Blog posts

Four Friends Coffee House has been one of those places I’ve been meaning to visit since I first started visiting Grand Rapids. One of the town’s more talked about coffee shops, it was also one of the earlier adopters of WiFi. Finally, this evening I’ve made it here. The first thing that struck me was the good sized tables found towards the rear of the cafe. Too many coffee shops are stuck with tables not really suited to a work environment so a few tables with space for more than one laptop is a welcome sight. A few more power outlets and it’d make a very good spot for meetings. The connection clocks up at a respectable 345kbps up/228kbps down—nothing outstanding, but definitely usable for most tasks. ...

Howard French’s penultimate January Series lecture couldn’t have been more different than that which preceded it. Where Frank Deford offered light-hearted stories, French dug deep into the issues facing Africa and its portrayal in the West. Where Deford had a light, informal stream-of-consciousness approach, French read from a script in a manner that was often hard to follow, but rewarded careful attention. French’s style was hard to follow. A Senior Writer for the New York Times, he demonstrated very clearly the skill with prose and clear grasp of critical issues that won him that position but was much more impressive when questioning took him away from his script. Nevertheless, his topic was a vital one and I sincerely hope he made the impact it deserved. ...

It took me two years to notch up my first two hundred posts on this blog. It’s taken only six months to reach this three hundredth entry. I wondered whether the increased posting frequency was due to several months without work, but looking back it seems I actually blog at least as frequently during the busy times. I suspect the pressure to focus disparate thoughts and observations in a tighter timeframe results in less procrastination and more writing. ...

There’ve been several interesting comments following from my entry on Tom Ackerman’s lecture about climate change, particularly on whether the issue needs to be de-politicised. Eric contends that the issue needs to be de-politicised, while Jim responded that he doesn’t feel that the answer lies that way (but don’t take my brief summary for it, do go back and read their comments) I think it’s important to note a difference here between the ways ‘political’ issues work in the US, in the UK, and in other parts of the world. In the US it is easy to develop a view that the Democrats are pro-environment and the Republicans are anti-environment. Climate change as a political issue often becomes a partisan issue, getting thrown around just like any other. While British politics is often subject to the same dangers, the existence of a prominent third party and a slightly more nuanced debate leaves me believing that it might be possible for climate change issues to be political without becoming quite so starkly partisan. ...

At times during Frank Deford’s January Series talk, it felt a little like he didn’t believe people like me exist. A sports writer, occasionally he’d pass reference to women who didn’t like sports, but I kept getting the feeling non-sportsfan men were an alien concept to him. But lest that sound too negative, the talk was probably one of the most entertaining to date. His gentle storytelling style, mostly stream-of-consciousness made a subject I normally can’t muster the interest to follow quite fascinating. ...

I had the plan quite carefully laid. I needed to have a meeting this morning that meant I couldn’t make it to Calvin for the January Series today, so I ensured the meeting was scheduled with plenty of time for me to listen in online, and enacted at Kava House so there would be WiFi at hand. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a clear stream. I quickly gave up. If the talk is archived, I’ll try and listen in and continue my commentary. ...

It was clear as Tom Ackerman gave a quick précis before launching into his talk proper that there was no real question for him about global warming. Though his January Series talk, " Global Warming: Fact or Fiction," was dominated by a hasty journey through a series of graphs showing the unprecedented levels of carbon dioxide currently increasing the levels of ozone gases trapping heat within our atmosphere, and models clearly suggesting the human role in that CO2 buildup, Tom Ackerman is clearly as convinced as most of the rest of the world: global climate change is a reality, it has been deeply affected by human involvement, and we have already done untold damage to the earth which will be felt for generations. ...

Managing Editor of Newsweek by the age of 29, Jon Meacham has certainly had a glittering career to date. His memory for details and ability to apply those details to the questions he was asked give some insight into that meteoric rise. Beyond those attributes, Meacham’s enthusiasm for the topic of the relationship between Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill and his respect for those two men was more than apparent in today’s January Series lecture. ...

By far the most personal offering so far, Barbara Omolade’s story of coming of age in the civil rights movement was concisely presented as today’s contribution to the January Series. Omolade is currently Calvin’s first Dean of Multicultural Affairs and a noted expert on minority involvement in US Higher Education. While the focus on the presentation was principally to chart the journey from youthful membership of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to her present position, Omolade also slipped in a thesis of ‘generational challenges.’ When asked a question about the success of the Civil Rights movement, Omolade argued that it had met its goals and achieved that generation’s challenge. Our task, she suggested was to identify the corollary challenges of today, and there was a hint that she sees that as extending some of the freedoms of civil rights globally. ...

Last month I tipped my virtual hat to the Yes Men, talking about how much I enjoy hearing reports about their brand of agitprop comedy. I was, therefore, delighted to discover that Grand Rapids Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts would be screening the 2003 documentary The Yes Men Movie. We managed to see it on Thursday night, accompanied by Kate and Nathan, and it was quite a ride. Following the group from their origins back in 1999, through their early stunts and up to their announcement of the closure of the WTO, it was a very personal telling of their story. The production quality was generally pretty low, with footage largely coming from handheld cameras which often had to be hidden from watchful security guards. Those coming into the film without an understanding of the ills of global trade that the Yes Men are trying to draw attention to won’t find all that much exposition, but I would guess it would still be both entertaining and thought provoking. ...