| A blog about making things work, because they have to. | |||||
 |
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
About Recent Posts Ancient History Blogs I Read Sites I Frequent Also Along the Way Projects |
Thursday, 29 March 2007 The majority of Brits drink instant coffee ("just 3 per cent of British adults regularly drink ground coffee, while 44 per cent will opt for instant"). Can you believe it? I think you can already imagine the length of the rant I could go on about drinking instant coffee. For all the commotion there is built around the British sensibility, especially concerning tea, one would get the impression that their taste in teas and civility would automatically transfer to coffee.
Clearly, this is not the case. I have randomly polled my colleagues, and not a single one of them has a drip coffee maker that practically every coffee-drinking American does. And only a select few of them have French presses, and even then would not take use them to quickly make coffee before work. One would assume that Americans, for all their concern (anxiety?) for time and interest in practicality and efficiency that they too would opt for instant coffee. But it seems that our counterparts across the Atlantic have more have even a greater concern for convenience than Americans do to take five mintues to perculate real coffee using a filter and coffee grounds. One can imagine the quality of instant coffee. Wikipedia also comments on the quality of instant coffee. They say "furthermore, some coffee drinkers object to its taste. In particular, the percentage of caffeine in instant coffee is less, and undesirable bitter flavor components are more evident. The lowest quality coffee beans are used in the production of instant coffee (the best beans are usually kept to be sold whole)." The quick things in life are rarely fufilling; it is the things which take time that prove to be the best. (I refer here to fast food, which despite earning points for being quick, cheap, and easy, is rarely healthy nor truly satisfying. Compare this to a three course meal that takes two hours to prepare, and another two hours to eat.) Perculated coffee is so rare in England that even the renowned American (although now, pervasively international) corportation Starbucks does not serve perculated coffee in any of its franchises in the UK. If you do order a Café Americano in Starbucks here, they will make it by simply adding hot water to a double shot of expresso. Now I would expect such practice to take place in Italy (and it does) but from an American born corporation? I have tried such a concoction and while it is superior to instant coffee, I can still taste an (inferior) difference to perculated coffee. Yet in such a discussion I might be branded a cultural xenophobe and criticized for being intolerant of the host culture. The question remains: How does one sort through the confusion? When does it become ok for an individual to delineate between the alternatives and and for each of the alternatives to become subject to evaluation? Certainly after one has experienced (even if not directly) the affects of each of the alternatives? Perhaps giving thought to this matter is like inspecting a map before a journey. And although looking at a map is not the same thing as traveling, it at least provides orientation, a sense of place – especially those one would like to visit. Conversely, a person who neglects such orientation is like a stranger, mapless, in a foreign land. And for the one whom stands lost and without directions, any turning in the road is as good as any other, and if it does takes him somewhere worthwhile it will have done so by the merest of chance. Likewise, all attempts to impartially evaluate coffee (or the places one would like to visit) makes no sense unless we decide that quality (the map) does not matter. Therefore everything – though, as a result, nothing – is good. This position would be defensible were it not for once conditions. This complication centers on the point that not all coffee is equally good. And what purpose would this leave the culturally savvy, those who are informed (either by experience or education), if this were true? Furthermore, what does this say about the state of knowledge: that it is suspect? So to wrap up this exceedingly forbidding discourse on coffee and evaluation, and in true elitist (read selective) fashion, I will reference Socrates who famously said that the unconsidered life is not worth living. He meant that a life lived without principle is a life so vulnerable to chance, and so dependant on the choices and actions of others, that is of little real value to the person living it. Monday, 26 March 2007 Now I shall offer some cultural notes about England. (Imagine this being said in a posh British accent.) The first of these notes is about grocery stores (i.e. supermarkets). Just like there are options in an American (capitalistic) culture, such as Pick n’ Save or Festival, so there are a few supermarkets that may be chosen to frequent in England: ASDA, Morrison's, Marks & Spencer, or Sainsbury’s. The first, ASDA, is owned by Wal-mart. The first time I lived in England ASDA only sold groceries, but it seems now, through talks with the my co-workers, that ASDA had morphed into a Super Wal-mart type entity, where clothes, appliances, produce, canned and frozen foods, and other house wares may all be purchased in one check-out line. Despite the fact that ASDA was my closest option while living in Cambridge and is equally as close to my home in Manchester, I cannot bring myself to support the dubious business practices of the Wal-mart corporation. Just as I remain suspicous and try to avoid Wal-mart as though it were the plague when I am back in Wisconsin, so I refuse to patron their sister company on the Isles. Morrison’s is the grocery that I use, perhaps because of convenience. It is the closest supermarket to my residence, and is identical to Pick n’ Save in size and selection, and even in store layout. Morrison’s is even big enough in size to have full size carts (or, as they are referred to here, trolleys) and wide aisles, wide as any in the supermarkets in the States. I suppose it should be noted that most of the grocery stores here only have baskets, or tiny carts (which aren’t too much larger than the baskets, but at least are on wheels) simply because their aisles are narrower, their stores smaller, and there are just as many, if not more, patrons in the store. But I genuinely do like going to Morrison’s. Their selection is overall of a high-quality, and the atmosphere is nice. I dread grocery stores that feel lifeless, removed, inhospitable (take your choice) – even if their prices are cheaper. I have to feel comfortable when I go to purchase my groceries. After all, I will be consuming the food that I am buying there, which is an intimate event in and of itself. So it would make sense that the grocery buying experience should mirror the actual eating of food; I should feel comfortable when I purchase items for an intimate event, and not detached while putting the bottle of olive oil in my basket under the sterile hum of fluorescent lights. Sainsbury’s is also a nice option, and would probably be my choice if there was one nearby. The closest one is in Manchester, which is a fifteen-minute tram ride from the suburb of Eccles. Sainsbury’s costs a bit more than ASDA or Morrison’s, but makes up for it in the quality of the products and the look of the store. The store’s livery is brilliant blue and orange, and these corporate colors are often used on the packaging of the products, which makes buying groceries an exciting visual event in its own right. I remember frequenting Sainsbury’s back in Cambridge, walking up, across town on St. Andrews Street with Stacy to purchase either two, heavier or four, lighter plastic bags of groceries. (That was all we could carry back.) The apple and orange juice containers were especially brilliant. The containers would have a sliced half of an (green) apple or orange on the top half, while the bottom portion with its description of its contents would have white lettering on a grass green field for the apple juice container, or on a blue field for the orange juice container. Marks & Spencer is the most high-end of the grocery stores, but they also cost the most. The stores even look classy in a minimal, modern sort of fashion. Although, I never really went much to Marks & Spencer, even though it was closer than Sainsbury’s in Cambridge, largely because of the cost. However, they put together many fresh foods that are even though are technically speaking are pre-prepared, are still healthy in that sort of suburban chic way that you would think are from a just as fashionable restaurant if they were presented to you removed from its packaging and on a plate. (They probably don’t add tons of unnecessary salt and other preservatives because the people who can afford to buy the food probably are also intelligent enough to be health conscious, and therefore refuse to consume such processed foods.) Anyway, there is the inanely elitist low-down on supermarket culture in the UK. Friday, 23 March 2007 I have also uploaded some pictures of the trip so far. There isn't many of them, but I will add more after this weekend. Thursday, 22 March 2007 This does not mean that I will not write anyone emails or send postcards or snail-mail letters, but I hope to decrease the amount of time I spend composing mail as it does take a bit of time. With teaching for eight hours of the day, going to the post-office, grocery-store, and other daily business (read chores), as well as “getting to know Manchester” (admittedly, sight-seeing) and the rest of England, and Europe, and then on top of that reporting to everyone back home, (not to mention down-time) there is little time to compose such mail. Yet I do want to email you. I am not simply trying to provide an excuse for not writing you. But as with all things in life, compromise is necessary. The blog, when viewed in this light can be seen a practical solution. The blog allows me to write all of you at once; and rather than mere writing, the blog also allows me to show you photos of my travels. I can hear your responses across the Atlantic and through your computer monitors “Facebook!” But you can cease rattling your swords and daggers; you know already know my response. I remain committed to those who do not blindly fall into line with Facebook; contrary to popular belief, not everyone uses Facebook. Besides, all life is a compromise. Tuesday, 20 March 2007 Today I went to the grocery (a word the Brits would never use, its the 'super market'). Speaking of British English, here are some other "Britishisms" (they refer to my use of our terms as "Americanisms"): St. Patrick's, the school l teach at, has a distinct look to it in comparison to the style of schools built in America at the same time. It has a more "open" design concept than those in Wisconsin because the climate in Manchester is quite mild, and allows for students to pass from class to class, building to building without freezing in the middle of January. There are four artrooms in the department: three general art classrooms (for drawing, painting, printing, sculpture) and one computer lab, mainly used for digital photography (there is no traditional, chemical-based photography). Actually, I think their artrooms feel more like middle school art classrooms than high school art rooms, which makes perfect sense considering their secondary schools teach students from ages 11-16. My cooperating teacher and I are discussing what skills I have and what I might want to teach so that I may be set up with a set of classes. It appears as though I will be taking over a collection of classes from the lot of teachers, one or two from each, as appossed to all of the classes from one teacher. Their set-up seems to be more fluid as the classes are typically not set up by media, but are general art courses set up by grade level. Each teacher has their own section of each grade, but are not compelled to have the same cirriculum as their colleagues put on. The teachers also share each other's classrooms, rather than having complete rule over their own classroom. More observations on my first week of experiencing Art Education in the UK. Sunday, 18 March 2007 Here is a photo from this flight. Irony at its finest (working title). I am still trying to understand why an airline would advertise such a thing to those passengers who have no spare room to move their legs about. Do they think they are reassuring their customers that they are being treated the finest or does is it just throwing the obvious in my face? The conference went well. Each of my presentations ended with good feedback and looks as though some sort of activity will result because of the ideas discussed. I think I will be writing an article for the WAEA Times (Wisconsin Art Ed publication) as a call for students to organize and share ideas and be able to obtain monies at the state level, not just at the university or national level. I will also continue to work on my 'Saints and Art Education' research and refine it a bit so that later I will hopefully be able to publish in a journal. So that's good, when ideas become more than just ideas, but translated into actions. One thing turns into another: water into wine. As for New York outside the conference hotel I I would have liked to get to the Whitney or the Frick or the Museum of Natural History - I have not been to the latter two yet. But I was only able to get over to MOMA, and only because it was a block away from the hotel and I had some time over the lunch break on Thursday. They had an exhibition of Jeff Wall's photography which, I think (contrary to many other "critics"), didn't assert anything new about either the state of the art world or our postmodern condition as the work simply reiterated the academically popular disenchantment (about everything?) that is susupicious of and therefore resists any sort of essentialism. But we went out quite a bit for dinner, mostly to SOHO or the lower east side: Afghani, Spanish. On Saturday night Landon, Alyssa, and I ordered out traditional Irish: corned beef, red potatoes, and cabbage. We ordered out because Landon had to work in the studio that night, but Landon set up his working space quite quaintly despite the fighting by hip hoppers in the studio below us - and besides, we didn't have to deal with the loud (drunk?) Irish, and probably more non-Irish. (You know, those who only wish they were.)
Thursday, 15 March 2007 Yesterday was a long day as I left for, arrived, and settled into in New York. The flight was early (6AM), which put us in Laguardia at 11:10, and about an hour later in Manhattan. We couldn't check into our hotel room because of the hoards of art educators that have flooded the hotel for the conference. (Mind you they said our room would be ready by 3PM) So we checked in our luggage and proceded to the conference. We had to present at 3:30 so it was crazy getting settled in so quickly and preparing our presentation to other art ed folks. Luckily the presentation (Finding Funds to Bring Pre-Service Students to the National Convention) was more informative than theoretical so I didn't have to fret about sounding like a foolish intellectual. I just had to talk about my previous (sucessful) experiences in traveling to the conferences expense free and how other students might be able to get money from their own universities (institutions?) to do the same. Then after presentations were winding down for the day we got ready to go out for the night. We proceeded to get the key for our room, which we figured shouldn't be a problem considering it was 6PM. Wrong. The room was still not ready (despite their own 3PM deadline). So we went out to go get Indian food, but on the way I needed to stop over to Legacy Studio where Landon works to drop off the plates that he commissioned me to do (below). After that we head to the lower east side for Indian, but instead opted on Afghani. Below is the first photo I tried taking myself with Times Square in the background, but as you can see with little success considering the main criterion was to see Times Square so as to locate ourselves. For all this photo says, we could be as well in any city. Now at least you can see Times Square (Success!? Ah, ubiquitous Times Square photo). Here it is anyway. So its been awhile since I posted. Many things have are starting to coalesce (read collide), and have (are) taken(ing) up a lot of time but it will all work itself out – it has to. Google Earth |
||||
