Justifiable Jitters

It's the first day at work, so the day requires a suit and tie. First impressions are important, making a good one counts.

Getting up at 6am and leaving at 7 am, the short walk to the neighborhood metro station is pleasant. Clearly the proverbial calm before the storm; the ride is not pleasant.

Have you seen that commercial where the little boy imagines cheezits are made by smashing a meteor size piece of cheddar into one little cracker dropped from an airplane? That's the feeling riding in the Shanghai metro during rush hour. Real tight. With brief cases, backpacks, babies, and luggage, the space separating you from the next guy is microscopic. Over a million people ride the Shanghai metro from 7 -10 am, and it feels like all of them are on THIS CAR.

In China, the expectation is to be first. this carries into many different aspects of the culture (more to come in a future blog on taxis). Sidestepping, cutting in line,and flat out bogarting your way through is not only allowed but necessary and expected. It's no surprise to see someone within a breath of the subway doors when they open regardless of the time of day.

In basketball terms this is called 'establishing position' or in coach speak 'beating him/her to the spot' and it seems the Chinese people are coached by Phil Jackson in executing this play. I have been 'beat to the spot' at grocery stores, restaurants, and well, basketball since I've been here.

when you are this close to someone there is an instant intimacy. Normally, you are only this close with people you really care about or love, familiars that you share your secrets and fears. Your partner is now a stranger, a foreigner, a farmer, or a beggar all crushing your personal space with their own force of personality and The only way to find balance is through distraction. So there is a preponderance of electronic devices on the ride. headphones connected to phones, ipods, and PSPs playing music, games, and even movies. Traditionalists attempt to read a newspaper, but it is only an act, the squeeze allows for little movement, much less page folding or turning. Never the less, the illusory turns are taken, providing the necessary respite for the commute.

At each stop, rinse and repeat. No one gets off, more people push in. The noose is tightened with each slide of the two hours, three transfers, and over 20 stops later, the Jing 'An Temple station arrives. Another short 10 minute walk to the office provides a short respite from the claustrophobic car but the humidity hits like a hammer, condensing all the body heat (and odor) that was vacuumed sealed during the two hour canning process in the subway.

Some of you might remember the Nickelodeon show "You Can't Do That on Television". It was a sort of SNL but with kids, and whenever a cast member said "I don't know" a bucket of slime would cover them. The show didn't last long but the tradition of 'sliming' on Nick did. Entering the office doors and walking up to the reception desk, it was as if someone said those magic words and a wash of the morning's adventure materialized.

I walked in to the scene when my boss asked me to meet the new intern and fill out paperwork. My first day was easy, short 10 minute taxi ride to the office doors, fresh pressed and feeling good. I walked in on a scent out of YCDTOT: the new intern completely slimed and filling out orientation papers. I greeted him and immediately felt uncomfortable for him. Of course the conference room was the "cold room" - you know, the one that's always freezing. Unaffected, Hugo sat through that 30 minute orientation with a serenity only seen in pictures of Belizean beaches.

I immediately formed a respect and admiration for Hugo. he told me the story you just read about his metro ride. Twice a day for the next two months Hugo will ride the rail. Four hours a day, five days a week he will spend it riding the metro to and from an unpaid job.

As other interns checked in over the next week, I realized Hugo's story is not unique. Kelvin, Derek and Teresa ride a bus ranging from 30 to 90 minutes. Jessie walks for 40 minutes to a bus ride of 30 minutes.

My first impressions of this intern team: Durable, Persistent, Dedicated. It's going to be a good summer.

The Anti-Globalization Breakfast Club

As President Obama recently celebrated his first 100 days in office, I also celebrated my first 10 days in China. And it’s not much different than Arkansas (language, size, and halfway around the world aside). My sponsor, the American Chamber of Commerce – Shanghai, hosts a multitude of programs featuring high profile speakers with global impact.

Recently I attended an AmCham program featuring global activist and political columnist Laurence Brahm. I have a passing interest in environmentalism (only due to my wife’s intense interest) but I was completely mesmerized by this man.

Brahm is a corporate lawyer turned international crisis mediator in Southeast Asia (SEA). He also writes a political column for the South China Morning News http://www.laurencebrahm.com/south-china-morning-post/stimulus-on-steroids . Authoring several books on SEA economics and politics, he talked about his most recent book, The Anti-Globalization Breakfast Club. This offering “chronicles the key highlights from his years as the central bank advisor to Asian economies and shares his insights about the policy decisions made by the IMF and the World Bank. Speaking with leading international activists, he also explains reasons behind the often-violent protests associated with the anti-globalization movement at major economic conventions.”

The contrasting tone of the title immediately received my attention. ‘Anti-globalization’ instantly steeps the kettle while ‘Breakfast Club’ adds a couple of sugar cubes to sweeten the pot. Brahm took titling to another level here and uses it to appeal to a wide range of readers, from the vociferous eco-warrior to the tea-sipping humanist. Very clever.

I did some research before the event, to brush up on Brahm's history of advocacy. He has a strong reputation in South East Asia, particularly with the Chinese government. In the 90’s, Brahm consistently advocated for local, grassroots development of corporate law instead of adoption of a US based system in Laos, Mongolia, Vietnam, and China. Not only did this save those countries time and money, but also a total invasion of US legal wranglers.

Beijing’s appreciation was expressed through an exclusive opportunity to purchase a precious and rapidly shrinking hutong - walled rows of residences prominently featuring a courtyard - from the Beijing government. Many of these unique and historic architectural buildings were urban renewal candidates, replaced by newer, more modern structures. Brahm and other supporters stepped in to advocate for their preservation. His work raised awareness and slowed the rate of demolition, but Beijing continues to schedule them for demolition.

Brahm's first hutong purchase housed his office and administrative operations, but due to requests for weddings and other events, he purchased and renovated an additional hutong to use as an entertainment facility. The Red Capital Club is one of the world's premiere destinations, featuring historic communist memorabilia long thought lost or destroyed http://www.redcapitalclub.com.cn/
More recently, Brahm has dove into social enterprise, creating documentary films about Tibet: Searching for Shangri-la and Shambhala Sutra. These films chronicle his search for the mystical monastery and subsequent discovery of Shambhala. http://www.shambhalastudios.tv/

Besides showing brief clips of the documentaries during lunch, Brahm didn’t much about preserving architecture or filmmaking. He dove headfirst into outlining an alternate response to the “dark side” of globalization, the Washington Consensus. This failed policy, Brahm accuses, opens the labor market of underdeveloped economies to exploitation by companies from more developed economies. Brahm argued people on the street have to buy into the economic system in order for it to work for them. Without that, the system is vastly less effective.

His brainchild, the Himalaya Consensus, embraces three major tenets. First, throw out the economic theories and models and use pragmatism, not ideology. Secondly, encourage and support cultural and ethnic diversity by drawing on indigenous values as guiding principals of economic development. Lastly, allow each country to develop its own political system, without interference from outside powers.

This resonated with me. I always felt that despite our proselytizing of global democracy, it doesn’t work for everyone. No country should be obligated to adopt it. Heck, we don’t do a great job at it most of the time.

Not to say Brahm’s theory is without issue. An audience member pointed out that indigenous beliefs can often conflict with human rights concerns, particularly gender issues. Brahm acknowledged this, mentioning the opportunity to incrementally bridge social rights with economic growth, which sounded eerily like the ‘invisible hand’ approach that he condemned as “greedy”.

Regardless, Brahm is on to something new and refreshing, breathing a healthy dose of Eastern ‘hope’ and ‘change’ into my first 10 days in Shanghai. If AmCham continues to hit home runs like this, I just need to find a few folks that will say ‘ya’ll’ and ‘yonder’ and I’ll be right at home.



Please also check out Brahm’s recent TV appearance on CNBC where he discusses Himalayan Consensus, and how a new financial order based on grass-roots initiatives needs to emerge. http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1132961024&play=1

Time magazine has a more cynical view of Brahm here: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,418623,00.html

Working Wonders

Originally posted on facebook Monday, June 8, 2009

Besides getting lost, eating food, and blogging about it to ya’ll, I’ve actually done some work. My project only began a week ago, so there hasn’t been a whole lot happening with it. I have done a ton of research, which led me to form a new respect for Boston College. They may have the leading research organization for corporate social responsibility in the world: Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship. I may have to talk with a classmate who is a graduate of BC about his familiarity with this center. They have a depth and breadth of empirical data that goes far beyond my experience. I have enjoyed the last four days of reading their incredibly well written reports. What they do lack is real nuts and bolts type documents; some people just want a step by step process and BCCCC has not been great about providing those resources. So I’m in conversation with BC people to try and work with them to create that process.

The US Consulate’s staff in Shanghai gave a briefing on the latest issues affecting China and Shanghai to AmCham members. The staff discussed the recent visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the accompanying delegation to Shanghai. All reports from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s visit to Beijing were positive as well. GM China is a profitable division of General Motors and will not be affected by the issues in the U.S. The U.S. pavilion at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai was a hot topic. The pavilion still has to be purchased by the US, but the Consulate’s office reassured the attendees that Secretary of State Hilary Clinton had made personal calls to several CEOs to secure funding.

I attended the third annual Being Globally Responsible Conference at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). The two day conference is a student led effort to raise awareness of Corporate Social Responsibility among MBA students and expand their knowledge of how CSR is embraced by corporations. Over 20 MBA programs from across China and the world attended the conference. The conference features speakers from within the industry, government organizations and international NGOs, most notably author John Perkins (Confessions of an Economic Hitman) and Grameen bank co-founder Dipal Barua. My host presented at the workshop and invited me to attend. I appreciated the sincere interest and passion of these business students. The theme of ‘profitable responsibility’ underlined the conference: businesses can be profitable and provide an ethical and sustainable corporate culture. There are several quality examples in China like IBM, Bank of China, and Bayer that I will be exploring this summer.

Cultural challenges - as expected – are the biggest so far. I do not live near a metro line, so taking a taxi, a bus or walking are my primary options. That requires some ability to communicate with local providers. I feel like my research and briefings have properly prepared me for this issue. I have a list of frequented locations that are written in Mandarin to show the taxi driver. I also study a phrasebook to assist with pronunciation of street names as an alternative to the written form. So far I have been successful.

So not all fun and games in the big city, True Believers.

Sino Soul

Originally posted on facebook Saturday, June 6, 2009

So... I've been putting off the food commentary because I want to be able to show you pictures of what I eat. When my laptop gets here I will be able not only describe but show you what I've been eating. And anyone that knows me can tell you there are three things I love most in the world: my family, my dog, and food (and no, I don't include my dog in family because Hula's extra special! I miss my dog...).

Preparing for the trip, I expected to eat a variety of food here. China offers the usual meat group suspects and adds an adequate supply of lamb. Shanghai is near the coast so freshwater and saltwater seafoods are amply available.

I prepared for all outcomes by following the Theory of Enjoyable Eating: if its good going in, its probably going to be bad coming out (I know, I know TMI, but bare with me). Oddly, the older I get the truer this becomes. I can eat broccoli, carrots and rice and have a nice BM, but as soon as I eat my favorites like chicken curry, pasta with alfredo or fried...anything there's gonna be problems later. So, I came prepared. I have Tums, pepto, laxatives, and Cipro in case my stomach pretty much explodes.

10 days in and I'm feeling real good! I've had little to no problems AND - besides my KFC burger - I've stayed committed to Chinese food. My apartment is compressed by a mafia of restaurants (this will be clearer when I post a video of my 'hood). You can't sniff anything but Chinese food for a two block radius without a local 'mook' redirecting you to making a 'wiser' decision for your health.

You remember how I got lost, right? Well, that losting spawned a greater awareness of my hood. I counted over 25 eateries ON MY BLOCK. too many options often equate to analysis paralysis for me and frankly, the first couple of days were a struggle. I ate out once a day - lunch - and then retreated into my renewed love affair with ramen (the ramen noodles here have three flavor packs! THREE!! i don't have to add anything!!). When the Dragon Boat Holiday hit, the gods demanded homage, and I - as high priest - must comply.

Soooo, I had to make a choice. I've been to a lot of school so I used one of my favorite school lessons: process of elimination. This is a good tool to use in a foreign country as well as in every day life (Note to self: explore theory designation for this), particularly with issues of foodborn illness. With this as a guide, I disqualified establishments without outside seating. It's been a pleasant climate and I want to sit outside and enjoy the great weather. Then any food vendors, defined by just a storefront window or temporarily placed. Of particular interest were the entrepreneurs with basically a charcoal grill on the back of their scooters selling chicken on a stick (for the record, these eminate an incredibly scrumptious aromatic that is almost, ALMOST undeniable. It takes all my will to NOT immerse myself in its delecticity). Finally, I extinguished establishments without menu items pictured on something, either a menu or a window. Okay, so why pictures? well, I don't read mandarin and bilingual Chinese in my hood are not working in restaurants per se. I could ask, but I'm not there yet.

This process whittled it down to just four restaurants and, to my delight, all right under my 10th floor window! I decided to go with the restaurant with the biggest (though fading) pictures, assuming they have to want the expats' money more than the others. Ordering food was simple: I said Ni Hao (hello), pointed to what I wanted, and requested (pointed at) a Harbin (the local version of coors light, to my dismay). less than 3 minutes later, a hot bowl of beef cubes, a side of rice, and some bok choy relish comes out. I soon realize that my beef cubes are more than just meat in a bowl; they hide a secret compartment of buttery potatoes and sweet carrots - Beef stew! one of my favorites. the gods were pleased.

The next day was rinse and repeat, except I ordered a different dish. This had what looked like a mound layered glazed beef. To my surprise it bacon layered over a mound of ... greens! These weren't collards or mustards, it was a different green but something I clearly recognized. The bacon wasn't as salty or flavorful as I am accustomed and the greens were a little stemmy, but the flavors were wonderfully married and appropriately portioned.

With renewed hunger (and confidence) I returned to further test my highly successful hypothesis of picture perfect dining, thinking of what to call it as it ascends to 'theory' status. Two good and somewhat familiar meals in a row prompted a brief humming of a possible hip hop version of "its a small world after all" (if this doesn't exist, my dream team would be Jay Z featuring Diddy doing the intro, the queen of hiphop soul Mary J Blige singing the chorus, TPAIN synthesized hook, and produced by Will.I.am. someone make this happen). I pick a picture of what looks like chicken and mushrooms and prepare for the gods to rain down their culinary blessings, dismissing the "are you sure?" look from my waiter. in a short 3 minutes I am presented with my bowl of rice, side of cabbage relish, Harbin's (clear sign of "Norm" status as a regular) and a steaming pot of ... chitlins. Yep, CHITLINS!!

The gods apparently requested amusement that day, because I bellowed a laugh that roared throughout the area that froze other diners mid bite, turned heads, and nearly caused a 10 taxi pile up (okay, this last one is not true, but a cabbie did shoot me a glare). The waiter asked me if everything was okay (at least I think he did) and summoned the chef. The chef asked me as well (at least I think he did) but I couldn't stop laughing. The irony of this was too much. I had run into a CHINESE SOUL FOOD RESTAURANT! What are the odds that the only Black man in the area would chose to frequent the one soul food restaurant in the area?

Well, I figured that this is just what I deserve, so I dug in. What passed through my lips is beyond description. The tender, moist meat melted in my mouth. A surprisingly pleasantness engulfed me, and I instantly shifted into 'Jasmin eat mode' (Jasmin gets this particular mind set when she is happy with her meal. This is how I can tell if she truly enjoys something I cook), chewing with vigor, confidence and pride. The top layer of down home goodness hid the buttery potatoes, adding to high I was already on.

At home, I always squawk about somebody needing to cook some chitlins and then eating a small portion. I refuse to reheat them, they get all rubbery and chewy and lose their mystique. I finished my bowl of chinese chitlins that day, and I think my mom would be proud. But I think I've had my fill of family favorites in China for now, and I sense it's time to move on. Right next door, they cook something in a chafing dish over charcoals at your table, but they don't have pictures. I gonna have to make some friends soon...

A Fistful of Firsts

Originally posted on facebook Sunday, May 31, 2009 

Saturday was a day of firsts for me. I got my first blister. I stole my father-in-law's new hiking sandals as I was leaving KC on Saturday and promptly wore them on my adventure today. 7766 steps (thanks to my sister-in-law Cinnamon's pedometer gift) later in any shoe w/o socks will do that to you. 

I also had my first taxi 'drive around.' You know, were the taxi driver knows your foreign so decides to drive you around a bit to increase the fee. I was angry about it, but he got an extra 75 cents out of me, so it's not big deal, just a matter of principle. 

I attempted to attend my first Shanghai expats meeting at the English-named Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf www.coffeebean.com.cn. I found out about this meeting of English speakers living in Shanghai through a networking website aptly named Shanghai Expats www.shanghaiexpat.com. The meeting was scheduled to run from 1030-1230 and it was near a couple of major tourist attractions and a major metro station so I felt good about waltzing in and finding it without much difficulty. FAIL. Not only did I NOT find the Coffee Bean, but I got - your guessed it - lost. 

Taking a cab in Shanghai is very easy. And according to some NY natives easier than in Gotham. Cabs are readily accessible, the quickest form of transportation, arguably the safest (upcoming blog), and - unlike NYC cabs - readily willing to pick up a Brother at a moments notice. For a cost of 30RMB (@$4US) it is also very affordable. So it was no problem getting to the Zhongshan Park area from my apartment. Finding my way around the area was another issue.

My problem is that I get overconfident about my ability to navigate an unknown area. Right before I left, My wife and I attempted to go to Conway for church. A high school friend has a ministry there and I wanted to visit before I left. The directions were simple with three minor turns at three major intersections. We got lost. The major intersections were not major at all and... well, no excuses I just got cocky and therefore got lost! 

I have this Theory of Mapping: to appreciably chart an unknown area, you get out multiple maps that show different routes. So I got out my Shanghai streets map, my Metro line map, and my Tourists sites map. I plotted the location of the Coffee Bean, identified tourists landmarks, and marked major intersections. I do all this to avoid getting lost. Ideally.

I got out of the cab, looked around and immediately ID'ed Zhongshan Park. Walked east along Changning Lu to my destination inside Cloud Nine Mall. Everything was everything and I was on track.

Alright, so have I shared that most every sign has a Mandarin and an English version? Everywhere you go there is Mandarin and English joined in a happy marriage of understanding and guidance. It makes you feel very welcome and that language is not a barrier here. 

So entering the area just east of Zhongshan Park, I expected, EXPECTED an English sign for Cloud Nine Mall. And, of course, there wasn't! Moreover, I was surrounded by several "malls". there were outlets, malls, shopping centers, and an incredible metro station that connected it all. Every STORE had an English subtitle, but not all the buildings. 

This is usually where my complimentary half works things out pragmatically and figures how to find the right spot. I'm the big picture guy, she's the details lady. With her NOT here, I am done. 

So guess what I do? I WANDER AROUND! no surprise right? After about 2 hours of wandering and 1 hour after the end of the meeting, I find an English subtitled Cloud Nine mall and an empty Coffee Bean. Drats, foiled again.

So KFC is a big deal here. I watched a documentary on how KFC infiltrated the Chinese market and culture and has become a staple restaurant here. I wanted to avoid the fast food phenomena that happens outside of the US. Since I am familiar with the brand and products I have an expectation for what I should be eating, which leads being consistently disappointed. But I was encouraged by KFC. They had altered their product line to include traditional Chinese flavors and dishes. Also, they offer an unusual item which is the featured product in China - a hamburger. 

I didn't get the hamburger. That would have angered the Food god pantheon that govern my stomach- particularly the god of tastes goodness - not in a digestable manner but philosophically. But the god of tummy rumbles rules all, and I had to make a choice. I got a sandwich wrap combo. The wrap looked like a 'tortilla' wrapped around 'bbq' chicken and mushrooms ( I know, lots of quotation marks, but I can only give you what I can read on the menu. You're talking with a guy that's relegated to looking at pictures and pointing. I'm limited here.). The savvy check out girl immediately identifying me as an avid chicken eater and confidently offered me a side of wings - which replaces the traditional side item - at a small upsell cost. I can't recall any rap videos she would have watched where brothas are sitting around eating chicken, but she nailed it. Sometimes obvious truths transcends language and culture. So me, my side of two wings and the 'secret' sandwich wrap headed to the park. Needless to say, it was good. Couldn't argue with the flavors or speed of service. Actually ran better than a US KFC. With the sarcrifice hungrily accepted by the gods, I moved on. (note: I later found out by tooling around on the KFC website... I ate a burger and the gods were pleased. 
http://www.kfc.com.cn/kfccda/default.aspx Good luck navigating this!)

My rambles also placed me in beautiful Zhongshan Park. I don't know how to describe this park. It had so many great things in it: wide open green spaces, intimate paved paths, dedicated kid play area, carnival style rides, electric powered boats, and traditional songs and music. This experience deserves its own blog entry so I will talk more about it later. 

So 4 hours, 7700 steps, a blister, and an overpaid taxi driver got me a series of firsts today. Maybe I'll try to make the expats meeting on Sunday at Xitiandi. Where are my maps?... 

Morning Mayhem

Originally posted on facebook Friday, May 29, 2009

One Fine Day is a guilty pleasure of mine. The film is about a hectic day that gradually transforms the mutual disdain between two single working parents - a feisty architect (Michelle Pfeiffer) with a son, and a snide political columnist (George Clooney) with a daughter - into love. Not a particularly well made film, but I like it. In the movie, Clooney's young daughter, Maggie, has a tendency to wander off and get lost.

I had my day thoroughly planned this morning: get up, go out, pick up breakfast at a local coffee shop, come right back and watch the Magic/Cavalier game on Chinese ESPN. In my search for the coffee shop, I found the park. Changshou Park was hopping this morning, literally. A group of seniors were swing dancing, young parents were playing with their child, and lots and lots of Tai Chi. 

Now many of you know that I am a HUGE martial arts fan. As a kid I took lessons for several years and my grandfather raised me on Kung Fu Theater on Saturday afternoons (why won't someone bring this back? G4 or Spike would make a killing). I completely got caught up in watching groups deliberately work through the forms and stances of Tai Chi as well as some other forms of martial arts happening here. One group was in full dress and practicing sword forms. Magnificent.

This lead me to completely revise my plan. I had been itching to test a theory of acclimation: if you are new to an area, you can quickly acclimate yourself to the environment by working in a circle around your residence. So I started moving in a clockwise fashion around my residence, slowly increasing my distance every other left turn. 

Confused yet? Exactly. Cause that's what it got me! After about 3 blocks the line of sight to my apartment was lost in the forest of iron and glass, and I realized I was somewhere... else. With a bridge in front of me I realized that I didn't cross no bridge. 

Decision time. I had wandered away. Not only from my house in a super large city, but from my original plan. Now, I'm fine with revisions but I was not prepared for the potential of getting lost to this extent! I left my maps, backpack, and other assorted essentials necessary for a proper losting. If you are going to get lost at least be prepared to successfully find your way back. I was on the brink of a huge FAIL. 

One good thing about this theory of acclimation is that it does have a safety: since I kept turning left, the the center of the circle was left! I found my way to my home street, Jiang Ning road, and made it back. 

In the movie, little Maggie, was eventually found and got a kitten out of the deal. I eventually found my way back and stumbled into a market where I bought some great produce: bananas, nectarines and grapes. Good morning but I will have to develop better theories before I put them into practice

Dragon Boat Holiday

Originally posted on facebook Thursday, May 28, 2009

I look forward to participating in Chinese traditions and events while I am here. NFL football star Dhani Jones showed the way. His show "Dhani Tackles the World" features him in across the globe competing in indigenous sports, and recently featured him in the Dragon Boat races in China and I hoped to catch a glimpse of some racing.

This weekend marks the four day Dragon Boat Holiday. The holiday memorializes a Chinese hero who won the heart of the people. In 278BC, Qu Yuan drowned himself in Milou River in protest against a corrupt throne. A beloved minister and poet in the state of Chu, his suicide drew rescuers from nearby villages; they made zongzi and threw them in the river to protect Qu Yuan's body from being eaten by the fish. Zongzi is a traditional Chinese dish made of gelatinous rice, stuffed with either savory or sweet fillings, wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves and steamed or boiled (basically a Chipotle burrito with bamboo instead of a tortilla, except you don't eat the bamboo). Locals were also said to have paddled out on boats, either to scare the fish away or to retrieve his body. This is said to be the origin of dragon boat racing.

I missed the Expat (foreign nationals who live/work in China) dragon boat race last Sunday and most of the races across China seem to happen the Sunday before the holiday. But there was one today at 2pm on Suzhou Creek. I have an important meeting with my host and a corporate partner, so I missed the race and caught the news coverage last night.