Hey, Arnie, good to hear from you--now about that email address?

Mudcatters--other than those of you in Canada--you may not know that Guest Arnie Naiman is one of the great contemporary clawhammer players. He and his buddy Chris Coole, another great picker, were on the faculty of Midwest Banjo Camp (as you know if you attentively read the first lengthy post in this thread) and we heard his story about their getting stopped by Homeland Security and stripped of their CDs coming across the border from Toronto. How our protectors thought they were protecting us by keeping out "Five Strings Attached with No Backing" and Chris and Arnie's other CDs is far beyond my ken--it must be, at the very least, a violation of NAFTA (or is the right to free trade protected only for corporations?). (One would think, also, that the rights of residents of the nations involved in NAFTA and FTAA to offer their services across the borders should be protected, as well, no?

Sorry to turn my response to your message into a political screed, Arnie. And I wish I had managed to get into another of your classes or sessions--the camp should have been at least two weeks long.

Charles