DustyBrine: Summary 120

Beijing, blues, Saturday morning. Revisiting some Ike Quebec and settling back into my homestead routine. We made it to the 120 milestone. The cadence is much harder to keep when you’re on the road. That’s for sure. I have a rhythm to writing from a home office. Flying around in cabs, going through tunnels, waiting in airports for planes, delayed. It’s much harder to have the equanimity to do write something other than stream of consciousness gibberish. The cadence takes on a life of its own with the power wedge itself in front of what would otherwise be “pressing”, “critical” things.

A day in town. Meeting with a country manager, and my younger daughter by my side. Armed with a lap top, a wireless connection an iPhone, a novel, and a menu, she was completely at ease for the one and three quarters of an hour I met. “Ahh, you want desert? No problem. I’ll put on the timer. Read your novel for the next half hour. Then, desert is yours.” It worked. She’s reading the third book in the Chronicle of Narnia as I’d mentioned, by C.S. Lewis, “A Horse and his Boy.” I’d forgotten the premise. But of course, the horse can talk and it, rather than the boy, leads them both out of the grim human world, back to Narnia. So far so good, even though there isn’t a major, motion picture to fall back on for framing.

Everyone wants to watch a movie. That means they’ll be needing this lap top I’m writing on. Time to post this 120^th entry summary and get on with our evening. Reviewing, as usual, heavy on jazz, heavy with reliance on Wiki and the NY Times for sources. Only three out of nineteen musicians introduced were women. The next time we summarize Chinese New Year will be behind us and the spring will not be here, but it will almost be within reach. Perhaps, maybe, just maybe, it will have snowed by then.

Chengyu

1. 齐心协力: qíxīnxiélì: to work with a common purpose (idiom); to make concerted efforts / to pull together / to work as one

2. 含商咀征hánshāngjǔzhēng: permeated with beautiful music (idiom)

3. 星罗棋布: xīngluóqíbù: scattered about like stars in the sky or chess pieces on a board (idiom); spread all over the place

4. 丧权辱国: sàngquánrǔguó: to forfeit sovereignty and humiliate the country (idiom) / to surrender territory under humiliating terms

5. 恃强欺弱: shìqiángqīruò: to use one's strength to mistreat people (idiom) / to bully

6. 温文尔雅: wēnwén'ěryǎ: cultured and refined (idiom); gentle and cultivated

7. 老调重弹: lǎodiàochóngtán: to play the same old tune (idiom); unoriginal

8. 不念旧恶: bùniànjiù'è： do not recall old grievances (idiom, from Analects); forgive and forget

9. 门当户对: méndānghùduì: the families are well-matched in terms of social status (idiom) / (of a prospective marriage partner) an appropriate match

10. 飞鹰走马 fēiyīngzǒumǎ: to ride out hawking (idiom); to hunt

11. 雪中送炭: xuězhōngsòngtàn: lit. to send coal during snow (idiom); fig. timely help / to provide help when one most needs it

12. 抱残守缺:bàocánshǒuquē: to cherish the outmoded and preserve the outworn (idiom); conservative / stickler for tradition

13: 百无聊赖: bǎiwúliáolài: bored to death (idiom) / bored stiff / overcome with boredom

14: 乌七八糟: wūqībāzāo: everything in disorder (idiom) / in a hideous mess / obscene / dirty / filthy

15. 炉火纯青: lúhuǒchúnqīng: lit. the stove fire has turned bright green (allusion to Daoist alchemy) (idiom) / fig. (of an art, a technique etc) brought to the point of perfection

16. 岌岌可危: jíjíkěwēi: imminent danger (idiom); approaching a crisis

17. 瞬息万变 shùnxīwànbiàn: in an instant a myriad changes (idiom); rapid substantial change

18. 雷厉风行: léilìfēngxíng: pass like thunder and move like the wind (idiom); swift and decisive reaction

19. 开卷有益: kāijuànyǒuyì lit. opening a book is profitable (idiom); the benefits of education

Music Introduced

The Beatles, “Flying” from “Magical Mystery Tour”, 1967

Luna: Voodoo Chile, Slight Return and Little Wing, 2013

Ron Carter, “Tamalpais”, 2001.

Roy Ayers, Fela Kuti: “Africa-Centre of the World.”1980

Wayne Shorter, “Adam’s Apple” 1966

Don Byas “Lover Man”, “Paris Recordings 1946–1954.”

Avril Lavigne, “Here’s to Never Growing Up” 2013