Slow, sleepy, Sunday
afternoon. Kids working on
homework. The teacher’s here for the guzheng class. “Plonk. bend pling, pling, pluck.” Looking over the paper for something to write
about. This is pleasant. There is an entire village that was busted for
Crystal Meth production in Guangdong, near Shantou. No rest for the weary in that town. How long does a village leader think he can
get away with that, before the world crashes in? Three tons of methamphetamines were seized. How many other crank-towns are out there, across
China, collectively focused on speed?
There is the story of a South Korean veteran who has cleared
his name from the traitorous activity he was accused of and now wants
recognition for being the man who divulged the critical information at the Pusan
perimeter that may have saved the allied forces during the Korean War: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/04/world/asia/his-korean-war-treason-conviction-overturned-a-man-seeks-hero-status.html?ref=asia What a shadow to live under for sixty years .
. .
A long walk with a friend today. A discussion about work with the poor. Catholics view such work one way, Marxists
view the challenge therein differently, and then there is the world of modern
China which we live within, where the default is to disregard those in need
beyond your family, your town, your immediate circle. To aid those beyond the
inner circle is to weaken, besmirch your primary, familial, filial
obligation. Is that really so? Westerners of course, can feel good about the
rhetorical high ground of charity but really wind up no closer to really serving, engaging with the poor. China, having fried all sense of community service with the
travesty of the Cultural Revolution, focuses now on the self and the immediate familial network. How long is it, before this higher order impulse
to help those beyond your immediate circle returns or is the correction in
ascendency for decades more to come?
What does it mean for the rest of the developing world, this evolving
view of charity in what will be the world’s largest economy, beyond the inner familial,
inner Chinese circle, beyond China itself?
And I look it all over and consider what to write about
today. And then I notice that today is
actually the 100th posting on Dustybrine. Today marks one hundred days in a row that
these postings have been made. That
means I summarize, as I do every twenty posts, which I’m happy to do, as I’m a
bit enervated today. I’m amazed though
that I didn’t even notice the threshold coming.
Prior to this I had been marking these twenty-day intervals with some degree
of anticipation. I think this is to say
that it has by now been so thoroughly woven in to my routine, that I don’t even
notice the number I’m up to.
Having reviewed the last twenty days I notice that there are
some changes. This time there were only
eight jazz entries. (Been enjoying
returning to Harold Land and Pete La Roca, Mildred Bailey and absolutely to Memphis
Minnie who’s playing now, as I write this.)
There were three contemporary pieces of music and at least two
nineteenth century pieces, three female artists this time round, and roughly
seven contributors who were not from the United States. Pushing to ensure we don’t become formulaic,
though an overwhelming number of “media” sources are still from NYT, Wiki, and
interestingly “The Guardian”. The push
continues.
Have a look at what we covered these nineteen days, below.
Chengyu
1. 热血沸腾:
rèxuèfèiténg: to be burning with anger
(idiom)
2. 似是而非: sìshì'érfēi: apparently right but actually wrong;
specious (idiom)
3.
面目一新:miànmùyīxīn: complete change (idiom); facelift /
We're in a wholly new situation.
4. 深恶痛绝: shēnwùtòngjué: to detest bitterly (idiom) / implacable
hatred / to abhor / anathema
5. 羞于启齿: xiūyúqǐchǐ: to be too shy to speak one's mind (idiom)
6. 开天辟地: kāitiānpìdì:
to split heaven and earth apart (idiom); refers to the Pangu creation myth
7. 集思广益: jísīguǎngyì: collecting
opinions is of wide benefit (idiom); to pool wisdom for mutual benefit / to
profit from widespread suggestions
8. 视死如归: shìsǐrúguī: to view
death as a return home / to not be afraid of dying / to face death with
equanimity (idiom)
9. 人生如梦: rénshēngrúmèng: life is but a dream (idiom)
10. 鱼目混珠: yúmùhùnzhū： to pass off fish eyes
for pearls / to pass off fake products as genuine (idiom)
11. 乘风破浪: chéngfēngpòlàng: to
brave the wind and the billows (idiom); to have high ambitions
12. 独立自主: dúlìzìzhǔ: independent
and autonomous (idiom); self-determination / to act independently / to maintain
control over one's own affairs
13. 率由旧章: shuàiyóujiùzhāng:
act in accordance with the old rules (idiom) / to follow a proven formula
14. 目迷五色: mùmíwǔsè: the eye is
bewildered by five colors (idiom); a dazzling riot of colors
15. 尝尽心酸: chángjìnxīnsuān: to experience one's full share of
sorrows (idiom)
16. 独具匠心: dújùjiàngxīn: original and ingenious (idiom) / to
show great creativity
17. 精神焕发: jīngshénhuànfā: in
high spirits (idiom); glowing with health and vigor
18. 亚洲一体: Yàzhōu yītǐ: Asia is an integral whole / all
concerned / everybody “Asia is one”
19.
轻车熟路: qīngchēshúlù:
lit. to drive a lightweight chariot on a familiar road (idiom) / fig. to
do sth routinely and with ease / a walk in the park
Music Introduced
The Dead Kennedys “Government Flu” from the album “Plastic
Surgery Disasters”, 1982
Harold Land’s album “Harold in the Land of Jazz”, 1958
Kishore Kumar song “Dekha Na Haay Re”
from movie “Bombay to Goa”, 1972
Duke Ellington with Charles Mingus and
Max Roach “Very Nice” from the album “Money Jungle”, 1962
Tina Brooks “The Waiting Game”, 1961
General Elektriks: “La Nuit Des
Ephémères” from the album “Good City for Dreamers”, 2009
Franz Gruber
and Joseph Mohr “Stille Nacht”,
1818
Pete La Roca “Basra”, 1965
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky “Nut
Cracker Suite”, 1892
Mildred Bailey, “Wham!
(Be-Bop-Boom-Bam)”, 1940
Roy Eldridge, “Wham!
(Be-Bop-Boom-Bam)”, 1940
Memphis Minnie, “Drunken Barrel
House Blues”, 1934
Jon Hopkins “Cold Out There”, 2001
Pussy Riot “Punk Prayer”, 2012
Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet,
“Desert Winds”, 1964
Duke Jordon, on the album “True
Blue”, 1960
T Viswananthan and T. Ranganathan,
Carnatic music masters, flute and mrdangam
Dizzy Reece, “Sands”, 1960
Media Introduced
Jonathan Franzen article in ‘The Guardian’
Jonathan Franzen “The Corrections”,
2001
New York Times Obituary for Harold
Land:
Mohammed Rafi on Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Rafi
Kishore Kumar on Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishore_Kumar
New York Times article on Max
Baucus http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/19/us/politics/obama-said-to-pick-montana-democrat-as-china-envoy.html?hp
Chinua Achebe “Things Fall Apart”, 1958
Tina Brooks on Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tina_Brooks
Jack Chambers blog on Tina Brooks: http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~chambers/tinabrooks.html
C. S. Lewis “The Magician’s Nephew”,
1955
General Elektriks on Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Elektriks
New York Times article on Jessie Webster:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/22/us/a-dealer-serving-life-without-having-taken-one.html?hpw&rref=us
Malcolm Brown: “The Morality of the Market” in The Guardian,
via Hacker News:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/21/morality-capitalism-missing-link-marketplace
Anti Aging Human Trials, in The
Guardian, via Hacker News:
Mildred Bailey on Wiki: http://go.standard.net/story/jazz-singer-mildred-bailey-returning-to-tribal-roots
Rap Genius interviewed on Tech
Crunch: http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/25/google-rap-genius/
Roy Eldridge on Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Eldridge
New York Times on Abe’s visit to
Yasakuni Shrine http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/27/world/asia/japanese-premier-visits-contentious-war-shrine.html?hp&_r=0
Memphis Minnie blog: http://hobemianrecords.com/memphisminniehomepage.html
New York Times on Chinese banking: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/28/business/international/china-in-push-to-rein-in-lending-practices.html?hp
New
York Times on Okinawa, U.S. military compromise: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/28/world/asia/deal-to-move-okinawa-base-wins-approval.html?hp
History of Bristol on
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Bristol
Yongle Emperor on Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yongle_Emperor
New York Times on Pussy Riot film
banned in Russia: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/29/world/europe/russia-screening-of-pussy-riot-film-is-blocked.html
Pussy Riot, “Punk Prayer” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALS92big4TY
China Daily on Abe’s visit to Yasukuni: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-12/31/content_17206164.htm
New York Times on text book revisions
in Okinawa: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/29/world/asia/japan-fights-a-political-battle-using-history-texts.html?hpw&rref=world&_r=0
The Guardian on Stanley
Turrentine: http://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/sep/15/guardianobituaries.johnfordham
Ray
Huang: “1587, A Year of No Significance”
Chinese
New Year’s celebration on the Bund on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR9rhbqV6W4
Duke Jordan on Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Jordan
Breathing on Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breathing
Barat Natyam on Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharata_Natyam
T. Viswanatan: http://dpnelson.web.wesleyan.edu/viswanathan.html
T. Ranganathan: http://dpnelson.web.wesleyan.edu/ranganathan.html
Tanjore Balasaraswati on Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balasaraswati
New York Times on Chinese Consulate
bombing in San Francisco: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/03/us/attacker-sets-fire-at-chinese-consulate-in-san-francisco.html
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