A bulletin board or chat room might be fun. My only concern would be that people who don't have access to them might be left out of discussions. The traffic on this list varies so much (sometimes months go by with no messages) that I don't know if they would be used regularly enough to make them worth setting up.

I am in the process of archiving the list, but as you probably know I'm way behind schedule on that. Thanks for your patience, though. I have some plans to update the Lion's Den - there's tons of new links to add and some that have sadly expired.

I'll keep you updated whenever I get progress made...

Chris

Hi Jason,

I was wondering what is going to happen to your damaged equipment. If it is possible, my school would probably be willing to take them off your hands and pay for it too. Write back if it sounds good.

-Paul

>Good technique can reduce the wear and tear on the lion, but even then
>they last only so long. The newer paper ones virtually self destruct
>even just hanging on the wall.

I've noticed this too - I have a head that was constructed in the early 80's and it has much thicker paper. The outside of the bamboo frame is covered with a cotton gauze/mesh and that is covered with about 2 layers of the thick paper. The inside of the frame is covered with 1 layer of the same paper to add strength. There is also a "pillow" on the inside running along the back of the head to rest your head/shoulders against. Very nicely done. Does anyone make lions of this quality anymore?

>The drums go flat rather quickly, however.

I heard there is a special oil that can be used to retune old drums. I think it was Corey that shared about it. If only I could find the message in the archive of the list... :)

Chris

Jason Lee,

I know of a place where they import Lion and others maritial arts equiptment. The place where we import these items is from FutShan (Pha^.t So*n) in China. They are the best Lion we have in town. Let me know what kind of equiptment you need. I am interested in your old lions also. Please let me know what you think. By the way, where do you live??? I am in Tacoma, WA, USA. Pretty close to Seattle

Firecrackers comments,

These new Horse Brand firecrackers manufacturers do not care what happens to them when it burns. Their best and main concern is CHEAP, CHEAP, & MORE CHEAP. Since the factories are no longer owned by the China government, there is NO controls of any sorts. The more firecrackers you make, the more money you make. Too bad innocent people gets hurt. I have tried to import good firecrackers and paying premium prices. But business is terrible because the consumer is more interested in low, low prices than louder, better exploding firecrackers. The cheaper firecrackers when burned will be similiar to flying bullets because the bottom half of the firecracker is hurled into the air when it cracks in half. Yes, it is very dusty also. More duds, dust, and less bang for the money.

Ernie

In a message dated 3/4/99 12:48:20 PM, chrislow@fuller.edu writes:
>The drums go flat rather quickly

before going out to a performance, place a small electric heater under the drum. force heat drying before tightens the skin and gives a real good sound. i can donce to it mon....

dr. doong chang

ps. keep your eye on the heater now....don't want a fire!

Chris and Doong!

We've used shielded, incandescent lights to dry out the drums from inside. This is probably much, much slower that the electric heater as we have to turn them on about half a day before the performance.

The oil would be interesting to find out about. I thought that oil normally softened and streched leather, but there could be different chemicals involved. For fear of softening the drumhead, some western percussionists I have met won't let skin touch the drum.

-Lars

Hey, gang,

I usually sun my drum couple of hours before the performance. If the drum is really flat, I would roll up a newspaper and burn the newspaper under the drum. Be very careful but it is instant tightness. For long performances with a flat drum, I would put a can of sterno within a gallon can and place it under the drum. I have used burning charcoal in place of sterno. Just as good. Just some Hawaiian suggestions to make the drum sounds stronger.

Ernie

Ok. I will waite but in the mean time, I will be working on setting one up just in case we might want to use it.

Lets keep everyone inform about this ok.

DVo

Does anyone get the Chinese TV channel where they live? If you do I was wondering if anyone saw the Chinese new year special for tvb on new years day broadcast from hong kong because there was a lion dance competition, and there were some really new moves that i have never seen before.

Also i was wondering if anyone knew where to buy those new singapore lions that look like they have a milk moustache and what is the $$ amount for them

Daniel Low

Jason

Any plans on what you are going to do with the old ones? I am looking for some old heads no one wants anymore to try different aproaches to fixing them on a perminenant basis..... Please let me know ...........

Jenn NAHUHH@aol

Thuan Nguyen wrote:
Cung Chu/c Ta^n Xua^n !
Kung Hei Fay Choy!

Just out of curiosity, how is the vietnamese pronounced? Does it literally translate to Kung Hei Fat Choy? (I assume "Fay" was a typo and not a literal)

In case you didn't know, Kung Hei is congratulations/good cheer and Fat Choy is prosperity.

Stephen.

PS. I hope everyone had a great lion dance new year. We had one of our best. I'll post more when I get a chance.

Hey, Paul

I don't really know what's gonna happen to the old equipment. Like I said, it's all up to the sifu. Don't know If he plans on getting them repaired or not... I'll be sure to let you people know.

Jason

Dear David,

Just got comfirmation that Master Siow and the 2 students has got their visas so everything seems to be going ok now. As for myself I should know by thursday. Anyway, Siow is planing to bring 12 heads over and I am wondering if this is going to cause any problems getting through the US custom.

Anyway, also wondering about the weather there in SF, is it windy or rainy? How cold can it get? We would like to be prepare as we are not used to the cold :)!

That's all from me now. All the best on your planning.

George,

Hey people im planning to make a homepage, so if you guys hae any homepage please send me the address, ill be sure to link them to my page

George,

noted master siow with students have obtained visas, but you are still waiting. hope you will have no problem because it is now too late to find politicians to help.

also noted bringing 12 heads. we will arrange for truck to pick up. however, i have concerns that the airlines will allow you to put so many on board. shd be no problem with u.s. customs, but might need to pay some duties which we will pay him back. however, hopefully one of you will have a credit card or u.s. dollars to make this payment. pls have master siow use his company to issue an invoice showing the value in u.s. dollar terms. it does not have to be an official invoice, but must show factory name/address/phone listing "12 sets - papier mache lion masks outfits" and then the value. should also list country of origin "made in malaysia". to save the customs official's time, write on the invoice "harmonize code 4823.90.20" under the description or as part of the description. in case the customs official does not notice that the harmonize code is on the invoice and starts to try to make this determination, pls point it out to him. the duty for this harmonize code is only 1.6% of declared value. master siow can tell customs that they are bringing these as gifts for the lion dance conference and customs will know they will be kept in the u.s. and not taken back. when goods are kept in the u.s., customs will generally ask you to pay duty. however, the duty is so low that there is no reason not to do all that is legal. if there are problem, just leave the lions with customs and tell them to contact my customs broker:

jeannie burns
thornley and pitt
415-986-6528

or have customs call my office and ask for al lefebvre 415-861-8615.

the only potential problem i see is that customs might wish to call these garments which requires quotas and have high duties. in which case, you must point out that the chief value is the head which takes lots of time and skill to make and not the tail and pants which are very cheap to make in malaysia. "chief value" determines the harmonize code of a product.

the weather here is unstable this time of the year. can rain or be sunny. temperature at night is always chilly at 40 to 50 degrees f. in the daytime, mid 50's to 70 degrees f. suggest you bring sweaters and jackets. if you do not have sweaters/jackets, i can take you to some inexpensive shops upon your arrival. in case of rain, i will have umbrellas here for you.

i will be at the airport along with ben chuck (he has met you and master siow in malaysia). will take you on tour friday 19th. conference will begin 8:30 am on saturday 20th.

david

What's the adress of your site??

our site is: www.liondancer.com
thanks,
david - chinese performing arts foundation