Odds and Ends

Signing off for a bit...

I'm moving back to Oxford on Wednesday and am taking the next few weeks off from blogging to get my ducks in a row and myself on some sort of schedule. If a major event occurs somewhere in the world, I will try to ween myself away from duvet shopping, house keeping, haggling with British banks and Ph.D brainstorming - whatever will happen to be occupying my time - to write a proper commentary. Assuming such a thing won't be necessary, regular posting will resume in early October.

Lighthearted on a rainy Tuesday morning

It's been pouring down rain for the past several days, and I've reached that point where - between the boxes, the packing, the errands, and the downright gloomy weather - I could use a bit of a pick me up. Enter Novak Djokovic, the #4 seeded men's tennis player, who is as renowned for his impersonations of other players as he is for his stellar tennis. Djokovic defeated Radek Stepanek in the fourth round of the U.S. Open last night, and - together with John McEnroe who came down from his commentary box - put on quite a show afterwards! It's so lovely to come across an athlete with such a superb sense of humour:


Feeling the African beat... in Beijing

Afrokoko Roots is a 15-piece international Afrobeat band, formed by Ghanian/Nigerian percussionist and vocalist Sunny Dada (what a great name!). The members of the band hail from Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Burundi, the USA, the Philippines and China, and together perform Afrobeat style music and reggae classics. The band is based out of Beijing (!) and is performing tomorrow - Wednesday, 12 August - at Yugong Yishan, should any of you find yourself in the area.



[HT: Danwei]

In which my faith in the USPS is temporarily restored

I've been based in the US for the past few months and in a few short weeks will be returning to my beloved Oxford to continue with my PhD work. I'm thrilled to be heading back, though am ever so slightly intimidated by the amount of things I've managed to accumulate during my time here; things that I somehow need to transport back across the pond. Foremost among these are books.


It seems that everywhere I traveled over the past few months I stumbled upon wonderful used and collector bookshops: Raven Books in Cambridge, MA; the always-wonderful Strand in NYC; Bookman Bookwoman in Nashville; and of course my beloved Bookman's Alley in Evanston, where I passed many a day while an undergraduate at Northwestern. Not being one to resist the temptation of a good read, I've managed to acquire quite a large collection which must now find its way to England. The lingering question, is how?


Just yesterday I stumbled across a service hosted by USPS - M bags - through which one can mail printed material overseas for a reduced rate. You're charged $35 for 11 lbs., and $3 for every additional pound. It's not the most amazing of bargains, but it is generally quite cheaper than what one would otherwise pay. Fabulous! It's so wonderful to discover that the postal service is kind to bibliophiles such as myself! Has anyone used this service and is it indeed recommended? Is anyone aware of other cost-efficient ways of transporting books overseas? Thoughts, comments, insights would be well appreciated!


Oh yes, and do have an enjoyable weekend!

Literary must-not-reads

Who would have thought: a 'what not to read' booklist (quite short, mind you; and I'm not sure I entirely agree with the selections, but there it is, nevertheless)! Via The Second Pass readers are warned of the 'must-read' classics they really ought not to read. Sadly it's quite late for me, as I have endured the alleged boredom of at least half of these literary works, but perhaps you still have the chance to save yourself. And if you desire some suggested readings, do check out The Second Pass' shelf. What a delightfully curious little book blog !....


Happy weekend, everyone; and happy reading, too!

TEDGlobal in Oxford

TEDGlobal began in Oxford today, exploring the Substance of Things Not Seen (the theme for this summer's gathering). While I unfortunately cannot be there for what always proves to be a fantastic conference, I intend to keep abreast of the proceedings from afar, as some truly fascinating questions are being tackled by the TEDGlobal speakers. Among them:

  • Is life a mathematical question?
  • Who's defining the new geopolitical map?
  • Can we design the air we breathe?
  • What's the power of music?
  • How does the brain create the mind?

This is, of course, but a small sampling from a very long list, but absolutely intriguing no less! Today's sessions focus on "What We Know," and "Seeing is Believing?" Speakers include young brass virtuoso Matthew White, philosopher Alain de Botton, graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister, optical innovator Joshua Silver, and space jumper Steve Truglia, among others.


This diversity of phenomenal speakers is the very thing that makes TED conferences so unique. That, and their distinct ability to create dialogue across many intellectual disciplines. It is, indeed, an approach worth emulating.



photo of Keble College, Oxford, among the TEDGlobal venues

New literature on China's expansion into Africa

Serge Michele, a West Africa correspondent for the French newspaper Le Monde and Michel Beuret, Foreign Editor of the prominent Swiss magazine l'Hebdo have recently come out with a new book on the economic partnership between China and Africa. Having just ordered it from Amazon, I'm not in much of a position to offer anything in the way of a review (do stay tuned, though...), but from what I was able to gather from the book's table of contents, as well as Harry Hurt's review in the NYTimes, it does appear quite promising - seemingly offering much greater substantive analysis than most hitherto published books.


From what I can tell, one of my gripes with the book will be its rather generic conclusion that "China's arrival has been a boon for a continent adrift" and that the Chinese have "given Africa a real sense of worth, as much in the eyes of Africans themselves as in the eyes of foreigners." While this is certainly true to a point, I'm still waiting for someone to deliver a much more nuanced analysis of the issue. Who knows, perhaps Michele and Beuret deliver elsewhere throughout what seems to be a worthwhile read on a most fascinating subject (naturally, I'm somewhat biased on the matter...).

On the creative benefits of an expat existence

Living abroad gives individuals greater creativity in problem solving, according to a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 
[...] William Maddux of INSEAD, a business school in Fontainebleau, France, and Adam Galinsky, of the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago, presented 155 American business students and 55 foreign ones studying in America with a test used by psychologists as a measure of creativity. Given a candle, some matches and a box of drawing pins, the students were asked to attach the candle to a cardboard wall so that no wax would drip on the floor when the candle was lit. (The solution is to use the box as a candleholder and fix it to the wall with the pins.) They found 60% of students who were either living abroad or had spent some time doing so, solved the problem, whereas only 42% of those who had not lived abroad did so.
As it turns out, it's not just that more creative people are more likely to live abroad; the study's authors controlled for personality traits that are known to predict creativity, leading them to conclude that "it is something from the experience of living in foreign parts that helps foster creativity." Finally - statistical justification of my chosen path of existence!

You can find the complete study findings here.

The New York Times does Africa

Earlier this month I posted on the often selective coverage of (African) humanitarian crises in the mainstream media, citing interesting statistics documenting the amount of NYTimes articles covering the DRC and Darfur, respectively. Further to the point, Ryan Briggs has posted what amounts to a most fascinating graphic: 


Chinese origins of the Napa wine industry

Long before the vineyards of California's wine country were tended to by Spanish-speaking farmhands, they were filled with Chinese workers. Napa evidently even had its own Chinatown at one point:
Old newspaper articles and other 19th-century accounts show hundreds of Chinese workers in both Napa and Sonoma counties.

Many were farmers who brought their agricultural skills to the industry, helping establish vines and working in cellars. "There's more to this story. There's this whole human side of how the valley was developed," says Fong, who has researched the region's history.

A 1967 paper by a Napa school official on file at the Napa County Historical Society records that when rains turned the 1887 grape harvest into a muddy mess, keeping wagons out, Chinese workers waded in barefoot and hauled out the grapes.

But 19th-century Chinese in California faced fierce discrimination, including laws banning them from owning property and campaigns urging farmers not to hire them. In 1882, Congress passed an immigration ban on Chinese. Populations dwindled and rural Chinatowns disappeared as workers headed to cities.

A curious tidbit to showcase at your next tasting excursion, and an interesting history to ponder the next time you take a sip of a brilliant Napa Valley wine (may I suggest the Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa Valley 2002. Simply amazing).

[HT: Vinography]

African clichés, brought to you in taxonomic form

While already picked up by the ladies at Wronging Rights, I feel that Rachel Strohm's comparative taxonomy of African clichés is sufficiently invaluable (and indeed amusing) to likewise find its way onto this here blog. An excerpt for your reading pleasure:
Africanus occidentalis: This cliche is at home in a broad variety of habitats, be it among development practitioners or wide-eyed teenagers visiting Africa for the first time.  It can be distinguished by its prominent belief that concerted Western action can solve all of Africa’s problems.  The Africanus occidentalis studentia lives a peaceful life in the dorm rooms of university students, who often react to its presence by talking at length about the spiritual connection and cultural vitality that they experienced while visiting one country in a very large continent for two weeks last summer.  (The tragedy of receiving a university education whilst children in Africa are dying is an alternate topic, although this should not be confused with actual discussions of Rawlsian justice.) 
Rachel's rather brilliant self-proclaimed rant plays into timely discussions regarding frames of references in addressing development issues (i.e. the inherent problem in talking about development from a purely Western paradigm, much to the disregard of the culture, traditions, ideologies, etc. of the country one is seeking to assist). I could go on, but Rachel does such a brilliant job in her post that there really is little need for me to do so.

The life of a nomad

I will be away (yes, I know, again) for the next week. Aside from speaking at what is shaping up to be a most interesting conference at Yale, I will be tending to business (and pleasure) in and around the great American Northeast - indubitably my most favorite region in America.

Should you find yourself longing for international development and politics - and indeed China-Africa - related literature (do blogs constitute 'literature' now?) in my absence, I strongly suggest that aside from following the blogs noted in my blogroll you also peruse the following (in no particular order):

Cheap Talk: http://cheeptalk.wordpress.com/  (NB. The posts don't often fall into the categories delineated above, but they are generally quite brilliant regardless)
G. Pascal Zachary: http://africaworksgpz.com/
The Bottom Billion Blog: http://bottombillion.com/
Owen Barder: http://www.owen.org/

Right, well that ought to keep you busy until my return. Happy reading, and do have a wonderful week!

A touch of joy on this Wednesday afternoon

With all the doom and gloom seemingly emanating from my posts this morning, I felt it necessary to bring some good cheer to this blog of mine (and to you, the readers!). While I can't buy you ice cream or transport you to far-away beaches (life's simple pleasures), I can share with you my love of photography which, in my humble opinion, is quite close to the next best thing.

I've long admired the photography of writer and photojournalist Glenna Gordon who blogs at Scarlett Lion. Among my most favorite recent photographs is this one taken in Monrovia:

Despite the decrepit architecture, the photograph conveys a wonderful sense of playfulness and childhood innocence, doesn't it? A wonderful contrast to the cynicism implicit in African politics. A wonderfully hopeful image. Cheers for this, Glenna.

Youth Forum on China-Africa Relations at Yale

Yale University is hosting a three-day conference held from 24 - 26 April to discuss the bourgeoning relationship between China and Africa. According to the YFOCAR website, the conference will bring African, Chinese and other delegates to New Haven for a full schedule of events including panels, keynote addresses, discussion seminars, and debates. These events will seek to create an open dialogue to strengthen cross-cultural ties, encourage mutual understanding, and set the stage for long-standing respect between China and the African continent. 

Yours truly has been invited to contribute to a panel on economic development in a Sino-African context, which will take place on the last day of the conference, 26 April. Should any China in Africa readers be in and around the New Haven area then, it would be wonderful to make your acquaintance!

Registration for the conference is available on the YFOCAR website (see here). Attendees must complete their registration by 5pm on Sunday, 5 April. Yale will be provided all guests with accommodation and two meals per day.