Campaigns and (TV production) values....

One of the major themes in the study of contemporary European politics is "democratic deficit" -- basically the idea that there is not enough opportunity for citizens to engage in governance. Of course, elections standout as the basic measure of democratic deficits, and by that measure I am wondering what all the fuss is about. Since I first came to Northern Ireland in September 2003 there have been three major electoral campaigns -- one for seats in the dormant assembly at Stormont, another for seats in the EU assembly, and next Thursday for the UK Parliament as well as local council seats. During that brief time I have also witnessed the rise and obvious demise of the UK political movement represented by the Independent Party -- UKIP. Although it is still listing candidates in the upcoming election, UKIP is barely registering on the polls and has been almost invisible except for a few minutes it has had on TV for its Party Election Broadcast (each party that qualifies gets five minutes on Channel 4 as well as the BBC). The party made a big splash in the EU elections not many months ago, but has since gone through a period of self-destructive internal feuding that involved its most visible spokesperson (former TV talkshow host and now a member of the European Parliament) Robert Kilroy-Silk. Kilroy has since gone on to form his own party, Veritas, which as suffered as well from the lack of discussion on the EU issue in this election (and from the fact that it's founder/leader has a bit of a problem with his ego that is well documented over the last few years). Together these parties now form the core of the "euro skeptic" movement in the UK -- a group that seems to fall somewhere to the left of the right-wing nationalist parties and perhaps a bit to the right of the Conservatives. Their poor performance in the current polling is perhaps the result of their open feuding after the EU elections, but it no doubt is also related to the anti-immigration stand taken by the Tories which undercut (through mainstreaming) the real core issue of their movement. Although they (the UKIP in particular) have been claiming strength in certain constituencies, their actual condition is reflected in the major premise of their campaign: that this is in fact a "bogus" election. It will be interesting to see if they survive this election, let alone succeed in electing any of their candidates. But the real purpose of this post is to suggest a viewing of the five-minute UKIP Party Election Broadcast to those interested in the production values of TV campaign spots. It is actually quite well done and I wouldn't be surprised if it turns into a classic. In contrast (in some ways) and well worth the viewing are the "spoof" campaign spots produced for Channel 4 News. These will probably make a lot more sense to those who live in the UK, but they are worth viewing by anyone interested in media campaigning.

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Politics of paradox... and vice versa

Last evening I attended the launch of "Slugger Live," a discussion of Northern Ireland electoral politics hosted at Queen's University Institute of Governance by Mick Fealty, founder and chief blogger at Slugger O'Toole. (Some pics of event by Ciarán here.) Only a couple of years old, Slugger O'Toole is the preeminent blog for online "craic" about Northern Ireland politics. The launch involved a panel discussion among four newspaper journalists who cover the political beat in this geographic corner of Ireland, which is also a political corner of the UK. I suspect I need to insert a few words of explanation to those who are not familiar with the political geography of Northern Ireland. It is one of the paradoxes of political geography that where you are geographically situated is not necessarily where you are located politically -- and this is especially true in Northern Ireland. Physically, of course, we are situated in the six counties located on the northeast coast of the Isle of Ireland. But politically we are located on the northwest edge of the UK. With the United Kingdom engaged in its haphazardly (but strategically) scheduled parliamentary elections, the electoral politics of Northern Ireland are in active mode. In addition to elections for Northern Ireland's seats in Westminster, this is also the time for the selection of local councils. So, you might ask (if you are unfamiliar with the political realities of this little corner of the world), whose got the edge in Northern Ireland politics: New Labour? The Tories? How about the Liberal Dems? Well, while we may be located in the political world of UK politics, there is a second paradox to consider: where you are located politically has little to do with where you stand nationally. Northern Ireland politics constitutes a distinct arena within the UK where the labels assigned to the four major political parties sum up the situation in a nutshell: two of the parties are "unionist" and two are "nationalist" (well, actually "republican" -- but that's another paradox). And while you might think that the election is being contested between the two sides of the "which nation?" issue, the politics of Northern Ireland in 2005 is actually dominated by still another paradox: where you stand nationally has little to do with who you oppose electorally. All the news about the election of Northern Ireland focuses on hardfought local contests between the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Ulster Unionists Party (UUP) or between republican Sinn Féin and the nationalist SDLP. As the discussion at the event last night demonstrated, individual electoral contests this time around are dominated by questions of whether the dominant party on each side (that is, the DUP and Sinn Féin) will finally do in their natural allies who seem to be on decline. The commentators on last evening's panel agreed that while no party will likely suffer a fatal blow in this election, the trends that favor the DUP and Sinn Féin are likely to continue. On the unionist side, the DUP has emerged as an electoral machine that is showing signs of being more than the Ian ("Never, Never") Paisley party, while the UUP continues to suffer from the poor leadership of David Trimble. On the nationalist side, Sinn Féin keeps rolling on despite its association with the IRA, bank robberies, at the gangster mentality associated with local killings. (The commentators agreed that the real opposition to Sinn Féin is not the SDLP, but rather Bertie Ahern and the other parties in the Republic of Ireland. In that sense, still another paradox of Northern Ireland politics emerges: the location of the election has little to do with the location of the politics.) The bottom line is that the Westminster election will have little significance on policy, for the political reality is that none of the opposition parties to New Labour (in that other election that will take place on May 5) will do anything significantly different than the Blair government when it comes to Northern Ireland. Within Northern Ireland, the election will amount to little more than a measure of ongoing trends in Ulster politics. And one of the benefits of having a blog like Slugger around is that you can actually attempt to grasp what's going on in this paradoxical political world....

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Allconsuming all down

The "reading list" links at Allconsuming.net that usually showed up in the sidebar is now off the blog. Seems as if the site owner had to reconstruct it after a server crash. He rebuilt it from scratch with different features, etc., and I am not quite certain it still has the funcitonality of the past. In any case, he went on vacation and I decided to take the links down for a bit to see what develops after awhile....

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Odds and ends....

Some odds and ends from various observations of the past several days. David Aaronovich chimed in on the AUT boycott in today's Observer. My fascination with the book review sections of both the Guardian and the Observer have waned a bit over the past several weeks, and this may have more to do with my lack of interest in the material they are reviewing or the essay topics they are publishing. It can also be a result of my finding it difficult to reorient myself back into a UK mindset after sometime in the US. That said, I have been fascinated by excerpts published in the Guardian Review section over the past two weeks from a biography of E. E. Cummings that focus on an affair he had as a young man with the wife of a close friend and patron as well as the nonrelationship he formed years later with his illegitimate daughter from that affair. Not being much of a fan of poetry, I knew little of Cummings or his work, especially the fact that he was a painter as well as a poet. Now that I live in New England, the fact that Cummings grew up and lived most of his life in Massachusetts and New Hampshire piqued my interest in the articles. There is also an interesting review in today's Observer of a book that tries to assess "The Strange Death of Tory England." Besides disputing the author's declaration of the Conservative Party's demise, the reviewer offers a more positive outlook for the future of the Tories -- although not in the immediate election. He seems to be implying that it will take the passage of an entire generation of party leadership before they rebound against New Labour. Also noted was a very positive review of a book by Henry Hitchings on "Dr. Johnson's Dictionary". Although not getting as much attention has Shakespeare's 441st birthday (the significance of that particular number escapes me), the 250th anniversary of the publication of Samuel Johnson's dictionary has been drawing some attention. The best little piece on this was published on the BBC web site. In a continuation of the observed fascination of everything American by the UK media, there was a review/analysis of Bruce Springsteen's new album, Devils & Dust, in today's Observer. As interesting and insightful as the review by Sean O'Hagan was an insert by Greg Dyke, former director general of the BBC, who essentially confesses an obsession with Springsteen and his music that goes back several decades. And for the second time in as many days, I found myself reading a very positive review of a new American movie that seems to be fascinating to everyone who sees it. Tarnation is described as a "autobiographical documentary" by Texan-turned-New Yorker Jonathan Caouette. Of the Guardian and Observer reviewers give it "film of the week" status. Another on my list of movies that I hope to see at some point. And as might seem fitting (so to speak) for a post with this title, I must make note of the difficulties I'm having fitting American plugs into British sockets. One of the more difficult things to purchase in the UK is a converter socket that allows one to use American two-pronged plugs into the British three-pronged sockets. (Yes, I am aware of the issues relating to voltage compatibility -- a lesson learned the hard way last year when I caused a minor explosion in my flat and destroyed a thankfully cheap wireless router.) I came to the UK fully equipped with a appropriate conversion wires and plugs for my computer, PDA, etc., but I fully expected to be able to purchase conversion sockets for US to UK plugs as I needed them. But despite my best efforts, I've found it extremely difficult to make such purchases. I was convinced I would find the right kind of equipment at airport shops if nowhere else, but it seems that there is a bigger market for converting UK plugs to any other kind that there is for converting other plugs to the UK standard. When I finally came across the right kind of US to UK converter I purchased three at what I'm sure it is an outrageous price. But when I got them home I found that the construction of these conversion plugs made it impossible to use the US appliances. It's difficult to figure out who's to blame, the manufacturer of the conversion plug which is recessed (I assume for safety reasons, although I suspect it is merely a matter of design choice) or the manufacturers of the US appliances who seem to be following a design that assures that the unit cannot be plugged into a recessed receptacle. In any case, these conversion units are now part of the growing collection of odds and ends that will be inherited by the next resident of my Belfast flat. I hope they find some use for them....Some odds and ends from various observations of the past several days. My fascination with the book review sections of both the Guardian and the Observer have waned a bit over the past several weeks, and this may have more to do with my lack of interest in the material they are reviewing or the essay topics they are publishing. It can also be a result of my finding it difficult to reorient myself back into a UK mindset after sometime in the US. That said, I have been fascinated by excerpts published in the Guardian Review section over the past two weeks from a biography of E. E. Cummings that focus on an affair he had as a young man with the wife of a close friend and patron as well as the nonrelationship he formed years later with his illegitimate daughter from that affair. Not being much of a fan of poetry, I knew little of Cummings or his work, especially the fact that he was a painter as well as a poet. Now that I live in New England, the fact that Cummings grew up and lived most of his life in Massachusetts and New Hampshire headed to my interest. There is also an interesting review in today's Observer of a book that tries to assess "The Strange Death of Tory England." Besides disputing the author's declaration of the Conservative Party's demise, the reviewer offers a more positive outlook for the future of the Tories -- although not in the immediate election. He seems to be implying that it will take the passage of an entire generation of party leadership before they rebound against New Labour. Also noted was a very positive review of a book by Henry Hitchings on "Dr. Johnson's Dictionary". Although not getting as much attention has Shakespeare's 441st birthday (the significance of that particular number escapes me), the 250th anniversary of the publication of Samuel Johnson's dictionary has been drawing some attention. The best little piece on this was published on the BBC web site. In a continuation of the observed fascination of everything American by the UK media, there was a review/analysis of Bruce Springsteen's new album, Devils & Dust, in today's Observer. As interesting and insightful as the review by Sean O'Hagan was an insert by Greg Dyke, former director general of the BBC, who essentially confesses an obsession with Springsteen and his music that goes back several decades. And for the second time in as many days, I found myself reading a very positive review of a new American movie that seems to be fascinating to everyone who sees it. Tarnation is described as a "autobiographical documentary" by Texan-turned-New Yorker Jonathan Caouette. Of the Guardian and Observer reviewers give it "film of the week" status. Another on my list of movies that I hope to see at some point. And as might seem fitting (so to speak) for a post with this title, I must make note of the difficulties I'm having fitting American plugs into British sockets. One of the more difficult things to purchase in the UK is a converter socket that allows one to use American two-pronged plugs into the British three-pronged sockets. (Yes, I am aware of the issues relating to voltage compatibility -- a lesson learned the hard way last year when I caused a minor explosion in my flat and destroyed a thankfully cheap wireless router.) I came to the UK fully equipped with a appropriate conversion wires and plugs for my computer, PDA, etc., but I fully expected to be able to purchase conversion sockets for US to UK plugs as I needed them. But despite my best efforts, I've found it extremely difficult to make such purchases. I was convinced I would find the right kind of equipment at airport shops if nowhere else, but it seems that there is a bigger market for converting UK plugs to any other kind that there is for converting other plugs to the UK standard. When I finally came across the right kind of US to UK converter I purchased three at what I'm sure it is an outrageous price. But when I got them home I found that the construction of these conversion plugs made it impossible to use the US appliances. It's difficult to figure out who's to blame, the manufacturer of the conversion plug which is recessed (I assume for safety reasons, although I suspect it is merely a matter of design choice) or the manufacturers of the US appliances who seem to be following a design that assures that the unit cannot be plugged into a recessed receptacle. In any case, these conversion units are now part of the growing collection of odds and ends that will be inherited by the next resident of my Belfast flat. I hope they find some use for them....

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Election coverage....

The media coverage of the UK election is now entering its "interesting" phase, and one of the more intriguing approaches has been developed by Jeremy Paxman's Newsnight crew. Newsnight Saturday is now in its second week, and I have to say that they seem to be having some fun with this particular segment of their coverage. Fortunately a Web broadcast of the show is available, although unfortunately only for 24 hours after its initial showing on air. On their more general site, they seem to be maintaining at least some of the featured segments. Those who are interested in the UK election might want to "click in" while you can....

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Absurdities and hypocracies....

The news tonight is of the British AUT -- Association of University Teachers -- sanctioning a boycott of Israeli academics from two universities. The basis of this boycott is that those academics affiliated with these institutions must be made to suffer for the alleged sins of their institutions regardless of whatever their individual or personal or professional views or activities. The rationale, as expressed by one of the boycott's advocates, is that it is necessary to violate the academic freedom of these individuals because there is no academic freedom at the designated Israeli institutions. "Those people who do stick their head above the parapet and speak out are subject to witch-hunts and victimisation," notes Sue Blackwell, a lecturer at the University of Birmingham. Perhaps it's my own distorted way of looking at the universe, but isn't this boycott an example of witch hunting? Isn't the AUT engaged in victimizing a set of Israeli academics for no other reason than the fact that they work at a particular institution? For me this is more than merely an "academic" question, for not only do I have colleagues/friends who are affiliated with one of those institutions -- the University of Haifa -- but I am also likely to be in violation of the boycott next year when one of those colleagues plays a major role in the conference I'm convening in Belfast. The illogic and utter absurdity of the boycott are addressed in other blogs (e.g., see here and here), and I am especially interested in how Blackwell and others would deal with the charge that what they are engaged in is not merely nonsensical also a bit hypocritical given the quiescent posture of British universities in the face of the UK's role in the Iraqi war. Double standards seem alive and well....

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The war issue in UK politics....

There are a couple of weeks left in the UK election campaign, and it is difficult not to get drawn into comparisons with US politics when you reside on the side of the pond. One thing is clear, and that is that British politics seems much more driven by issues than by images despite efforts to do otherwise. There is no question that each of the major parties has learned its lessons about how to package and sell a campaign over the past several decades, and a recent TV documentary on Channel 4 (Election Unspun: How to Win Power) presented a pretty informative history and analysis of how this came about starting with the Thatcher victory in 1979 and reaching its height in the Labour Party's victories in 1997 and 2001. But as you watch the current campaign, it's clear that unlike their American counterparts, British politicians can't help but talk to issues. The problem is that no issue (or set of issues) seems to have sparked interest in the campaign or moved the polls as yet. But this all might change over the next week or so as the seemingly suppressed issue of the Blair government's decision to go to war in Iraq slowly percolates to the surface. Columnists have been asking the question pretty consistently: why hasn't the issue of the war become part of this election? In part this has been a matter of choice by the major parties. Labour avoids the question for obvious reasons, for not only would the issue draw attention to questions about Blair's trustworthiness but it would stir up already testy relations with many members of the party's left-wing who opposed the war back in 2003. The Conservatives, who supported Blair in the parliamentary debate over the war, have only gently raise questions about Iraq and instead have chosen to focus on the question of immigrants and their impact on public services. Quite surprisingly, the Liberal Democrats who opposed the war from the outset have been seemingly avoiding the issue -- at least until now. All indications are that they have based their election strategy on raising the war issue in the last weeks of the campaign. In lieu of the war issue, they have been pushing the rest of their agenda up until now -- an agenda that has constantly seemed in out of sync with the debates taking place between Labour and the Tories that dominates election coverage. This is either intentional or a sign of an incompetent electoral strategy. It is increasingly looking as if they are sticking to a strategy that ultimately relies on mobilizing the antiwar vote during the home stretch. We'll know if this is the case in a few days, but comments in the Guardian and by Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy in an interview this evening gives the clear impression that they will launch the issue very soon. Will the war issue make a difference in the campaign? I suspect that most of my colleagues who are well informed about UK politics will answer with a pretty firm "no" and chuckle about my naïveté in thinking that this might happen. But there are certain indications that this sensitive issue will in fact make a difference, especially if some stories in the media can be regarded as credible signs of what might be going on just below the surface of this quiet electorate. Stories keep popping up about the difficulties that the major campaigners for Labour are running into as they take to the streets. Two well-publicized encounters in recent days showed both Blair and his deputy prime minister, John Prescott, confronted by hostile questions. In Blair's case it was a conversation with a very dedicated Labour Party member who expressed concern about where he had taken the party and how difficult it was for her and her parents to stay committed to Labour. Prescott, well known for his temper on the campaign trail, had a rather nasty exchang with a local reporter in Wales in a confrontation that made headlines in the mainstream media. The reporter had been raising questions about the local politician who had abandoned the Labour ticket to run as an independent, and Prescott's response was effectively that he could care less about how some local Welsh party member felt about national policies.... For me these telltale signs of brewing difficulty were reinforced by stories in today's Guardian about the father of a soldier killed in Iraq who is campaigning against Blair in the prime minister's constituency of Sedgefield. Reg Keys, a retired ambulance driver, seems to be attracting some attention and support and could possibly cause considerable embarrassment if he makes a strong showing against Blair. In a feature article in the G2 section, the Guardian asked several people who participated in the mass antiwar demonstrations of 2003 how they plan to vote, and in each case it was a strong indication that those who would otherwise be committed to Labour were willing to consider voting for Liberal Democrats or other parties -- even at the risk that this might lead to a Tory victory. Yes, these are little signs, all anecdotal. Nevertheless they may indicate something much more substantial, and there is no telling at the moment whether we might see a more interesting race developed over the next two weeks if the decision to go to war in Iraq becomes a major issue.

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Sugar, Trump and the Reality of Bureaucratic Life.....

Okay, a question for my American colleagues: who is Sir Alan Sugar? Well if you were on this side of the pond you would recognize the name as England's version of Donald Trump. (Post blog addendum: an interview with Sugar was published in the 24 April Observer -- does not seem like the interview went well....) Not only is he a multi-millionaire with a very public persona, but he is also the individual firing people on the UK version of "The Apprentice." According to the intro to the show, Sugar is worth £750 million, and while I am not certain whether that is equal to Trump's fortune (which always seems a bit at risk), he certainly seems to be following Trump's scripted approach on this BBC version of the US hit show. I first heard about Trump's Apprentice from Randi during its first season last year, and then saw some episodes of the show on British television over the summer and into the fall. The UK version began about 10 weeks ago, and it came so close to a copy of the US version that I didn't pay much attention to it for several weeks except for bits and pieces I caught as I change channels. And while I was back in the US for three weeks I began to watch the US version, only to find that the two were even closer in format that I had imagined. But unless I missed something in a recent US episode, I think tonight's UK Apprentice was exceptionally interesting. The five remaining participants were assigned the task of selling a range of items on a UK homeshopping TV channel, and in carrying out their mission all five personalities really came through -- as did that of Sugar and his advisers who had to all but admit aloud that no one really deserved to be let go on the basis of poor performance. Confronted with the dilemma that someone must get fired in each episode, Sugar took a somewhat arbitrary stand on who was to blame for the (relatively) poor showing of the losing team and let the "project manager" go despite having openly praised her on air just moments earlier. It all makes for great entertainment, but also raises issues about the nature of dilemmas and how we handle them. Which, of course, brings me to my favorite topic: accountability. In the work on public administration ethics that I've been doing with friend Ciaran, I've been drawn increasingly to questions related to dilemmas and how people deal with them. I have long been convinced that public sector accountability to some degree involves the construction of dilemma-generating situations, and that much of governance is the creation of a culture of blameworthiness among those we entrust with providing public services. Despite all the rhetoric about promoting public service values and high ethical standards among public officials, the culture of the modern administrative state is premised on the assumption that appropriate behavior by civil servants can be assured only through creating dilemmas and promoting a sense of blameworthiness. In a sense, many public administrators live the life of The Apprentice participants almost each and every day. Now I wonder if it might be possible to sell the powers that be at some TV network on the idea of a reality show featuring the daily life of a public servant...

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(Not so) little annoyances...

As much as I have come to really like Northern Ireland and all my friends here, there are still a couple of things that annoy me to no end. Among the top of my list of annoyances (and probably among the top of anyone's list who lives in the Belfast area) is the weather. We're now into at lease the third day of rainy and dismal weather -- something everyone here seems to be used to, but that doesn't make it any less annoying. I've written about the weather so much in past posts that I won't bother with any further elaboration other than to express my hope that someday before I leave here the sun will shine for a full day. (With my luck it'll probably be a day that I'm holed up in some meeting in a room without windows.) A second annoyance is the local banking system. I realize that we Americans are a bit spoiled by all the conveniences associated with doing business in the US, and it must be said that there are very few areas where the British/Northern Irish/Irish lag behind when it comes to commercial conveniences. Yes, the price is steeper in most cases, but the availability of products and services in almost every area is at least as good here as in the US. That is with one glaring exception: banking services. Whether we are talking about the consumer's basic capacity to open a checking account or having online access that is simple to use or even being able to deposit money at an ATM, the British/Irish system has a long way to go. For the past few days, as an example, I've tried every way conceivable to make a deposit (or as they say here, a lodging) into my checking account. There are ATMs galore as you walk down the streets of Belfast, and at bank branches typically two, three or four ATMs that are easily accessible. But these machines have only one purpose -- and that is to dispense money. The very idea of making a deposit in such machine seems absolutely foreign to the British banking industry -- or at least those banks to operate in Northern Ireland. When I inquire about why this is so, the typical response is that the technology doesn't exist (which is of course blatantly false) or that there is just not sufficient staff to handle the process. The truth is probably that the British banking system is just not willing to break out of its slow adaptive style. I find it rather strange that a system which makes it easy for some folks to just walk in and take up $50 million out of their vaults in one sweep would be unwilling to make it easy for folks to put their money into the vaults through ATM deposits. It is almost as if they don't want that kind of business.... But despite these flaws and accompanying annoyances, I remain taken by the place and the people.

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Considering jet setting while sitting in Stansted....

It has been a very busy several days since the last blog post. I am sitting in a pub in the terminal of London Stansted airport waiting for a flight back to Belfast after a daylong seminar in London. The day started with a 625am flight from Belfast International (I've been up since 4am) to London Luton via EasyJet (the UK version of Southwest) and this flight from Stansted will get me home after 11pm. I have barely gotten over the jetlag from my trek from Boston to Belfast that started Wednesday evening. My guess is that I have only had one sustained three hour block of sleep since early Wednesday, and that I have been operating on cat naps for close to 72 hours. Tomorrow will be catch-up time for sleep! I originally planned to return to the UK last Monday, but an unexpected opportunity to visit some colleagues in New Hampshire came up and I gladly adjusted my plans. Randi and I spent Tuesday night in Durham at the university hotel, and while it is just a short distance from our home in Beverly MA, it was a nice break (see Randi's sketch). From RandiArt Sitting here bored out of my mind in Stansted, I have to chuckle at recently being labeled a "jet-setter"; it's a term with romantic overtones and speaks to a James Bond-ish lifestyle. But if this is jet-setting, pity poor Bond & company. The waiting around airports and silliness and sameness of airport malls is dull at best, and the added burdens of airport security have made traveling torturous. 'Getting there' is not only not fun -- it is drudgery! I have made it to the gate at Stansted, and along the way I had to conclude that this is a shopping mall with an airport attached. As fascinating and curious is the fact that throughout the airport corridors, signs are posted suggesting that you 'keep right'... Very problematic for most Brits.... The jetlag is finally kicking in. I am really looking forward to sleeping....

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On the road...in Chicago

From RandiArt It is the morning of my third day in Chicago, about 6 am. I am killing time before heading out to O'Hare to catch a 1030 flight home to Beverly MA via Manchester NH. It is always nice to visit Chicago this time of year. The place is just experiencing its first rush of spring weather, with temps getting as high as 80 F, but also dipping to a chilly 35 F or so at night. It has much in common with Milwaukee given it proximity to Lake Michigan, but it can really only be compared to NYC for its energy on any work day, and when the weather is nice the lakefront far exceeds any other major city (at least those I've lived in) on weekends. We lived here from 1976-80 (see Randi's sketch of one of our residences), most of that period residing a block or so away from the Lake in the Rogers Park area right near the Loyola campus where I (and at times Randi) worked. It was primarily the harsh winters -- but also the high real estate prices -- that led us to seek positions elsewhere (eventually landing us at the University of Kansas in Lawrence). At one point Randi was planning to have a T-shirt made embossed with: "Chicago - A hell of a place to get tenure!" Each visit to the city provides a surprise. The Millennium Park Crown Fountain display, which I saw in all its spitting glory last September, is impressive even when the crowds are thin. This time I was able to take some time to walk the Magnificent Mile and gawk at the store as well as drop some money off at the local Nordstroms.... As for restaurants, I was able to overdo it a bit here. On Wednesday night friends Al and Kathy took pity on me (sitting alone in the Palmer House lobby) and invited me to join them and their friend Henry for dinner at Bistro 110, located right by the Water Tower. Being invited to eat with Al and Kathy is actually quite an event. They select first rate places with great wine lists, and the evening is marked by a four course dinner, each accompanied by a suitable wine selected with care by Al who provides interesting commentary with each choice. Not being a wine buff I typically do little more than listen and learn. The bottom line is that Al and Kathy pay for the wine and the guests split the food bill. In this case, well worth it. Food was excellent, and wine was great! Last night our publisher took my two co-authors and I out to the Park Grill which is on Michigan Avenue at the front of the Millennium Park. Had some bland tasting pot roast, but the desert made up for that a bit.... All in all, a successful trip, despite a head cold I caught in Milwaukee. For now I need to rest before trekking out to Belfast.... Chicago

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Still on the road...still in Milwaukee

From MAM Site Took a bit of time to look around Milwaukee with some colleagues after the last session of the conference I am attending. For a large city, Milwaukee is rather quiet -- suprisingly little traffic, and a moderate amount of pedestrians around. Yesterday's weather was hovering around 60 F, and folks were out jogging and just walking to enjoy the first days of spring here. We headed down toward Lake Michigan to see the new Milwaukee Art Museum, and even though we did not get see the Degas exhibit there, the real attraction was the building itself. Really a fascinating design, and it is bound to make the Milwaukee lakefront a really desirable attraction for tourists. The collectins we did view -- primarily modern art -- were very interesting, and assuming my new phonecam was functioning correctly (and I am able to learn how to transfer the files), I will post some pics in future blogs.... Also stopped by to visit two used book stores -- floors and floors of books of every sort. I would comapre them favorably to Strands in NYC. One was well organized, well lit and very clean; the other was dusty and in disarray in places (although it was the larger of the two and I think had more interesting titles). In any case, bought a book or two while in each.... Ended the day with dinner at another German restaurant (Ratches?), and while the beer was great, I ordered a special that was very disappointing. My colleagues, however, ordered more wisely and the overall experience was enjoyable. But after three restaurant experiences here, I have to say the Gemrna places are too pricey for what you get.... No Entree less than $20.... Heading off to Chicago by Amtrak this morning (I am waiting for the rush hour to pass) and I plan to wander the area around the Water Tower today before dealing with buisness all day tomorrow.... Milwaukee, Art

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On the road...in Milwaukee

From RandiArt That silence you hear on the blog (I have not been posting as usual) is me on the road in the US. I flew into Chicago from Manchester NH on Saturday and made my way to Milwaukee by bus. This trip will end in Chicago on Friday, so it made more sense to follow this strange travel itinerary. Milwaukee is either a nice city or I am just enjoying the spring weather (mid 50s -- F, not C). It might be a bit different on a busy Monday morning, but walking around the city center on Sunday was quite pleasant. Searching for a place to have breakfast, a group of us ended up wandering a bit around the river (the Des Plaines) and eventually ended up in a little pancake place that was most notable for its poor service. A bit later I went in search of the Starbucks, not for the coffee but for access to the internet so I could transfer a file from my PDA to the home computer. All a logistical nightmare in preparation for a presentation I had to make in the afternoon, but the task was completed and all went well. Since then it has been schmoozing and drinking -- all a bit much for my system. At about 1 AM I was still wide awake and came down to the hotel computer room where I am writing this post. Restaurant report thus far: not bad. Saturday night we went to Masers, a German restaurant recommended by friend Al Hyde who has great sense of where to eat in almost every city in the US -- and perhaps elsewhere. The big surprise was the $20 tab for a bottle of quality Belgian beer -- a good size bottle and great tasting brew, but I should have asked the price before diving in. The meal was first rate. Last night (Sunday) the choice was made by friend Luigi who makes a point of exploring all the cities he visits in search of good Latin American cuisine. He discovered a Mexican place called "Rudy's" (I think) -- not quite what I would have chosen, but it turned out to be an excellent choice. I had Enchiladas Verdes -- and the green chile sauce was superb. Today will be a day for taking it easy -- perhaps a bit of working out in the hotel gym and seeing some more of Milwaukee. Will eventually do the rounds of receptions and schmoozing. Tuesday is another day filled with meetings and I am scheduled for a presentation of that paper that Ciaran and I wrote that keeps getting mentioned in various blogs on both sides of the Atlantic. Have to admit -- all this traveling is getting a bit much....

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