tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091180957808016632024-02-20T18:54:51.239-08:00atlantic whispersTony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-51508467853679745062019-01-25T05:23:00.001-08:002019-01-25T05:23:25.620-08:00It has been quite a while since I have posted on this blog. But recent events have prompted me to return.<br />
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Below you will find excerpts I have lifted from an article appearing on Truthdig that I hope will spark debate about Canada's currently pathetic response to infrastructure needs, and especially to climate change.<br />
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<span class="s1">Germany has a public sector development bank called KfW (<i>Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau</i> or “Reconstruction Credit Institute”), which is even larger than the World Bank</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Unlike private commercial banks, KfW does not have to focus on maximizing short-term profits for its shareholders while turning a blind eye to external costs, including those imposed on the environment. The bank has been free to support the energy revolution by funding major investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency. Its fossil fuel investments are close to zero. <a href="https://www.bu.edu/pardeeschool/files/2016/07/GriffithJones.Final_.pdf"><span class="s2">One of the key features of KfW</span></a>, as with other development banks, is that much of its lending is driven in a strategic direction determined by the national government. Its key role in the green energy revolution has been played within a public policy framework under Germany’s renewable energy legislation, including policy measures that have made investment in renewables commercially attractive.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">KfW is one of the world’s largest development banks, with <a href="https://www.gfmag.com/magazine/november-2018/safest-banks-by-country"><span class="s2">assets totaling$566.5 billion</span></a> as of December 2017. Ironically, the initial funding for its capitalization came from the United States, <a href="https://www.kfw.de/PDF/Download-Center/Konzernthemen/KfW-im-%C3%9Cberblick/KfW-an-overview.pdf"><span class="s2">through the Marshall Plan</span></a> in 1948. Why didn’t we fund a similar bank for ourselves? Simply because powerful Wall Street interests did not want the competition from a government-owned bank that could make below-market loans for infrastructure and development. Major U.S. investors today prefer funding infrastructure through public-private partnerships, in which private partners can reap the profits while losses are imposed on local governments.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">KfW’s role in implementing government policy parallels that of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) in funding the New Deal in the 1930s. At that time, U.S. banks were bankrupt and incapable of financing the country’s recovery. President Franklin D. Roosevelt attempted to set up a system of 12 public “industrial banks” through the Federal Reserve, but the measure failed. Roosevelt then made an end run around his opponents by using the RFC that had been set up earlier by President Herbert Hoover, expanding it to address the nation’s financing needs.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The RFC Act of 1932 provided the RFC with capital stock of $500 million and the authority to extend credit up to $1.5 billion (subsequently increased several times). <a href="http://www.federalreservehistory.org/Events/DetailView/12"><span class="s2">With those resources</span></a>, from 1932 to 1957 the RFC loaned or invested more than $40 billion. As with KfW’s loans, its funding source was the sale of bonds, mostly to the Treasury itself. Proceeds from the loans repaid the bonds, <a href="https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/files/docs/publications/rcf/rfc_19590506_finalreport.pdf"><span class="s2">leaving the RFC with a net profit</span></a>. The RFC financed roads, bridges, dams, post offices, universities, electrical power, mortgages, farms and much more; it funded all of this while generating income for the government.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The RFC was so successful that it became America’s largest corporation and the world’s largest banking organization. Its success, however, may have been its nemesis. Without the emergencies of depression and war, it was a too-powerful competitor of the private banking establishment; and in 1957, it was disbanded under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. That’s how the United States was left without a development bank at the same time Germany and other countries were hitting the ground running with theirs.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Today some U.S. states have infrastructure and development banks, including California, but their reach is very small. One way they could be expanded to meet state infrastructure needs would be to turn them into depositories for state and municipal revenue. Rather than lending their capital directly in a revolving fund, this would allow them to leverage their capital into 10 times that sum in loans, as all depository banks are able to do, as I’ve <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/how-california-could-get-its-money-out-of-wall-street-20180606"><span class="s2">previously explained</span></a>.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The most profitable and efficient way for national and local governments to finance public infrastructure and development is with their own banks, as the impressive track records of KfW and other national development banks have shown. The RFC showed what could be done even by a country that was technically bankrupt, simply by mobilizing its own resources through a publicly owned financial institution. We need to resurrect that public funding engine today, not only to address the national and global crises we are facing now but for the ongoing development the country needs in order to manifest its true potential.</span></div>
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While the "country" referred to is the US, similar ideas need to be examined urgently in Canada, especially the move away from financing public works through private banks. A return to the original ideal for the Bank of Canada would be a good start.Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-347135801555276052016-08-22T07:34:00.001-07:002016-08-22T07:34:55.731-07:00Electricity Generation: A reposting from April 2014In the light of recent revelations on the Muskrat Falls fiasco, I thought this earlier post was worth a second glance. Obviously NALCOR never considered options other than MF...<br />
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More musings. I haven't got facts and figures this time. I am still convinced that Integral Fast Reactors (I misspelled that in the previous blog) are the way to go. Far safer than current methods, using heavy or light water which rely on pressurized steam, and which leave a residue of fuel cells that need to be kept cool for thousands of years.<br /><br />This time I want to ask questions about wave and tidal power. With Newfoundland and Labrador's highly indented shoreline, it would seem obvious that such methods should have been explored. While tidal difference on the east coast of the island is not as dramatic as that in the Bay of Fundy, it is sufficient to warrant examination. The type of installation that the French put in place in Dinard shows what can be done, and that site has been producing electricity for 50 years.<br /><br />In the Bay of Fundy, a dam could not be built, but turbines anchored to the sea bed did produce electricity for a short while, but the tidal flow was so strong, the units were destroyed in short order, and the project abandoned.<br /><br />Smaller projects on the island's south coast would, I am sure, prover feasible and profitable, especially if built close to the transmission line from Bay d'Espoir. Similar projects could be built on the North Shore of Labrador, providing power for coastal communities. Wave power could also be used in coastal communities.<br /><br />The feasibility of using wind power has already been discussed and demonstrated, with some interesting solutions proposed to deal with the problem of intermittent supply.<br /><br />The main problem remains in the heads of politicians. When vanity trumps sanity, no amount of evidence or common sense can prevail.</div>
Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-41579287392704671122016-08-16T12:58:00.001-07:002016-08-16T12:58:54.410-07:00Gryphon Trio at the Tuckamore Chamber Music Festival 2016Monday night 15 August saw the welcome return of the Gryphon Trio. A near capacity audience in the DF Cook Recital Hall was testimony to the support in the St. John's area for high calibre chamber music, and the special place this trio holds in the hearts of music lovers.<br />
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The concert did not have a thematic title (the Trio's name is sufficient to draw in an audience without the need for spin), but in retrospect <i>appassionata</i> would have been appropriate, with two of the evening's offerings bearing that musical notation. More of that later.<br />
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The Tuckamore Festival brochure never offers program notes to help the audience prepare for performances, although sometimes a pre-concert talk is given. On Monday night pianist James Walker pithily described the circumstances surrounding Debussy's early work, his Piano Trio in G<b> </b>major, composed in 1882, but then "lost" for almost exactly one hundred years before re-emerging in 1982. Arnold Schönberg was not impressed when he first heard it, classifying it as juvenilia, a slur which may have contributed to the work not being performed very frequently since. The Gryphon Trio, clearly, think otherwise, and judging by the physical state of the scores they were playing from, have made it a part of their repertoire, at least for the moment.<br />
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Just at the end of his teenage years, Debussy was hired as a music teacher to a wealthy, aristocratic family. He was to teach the younger children the rudiments of music, develop the musical talents of a twenty-seven-year-old daughter during the day, and play duets with the mother in the evening. After travelling for part of the year the family settled in one spot and in short notice a 'cellist and a violinist were hired. Here (may I imagine?) was the beginnings of a double trio: Debussy, mother and daughter; Debussy, violinist and 'cellist. I don't know how long the arrangement lasted, but if you are looking for a narrative to underpin Debussy's composition, it is not hard to find. The first movement opens with a simple theme of five notes that do not make a tune but offer endless possibilities for variation. 'Cello and piano, piano and violin answer each other in a series of duets as the composer/piano interacts with the mother/'cello, then daughter/violin. The mood is, in contemporary spin parlance, sunny, the composer is contented to be in bucolic surroundings. The second movement moves into a slightly more sombre mood; there are clouds on the horizon, as yet unspecified. The scherzo in the third movement might be considered to be a series of images of the younger children in the family running around, with the composer joining in. The final movement, however, with its sudden changes in tempo and key, perhaps portrays the complications that arise with the introduction of two other performers in the real life situation: the original trio has superimposed upon it a trio of musicians resulting in the trio composition by Debussy. Fanciful? Perhaps.<br />
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James Parker yielded the microphone to Dr Andrew Staniland for the introduction to the two short works that concluded the first half of the concert. As he explained, "14 Seconds" is the fifth movement of a fourteen movement work <i>Dark Star Requiem</i> chosen to open the 2010 Toronto Luminato Festival. The libretto for this oratorio/opera was drawn from a series of poems written by Jill Battson in reaction to the AIDS epidemic that was sweeping, apparently unchecked and unstoppable in the 1970s and 1980s. The title alludes to the chilling statistic that world-wide, one person died from AIDS every fourteen seconds. Staniland has taken on a seemingly impossible structural limitation of composing fourteen short pieces, each lasting fourteen seconds. I have yet to hear the complete work, but this extract does provoke a question that has received a fair amount of debate: when faced with a massive trauma (Auschwitz is the perennial choice) is art even possible? Theodor Adorno posed the question (somewhat baldly, and later retracted it because it was so often cited without the full context of his argument). AIDS cannot be put in the same category as the extermination camps of the the Second World War, but it was a trauma that affected many individuals with enormous impact. The sole clue to the structure of the piece, which was, I am sure, a first hearing for the majority of the audience, was provided in Staniland's introduction: a theme and variations. The theme is simple, repeated, harshly accented notes on the piano at first, taken up by the 'cello and violin. If you are looking for narrative, then perhaps the sound of a heart monitor next to a dying patient, the pulse rate quicker than normal as the body tries to fight the spreading disease and the mind tries to cope with that realization. The first few movements are clearly marked off with a slight pause, the trajectory the music might be creating cut off abruptly. But as the work progresses, there is no pause, not the slightest relief. There are key changes, changes in rhythm and pace, but each fourteen seconds barely has time to establish itself before the next "life" moves to centre stage. Towards the end, the mood becomes more intense; is this rage against the dying of the light? Until finally, the beat of the heart monitor flatlines... a single note, high in the 'cello's register, <i>morendo.</i><br />
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For the second of Staniland's pieces, "Solstice Songs", the audience was given no help. While the composer had indicated that it was to be performed <i>attaca</i>, with no break between to the two pieces, there was a pause while the trio, some more quickly than others, removed the first score from their stand and set up the second. It did give the audience time to take the impact of "14 Seconds", but we had no preparation. The musical notation the program simply said: "Lively, Dance-like", and while it lived up to the first, I defy anyone to dance to this music! I certainly enjoyed the music, as did the Gryphon Trio who bounced with the sudden stops and starts, <i>fortissimo </i>to <i>pianissimo. </i>But I will need to hear it again. Once again, the finale was characterized by passionate playing.<br />
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On the question of hearing contemporary compositions more than once, Dr Staniland, in his introduction to last Saturday's performance of new works by Tuckamore Young Composers, said how fortunate they were to hear their composition performed twice, once in the composers segment at 7pm, and again in the main concert at 8pm. He also observed that their new works were, in the second performance, being presented in the company of some of the Western tradition's greats: Brahms, Dvorzak, Fauré, and the like. It is a mark of Staniland's stature that his compositions tonight stood up well in the context of Debussy and Mendelssohn.<br />
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The second half of the evening consisted of the single work, Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Trio no.2 in c minor, op.66. This is a late work, composed just a few years before his death and shows the complexity of a mature artist's mind at work. James Parker's playful introduction offered up a narrative drawn from the Jason Bourne series of action dramas: first movement "full of car chases, explosions, narrow escapes; the second movement "a peaceful interlude in a Mediterranean luxury hotel (James Bond?); I can't remember Parker's characterization for the third movement; and, the fourth movement, more dramatic action, accelerating to a triumphant conclusion. My narrative would substitute a Victorian melodrama for Jason Bourne, with the villain tying the heroine to the railway tracks and... you get the picture. Such narratives do help the concert-goer who has no formal musical training (and perhaps little concert experience such as myself) to grasp complex artistic creations which take thirty minutes to unfold.<br />
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In response to a much deserved standing ovation, the Gryphon Trio gave us Piazzolla's "Autumn". I have become a fan of tango dancing, both the balletic, dancing-with-the-stars routines by young performers whose joints do not seem to obey the laws of physic, but especially those where the dancers are my age, their movements more gentle, but the sexual innuendo all the more powerful for being understated. So it was with last night's performance: the rubato passages only ever-so-slightly slowed, then quickened, the lingering slide of the trailing foot referenced by the <i>glissando</i> on violin and 'cello.<br />
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What a night!Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-53269239209095350222016-08-14T10:48:00.001-07:002016-08-14T10:48:25.642-07:00<b>Tuckamore Chamber Music festival</b><br />
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After a long gap in posting, I'm going to try my hand at something different: music reviews. I have no formal training in music, but I do know what I like, and what I don't want to see or hear repeated. For my first attempt, here are my observations of Friday night's offering at the D.F. Cook Recital Hall: "In My Love and In My Song".<br />
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While the title made obvious reference to the two song cycles "An Chloé" (Mozart) and "Sechs Gesängen"(Schumann), the other pieces seemed not to fit: "Valse" by Rachmaninoff, Hungarian Dance No. 15 by Brahms, and Beethoven's String Quartet No.7. This last, at a stretch, might have found justification in its dedication "To my brother", an expression of filial love, but a change in programming saw it replaced by the same composer's Op 74 "The Harp".<br />
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I am not familiar with this work (it was a first hearing for me), but for a quartet of players, who had not had much time to gel (this is the first week of the festival) their ensemble playing was remarkable. Given the foreshortened preparation time, the high level of co-ordination in the rapid scalar passages, and the syncopated rhythm sections in the final movement was breathtaking. Sensitivity in the pianissimo sections was to the fore, and the changes in prominence for each of the voices were seamless as each instrument sang clearly above the understructure provided by the other three. The exuberant finale brought out the obvious enjoyment the four individuals have in making music together, enjoyment conveyed readily to an appreciative audience.<br />
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Sophie Leblanc's performance of selections from "An Chloé" was preceded by a welcome introduction to the texts, since no translation had been provided to the audience. Her playful, even flirtatious depiction of the textual context of the songs prepared the audience well for her flawless singing: impeccable German diction, musicality, and an appreciation for the dramatic possibilities of the varying fortunes of the characters in the songs. Each of the four chosen presented love in a different light: "Dans un bois solitaire" shows the would-be lover alone; in "Abendempfindung" the lover discovers the gloomy mood of the dusk matches his mood; "Wie unglücklich bin ich nicht", with the double negative pointing to an uncertain positive, has the lover finding happiness, but not sure of its permanence; and "Der Zauberer" finds the lover robbed of his heart by the beauty of the beloved. Mozart found inspiration in simple, folksy tunes that he endowed with matching simplicity and wit.<br />
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Schumann in like manner chose to stay in the folk tradition of the Gesängen, rather than the more elevated art-song form of the Lieder. Again, Ms Leblanc provided a brief synopsis of each of the songs. The first five depict the unfortunate ones in love: "Herzeleid" (Heartbreak), "Die Fensterscheibe" (The Window-cleaner), "Der Gärtner" (The Gardener), "Die Spinnerin" (The Spinner), and "Im Wald" (In the Forest). In the first and fifth, the protagonist is not specified, but the emotion suffered could be shared by all, the heartbreak of a lost love in the first, the loneliness of the not-yet-loved in the fifth as the protagonist observes pairing up in nature -- two butterflies, two birds, and two deer -- and wonders implicitly when he or she may find love. The sixth song "Abendlied" (Evening Song) contrasts the first five by offering a more positive outlook on love, the title indicating a more noble approach, a Lied, and the choice of major key a more joyful outcome.<br />
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Rather than choosing the traditional accompaniment of piano, Ms Leblanc went for the twentieth century arrangement by the German composer Aribert Riemann for string quartet. Susan Waterbury played first violin, Nancy Dahn second (reversing the pairing in the Beethoven), Dov Scheindlin viola, and Vernon Regehr 'cello. The combination worked very well and I will seek out a recording of this version.<br />
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The only question mark I had for the evening concerned Ms Leblanc's constant reference to the score. Since the two song cycles are not arduous examples in the soprano's repertoire, why were they not memorized?<br />
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Finally, a word on the two pieces for piano-four hands. Rachmaninoff's "Valse", while posing some challenges for the upper hand, is not technically difficult. The composer's somewhat sardonic treatment of the waltz genre -- you can't dance to the music, and the lumbering, fortissimo section may have been an allusion to the brutal aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution -- turns the piece into a salon novelty rather than a serious concert offering. Brahm's Hungarian Dance no.15 similarly works best in a salon setting, though concert versions have become popular. Is it possible, as the late John Herriott was fond of pointing out, that such compositions for four hands, often played by tutor (male) and student (female), offered an opportunity for close physical contact, in public, under the guise of music-making? No such possible interpretation could be made for Friday evening's performance as Timothy Steeves and Robert Kortgaard gave us only fun-filled panache.Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-61462085583490046922014-06-01T15:36:00.001-07:002014-06-01T15:36:37.028-07:00Check out Andrew Cranston on Empire Avenue https://www.empireavenue.com/VIEWNORTH<a href="https://www.empireavenue.com/VIEWNORTH#.U4uqtYi68eQ.blogger">Check out Andrew Cranston on Empire Avenue https://www.empireavenue.com/VIEWNORTH</a>: Grow your Social Audience. Run and complete Missions to grow your audience and discover new content and people. Earn Rewards for being social and redeem for Gift Cards, Music, Movies and more!Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-62918843245218817672014-04-18T08:02:00.003-07:002014-04-18T08:02:32.790-07:00Electricity GenerationMore musings. I haven't got facts and figures this time. I am still convinced that Integral Fast Reactors (I misspelled that in the previous blog) are the way to go. Far safer than current methods, using heavy or light water which rely on pressurized steam, and which leave a residue of fuel cells that need to be kept cool for thousands of years.<br />
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This time I want to ask questions about wave and tidal power. With Newfoundland and Labrador's highly indented shoreline, it would seem obvious that such methods should have been explored. While tidal difference on the east coast of the island is not as dramatic as that in the Bay of Fundy, it is sufficient to warrant examination. The type of installation that the French put in place in Dinard shows what can be done, and that site has been producing electricity for 50 years.<br />
<br />
In the Bay of Fundy, a dam could not be built, but turbines anchored to the sea bed did produce electricity for a short while, but the tidal flow was so strong, the units were destroyed in short order, and the project abandoned.<br />
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Smaller projects on the island's south coast would, I am sure, prover feasible and profitable, especially if built close to the transmission line from Bay d'Espoir. Similar projects could be built on the North Shore of Labrador, providing power for coastal communities. Wave power could also be used in coastal communities.<br />
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The feasibility of using wind power has already been discussed and demonstrated, with some interesting solutions proposed to deal with the problem of intermittent supply.<br />
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The main problem remains in the heads of politicians. When vanity trumps sanity, no amount of evidence or common sense can prevail.Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-41384461016193617702012-05-26T05:55:00.000-07:002012-05-26T05:55:49.881-07:00I recently took part in a focus group discussing various aspect of electricity service in Newfoundland and Labrador. We looked at some fairly innocuous questions such as cost, value for money, maintenance or improvement of infrastructure, and so on. Many of the participants, including me, strayed from the intended pathway by introducing the issue of Muskrat Falls, but the moderator always dragged us back to the rather mundane list of prepared questions. We were there for two hours, but it was clear to me that a discussion or debate on Muskrat Falls alone would have taken up twice that time.<br />
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Now I don't intend going over what has already been said on that matter. Instead I want to raise a different aspect of the generation of electricity: the use of nuclear power. Until recently I was totally and absolutely opposed to the use of nuclear fission for this purpose. The examples of Three-Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukiyama were enough to convince me that the dangers associated with the operation of nuclear reactors, and the intractable problem of the disposal of spent nuclear fuel, far outweigh any potential benefits in reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Certainly, the cost of building and maintaining such reactors seem to lead to higher prices for the consumer. And those price increases have been mitigated by enormous government subsidies which, by sleight of hand, have been disguised as not coming from the pockets of taxpayers.<br />
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So what changed my mind? I came across an article on a blog called Brave New Climate (<a href="http://bravenewclimate.com/">http://bravenewclimate.com</a>) and read an item on Internal Fast Reactors (IFR). I had never before heard of such animals, and was intrigued to read more (I'm still reading the wealth of information that site contains). In simple terms, this form of nuclear fission can use existing spent fuel rods, or a form of uranium that has not been enriched to weapons grade, to generate electricity in a set-up that is designed to run virtually untended and that will in the event of a natural disaster -- flooding, earthquake -- shut itself down.<br />
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So, why has this technology not received wider publicity or support? It's hard to say. But one factor that has been cited is cost. In the facilities that were built (no more than one in any country up to now), the cost comparisons were skewed in favour of the Light Water or Heavy Water Reactors (the Canadian preferred type), because the experiments were small scale. There may have been another reason: IFRs do not produce weapons-grade material for nuclear bombs.<br />
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I'll contact the author of Brave New Climate to see if I can reproduce here some of his material, since his explanations of the technical aspects of IFRs are very clear.<br />
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One immediate benefit that comes to mind is that, if the technology can be cost-effective on a medium scale, we don't need to flood vast areas of Labrador, nor construct an absurdly long transmission line to bring electricity to markets in eastern Canada or the NE United States.<br />
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More to come.Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-79221199560808275522012-05-25T10:46:00.001-07:002012-05-25T10:46:23.464-07:00My blog on the fishery got sidetracked.... (Is this a common problem among bloggers?). Since my last post, I have been thinking a little more about the structure of the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery, and here are a few, random comments:<br />
1. It seems that (I can't find confirmation of what I read) the Federal Government has slipped into the Omnibus Bill a statement that the fish in Canadian waters in the North Atlantic will no longer be recognized as a Common Property Resource. With this designation, the fish in Canadian waters are deemed to be the property of the Canadian people, and thus nominally under the control of the Federal Government. This designation is important since it forms the ground for regulations governing quotas and disposal, that is it is the basis for setting the amount of fish caught, species to be harvested, and where the fish may be processed. There is overlap with provincial jurisdiction; the NL provincial government, for example, determines licences for fish plants and whether fish can be exported processed or whole.<br />
But, without the designation of Common Property Resource, fish harvesters will be free to take what they can since no one entity owns the fish.<br />
2. It is becoming clearer to me that the decline, and slow recovery of the fish stocks, especially cod is not open to a simple explanation. Actions of fish harvesters have contributed: extensive use of draggers disturbing the sea-bed where cod spawn; the switch, after the cod moratorium, to shrimp fishing which reduced the available food supply for cod; the extensive over-fishing of caplin off Iceland which again reduced food supply for cod; and the continued high level of foreign fishing for cod on the noase and tail of the Banks.<br />
However, another factor, which I have not seen discussed, is the effect of con trails, or vapour trails from transatlantic flights that reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the ocean surface, thereby reducing the growth of plankton and other minuscule entities that form the bottom of the food chain. When, during the three-day hiatus in flights following the 9/11 disaster, it was observed that temperatures rose, there seems to have been little follow-up to see what other effects might have been produced. A study elsewhere (in Israel, I believe) did show that there was an increase in the amount of beneficial sunlight reaching the ground.<br />
3. The recent closure of five fish plants in NL (and the confirmation of two further closures) raises certain questions. On the one hand we are told, by plant owners and the government, that there is not enough product to keep the plants going. But at the same time at least two of the plants have applied for permission to export unprocessed fish to China.<br />
<br />
I'll leave this blog for now, and look forward to receiving comments.Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-83497741182781891442012-02-26T09:59:00.000-08:002012-02-26T09:59:04.494-08:00Making Waves II<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -35.45pt; margin-right: -31.45pt; margin-top: 0cm;">Making Waves II</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -35.45pt; margin-right: -31.45pt; margin-top: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -35.45pt; margin-right: -31.45pt; margin-top: 0cm;">I couldn’t keep my promise to blog again on this topic on Saturday. But that has given me a little more time to reflect on Wednesday evenings event.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -35.45pt; margin-right: -31.45pt; margin-top: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -35.45pt; margin-right: -31.45pt; margin-top: 0cm;">I pointed out in the meeting that Ryan’s first four points dealt mainly with failed parliamentary and bureaucratic strategies to deal with a crisis whose beginningpre-dated the moratorium. Only the fifth, replacing NAFO, seemd to point forward to a new, future action, although in itself it might not produce immediate results.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -35.45pt; margin-right: -31.45pt; margin-top: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -35.45pt; margin-right: -31.45pt; margin-top: 0cm;">The way NAFO is set up now, it does nothing to protect current fish stocks, nor provide hope that a sustainable fishery can be developed for the North Atlantic. Meetings are held at regular intervals to set quotas for the various stocks, but member countries are free to ignore the quotas and set their own targets. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -35.45pt; margin-right: -31.45pt; margin-top: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -35.45pt; margin-right: -31.45pt; margin-top: 0cm;">Replacing NAFO does not seem to offer a solution, since there is no incentive for any country to change its current practice. I repeated a startegy that has been proposed in the past, namely that the fishermen needed to take matters into their own hands, and follow the example of the Icelandic fishermen, who, when faced with a similar situation concerning their cod stocks, armed their boats with giant scissors and cut the trawl lines of the (mainly) British fishermen who were then not respecting even the three-mile limit.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -35.45pt; margin-right: -31.45pt; margin-top: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -35.45pt; margin-right: -31.45pt; margin-top: 0cm;">I was quickly put in my place by two speakers: one pointed out that the Icelandic fishers’ actions were backed by their government; the other said that such an action put all the onus on NL fishers. Both were right.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -35.45pt; margin-right: -31.45pt; margin-top: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -35.45pt; margin-right: -31.45pt; margin-top: 0cm;">But their comments highlight the problems that can be placed at the door of the provincial and federal governments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our provincial government is doing almost nothing to help the situation in rural Newfoundland (it affects the island portion of the province primarily) when it allows unprocessed fish to be shipped abroad for processing, thereby exporting much-needed jobs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And by linking fish quotas to pants rather than communities, it hands over one of the most powerful levers in the industry to private, profit-driven companies.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -35.45pt; margin-right: -31.45pt; margin-top: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -35.45pt; margin-right: -31.45pt; margin-top: 0cm;">At the same time, the federal government is doing nothing to protect our fishing industry in international relations. When the 200-mile limit was set up, the agreement of Russia (and other Eastern Bloc coutries) was secured by handing over a substantial quota of cod withing that limit. Similar “make-weight” agreements have also been made in trade deals that initially had nothing to do with fish. And the Canadian government has done nothing to secure the 200-mile limit. We don’t send out warships. We send out private planes to observe foreign fishing fleets, but infringements are never pursued.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -35.45pt; margin-right: -31.45pt; margin-top: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -35.45pt; margin-right: -31.45pt; margin-top: 0cm;">I’ll have more to say in future posts.</div><!--EndFragment-->Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-56760704848177495972012-02-23T12:01:00.000-08:002012-02-23T12:01:57.626-08:00Making Waves<div class="MsoNormal">It's been a while since I posted. I think I am now over my viral infection (personal, not computer) and have more energy. Today's short blog is the first of a series on the fisheries crisis in Newfoundland and Labrador.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Making Waves</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I attended this discussion last night, organised by Ryan Cleary, NDP MP for St. John’s South-Mount Pearl. Ryan started the evening with a 20 minute presentation concerning his attempts to have an official inquiry (parliamentary? Judicial? He did not make that clear) into the state of the fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Some of the history of the collapse of the northern cod fishery I was familiar with. Since my involvement with Michael Cook’s prophetic play “Head Guts and Sound-bone Dance” in 1972, I had been paying attention to the fishing industry, following the Fisherman’s Broadcast on CBC almost very day. So my background to last night’s discussion was fairly broad, if not detailed.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ryan had identified some 160 recommendations from 21 years of reports of various kinds. He had boiled them down to 20, and then selected 5 to present to last night’s audience. They were:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">1.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>Clarify objectives for the industry and develp a policy framework.</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">2.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>Fisheries and Oceans need to develop sustainable conservation quotas for straddling stocks</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">3.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>FaO should prepare an annual report as outline in the 1996 Oceans Act.</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">4.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>FaO should adequately fund research and make it public.</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">5.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>NAFO should be replaced.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">From my perspective the first four dealt with parliamentary/bureaucratic problems. Recommendations for action have been made in how the Department at the federal level should have been managed for at least 20 years. The lack of action, and at times deliberate political interference, have resulted in FaO becoming dysfunctional. Scientific research has been consistently underfunded; scientists, in a by now familiar scenario, are being muzzled. Not only can they not speak out about their research, they cannot publish their results in respectable journals, nor even attend scientific conferences.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">More on this tomorrow.</div>Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-82214468730118619832011-06-02T09:48:00.000-07:002011-06-02T09:48:36.075-07:00Paint by Numbers — in ReverseToday's press release from Ottawa starts to paint the NeoCon landscape by numbers — in reverse. Starting today, Harpo starts to erase elements of the Canadian picture with 5 curators eliminated from the National Gallery, and 50 scientists from Environment Canada. OK, so the area of blank canvas is small...today. But wait for larger patches to emerge on Monday.<br />
<br />
The NeoCons ideology claims that a smaller government is always better, and as a glib slogan, it doesn't sound too bad. It's in the details that the evil is to be found. Reducing the size of the Public Service may sound, at first hearing, a laudable aim; it's when the impact of the reductions hit that the Canadin public may finally awake from its media-induced slumber to realize that cutting the Public Service budget actually hurts real people performing real service.<br />
<br />
Take the example of the slicing of fifty scientists from Environment Canada. That means 50 families have a month to find a new position to maintain their income. A hundred neighbours, at a minimum, will have their network of support strained. I don't know the details of the work these scientists were doing, but with 50 fewer brains at work protecting our environment, the restraints on businesses to do as they please in our environment have been slackened.<br />
<br />
Five fewer curators at the National Gallery will mean fewer exhibitions in our Canadian culutral showcase. Five families may have to re-locate, if they can find work in their field in Canada; they may have to move to another country, as might the environmental scientists mentioned above. The potential loss to Canada is enormous.<br />
<br />
But the NeoCons won't care. They don't care about the environment; they don't care about culture. (Harpo playing a Beatles' tune in public is about as high on the cultural scale as he goes. And of course, he couldn't bother to find a Canadian popular tune for his photo op.)<br />
<br />
So, we have to care. It's up to us to put a stop to this ideological and fiscal madness.Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-30489634778323859302011-05-29T09:08:00.001-07:002011-05-29T09:08:40.307-07:00Please, give a thought to the banks!<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">Please, give a thought to the banks!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">We need more posts like the following, using humour to counteract the dumb stupidty of mainstream media, who mindlessly repeat the press handouts from corporations and corporate-fed governments.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">Remember when teachers, public employees, planned parenthood, and PBS crashed the stock market, wiped out half of our 401Ks, took trillions in TARP money, spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico, gave themselves billions in bonuses, and paid no taxes? Yeah, me either. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">We also need to wonder why governments, who provided billions in bail-out money to protect the banks, are now borrowing money from those banks to finance deficits… caused by bail-outs to the banks!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">It really does boggle the mind!</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><!--EndFragment-->Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-63968080234300704332011-05-28T12:37:00.000-07:002011-05-28T12:37:03.560-07:00Criticasters<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Andale Mono"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Michael Quinion had this today in his "weird words" section of World Wide Words:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Andale Mono"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Criticaster<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>/krItI'kast@(r)/<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Andale Mono"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">---------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Andale Mono"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">It's not much met with now, more's the pity. This is one of its rare modern appearances in print:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Andale Mono"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I were deemed kosher by that classist, racist, <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Andale Mono"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">misogynistic bunch of criticasters, I would consider it time to retire my pens and legal pads.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Andale Mono"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[A letter by Erica Jong in The New York Times, 1 Feb. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Andale Mono"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">1998, on learning that her book, Of Blessed Memory, had been nominated for The Literary Review's Bad Sex Award.]<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Andale Mono"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">You may gather it is uncomplimentary. It refers to those who set themselves up as arbiters of taste and literary discernment but whose sensibilities are inadequate to the task. A blast against such petty critics was penned 150 years ago:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Andale Mono"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What amount of obtuseness will disqualify a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Andale Mono';">criticaster who itches to be tinkering and cobbling the noblest passages of thought that ever issued from mortal brain, while at the same time he stumbles and bungles in sentences of that simplicity and grammatical clearness, as not to tax the powers of a third-form schoolboy to explain? [Notes and Queries, 11 Jun. 1853.]</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Andale Mono"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">It was coined in the late seventeenth century by adding the ending "-aster" to "critic". The suffix came directly into English from Latin, where it meant an incomplete resemblance. English adapted it to refer to a person of inferior or inadequate qualities. It turns up in a small number of words, of which "poetaster", a person who </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Andale Mono';">writes bad poetry, and "philosophaster", a shallow or pretentious philosopher, are the least rare. Others of similar form - though almost never employed by anybody - are "politicaster", a petty or contemptible politician, "mathematicaster", a minor or inferior mathematician, and "witticaster", an inferior wit or witling.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times;">I thought it worth quoting in full since it could so well apply to a large majority of bloggers. I must remember "witling" for future use. <o:p></o:p></span></div><!--EndFragment-->Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-16484809982570833792011-05-26T06:00:00.000-07:002011-05-26T06:00:42.179-07:00What's in a name?<!--StartFragment--> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">This probably should have been the first post on this blog...</b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
</b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What’s in a name?<o:p></o:p></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When I chose the name for this blog,<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Atlantic Whispers</b>, I had several ideas in mind. One was an allusion to Chinese whispers, that childhood party game when a sentence is whispered around a circle, with sometimes hilarious results. The standard example, from the period of the First World War, is:</div><div class="MsoNormal">Starting sentence: Send reinforcements we’re going to advance.</div><div class="MsoNormal">End sentence: Send three and fourpence we’re going to a dance.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Blogs are a little like that process of transformation. The writer, often in a hurry to post the next number, writes something that could have been better expressed, and before you can say “Jacques Robinson”, the intent of the message has been misread and passed on, transformed.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Secondly, I don’t expect my blog to have a big following, so “whispers” seemed more appropriate than, say “Shout Out”, or “Roar”.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Thirdly, positioned as I am on the extreme eastern edge of North America, and with friends and family (potential readers) in Britain, the Atlantic had to be included somehow.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Of course, since starting this activity (it’s hardly and enterprise) the name has become self-fulfilling: my voice is so quiet as to be barely audible beyond the few who have endorsed it. No comments yet.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So maybe, just maybe, I’ll try being a little more provocative in my posts…</div><!--EndFragment-->Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-42485989263215087522011-05-23T07:46:00.000-07:002011-05-23T07:46:48.597-07:00Beijing Diary: Final Post<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Saturday 23 April.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We got up in time to have breakfast, but discovered with a shock that the price we had been working on for the hotel breakfast was Y30, not Y10 as I had been told. While it was still a bargain, Heather said that we should not take breakfast there, so off I went to the local store to get a couple of pastries, quite enough to keep us going until the meal on the plane.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We then had to check out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heather, meticulous as always, spotted a couple of charges that were not ours, so it took a little while before the account was finally settled and we were able to set off for the airport by taxi. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We got in line at the Air Canada counter 3 ½ hours ahead of time, but were, unfortunately, caught up in a school group from Calgary. Nether children nor most of the adults were well-behaved, so their antics made the wait even less bearable. The counter staff seemed incapable of dealing with a group booking where the individuals were listed on a sheet (as opposed to having individual tickets), nor with the regulations for luggage (the staff wanted to charge for the difference between international and domestic regulations. We waited over an hour before the problems were resolved and more counter staff brought in.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The formalities with the Chinese authorities were easily negotiated, although in the security check a 200ml tube of sun-screen was detected (it had been missed in Perth!) and we were obliged to surrender it.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The ten-day visit was far too short. And we have seen nothing outside Beijing. We plan on taking a similar route when next we are returning from Australia, but with more time spent in other cities, perhaps even a trip on the new train to Tibet.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><!--EndFragment-->Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-41230055217538221272011-05-23T06:47:00.000-07:002011-05-23T06:47:13.519-07:00Beijing Diary: Part 11<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">The rain eased off and we returned to the hotel to wait for Gordon who showed up promptly at 5 pm. We sat having a beer in the lobby, catching up on what we had been doing over the previous two days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gordon had been busy preparing for the opening of a show that was part of a large exhibition of photography and videos taking place in several galleries.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Then we set off to find the restaurant that had been recommended for Peking Duck. Since it was Friday night, the sidewalks were becoming crowded , so it was impossible to walk three abreast. Gordon had the address, and were were eventually on the right section, the east, of the right street. But the numbering system for businesses is not straightforward; as we first entered the east section, the first building on the corner was numbered 2-30, the second segment of the number then decreasing by two’s to about 2-20, then came 4-30, with a similarly decreasing number, then 6-xx,, 8-xx, then…28! The address we hd been given was number 26, but we had not passed a single restaurant in that section. Gordon knew that the next section of the road contained a large number of restaurants so we changed the focus of our search to look for a “good” restaurant, one that simply appealed to us. Most had barkers out front, trying to entice us in for a meal, but we eventually settled on one that had an interesting, if crowded interior.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It turned out o be a hot-pot restaurant. Each table for four had a recess in the middle with a gas burner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><img src="webkit-fake-url://CED57C41-1632-4458-B292-00EA40E03245/application.pdf" />Gordon selected a number of plates of meat, fish balls and sauces for dipping, while we selected the vegetables. A large metal bowl was then set in the recess, the flame lit, and the broth we had selected (some kind of vegetable broth with wild mushrooms) was set to heat up. When that was ready we started adding sliced potatoes, and turnip sticks, and then waited for those to cook a little before adding some meat. We were the only westerners there, and in spite of Gordon’s expertise, were clearly not familiar with how the meal should proceed. At which point a waitress took charge. She indicated the order in which we were to add the various ingredients, and stepped in as well to help serve when they were cooked. At one point, Heather, who had added a fresh serving of thinly sliced marbled beef, removed some pieces to her plate, but Miss Dominant rushed in and ordered Heather to return them to the broth; in her opinion,they were not cooked. So much for medium rare!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It was a novel experience, and one I would love to repeat. Next time I would like to try have a supplementary bowl in the middle where fish can cook in its own broth, as we saw the adjacent table do.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When we left, it seemed that all the staff were lining up to say good-bye. We thanked them all with Xie! Xie!, and bowed just as they bowed to us. We strolled back in a leisurely fashion, taking in the sights and sounds for the last time on this trip.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">At the hotel we said farewell to Gordon, with a promise to return to Beijing the next time we were on our way to Australia. He seemed a little sad to see us leave, as we were to leave him.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><!--EndFragment-->Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-26443478233604932562011-05-23T06:12:00.000-07:002011-05-23T06:12:10.606-07:00Beijing Diary: Part 10<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Good Friday, 22 April.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Our last full day. But we are exhausted. So we decided, after looking at the possibilities both near and far, to head for the park on the other side of the main road that runs past the entrance to our hutong. It was sunny though cool when we left, and the previous day’s rain had obviously caused the poplar trees to shed more of their seeds; it was like walking through a light snow flurry!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We got to the lake and followed the bank towards the north. Some men were fishing, I would hope for sport and not for food, since the water did not look too clean, an impression supported by a dead fish which floated by. <img src="webkit-fake-url://DD8C1C2C-3379-4E87-A4DE-542742913D45/application.pdf" />Further on we saw first one, then several men swimming across the lake.<img src="webkit-fake-url://618D71AA-BED9-4923-83A3-2DC2C4B17942/application.pdf" /> They had to make their way through a coating of poplar seeds on the water’s surface but they were obviously keen and not at all put off by the quality of the water or the cold. And then we saw the public notice with four warnings: one was in Chinese (with no translation, and the meaning of the graphic was not clear); a second one asked visitors to keep off the grass; and the third and fourth said “no fishing, no swimming.”<img src="webkit-fake-url://CF692147-7C1A-4E20-A9A5-988C404508C2/application.pdf" /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">That was as far as we went, and so retraced our steps to the Drum Tower where we listened, outside, to the drum performance. Then lunch in the “Sculpting in Time” café, where we settled just ahead of a group of three German ladies, of a group of 10 Scottish persons, and of a thunderstorm. The café proprietors were in no hurry to move us out, so while Heather went to explore a nearby shop “for an umbrella”, I sat on watching the rain and the bicycle rickshaws now covered with tarpaulins, some completely leaving a small gap for passengers to look out, some just the roof.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some drivers had adequate waterproof protection, some none at all, while a third class rode with one hand on the handlebar, the other holdng aloft an umbrella they had probably borrowed from their wife.</div><!--EndFragment-->Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-46261959203363401702011-05-21T12:44:00.000-07:002011-05-21T12:44:10.085-07:00Beijing Diary: Part 9<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Thursday 22 April.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The weather forecast for the day proved to be accurate and we awoke to overcast skies and then rain. Instead of going to the local store to buy pastries for breakfast, I decided to try the hotel’s and was pleasantly surprised. I’m not quite sure why we had not tried it before. There were various soft pastries and a version of croissants; toast, jam, coffee, sliced ham, and do-it-yourself fried eggs. Very wholesome! And filling!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I got Heather up in time to take advantage of it, as the rain came down even heavier. I was engaged in conversation by two elderly French ladies, one of whom was of Chinese extraction, about where to go on a rainy day in Beijing. In spite of my explaining that this was my first visit to China, they obviously thought I was an expert on all things in the capital, and proceeded to ask me where they should go to arrange for a large parcel to be sent by sea to France. They seemed quite put out when I indicated that I hadn’t a clue!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">By the time Heather had had breakfast, the rain had eased and then stopped, but it was cooler so I was glad of the warmth from my LL Bean travel rainjacket. This time we were headed for the South Gate entrance to the Forbidden City and arrived there with no difficulty at all. Line 1, the first of the subway lines to be built, has distinctly older rolling stock with no electronic signs to help the foreign traveler. But announcements were still made in Chinese and in English. As we approached the entrance the usual soldiers were to be seen marching in pairs, but because of the rain, which had stopped, they were wearing green waterproof outfits that made them look like robots.<img src="webkit-fake-url://9901D596-67BE-4707-9CB0-3C24880A428B/application.pdf" /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We paid our Y60 to enter and headed for the hall Gordon had told us of which contained a display of historical calligraphy and watercolours on scrolls. Signage was not great, and the hall is off the main axis of the courtyards, but we eventually found it and I was completely entranced. Paper scrolls dating back as far as the 7<sup>th</sup> century were still fresh and in good condition. There were electronic displays, in English and Chinese, giving a brief biography of the artist and a sense of the historical and sometimes political context. From the Song Dynasty, to the Ming, and then the Qing dynasties one could detect the changes in style and approach. Some calligraphy was in the monastic style, some in cursive or “running” style. The electronic displays did not always correspond to what was actually on display, perhaps because of the cost of renewing the electronic material, but it did not deter from the experience. Definitely a place to come back to!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We sat for a while to rest our “gallery backs” while watching two videos about calligraphy. The sound commentary was in Chinese only, but we were happy to sit and enjoy the visual presentation.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When we emerged we spotted a museum bookstore and went in to explore. We were immediately welcomed by a young girl, in fact a woman 23 years old, called YouYou (pronounced yo-yo) who invited us into a back-room and set about making us a “little gift”, our names Heather and Tony, joined by the character for “love”, surmounted by the usual characters for good luck and long life. She then showed us examples of her work and of her “professor’s” and we were charmed into buying two of hers.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">As we left the shop, she came running after us to give us her business card and Heather was able to get a couple of photos.<img src="webkit-fake-url://631772C3-9686-4B48-B4E4-AE7FCE2E6986/application.pdf" /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We returned to the main axis and proceeded through the succession of halls, each named with a variation on harmony or peace. Several of the translations provoked laughter, including one, describing, above an imperial throne, a plaque “written by the Emperor himself” which said “Doing nothing”.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We had not timed out lunch break very well, for when we went into a cafeteria (more like a coffee counter), they had stopped serving food and had only drinks available. So hot chocolate was the best food substitute we could find among the drinks offered. We did manage to find a few small gifts in the adjacent shop, though Hather’s alertness prevented us being ripped off by the cashier who managed to cock up the totalling to come up with Y235 instead of Y105. Since the visa charge had already gone through, we got a cash refund which actually helped our cash-in-hand situation.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After a fruitless attempt to locate the Hall of Arts and Crafts on the map, we were told that it was closed. Instead we contented ourselves with a stroll through to the Imperial Garden, by which time loudspeakers were announcing that the Palace would close at 5 pm and that we should plan the rest of our visit accordingly.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Though it was only a short visit (about four hours) we felt we had seen the best that was on offer. We could of course return and pay extra to see the House of Treasures, or the House of Clocks and Watches, but I’m not sure I would want to. The experience of the imperial grand scale of construction was enough for me.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">By the time we got back to our district it was nearly 6 pm so we decided to treat ourselves to another meal at Little Saigon. After nearly six hours of being on our feet, it was very pleasant to sit and enjoy a kir cassis and then a well-prepared meal, ordered in French.</div><!--EndFragment-->Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-20166929652614225662011-05-18T13:22:00.000-07:002011-05-18T13:22:55.738-07:00Beijing Diary: Part 8<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Wednesday 20 April.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The weather forecast promised a sunny day on Wednesday, but rain on Thursday, so we changed our plans and chose to go to the Summer Palace first. And instead of taking a taxi, we decided to brave the experience of the subway. I had looked up a couple of sites on the web, and their descriptions of how to use the subway were rather daunting, involving paying different amounts to transfer to some lines. We asked at the desk and were told it was simple: buy a Y2 ticket each and go wherever you liked!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We were relying on a tourist map to identify the subway lines, and I misread it. We purchased the tickets without difficulty, proceeded to the platform and eventually, after a schematic outline of the stops got on the right train. Two stops along we had to change, and this was where my misreading led us astray as I confidently headed us for Line 13, a convoluted route up several escalators, along corridors, outside under covered walkways, then down staircases until we arrvived at the platform where none of the stations on the line seemed familiar. So we retraced our steps, following the signs now for Line 4. In no time we were at the station for the Summer Palace. The subway system is clean and swift, with clear indications on illuminated maps as to where you are, and announcements about which station you are approaching in Chinese and English.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In spite of various entreaties by rickshaw drivers to take their mode of transportation to the Palace, we walked there in just a few minutes, enjoying along the way the performance of a street-food seller who, on a large spinning metal disk spread out a kind of pancake mix, then broke an egg on top of that, before lifting and folding the product into a pie-shaped piece about a foot long. His assistant then took the folded pancake and, according to wishes of the customer, adding the various fillings before folding it over into a manageable size.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">As we stood trying to make sense of the ticket prices, we were approached by a young woman who offered her services a s a guide for free. All we had to do was fill in a form at the end of the visit to give comments about her performance. The guide was training to be a professional, and she had to complete five such assignments as part of her training. It turned out that Sherri, her English name, was an English major at the university and that she was aiming to use the qualification only for the purposes of a part-time job. We agreed and I went off to buy the “through” tickets, ie that would let us in to most areas of interest.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Sherri’s English was good, and of course she had all the historical and cultural information we needed. But when Heather asked her questions about some of the plants and trees, aside from peonies, she was at a bit of a loss. Sherri kept up the flow of facts and figures as we went into certain rooms, including the theatre where three young girls were performing a version of the long sleeve dance.<img src="webkit-fake-url://0D6CA1C1-F9F2-4598-BE76-1E9B3AB92BA4/application.pdf" /> The stage was created solely for the Emperor and empress and their guests and was a three-tiered affair which allowed for three separate but simultaneous performances. The dance was followed by a traditional comic act between good and evil, the actors being dressed in white and black respectively so there could be no doubt as to their moral qualities. Our guided tour ended with a walk along part of the “long corridor”, an outdoor walkway some 750 metres long with over 40,000 decorative pictures. We walked only halfway, reaching the entrance to Longevity Hill, where, traditon has it, if one climbs the many hundreds of steps to the top, on can gain a longer life – if you don’t die in the attempt.<img src="webkit-fake-url://A413D858-F1BC-4335-95F2-BF290D67B12B/application.pdf" /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We filled in Sherri’s form, which gave her great pleasure, and off she went back to the entrance to find another group willing to help her fulfill her assignment. We did not attempt the climb, but stayed at the bottom for a rest and to get something to eat and drink.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We wandered back along the outside of the corridor – and bumped into Sherri guiding another group, this time Chinese by the looks of them. She beamed when she saw us. Close to the exit we sat a while listening to a man playing a Chinese flute accompanied by an instrumental cd and watching the pedalo boats on the lake. Then back to the subway and the trip back to the hotel. This second journey felt much more comfortable and we negotiated the transfer without a problem. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Again we felt too tired to go out to eat, so the simple expedient of nodles in a cannister had to suffice.</div><!--EndFragment-->Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-72506014804902691502011-05-17T15:25:00.001-07:002011-05-17T15:25:45.983-07:00Beijing Diary: Part 8<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Monday 18 April</div><div class="MsoNormal">Today was a slightly less energetic day. We arranged to meet Gordon near his Gallery, which is close to the 798 Art District. Gordon had thoughtfully printed out a map to hand to the taxi driver, which we did, and he nodded his approval, an indication that he knew where he was going. The general direction was fine, but when we turned off the main Aiport Expressway, the fine detail was lacking. Fortunately, when the driver stopped to consult the map, once again, there was Gordon! He was on his way to the meeting point, not far from where we stopped.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">He took us first to his gallery, which also contains his and Jing’s living quarters, as well as a small appartment for visiting artists. The main gallery space does not have a large floor area, but the ceiling is high and the light, of course, good. Down a short flight of stairs is a small kitchen where reception food can be served. And on the other side of the central stairwell is a small area that is used as an office and storage area. The back wall is largely glass with a very tall glass door leading out to a very narrow, one metre wide strip limited by a broken-down wall, beyond which is a waste land that is used, by its owners, as an occasional garden. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And there, lying in the sun, was a cat – dead! At first it seemed to be sleeping in the sun, but by the number of flies buzzing around it soon became clear that it was an ex-cat. Gordon seemed a little perturbed since it was not clear how he could dispose of it. There is no agency for clearing up dead animals. Those that are killed on the roads are simply pulled to one side and other animals, including rats, rapidly dispose of the carcass.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We then visited the rest of the gallery’s amenities. G & J’s quarters are at the top of the building. They consist of one large room sub-divided into a bedroom (and shower, free-standing behind a screen), and a living area with a “kitchen” (microwave and two hotplates), an “office” (desk with laptop computer), and a “studio” for Jing. On the floor below, where the guest quarters are, there is a small loft, accessible only by a steep companionway (ship-style) which is Gordon’s space (Jing is fearful of tackling the steep stairs). Since galleries are closed on Mondays (and some also on Tuesdays) we were limited in the number we could go into. Several were in the process of installing new exhibitions, so we could peek inside; at others, Gordon knew the owners well enough to get in. This area of galleries has been built within the last 7-10 years; some are a going concern, others last a year or so before running out of money. The gallery next door to Gordon’s has recently been refurbished as a coffee house and is set to open this week.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We wandered around Gordon’s village, looking at the various food stalls on the street. Many people recognised him and waved or said hello. There is a large illegal immigrant population there, mainly young people who are looking for any kind of work. We saw several groups walking around carrying their bedding, buckets, and whatever few personal belongings they might have. Beijing has an estimated illegal population of about 4 million!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It was time for lunch, so Gordon chose a good restaurant that he had visited before. The choices we made were soon served, starting with a plate of peanuts and greens sprinkled with vinegar. Picking up one peanut with chopsticks tested the limits of my chopstick technique! The dishes were a little spicy, spicier than Gordon remembered, but it was good, nourishing food.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After lunch we did a little more wandering, before taking a taxi back to the hotel. The afternoon doesn’t sound like much, but I find that there is so much to see and take in, that after a few hours, combined with the walking, I am mentally and physically tired.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We had not finished lunch until 3 pm, so did not feel like going out for a meal. Instead we took advantage of the containers of noodles in the hotel room. They are simple to prepare: open the container, open the spice sachet inside, and, in some brands, open out the fork that is provided. Then add boiling water up to the mark on the inside of the container, wait ten minutes, stir in the spices, and it’s ready!</div><!--EndFragment-->Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-85456711875195378372011-05-17T13:27:00.000-07:002011-05-17T13:27:07.830-07:00Beijing Diary: Part 7<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Sunday 17 April.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The alarm went off at 7 am, giving me time to go look for some breakfast for us both. The tour guide, Annie, was on time and walked us down the laneway of the Hutong to the waiting mini-van. Our first stop was not the Great Wall, as we had thought, but the National Jade Factory, the first of several commercial stops. First we were shown how the jade was cut and sculpted, then how it was polished to heighten the lustre. The “happy ball” was the most ingenious – a solid block of jade is chiseled into to a certain depth, then cut around to creat a sphere within a hollow ball, then the inner ball is treated in the same way as the first to create a third sphere, the whole now representing a happy family of three generations. The outer sphere is then carved with decorative motifs and the whole polished.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Then our guide in the factory, Maria, explained the different qualities of jade, the criteria for determining value, and how to tell real from fake. And then came the sell when we were led into a huge display area, brightly lit with cases containing all manner of jade pieces from small animals (we bought a rabbit) to enormous amphora costing Y320000.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After that it was on to the Great Wall. According to Gordon, there are several places to visit the Great Wall near Beijing: one is in a poor state and difficult to access; a second one has been restored and the top can be accessed by cable car; our destination was a third one which has been fully restored, but you have to do the climbing. After finally leaving the city and climbing into the mountains the scenery changed quite dramatically; instead of acres of appartment blocks stretching into the distance, the motorway G6 wound through valleys and small villages, some of which had been cut in half by the road. We pssed a Disney type amusement park that has not been completed, and perhaps never will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It looked somewhat forlorn. After about 45 minutes we arrived at a series of parking lots already filled with tour buses, but our driver, who spoke no English, got us eventually right to the entrance. Annie purchased the tickets (all included in the tour cost) and led us into the first courtyard to explain the temple that stands there and the massive statues of Samurai (?)warriors, fiece-looking individuals. Then, having arranged to meet at the exit in 90 minutes, we were left to choose our own path. <img src="webkit-fake-url://C968DB0A-A2CB-4D28-9F10-5BD273F8599F/application.pdf" />To the left, the steps looked vey steep, so we chose the right, which initially was manageable, but then became suddenly steeper, with some of the risers being over two feet! So we got only about half way to the first “summit”, but it was well worth the effort to see the view up the valley and across to the other section of wall we had not chosen. It was amazing to see so many old people undertaking the climb, some so crippled they could hardly walk. For some the visit was a formal, even solemn occasion and they wore suits; for others it was a chance, as Annie said, “to become heroes.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">On the way, it began to get windy and we just managed to get to shelter before the shower came. It did not last long, but with the stronger wind it became clear how bad the littering problem is at this site. The Chinese don’t even look for a waste bin; they simply throw anything and everything to the ground. I felt sorry for the couple or so street cleaners who had to deal with the mess.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We went to a local restaurant for lunch, but the tour guide had not anticipated it would be so busy. There was one large table in the middle of the room, seating a dozen or so Chinese who were there to celebrate the birthday of an ancient lady. They were obviously the centre of the servers attentions as dish after dish arrived at their table. We had to wait about 15 minutes, but the three dishes eventually made their appearance with bowls of steamed rice, of course. The Columbian couple with us did not speak a lot of English, and neither of us speaks Spanish, so apart from the occasional exchange we kept to ourselves. Beer for men and cocacola for the ladies arrived and we thought it was included in the price. Towards the end of the meal, the confusion was cleared up. The dishes were tasty, with the first being unusual—julienne potatoes, not cooked but warmed through with ginger, hot chili peppers, garlic and onion in a light sauce of oil and vinegar.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After lunch we made a brief stop to photograph the Olympic Bird Nest Stadium and Water Cube… through railings! When the Columbian asked if we could get any closer he was told “maybe later”, ie no “it’s too windy”!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Then a series of commercial stops: the silk museum and shop where we were treated to an explanation of silk making, from the worms to the cocoons to the silk thread to the finished product; to the jewellers dealing only in pearls, where we learned the distinction between sea-water and freshwater pearls, and how to tell real from fake; and then a short ride to have a free foot-massage.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I had never had one before and was intrigued by the experience. First we had to soak our feet in hot (40C) water in which was placed what looked like a tea-bag. The young student explained that the bag contained herbs and flowers from Tibet, culled in the Himalaya and therefore “free from pesticide, herbicide and other chemicals.” Unfortunately her pronunciation of “Tibetan” sounded lke “teabagan”, and somewhat undermined her presentation. Then the foot massagers came in and proceeded to rub, slap, punch, and knead one foot for about ten minutes before the “professor” came in to examine my hand (not Heather’s) to determine the state of my blood and general health. He spoke only Chinese, but had a translator, who spoke gently in contrast to the “professor” who prodded his finger at me, glared and said sternly that my blood was sticky and if I wanted to live I would be wise to purchase his detoxification medicine, 6 bottles for Y5400! When I politely declined he urged me to purchase at least one packet of “teabags” which would doubtless save my life for Y40, and when I declined, again politely, he turned on his heel and left without another word, obviously expecting me to die on the spot. It was hard not to laugh.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The student finished my massage, I put on my shoes and socks and we left. The tour was over, and we were brought back to our hotel by 5 pm. A very full day.</div><!--EndFragment-->Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-43880027379057152912011-05-15T12:30:00.000-07:002011-05-15T12:30:56.356-07:00Beijing Diary: Part 6<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Saturday 16 April.</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I awoke at my normal time of 7 am, but lazed in bed for another half-hour, then showered and ventured out to purchase oranges, water, a bar of soap and styling gel for Heather. And to get money from the ATM. We have hardly used our visa card here – it’s cash for everything.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When Heather was ready we set out to hear the drumming performance in the Drum Tower, but soon discovered hat her camera wasn’t working. I returned to the hotel to swap memory cards with my camera, checked that her card had, in fact, died. Since my camera is not, for the moment, operational, there is no loss. But the delay meant that we got to the Drum Tower shortly before the 11.30 performance. By the time we bought tickets, negotiated the security check, the ticket check, and climbed the 70 steep stairs to the drum room the performances was just ending. <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><img src="webkit-fake-url://5064A62D-1C56-47C3-8FED-7F0042F8DE14/application.pdf" /> </span>We could of course hear it as we climbed the stairs, but missed the visual presentation. Heather took quite a while t get her breath back after the climb. Each riser is close to one foot, and the angle of climb is steep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides the drums which are now used almost exclusively for tourist performances, there are a number of replicas of historical drums, including one that had no information attached to it. It is very large, 2-3 metres in diameter, but no more than half a metre deep. Unlike the performance drums, which have plain cowhide for the drumming surface, this monster drum has very ornate decorations in red. And, at the back of the drummng room, covered in dust, is the remains of the old watchman drum, its skin surface half gone, and, as the plaque asserts, still showing knife cuts from the Eight Allied Forces who ravaged the city in 1900.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was not the first reminder of the bad behaviour of the Allied forces during the Boxer rebellion; in the summer park yesterday, plaques also made note of items “ravaged away” or “robbed away” by those same troops. Even if young Chinese do not know their history, there are reminders of at least one event in the relatively recent past.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The tower also conatins two methods for keeping time, one based on the rate of water fall through four vessels, each named, the other based on the fall of brass balls through a series of tubes. The water-based one had a number of carefully marked thin planks that were held upright in the lowest container, each corresponding to a Chinese lunar month. By inserting the correct plank for the month, the watchman could read off the time of day and the day of the week, and strike the drum with the appropriate number of strokes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The brass ball-based one struck a cymbal at the right time, again prompting the watchman to do his work.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I don’t think we will get to the Bell Tower. Its climb is even higher!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We had lunch in a little arts café called Sculpting in Time, in the square between the two towers. Very pleasant, although they had run out of croissants and waffles. We also bought a replacement memory card for Heather’s camera, Ithink at a good price of Y180 (initial offering Y260). With 4gig of memory it will give a little more flexibility than my 2gig card.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We had a rest in the afternoon, and got downstairs in time to meet Gordon. Since we still did not feel up to a long hike, Gordon chose a French/Vietnamese<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>restaurant just 100 yards down the road. Gordon was in fine form and we had a great evening, full of laughter. We then finished off the evening at the dessert shop next door. If we had not had an early start on Sunday, I think we would have prolonged the evening even further.</div><!--EndFragment--> <br />
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<!--EndFragment-->Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-66042015611751529172011-05-14T10:05:00.000-07:002011-05-14T10:05:22.504-07:00Beijing Diary: Part 5 (sort of)This continues the previous post.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">We started our perambulation by following a walkway next to the moat that surrounds the FC. At each corner stood two soldiers on ceremonial duty who marched (in an easy fashion) from that position to another and then returned. Our progress alongside the moat was then blocked by a series of private residences, so we continued along a main road until reaching a gate that could have led us into the FC, but was not open to visitors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, on we plodded, following the massive wall of the FC, now on the inside of the moat in which section pleasure boats could be hired.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We finally got to the courtyard that gets you into the FC, but by now we were too tired and too late to make it worthwhile going in. Instead we made for Tianamen Square, passing through two more courtyards and crossing over the moat before reaching the road that separates the Square from the FC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no question of crossing the road, but we eventually found a pedestrian underpass, choosing unfortunately the wrong exit and finding ourselves still on the wrong side of another road that passes in front of the Great Hall of the People. We found a pedestrian crossing, passed through a perfunctory security system, and were finally in this massive area. The centre is dominated by the Memorial to the People’s Revolution, guarded of course by several soldier stations. Visitors could not approach the steps leading up to the Memorial itself, so we contented ourselves with looking at the immense video displays in front which showed off various regions of China.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We walked around the Memorial, looking for Mao’s tomb, but discovered that it was open only in the mornings. The high relief statuary on either side depicted in typically heroic terms the People’s struggle, led by Mao, to overcome the capitalst domination of China. Sun Yat Sen, the father of the revolution, is remebered in name, but it is Mao’s image that dominates the Square.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We practiced our third Chinese expression – boo yao – several times to ward off vendors of guide books, guided tours and the like, but then we were approached in a different way. A young man, whose pinjing name is Paul, engaged us in conversation about where we were from, how long would we be n Beijing, etc. before inviting us to come and see an exhibition of student art work just across the road. Heather couldn’t resist, so we followed Paul across the road while he explained that he was part of a group of art students who had come with their professor to Beijing to display their work to a wider public, and, if possible, to sell it to raise money for scholarships for poor students. We then went into a travel agency and through the back to two rooms where the work was displayed. Paul introduced us to two other students who also spoke English very competently and gave us a tour of the various works, explaining their significance to untrained Western eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before the tour one of the students used his caligraphic skills to create a “little gift” – our names transposed into Chinese characters with a symbol for good luck (of which there are a hundred variations) – which had to be allowed to dry for a few minutes.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">At the end of the guided tour, we agreed to buy two of the professors watercolours (Y600), one student work (bamboo on a blue background Y200), and a student watercolour of a concubine (Y200). The creator of this last piece was one of the three students there, and he was very pleased to know that his work would be seen outside China and that would make his mother proud.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We also agreed to take a tour to the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs at a cheaper rate than the one offered by the hotel. Paul took the details of the hotel and gave us his phone number so we could call to confirm the day (I called today to confirm Sunday), and we paid a deposit of Y100, the balance, Y300, to be paid at the end of the tour. It will mean an early start<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>-- 8 am – but will be worth the effort. I am assuming that the business Paul directs to the travel agency is part payment for the use of their premises.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When we got back to the hotel we were too tired to contemplate an extended evening with Gordon, so I phoned to let him know. Instead we went to a nearby restaurant where we managed to order a reasonable meal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was noisy, smoking was allowed at some tables (!), and the service seemed to be a mixture of waitress serving and self-serving. We were served all that we had ordered fairly quickly, but<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>noticed that some customers went up to the counter to purchase extra dishes or drinks. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Another early night!</div><!--EndFragment-->Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-71585262342357485932011-05-13T09:59:00.000-07:002011-05-13T09:59:57.624-07:00Beijing Diary: Part 4<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Two previous posts have disappeared! So this a repeat, sort of (I've shortened it).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Friday 15 April.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I got up rather late at 9.30, still aching from the unaccustomed exercise of the previous day. Again too late to try the hotel breakfast, we got by with an orange each and a couple of mince tarts that Heather had brought along from Perth. I don’t seem to be suffering from the smaller amount of food…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Having asked the staff at the desk to write the address in Chinese characters for where we were heading, we flagged down a taxi and were soon deposited… at the wrong place! Instead of the entrance to the Forbidden City, we were at the entrance to the park on the North side of that complex. Of course, we did not discover the error until after we had paid to get in and got to the top of the artificial hill built to create a cooler place, above the heat of the city, for one of the Emperors (details in the map we bought).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We enjoyed the visit to the gardens. The tulips were just coming out, but the peonies were just budding, or about to blossom. We walked to the top of the hill to see the various pavilions, a very steep climb that we took in easy stages. <img src="webkit-fake-url://23B9A433-5E2C-4370-B293-5C2156B54AAB/application.pdf" />The view from the top pavilion, which contains a massive statue of Buddha, was breathtaking. The haze was not too bad so we could see almost to the horizon. To the north stretched a long, straight avenue that forms the axis for Beijing City, and to the south, also on this axis, lay the Forbidden City. Sadly, my camera’s batteries gave up at this point ( and I seem to have not brought my spares – aargh!!), so I’ll have to rely on Heather’s images.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After a snack of a couple of short, sweet hot-dogs (and a magnum for Heather), we decided to walk around the perimeter of the Forbidden City to get to the entrance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We chose a different path to go down the hill, perhaps not wisely since the steps were made of rough-hewn stone set at uneven heights. It was slow going, but it brought us near to the South Gate where we had entered. Everywhere there were guided tour groups, some quite large, and most of them wearing distinguishing caps, quite a formidable sight when you see them advancing along a pathway towards you.</div><!--EndFragment-->Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-509118095780801663.post-57786609043399517762011-05-11T11:38:00.000-07:002011-05-13T13:44:46.139-07:00Beijing Diary: Part 5<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I awoke at my normal time of 7 am, but lazed in bed for another half-hour, then showered and ventured out to purchase oranges, water, a bar of soap and styling gel for Heather. And to get money from the ATM. We have hardly used our visa card here – it’s cash for everything.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When Heather was ready we set out to hear the drumming performance in the Drum Tower, but soon discovered hat her camera wasn’t working. I returned to the hotel to swap memory cards with my camera, checked that her card had, in fact, died. Since my camera is not, for the moment, operational, there is no loss. But the delay meant that we got to the Drum Tower shortly before the 11.30 performance. By the time we bought tickets, negotiated the security check, the ticket check, and climbed the 70 steep stairs to the drum room the performances was just ending. <img src="webkit-fake-url://6D7D0410-8518-49F8-853F-F58277EB4D06/application.pdf" />We could of course hear it as we climbed the stairs, but missed the visual presentation. Heather took quite a while t get her breath back after the climb. Each riser is close to one foot, and the angle of climb is steep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides the drums which are now used almost exclusively for tourist performances, there are a number of replicas of historical drums, including one that had no information attached to it. It is very large, 2-3 metres in diameter, but no more than half a metre deep. Unlike the performance drums, which have plain cowhide for the drumming surface, this monster drum has very ornate decorations in red. And, at the back of the drummng room, covered in dust, is the remains of the old watchman drum, its skin surface half gone, and, as the plaque asserts, still showing knife cuts from the Eight Allied Forces who ravaged the city in 1900.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was not the first reminder of the bad behaviour of the Allied forces during the Boxer rebellion; in the summer park yesterday, plaques also made note of items “ravaged away” or “robbed away” by those same troops. Even if young Chinese do not know their history, there are reminders of at least one event in the relatively recent past.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The tower also conatins two methods for keeping time, one based on the rate of water fall through four vessels, each named, the other based on the fall of brass balls through a series of tubes. The water-based one had a number of carefully marked thin planks that were held upright in the lowest container, each corresponding to a Chinese lunar month. By inserting the correct plank for the month, the watchman could read off the time of day and the day of the week, and strike the drum with the appropriate number of strokes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The brass ball-based one struck a cymbal at the right time, again prompting the watchman to do his work.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I don’t think we will get to the Bell Tower. Its climb is even higher!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We had lunch in a little arts café called Sculpting in Time, in the square between the two towers. Very pleasant, although they had run out of croissants and waffles. We also bought a replacement memory card for Heather’s camera, Ithink at a good price of Y180 (initial offering Y260). With 4gig of memory it will give a little more flexibility than my 2gig card.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We had a rest in the afternoon, and got downstairs in time to meet Gordon. Since we still did not feel up to a long hike, Gordon chose a French/Vietnamese <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>restaurant just 100 yards down the road. Gordon was in fine form and we had a great evening, full of laughter. We then finished off the evening at the dessert shop next door. If we had not had an early start on Sunday, I think we would have prolonged the evening even further.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<!--EndFragment-->Tony Chadwick NDP Candidatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693085826939534233noreply@blogger.com0