10.26.06
Posted in Food, Society & Politics at 12.12 pm by niltiac
Starbucks has been pilloried in the press today for scuppering Ethiopia’s attempt to trademark the names of some of its most famous coffee beans – Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffee. This article in The Guardian tries to push all the buttons, contrasting the dire of poverty of Ethiopian coffee farmers with the earnings of Starbucks (the coffee chain’s annual turnover is apparently equal to three-quarters of Ethiopia’s GDP), and quoting a line-up of critics from Oxfam to the Ethiopian US embassy, as well as farmer’s cooperatives. The thrust of the article is that Starbucks is the baddy and there is an unquestioned assumption that it is perfectly reasonable for a country to trademark food names.
I disagree. I care about development in Africa and the quality of life of African farmers. I have met coffee farmers in Uganda and Tanzania and I know some of the challenges they face. I support, both emotionally and financially, the work that Oxfam does. However, there has to be a better way to achieve development goals than abusing intellectual property law. And I do believe it’s abuse.
The whole notion of being able to trademark things that are not brands but generic products is nonsense. Just because it’s now Ethiopia doing it on behalf of poor farmers rather than a big faceless corporation doesn’t make it right.
There has already been much silliness with French wine makers claiming the name “Champagne” or Italian butchers “Parma ham”. This is stupid; the names may have originally derived from the place they came from but they are now names for the object itself and the object remains the same wherever it is produced. What next, a law saying that you can’t produce Cheddar cheese anywhere except Cheddar in England? Actually, don’t laugh, that’ll probably happen.
Now under European Union law, only Greeks are allowed to produce Feta cheese, despite the fact that Feta isn’t even a place. The Danes, who have a tradition of producing Feta stretching back centuries, are not surprisingly furious.
But this Ethiopian application goes even further since the names refer to the variety of bean rather than the finished food product. To me they have as much right over the coffee that evolved in their country as Peruvians have over the potato. Potatoes evolved in Peru, maybe we should pay royalties to the Peruvians every time we eat a potato or use the word.
It’s easy to feel sympathy for the Ethiopians but in reality it’s all part of the ever-widening net of intellectual property law, which is now being used to do things that it was never intended for. The rights of consumers are being trampled as it takes longer and longer for works to reach the “public domain” (where copyright has expired) and the concept of “fair use” is increasingly forgotten. I am not anti-copyright; au contraire, as a writer I rely on it for my livelihood. Clearly it’s a good thing that no one can take my words and pictures and claim them as their own and make money off my labours. But there has to be a balance and I think it’s better for everyone the more we can keep the rich diversity of culture and language in the public domain as a kind of creative commons. How much poorer would the world be if every time we staged a Shakespeare play, we had to pay royalties to his descendants? Or worse, to a faceless entity that bought the rights?
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10.25.06
Posted in Life, London at 3.09 pm by niltiac
The blog has had to take a backseat for a week or so as I have been very busy moving house and meeting urgent deadlines for work. Also, there have been a few hiccups with putting the phone line and broadband on at the new house so I currently only have internet access at work.
I’m enjoying the new flat very much. It’s nicely renovated and it’s in a great spot, with lots of restaurants, shops, pubs and parks. My commute to work is now only about 20 minutes on the overground train, which is far less crowded than the Tube. We are mostly settled in but still need to buy a few items of furniture, such as bookshelves and a desk.
The days have started to draw in, something that will only increase since daylight savings ends in a week or so. It’s started to get a nip in the air but it’s still unseasonally warm. Coats, hats, gloves and scarf are still languishing in the back of my closet. It’s been raining quite a bit lately though, which is a good thing since we are still officially in a drought (albeit a wimpy British one, not a tough Australian one).
I’m looking forward to my trip home to Australia in November and have a few exciting things planned before then too, including a few trips to the theatre.
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10.17.06
Posted in Media & Internet at 2.12 pm by niltiac
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool…
Opening Credits
“Run 2″, New Order (The Best of New Order)
Waking Up
“All Time High (From Octopussy)”, Rita Coolidge (The Best of Bond… James Bond)
First Day at School
“Say Hello” [Radio Edit], Deep Dish (Say Hello)
Falling in Love
“I Feel Stereo,” Dino Lenny (Mint Essential House)
Fight Song
“Sorry,” Madonna (Confessions on a Dance Floor)
Breaking Up
“Missing,” Everything but the Girl (Amplified Heart)
Prom
“All my Loving,” The Beatles (Anthology 1 (Disc 2))
Life is Good
“Let’s Go to Bed,” The Cure (Staring at the Sea)
Mental Breakdown
“The Sky is Broken”, Moby (Play)
Driving
“You Oughta Know,” Alanis Morrisette (Jagged Little Pill)
Flashback
“Letter Never Sent,” REM (Reckoning)
Getting Back Together
“VII 6-Part Consorts_In Nomine a 6,” Savall, Jordi – Hespèrion XXI (Consort Music To The Viols In 4, 5 & 6 Parts)
Wedding
“A Question of Lust,” Depeche Mode (Singles 1986-1998 (Disc 1))
Paying the Dues
“Late for the Sky,” Jackson Browne (A Selection of Music from 31 Songs)
The Night Before the War
“Flying High (In the Friendly Sky),” Marvin Gaye (What’s Going On (Extra Tracks) [Original Recording Remastered])
Final Battle
“Spitting out the Demons,” Gorillaz (Feel Good Inc – EP)
Moment of Triumph
“Paranoid Android,” Radiohead (Triple J Hottest 100 Volume 5 (Disc 1))
Death Scene
“No Saint,” Wasis Diop (Café Del Mar Volumen Cuatro (Vol. 4))
Funeral Song
“A Stronger Man,” Ben Watt Feat. Sananda Maitreya (Buzzin’ Fly, Vol. I (Disc 1))
End Credits
“Calm Inside the Storm,” Cyndi Lauper (True Colors)
Hmm. My first thought is, where’s the cheese? If I press ‘reshuffle’, I could just as easily wind up with Michael Jackson and Wham.
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10.07.06
Posted in Life, London at 11.08 am by niltiac
We pick up the keys to our new flat tonight and the removalists come tomorrow. There is no furniture to move but a surprising amount of accumulated possessions. I’ve been trying to sort through it as I pack but it does feel like most of it is needed and used – and a lot of the books are still to be read!
I’m excited about seeing what life is like on the other side of the river. Many Londoners are quite religious about whether south or north is better. I don’t go for that but I’m happy because the area we’re moving to has great transport links, parks and nice restaurants. It just happens to be north.
Our new flat is still a one bedroom and probably no bigger than the one we have but it’s all freshly painted and the kitchen is nicer. We’re hoping to be able to afford a cleaner so we can keep it all fresh and nice.
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10.05.06
Posted in Media & Internet at 7.17 am by niltiac
Two men were trapped in a mine for 14 days. On the ninth day they were given iPods. One asked for country music, while the other requested the Foo Fighters. On the 11th day, Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters caught wind of this (probably via that wonder of our age, the internet) and sent a message offering to buy them a beer some time. And now one of the miners (the country fan had no interest in the music) has caught up with Grohl after a concert in Sydney for a night on the town.
The thing I love about this story is not just that it’s a heartwarming tale about a stoic miner surviving a terrible accident and then going on to meet his hero. I also love the way it happened and the fact that it would not have happened in this way at any other point in history. It just seems to capture the zeitgeist really well.
At no other time but now would the men have received iPods (I suppose they could have got Walkmans or CD Walkmans but before that, nada). And at no other point in history would the musician have heard about this as events were still unfolding. I bet the miner is really glad he didn’t pick Nirvana or something – it would be a bit difficult to share a beer with Kurt Cobain.
It reminds me of the One Red Paperclip guy. (I’ve written about him before and most of you probably know about him anyway – he’s the one who traded a paperclip for a house).
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10.04.06
Posted in Society & Politics at 1.41 pm by niltiac
I feel physically ill when I read articles like this. It predicts that a third of the planet will be in the grip of drought so extreme that agriculture will be impossible by the year 2100.
The future is so uncertain, I almost wish I had a crystal ball. Of course it’s impossible to know for sure what the future holds since it hasn’t happened yet. It’s probably better that way – I would rather have hope, since the alternative is despair.
I cling to the belief that we can do something about this but it feels like trying to turn the Titanic around before it hits the iceberg. We have to try.
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10.03.06
Posted in Media & Internet at 10.19 am by niltiac
I love Nouvelle Vague! Watch this awesome video clip from the polar bear song on their new album.
Perhaps some clever clogs can tell me who they’re covering? As far as I know Nouvelle Vague only do covers but I could be wrong.
Ich möchte ein Eisbär sein im kalten Polar
Dann müßte ich nicht mehr schrei’n
Alles wär’ so klar
(Translation: I would like to be a polar bear in the cold polar region
Then I would have to cry any more
Everything would be so clear)
Ich möchte ein Eisbär sein im kalten Polar
Dann müßte ich nicht mehr schrei’n
Alles wär’ so klar
Eisbär
Kaltes Eis
Ich möchte ein Eisbär sein im kalten Polar
Dann müßte ich nicht mehr schrei’n
Alles wär’ so klar
Ich möchte ein Eisbär sein im kalten Polar
Dann müßte ich nicht mehr schrei’n
Alles wär’ so klar
Eisbär’n müssen nie weinen
Eisbär’n müssen nie weinen
Eisbär’n müssen nie weinen
Eisbär’n müssen nie weinen
Ich möchte ein Eisbär sein im kalten Polar
Eisbär’n müssen nie weinen
Dann müßte ich nicht mehr schrei’n alles wär’ so klar
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10.01.06
Posted in Film at 12.36 pm by niltiac
My boyfriend and I met up with Matt and Leah last night to see Talladega Nights (Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby to give its full title). It’s a ridiculous but very funny movie about a Nascar driver (Nascar is like America’s Formula One but apparently there are all sorts of difference like the cars the drive and the layout of the tracks). Sacha Baron Cohen (the man behind Ali G and Borat) features in it as a gay French racecar driver and I have to admit he is pretty amusing. It’s all deeply silly but I would recommend it if you want something that’s light-hearted and fun and nothing more.
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Posted in London at 12.21 pm by niltiac
I met up with Dominique yesterday and we went along to see the Museum of London, which is not far from the Barbican Centre and St Paul’s Cathedral. It’s meant to be the biggest best city museum in the world – a city museum being a museum about the life and history of a city rather than a museum that happens to be in a city.
It’s amazing how much stuff they have there and how interesting it is. The exhibits start from the prehistoric settlements in the Thames Valley and go all the way to 1914 – they are currently constructing a new 20th century gallery to open in about a year or so. We skipped the earlier stuff and started from the 18th century but it still took us about two hours and we didn’t quite make it to the very end. Fortunately, museums in London are free so I can go back any time.
I thought one of the most interesting things was the display on the suffragette movement, which showed some of the anti-suffragette propaganda. There was a series of little postcards, one had a baby crying with the caption “mummy’s a suffragette” and another had a hideous monster in a bonnet labelled “suffragette”. There were several others but they were all underpinned by the same implication that a woman wanting to vote was unnatural and unfeminine.
I also really enjoyed seeing the old maps of London, with quotes from worthies of the day outraged at the urban sprawl that, shock horror, might cause Pimlico to join up with Chelsea & Kensington. Most of north London was labelled “Middlesex”, and both Surrey and Kent stretched up to the south side of the Thames, the former taking in Wandsworth and Clapham and the latter Woolwich and Greenwich.
As you would expect, there was also clothing, toys, household goods, machinery and the like. The Victoriana section was particularly well stocked with all that romantic paraphernalia of childhood the Victorians specialise in.
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