Hi--------, I heard your messages on my machine. Was out of town, in China actually for a quite a long time. Huge export market held annually in Guangzhou. I went and bought a few container of products I had presold. Put them on a cargo ship then took advantage of heading up to see all the sights and alleged wonders of the world, like a section of the 4000 mile or so strecth of the Great Wall at Beijing. Took a 15 mile hike across with a confused Canadian. All tourists are confused there. We spend our days mute just pointing at things. Since no Chinaman speaks English in most if not all areas. Those Chinese are dirty; you have to dodge and duck the spit that comes hurling at you at least four times per block. I think the spitting issue is what most impacts foreigners in China. To them it's tradition. In buses, in internet Cafes, hell even in thier own rooms. The spitting I can take. It's not that bad; you get used to it. It's the sound that comes before it that's totally sick. Stomach turning. That and they can't eat in silence. A melody of slurps, spit, and choking on thier noodle soup. They have to make noise. They have to eat with their mouths open. A pair chewing gum on a 4 hour bus drive sitting right behind you, I wish on no man. Toilets are another issue. I won't get into that. Enough sickness for today. Just wrote to say hi. Here's a pic of the nicest village I found in China. After all the stress and ripoffs it was a releif to find this place that not even most the Chinese have heard of - Yangshuo. A three hour ride down this river on an inflatable tire for $1 was the highlight of the trip. Plus the rooms were unbeleivably clean - a rarity after all the dumps I had slept in. Hotel rooms in this place were cheaper than the cost of lunch. I could never understand the logic behind this. For only $4 and I had a two bed room with western toilet. Trust me, the words, "western toilet" when offered in China will be the sweetest words spoken to you. There were no single rooms. Otherwise it's only $2 U.S per night. Yet a meal can easily cost $6 - $10. I had never seen mountains and peaks like this so close to ground before. It was like the gods chopped off the tips of the alps and planted them here. At end of the river float journey I handed in my rubber tire and entered an underground cave lit up with glow worms, stalagmites and stalagtites Farewell, keep in touch. You can track me on Ebay, periodically to see what I've been up to, where I've been fixing up classic American jukes, restoring them to thier former glory. In fact got two running right now. Just look for Eclipseseven or click below: ECLIPSESEVEN Film work was so sporadic, I got into exports and imports for the off seasons in film. Also just got back from San Andres from getting certified as an advanced open water diver. Part of my contract for some underwater camera work needed in a movie being shot in Palau sometime this year or next. Never know with the movie business, but they had to pay for my advanced diver's course. That's another experience right there, and unlike China an extremely pleasant one, particularly Night Diving where streams of microscopic organisms light up in daisy chains turning off and on like Christmas lights. You can't resist reaching out and touching them because you feel you are floating in space among the stars, and who does not want to touch the stars in thier lifetime. Sadly it's the touch of death for them since a simple touch can kill them. Tiny organisms not seen during the day light up all around you. Just waving your hands and flipping your fins emits hundreds of sparks. It's amazing. Take care, Sebastian or Elton. Whichever you prefer. I can't remember what you called me. Most like Sebastian. So I get called that.