I’m
in the back of a cab in Nan Shan, Shenzhen. The aircon is cranking and I am still sweating. Waiting at a light for a left turn. We passed at least three fender benders
on the way over here. A black Mercedes
has just pulled up directly in front of us at the light, oblivious. German pride. I have watched none of the world cup thus far but this
morning, after reading about Brazil’s devastating loss to Germany 7:1, I
loitered around the otherwise stuffy lounge-floor breakfast site to watch the
beginning of Brazil’s demise on the home court. As a colleague said, “once they lost the first goal, they
got nervous and tried desperately to catch up instead of defending. This was their big mistake.” So many fans in the national stadium for the national game, and then, to start loosing, very tough not to flip your wig.
Just dropped that colleague off at the Shenzhen Harbor
crossing. I’d never been there to
that one before. It looked clean,
orderly. Not at all like the usual
Shenzhen boarder crossing aesthetic.
Perhaps I’ll feel different when I actually use it. Now I am driving along the highway
beside the coast. It also looks neat
and orderly. The horticulture on
the side of the road could be straight out of Singapore. And once you turn in to the actual city it feels very much
like Shenzhen. How long then,
before the world truly marvels at the cleanliness and orderliness of Shenzhen? How long before the Pearl River Delta
is so well connected that it is simply knows as GuangZhenKong, the world’s
biggest city?
The Times had an interesting piece about our man profiled
yesterday, the one, Xi Jinping.
This analysis suggests that he’s a bit of a one man band, independently
deciding upon matters like the unilateral declaration of an air defence zone,
the moving of the oil rig into an area contested with Vietnam in the Paracels,
and presumably the “Remember the Maine” media assault memorializing 77 years
since the Marco Polo Bridge incident and the beginning of the Japanese War of
Aggression in China. Can these all
be the thrusts of one mind, under one wig?
In this analysis, Xi views Obama as a lame duck and is
pushing for all he can get.
He is the sole power broker on the seven member standing committee and
the other six just do his bidding.
This all sounds a bit like its been served up though. I need to check with a friend or two
who would have some more immediate insights. China likes a strong man, and the West likes to imagine one,
but the system isn’t necessarily built for mavericks. It is hard to imagine anyone, short of the first emperor of
a new dynasty with the power to truly act independently. It doesn’t matter what your princely
pedigree is, this system never has much patience for a 独来独往[1] individual. With so many interlocking power blocks that stabilize
this place, there is only so much one man can do to chart an independent
course. Xi will be allowed to
appear a Maverick until an initiative of which he has many, begins to
backfire.
I was enjoying some of my new friend Dodo Marmarosa here in
this lonely Shenzhen hotel room and had a look at some of the cast playing with
him. Jackie Mills was a popular
session drummer at the time that caught my eye. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jackie-mills-mn0000781759/biography
All I could find of his was this disc I’m listening to now,
upon which he is featured.
But this set belongs to Gerry Wiggins who, whether he liked
it or not was told to release a number of albums with titles like “Wiggin’ Out”
and “Wiggin’ With the Wig.” I’m
listening to “Teach Me Tonight” from the prior album released in 1960 and his
strong attack on the organ is yet another interesting contrast to the many fine
Hammond Organ players we’ve been indulging in. Born in New York he moved to Los Angeles in the 1940s
where he obviously met Harold Land that famous west coast tenor player whom
I’ve profiled before, and who’s blowing confidently now above GW’s none to
subtle chord thrusts; one man, one Wig, but most assuredly a collective
improvisation.
[1] dúláidúwǎng:
coming and going alone (idiom); a lone operator / keeping to oneself /
unsociable / maverick
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