miles

I thought they (Maestronet) were doing system maintenance when the machine is slow. Well, I didn't go to medical school, but became a computer geek. :-)

Well put, Hanxiao. When I was a Ph. D. student in literature, I sat in on a Physics class taught by a Nobel laureate. An extremely nice guy he was, but there was not much in my head after the class except for his jokes. Then his co-teaching professor came in summarized the material etc., and all of the sudden, I realized how much I should have learned. :-( I am sure the Nobel laureate is much better established in the area of Physics than his colleague. But it was the non-laureate professor who really hammered the material onto my head. Just for the curious, why a Ph. D. student in literature would audit a Physics class? Well, one day I woke up feeling like being a physician and so I need to take some science courses to fulfill pre-req for medical school. Physics was one of the pre-reqs.

1. Zhang shumei (spelling?). 2. That's Cantonese food. I'm Chinese so I can come with a laundry list for my favorite Chinese food. However, sometimes it depends upon the restaurants as well. So here are a few: http://chicago.citysearch.com/profile/3717579 at Mei Shung (sorry for the wrong address: 5511 N. Broadway, Chicago, IL) 1) Soft shell crabs: Their dish is by far my favorite. I had soft shell crabs in Europe (if I remembered correctly) and in higher end restaurants in the US, theirs definitely stands out. Deep fried but not oily! (think of that). The best month to have this dish is late June and early July. 2) Stir-fry sticks (made of sticky rice) looks like chesse stick. I believe this is a Shanghai dish. My mother used to make it really well. I had this dish in Boston (Harvard square), but have not seen in on the menu elsewhere. One restaurant owner in outskirt Munich Germany made this dish for me for my birthday as a special request. 3) Too many to list. Now a few appetizers: green onion cakes. Vegetarian chicken/sausage etc. in new york city. Pekin duck (salty water duck) and pekin duck with Chinese pancakes... Oh, no. I am hungry now. I don't know where you can find really orange beef (not from the carry out places), I can make good orange beef and my mother cooks really outstanding fish with fermented rice in hot sauce. My mother's fish is unbeatable. I hope I can find a restaurant, which offers that dish. Gee, I am getting homesick now. If anyone who's interested in Chinese food, please don't hesitate to PM me. Jim, it's really impressive that you can use chopstick well. Will bow hold technique useful in holding chopsticks?

>There's nothing like real Chinese food. You can say that again and again and again! >Not this crap we eat here in America You gotta try it to >know what I mean. There are a few good Chinese restaurants around Harvard square in Boston. I visited a few of them. Excellent. If you've got the chance to visit Chicago, there's a near-authentic Chinese restaurant on the north side: Mei Shung: 5500 N. Broadway. Their food is much lighter than Cantonese; it is mostly Taiwanese and Peking style food.

Does "corduroy texture" have anything to do with cloth?

>the small wood mahagony mute on top of the bridge with a clip >on both wings just under the E and G string I am only afraid the old lady calling security guards (she might think I am killing something in my unit while I am trying to learn how to bow). So the wood mute might just be what I need. Thanks a lot for the help from all of you. I really appreciate it.

>If this doesn't make sense, imagine an archery bow. When the >archer draws the bow and looks past the string at the bow >stick, the stick will appear straight. But someone looking at >the bow from one side will see a curve. Ah, did you see the bright light bulb on top of my head? Thanks a million.

I heard that Yamaha is good, but it costs a bundle as well. Is there any mom and pop brand, which might be also fine for a biginner?

>the stick doesn`t look too bad to me Since you mention the bow, I wonder how to determine whether the stick is good? In addition, someone mentioned the stick of a bow was good because it was straight. But when I took a look at, the bow is certainly curved. So what's meant by straight? Grain is straight although the shape is curved?

Bravo! I came across a "weird" f-hole violins last night also on this board (the thread name might be "... f-hole" and the one in the shop looks so so appealing! I feel lightened at the sight of it. I think it had the same effect on me as most Mozart's music does. By the way, I bought the weird violin anyway. Not everything in life needs a price tag.

I am an adult violin learner living in an apartment. Since I am a beginner, I feel that it would be better if I don't disturb my neighbors (a senior lady lives across the hall from me). Therefore, I was thinking about a violin with an earphone for me to practice with. There seems to be two options I can have: 1. electric/silent violin 2. acoustic violin with pickup/pream Which one will be a better choice? As always, I really appreciate your input.

Yes. Regarding irregular shaped violin, Jesse's reply complement what soundboot as well: http://forums.maestronet.com/forums/showth...834/page/0/vc/1

Thank you so much, Soundboot.

>It could be hundreds of years if you bought a violin today >and decided to keep it in the storage for the rest of your >life. It would mostl likey still be like new due to the lack >of UV from Sunlights, and almost dirt free from the >protective SKB shell cases. Hmm, I bought a new bow and left it in the French Bam case in the US a few years back. I had to go back to Germany to work and by less than a year later, some hair on the bow got chowed up by ??? (I paid $340.00 for it in year 2000 in downtown Chicago from a high class violin shop in the fine art building). So what is going on with my case?

I purchased a bow from them a couple of days ago, but have not received it yet. They shipped right after I paid. So shipmentwise, they are more than satisfactory. miles

Can you elaborate a little bit more? This seller has 100% pos feedback.

Actually I also noticed the same phenomenon on kitchen cabinets. One set was sold in Illinois to a bidder in the US, but some time later, the EXACT brand, configuration (i.e. measurements and type of cabinets) and photos are shown on eBay by a seller in UK. Intriguing, isn't it?

I came across some "irregular" shaped violin, mostly guitar shaped violins. Since they are rare, I am wondering what are the upsides and downsides of such a violin. Is it more technically challenging? How popular is it in terms of valuewise? Thanks a lot for your input. miles