Phil's Travels in One Chart

Did you all like my catchy Wonkblog-worthy title? I'll be up to SEO in no time.

Anyways, here's a chart of the number of days I've spent in different geographic locations over the past 365 days.

I predict that things will be even more colorful by the time I make it back to Kalamazoo, but by the end of my senior year, "Midwest" should occupy the vast majority once again. After I graduate though, the chart will once again be changing (most likely, if I go to grad school somewhere in the midwest, I may have to subdivide region)!

London Beer

I turned 21 a month and a half before coming to London and loved exploring Michigan's craft beer culture. Beer in London is certainly a different creature than beer back in the US. On the one hand, it's a much more casual social tool. Thanks to open container laws, it's exceedingly common to see people spilling out into the streets from pubs with beers in hand or some people drinking a bottle of beer going down the street. Because the drinking age is 18, everyone at university can drink and it's not uncommon to see our student pub entertaining a few patrons at 1:00 in the afternoon. In addition, the random beer you might get in the typical pub is moderately better than what you'd randomly get in the US. However, craft beer has not spread in the UK (or Europe in general) like it has in the US. The beer hits a quality ceiling very rapidly. A pint in London is also much more expensive than it is in the States, but that goes without saying.

Craft beer is not completely nonexistent in jolly old England, however. With the help of my fellow K student here at LSE, I've been exploring the brews over at The Kernel Brewery. Kernel is only open on Saturdays from 10-3 in a little archway under a train tunnel. The area is home to a number of other enterprises set up under the train tunnel, including fresh meats, cheeses, vegetables, and honey, but Kernel's beer is clearly the main attraction. My first sip of Kernel's Chinook Pale Ale was unlike anything I've had since before I left for Europe. About ten minutes from Kernel is Brew by Numbers, which features some pretty good stuff. Also worth stopping in is the Scottish brewery Brew Dog, which has a few pubs in London. The Draft House is a nearby pub that is always serving up an eclectic collection of craft beers.   Next on my list is the new Weird Beard Brewing Company. Also of interest is the uniquely European Ales by Mail (which is exactly what it sounds like).

I still miss my old favorites from home, but there is still plenty of beer for me try here in the UK! It's too bad exams are coming so quickly...

DeLaZoo

Continuing with Nerd's Eye View's long tradition of music recommendations (okay, I've only done one), I want to say that Kalamazoo native and West Middle School/Portage Northern High School alumni DeLaZoo is spitting some quality rap. I've known DeLaZoo, who I grew up calling Devin, since around the sixth grade. He sat in front of me playing french horn in Mr. Mumma's band class, we had Spanish class together in 8th grade, and I always saw Devin around the halls in high school. DeLaZoo has made quite a splash on youtube and in the Kalamazoo rap scene. Last week, I gave a listen to some of his music, and it's good. Very good.

I wish I knew more about rap so I could give a better description of DeLaZoo's influences and styles. I can definitely hear some influence from a bit of Kanye West's earlier works. I do listen to a fair amount of rap, I have ears, and I like what DeLaZoo is making. What stands out to me about DeLaZoo's music is his creative lyricism and production on his songs. I have to admit that DeLaZoo's frequent references as a Michigan native native really tug on my heart strings; a song that has a reference to Ambereley or a music video shot in Bronson Park on Candy Cane Lane scores a few brownie points with me.

Where to start with DeLaZoo? Well, here's his first youtube video that got some popularity in the underground rap community. His most recent mixtape is "Elsewhere Better". Two of my favorite tracks are the eponymous Elsewhere Better and the more sentimental Art School. Apparently another mixtape "The Waiting Place" will be released soon.

It's great to see someone from Kalamazoo doing something so unique (did I mention that another PN graduate recently published a book)? I wish Devin the best of luck as he keeps making music!

Same Old Russia

My History of Russia 1672-1825 course has given me some unique perspective on the current issues between Ukraine and Russia over Crimea. I've seen some people comparing this to the Cold War or even the political tensions preceding WWI, but Russia's interest in Crimea dates back even further.

Here's Putin requesting permission from Russia's Federation Council to send troops into Ukraine:

"Due to the extraordinary situation on Ukraine, with threats to the lives of citizens of the Russian Federation, our compatriots, and of the the personnel of the military contingent of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation located in accordance with the international agreement on the territory of Ukraine (in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea), and on the basis of Paragraph D, Part 1 of Article 102 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, I am submitting to the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation an appeal for use of the armed forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine, for the purpose of normalising the political situation in this country."

And here's Catherine the Great more than 230 years earlier on April 8, 1783 announcing Russia's annexation of Crimea:

"And therefore, in keeping with the solicitude incumbent upon us for the welfare and majesty of our fatherland, striving to assure its welfare and security, and likewise looking this as a means of eliminating forever the unpleasant causes that disturb the eternal peace concluded between the Russian and Ottoman empires...we have decided to take under our dominion the Crimean Peninsula..."

In today's context, change "Ottoman empires" to "Western Europe". Sound familiar?

Of course, Putin can't explicitly take over Crimea like his predecessor did, but sending in troops to prop up a puppet government is just as good. Another difference is that most people in Crimea today really do want closer ties with Russia (although the Crimean Tatars are a notable exception who have a long history with Russia), whereas most people in Crimea during Catherine's time probably just wanted everyone to stop fighting and burning their farms all the time.

Crimea has always been important to Russia because it provides an ideal port along the Black Sea and a buffer with their neighbors. It wouldn't surprise me if unrest in Eastern Ukraine prompts another military response from Putin, leading more of Ukraine to separate from Kiev and giving Russia another buffer state.

Potemkin's memorandum to Catherine urging her to annex Crimea is also telling. Talking about the potential benefits, Potemkin lists:

"navigation on the Black Sea will be free; as it is now, your ships have difficulty in leaving port and find it still harder to enter...The acquisition of the Crimea can neither strengthen nor enrich you, but it will give you security."

The Victoria and Albert Museum

I suspect that my favorite "museum" will always be the Vatican Museum (I use quotes because it is so much more than a museum). But yesterday I decided that the Victoria and Albert Museum may be my second or third favorite museum. I can't decide until I get to visit the Imperial War Museum again, which unfortunately won't be possible for awhile because they're under renovation until after I leave London.

The name of the V&A refers to Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert, both of whom were major supporters of the arts and sciences in Britain. The first iteration of the museum was built after the Great Exhibition of 1851, and construction of the building that stands today began in 1899. 

I love the V&A because it has both variety and quality in its exhibits. A dozen renaissance marble statues confront me as I enter the museum, then I turn a corner into a room filled with display cases of British clothing from the 16th-20th centuries, then enter a room dedicated to the Raphael Cartoons. After seeing so many different objects from various eras, I was unsurprised when I found one section featuring hundreds of keys and locks. Every exhibit was accompanied by enough information to put the objects and art into context, but not so much information that I was overwhelmed. When I grew bored of one section of the museum, it was easy to walk into a room with something entirely different. 

On top of all this, the V&A is free, and it's hard to dislike that.