Late night calls to
the East Coast. Early morning calls to
the West Coast. Catching breath just
now. Today is the sixty-day-straight
milestone on DustyBrine and, as with every passage of twenty entries, entered,
we’ll pause to reflect and document. I’m
enjoying this process and maybe getting a little more fluid with it as it
progresses. Simply put, there’s a rhythm
and it is a bit easier to get done quickly.
I’m beginning to see this take life as a project: “A
Twentieth Year of China.” This now is
twentieth year of my life that I’ve been engaged with this civilization. It is not to say that I have lived here for
twenty years. I have not. All together I’ve probably been here for ten
years, thirteen if you include Hong Kong.
But since the first year I resided here, twenty years ago, beginning in
September of 1993, this place has consumed my consciousness. So this is a twentieth year of engagement
with the country and the region and this blog project also began, unwittingly,
but interestingly during September of 2013, twenty years on. Let’s see if we can take three hundred and
sixty-five snap-shots in a row. It will
be a rather rough, weighty phonebook to consider in September of 2014.
I am rather disappointed, as a mug of mine, exploded last
night. My stepson’s girlfriend brought
me a lovely, big mug when she visited earlier this ear from Japan. It has an assortment of sumo wrestlers with
various absurd faces around the outside.
What I liked most was that it was very big and held a lot of
coffee. I would take the left over
coffee and sometimes throw it in a mug and just leave it in the freezer for the
next day. A summer’s habit that I
haven’t broken. I am aware that one
doesn’t leave an unopened bottle of white wine or soda water in the freezer. Liquid expands and breaks the glass. I know.
But this had no top, so I thought I was good. But alas, my mighty sumo
mug, could not take the pressure, and it is shattered, beyond repair. You were a fine mug, you were, while you
lasted.
Summary 60
Chengyu:
1. 舜日尧天: Shùnrì Yáotiān：sage Emperors Shun and Yao rule every day (idiom); all for
the best in the best of all possible worlds
2. 异军突起:
yìjūntūqǐ to
emerge as a new force to be reckoned with (idiom)
3. 河清海晏: héqīnghǎiyàn: The Yellow River is clear and the sea is calm / the world is
at peace (idiom)
4. 湖光山色:húguāngshānsè: scenic lakes
and mountain (idiom); beautiful lake and mountain landscape
5. 垂涎欲滴: chuíxiányùdī: to
drool with desire (idiom); to envy / to hunger for
6. 异国他乡: yìguótāxiāng： foreign
lands and places (idiom); living as expatriate
7. 虎头蛇尾:
hǔtóushéwěi: lit.
tiger's head, snake's tail (idiom); fig. a strong start but weak finish
8. 入乡随俗: rùxiāngsuísú: When
you enter a village, follow the local customs (idiom); do as the natives do /
When in Rome, do as the Romans do
9.
视死如归: shìsǐrúguī: to view death as a return home / to not be
afraid of dying / to face death with equanimity (idiom)
10. 望子成龙
wàngzǐchénglóng: lit.
to hope one's son becomes a dragon (idiom); fig. to long for one' s child to
succeed in life / to have great hopes for one's offspring / to give one's child
the best education as a career investment
11. 出人意料: chūrényìliào: exceeds
expectations (idiom); much better than anticipated / unexpected
12. 明月清风:
míngyuèqīngfēng: bright
moon and clear wind (idiom); fig. clear and lovely atmosphere / everything in
the garden is roses
13.
一日三秋yīrìsānqiū: a
single day apart seems like three seasons (idiom)
14. 衣锦还乡: yìjǐnhuánxiāng: to come back to one's hometown in
silken robes (idiom); to return in glory
15. 垂涎欲滴: chuíxiányùdī: to
drool with desire (idiom); to envy / to hunger for
16. 一丝不挂:
Yīsībùguà: not
wearing one thread (idiom); absolutely naked / without a stitch of clothing /
in one's birthday suit
17. 振振有词: zhènzhènyǒucí: to
speak forcefully and with justice (idiom); to argue with the courage of one's
convictions
18. 如泣如诉: rúqìrúsù: lit. as
if weeping and complaining (idiom) / fig. mournful (music or singing)
19. 割股疗亲: gēgǔliǎoqīn: to
cut flesh from one's thigh to nourish a sick parent (idiom) / filial
thigh-cutting
Music Introduced:
· Joe Levano, “Six and Four”
from the album “Joyous Encounters”, 2005
· Salah Ragab’s Cairo Jazz
Band, “Naveen”, 1968
· Aashish Khan and Ustad Allah
Rakha, “Live in Los Angeles”, 1968
· Gene Ammons, “The Black Cat”
from ‘Legends of Acid Jazz’, 1972
· Void, “No More Authority” from “Flex Your
Head” compilation, 1982
· Red Garland with John Coltrane, “Soul
Junction”, 1957
· Dominique Young Unique “War
Talk”, 2011, and “Earthquake” 2013
· EXO’s “Wolf” 2013, “Momma” 2011.
· Bob Dylan “Masters of War”, from “Freewheelin
Bob Dylan” 1964
· Joe McPhee “Nation Time”, 1971
· Martha and the Vandellas, “Dancing in the
Streets”, 1964
· Tommy Flanagan ““How Long Has This Been Going
On?”, 1957
· Herbie Hancock “Empyrean Isles”, 1964
· Niels-Henning Ørsted
Pedersen, with Joe Pass “Chops”, 1978
· Atoms for Peace, “Dropped”
from the album ‘Amok’, 2012
· Funkadelic, “One Nation Under a Groove”, 1978
· Ed Thigpen “Out of the Storm”, 1966
· Max Frost and the Troopers”
“Nothing Can Change the Shape of Things to Come”, 1968
· Bongwater, “Obscene and
Pornographic Art” ,1991
· Hawkwind, “Motorhead”, 1974.
· Jon Jang, “Variation on the Sorrow of Meng Jiang Nu”, 1995
· Tabu Ray Rochereau, “The Voice of Lightness”,
1961 - 1977
Media Introduced:
·
LA
Times on car explosion in Tiananmen Square http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-tiananmen-square-china-leaders-20131029,0,359829.story#axzz2jAa7zXYj
·
Francesco
Sisci on car explosion in AsiaTimes http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/CHIN-01-301013.html
·
Gerry
Mullany on explosion in Shanxi NY Times blog http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/explosions-near-communist-party-building-in-china/?_r=0
·
Salah Ragab on Wiki: http://www.icrates.org/%E2%80%9Cramadan-in-space-time%E2%80%9D-salah-ragab-and-the-cairo-jazz-band-present-egyptian-jazz/
· Exceprt from the newspaper:
“The New Light Of Myanmar” Monday, 7 February, 2011
·
U.S. Embassy Website on Air Quality
Index (AQI)
·
China government sites for (AQI)
·
U.S. domestic site for AQI:
http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.local_city&zipcode=12601&submit=Go
·
Photo of “Autumn
Colors on the Qiao and Hua Mountains” from National Palace Museum in Taipei.
·
William Butler Yeats: “Under Ben Bulben” http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/under-ben-bulben/
·
Hua Hill on Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hua_Hill
·
Li Daoyuan:
“Commentary on the Water Classic”
·
Li Bai’s poem “Huabuzhu Peak”
·
Article on Emperor Qianlong and Zhao
Mengfu: http://www.chinainstitutemedia.org/china360online/china360online/liaoning-4/
·
John King Fairbank, “The Great Chinese
Revolution: 1800 to 1985” http://www.amazon.com/Great-Chinese-Revolution-1800-1985/dp/006039076X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384063886&sr=1-4&keywords=JOhn+King+Fairbank
·
Ernest
Lee Tuveson, “Redeemer Nation” http://www.amazon.com/Redeemer-Nation-Americas-Millennial-Reprint/dp/0226819213
·
Lyrics to “War Talk” by Dominique Young
Unique
·
Youtube clip of “War Talk” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McpJr45KXsY
·
EXO lyrics to “Moma” http://www.kpoplyrics.net/exo-k-mama-lyrics-english-romanized.html
·
Youtube clip of “Moma” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc3__KmrlnU
·
Vassar College interview with Joe McPhee: http://pages.vassar.edu/aacvr-germany/
·
Rainer Maria Rilke
poem, “The Swan” 1905
·
Christopher Hitchens “Letters to a
Young Contrarian”
·
Tommy Flanagan on Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Flanagan
·
Lyrics to “How Long Has This Been Going
On?” http://www.elyrics.net/read/a/ace-lyrics/how-long-(Has-this-been-going-on)-lyrics.html
·
China One Child Policy on Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-child_policy
·
NHØP Obituary in The
Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/may/21/guardianobituaries.arts
·
George Orwell’s six rules for
writing: http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/george-orwells-5-rules-for-effective-writing/
·
Japanese plan MagLev train for U.S.
·
Forgotten
Hits Blog
on song “Nothing Can Change the Shape of Things to Come” http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2010/12/shape-of-things-to-come-perhaps-closest.html .
·
Bongwater Lyrics to “Obscene and
Pornographic Art: http://rock.rapgenius.com/Bongwater-obscene-and-pornographic-art-lyrics
·
Thomas More: “Utopia”
·
Liza Foreman “Designer Inspired by
Chinese Villages” in NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/22/fashion/Designer-Inspired-by-Chinas-Villages.html
·
Max Leibovich, “Lemmy Kilmister, I’m
Paying for the Good Times” NY
Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/magazine/motorheads-lemmy-kilmister-im-paying-for-the-good-times.html?hp
·
Thumb Piano on Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumb_piano
·
Martin
Fackler: A Growing Chill Between South
Korea and Japan Creates Problems for the U.S. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/world/asia/a-growing-chill-between-south-korea-and-japan-creates-problems-for-the-us.html
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