DustyBrine: Summary 140

It ain’t over yet. And perhaps it’s a foolish thing to spend too much time on, but I’ve been looking at the medal tallies in the paper: http://sochi2014.nytimes.com/results OK, no surprise, Nordic countries and Northern Europe in general, kick ass during the winter Olympics. Most of the sports were invented there and they have long traditions, lots of proper weather, etc. North America is represented, but proportionally only so well. North Asian powerhouses have a smattering of representation and in the southern hemisphere only Australia has anything to show for itself.

But have a look at how the medals are distributed across Europe. Clearly there is something in the water or in the snow, in Norway. The population is a little larger than I thought, but still, 5M people and the world’s highest medal count. Go Oslo! But doesn’t all that tough, stoic Viking elan extend throughout Scandinavia? What’ s up with Sweden? Nearly twice the population, same mountain range, similar climate, (no provident wealth fund?) and “only” five medals. Denmark, 5M people, 0. And depending how you define Scandinavia, Iceland pop 300K, 0 medals and Finland 5M people 1 medal.

The other big surprise is the Netherlands with nearly 17M people, and last I checked no mountains, but more/better medals than anyone save the USA who have a modest 314M people to draw talent from. England is down in the dumps. Germany is surging, Russia is holding its own. I’ll reserve judgment till its all over. But, beneath all this disparity there is certainly a story.

I wrote, or should I say taunted an old friend of Danish descent and he sent me this: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304450904579365011902608806

One last thing for this Summary 140 posting, were there to be an Olympic medal for daredevil activity, these Russian lads would be up on a podium with their national anthem blaring. As my chum who sent me the link wrote, in an albeit phallocentric though nonetheless, I believe, apt depiction “ball shrikingly-insane.” Some security guard is going to catch hell for this video:

http://shanghaiist.com/2014/02/13/russian-extreme-daredevils-shanghai-tower-vadim-makhorov-vitaliy-raskalov.php

Chengyu

1. 含辛茹苦: hánxīnrúkǔ: to suffer every possible torment (idiom); bitter hardship / to bear one's cross

2. 万事如意: wànshìrúyì: to have all one's wishes (idiom) / best wishes / all the best / may all your hopes be fulfilled

3. 大庸弱且: dàyǒngruòqiè: a great hero may appear timid (idiom); the really brave person remains level-headed

4. 潇潇细雨: xiāoxiāoxìyǔ: the sound of light rain or drizzle (idiom)

5. 招财进宝: zhāocáijìnbǎo: ushering in wealth and prosperity (idiom and traditional greeting, esp. at New Year); We wish you wealth and success!

6. 善解人意: shànjiěrényì: understanding people's views (idiom); fair and considerate

7. 青黄不接: qīnghuángbùjiē: lit. yellow does not reach green (idiom); the yellow autumn crop does not last until the green spring crop / temporary deficit in manpower or resources / unable to make ends meet

8. 勤政廉政: qínzhèngliánzhèng: honest and industrious government functionaries (idiom)

9. 精神抖擞: jīngshéndǒusǒu: spirit trembling with excitement (idiom); in high spirits / lively and full of enthusiasm / full of energy / con brio

10. 龙腾虎跃: lóngténghǔyuè lit. dragon soaring and tiger leaping (idiom) / fig. prosperous and bustling / vigorous and active

11. 鹅毛大雪: émáodàxuě: goose feather snow (idiom) / big heavy snow fall

12. 远见卓识: yuǎnjiànzhuóshí: visionary and sagacious (idiom)

13. 碧海青天: bìhǎiqīngtiān: green sea, blue sky (idiom); sea and sky merge in one shade / loneliness of faithful widow

14. 海阔天空: hǎikuòtiānkōng: wide sea and sky (idiom); boundless open vistas / the whole wide world / chatting about everything under the sun.

15. 尽善尽美: jìnshànjìnměi: perfect (idiom); perfection / the best of all possible worlds / as good as it gets

16. 广开言路: guǎngkāiyánlù: to encourage the free airing of views (idiom)

17. 付之一笑: fùzhīyīxiào: to dismiss sth with a laugh (idiom) / to laugh it off

18: 好事多磨: hǎoshìduōmó: Good things take time. The road to happiness is strewn with setbacks (idiom)

19: 业精于勤: yèjīngyúqín: mastery of study lies in diligence (idiom). You can only master a subject by assiduous study. / Excellence in work is only possible with diligence. / Practice makes perfect.

Music Introduced

Mahalia Jackon: “How I Got Over” Live at the March on Washington, 1963

J.J. Johnson “Neo”, 1964

Pete Seeger “"I Ain't Scared of Your Jail", 1963

Gil Evans: “Big Stuff”, from “Gil Evans & Ten”, 1957

Duke Pearson: “Little Waltz” from the album, “Prairie Dog”, 1966

Horace Parlan: “Up and Down”, 1961

Duke Ellington: “The Mooche” from “The Okeh Ellington” 1927.

Horace Tapscott: “As a Child” from the album “Thoughts Of Dar Es Salaam”, 1961

Myra Melford: “Equal Grace” from the album “The Image of Your Body.” 2006

Henry Threadgil: “To Undertake My Corners Open” , from the album: “This Brings Us Up To: Volume 1”, 2009.

Liberty Ellman, “You Have Ears” from the album: “Ophiuchus Butterfly”, 2006