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This page is a Monthly Archive of entries from November 2008 listed from newest to oldest.
Fred Davidson, Professor of Linguistics at the U of I, is one of the pillars of the bicycling community in Champaign-Urbana. If you drop by The Bike Project on Thursday nights, Fred is there rain or shine to lend a helping hand with bicycle repairs. He might even share some sage advice about non-biking matters. He's also doing his part to shatter the stereotype of fixed-gear riders as ill-tempered emo kids, riding his distinctive green fixie around town and posting regularly on the Fixed Gear Gallery as mrfred.
Over the weekend, Fred shared memories of frenzied bike commuting in L.A. and languid rides to Flatville. He has even more wisdom to share ... after the jump.
As two or three of you know, Monday is the day that I preview the upcoming WEFT Sessions show and preview the coming week's campus speakers. Well, the wheels of culture sort of ground to a halt this week, as WEFT hasn't yet revealed who will perform on Sessions tonight, and the Thanksgiving break means no speakers at the U of I. So, here's a little list of the speakers coming to campus early next week, which will be featured more thoroughly next Monday. Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone.
Monday, December 1 @ 4 p.m.: "Cyber-Physical Systems: From Sensing and Actuation to Information Spaces" by Professor Steve LaValle of the Department of Computer Science at UIUC
Tuesday, December 2 @ 12 noon: Sustainabilty Seminar Series - "Seeing the Light: Campus Lighting Retrofits at UIUC" by Eva Sweeney
This past Sunday, the first annual Chambana Cranksgiving took place at the Independent Media Center, with 41 participants collecting 613 pounds of food for Eastern Illinois Foodbank. Pictured above are organizers Pieta and Luke Thompson behind the food pile (photo by Sean Laude).
After the jump, a photo and video diary of the event, courtesy of Stephen Paca and Luke Thompson.
You live near a major university. There are smart people that come here every week to talk to the general public about interesting topics. Perhaps you were not aware of this fact, or were overwhelmed by the sheer number of opportunities for possible transcendence. If that's the case, Smile Politely understands and is here to help. Here are three speakers that will be on campus this week, and two of them took the time to answer a few questions about their area of expertise. Check one or more of them out if you have time.
Monday, November 17 @ 8 p.m.: "The Aesthetics of Nostalgia: Modern Readers and Medieval Texts," by Dr. Renee Trilling, U of I Assistant Professor of English; Levis Faculty Center Music Room
There's something for everyone at the first annual Chambana Cranksgiving this Sunday, November 16. Registration starts at noon at the Independent Media Center, and the "race" will begin at 1 p.m. The event is a scavenger-hunt style bicycle race to benefit the Eastern Illinois Foodbank. Participants will bring an "entry fee" of at least $5 and travel around on their bikes to local grocery stores, purchasing non-perishable food items to donate to EIFB. Certain high-priority and unusual items will have greater point values. Thanks to several generous sponsors, there will be prizes for all participants, regardless of point totals.
After the race, there will be an after-party at the IMC featuring live music from C-U's own World's First Flying Machine, bike competitions and food and beverages. If you don't want to do the scavenger hunt, you can still come out to see the music, but a donation of five canned food items or cash equivalent is suggested. The after-party will start at 6 p.m. at the IMC and WFFM will go on at about 6:30.
With one historic building in shambles from a raging inferno, now seems an appropriate time to deliver the news about another piece of infrastructure, albeit virtual, in downtown Champaign. While the city center has had a homepage for quite sometime, Champaign city planner T.J. Blakeman and Volition recruiter Kevin Fanning recently collaborated to update and tighten up www.downtownchampaign.com.
The end result is a much more quality visit — with news items about development, living spaces, entertainment, restaurants and the like — that resembles a trend of ease within website navigation.
Like what you see? Think something is missing? Go here to let them know.
If you think of the Champaign-Urbana bike community as a large, multi-tendrilled beast, as I like to, then Pat Schmitz has that sucker covered from head-to-toe as well as anyone I know. Schmitz, a graduate student in Plant Biology by day, spends his free time on a diverse array of bike-related endeavors. You may have seen him on his ultra-long kids' bike or tall bike during Critical Mass, riding in a chariot race around the quad or working as a bicycling advocate for ChampaignCountyBikes.org.
I caught up with Pat before we were set to play a game of bike polo in the Krannert parking garage. After the jump, hear his thoughts on freak bikes, fixed gears, and building trailers.
Champaign artist Lori Caterini (of Bow-Dacious String Band) has taken it upon herself to induce the time-honored autumn tradition of playing in leaves by deliberately dumping over 250 bags of them into Crane Alley (the actual alley) in downtown Urbana.
According to a small grassroots press release via email, the exhibit lasts only for today and is "at your disposal for dragging feet, breathing fabulous fall smells, and generally having fun."
Get down there soon because they'll be raking up the pile of leaves around 5:45 p.m.
Crane Alley intersects Main St. in downtown Urbana between Elm St. and Goose Alley.
Photo by Robin Kearton
You live near a major university. There are smart people that come here every week to talk to the general public about interesting topics. Perhaps you were not aware of this fact, or were overwhelmed by the sheer number of opportunities for possible transcendence. If that's the case, Smile Politely understands and is here to help. Here are five speakers that will be on campus this week, and three of them took the time to answer a few questions about their area of expertise. Check one or more of them out if you have time.
Monday, November 10 @ 12 noon: Sustainability Seminar Series - "The University of Illinois Business Instructional Facility: What we know and what we don't yet know about the Campus' First Green Building", Jean Ascoli, local architect, Stephen J. Warner Conference Room, Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (Waste Management and Research Center Building), One E. Hazelwood Dr., Champaign
Smile Politely: Were you involved in the design of the building?
If utility rates continue to rise, one of these days solar power will start to make economic sense for the majority of Americans. Right now, Dr. Patrick Chapman, Associate Professor of electrical engineering at the U of I and representative of the Solar Decathlon team, recognizes that solar power systems are right for people who "have the money to spend and good sense to realize that it is wiser than, say, getting a $50,000 luxury car as opposed to a $25,000 hybrid car plus a $25,000 power system."
Chapman will be giving a presentation on solar power tomorrow night at the Champaign Public Library. The presentation is part of the Earth Smart series, and it will run from 7 to 9 p.m. in Robeson Pavilion A & B. Chapman decided to equip his new home with solar arrays last year, and after the jump, he'll share some of his thoughts on that experience and the future of solar power.
Scenes from the Alma Mater.
Justice, like love, can mean pretty much anything. Some people show their love by demanding that others convert to their religion. Others administer justice by firebombing entire cities. It all depends on one’s definition of love and justice.
Howard Zehr, the founder of the modern “restorative justice” movement, will be in town this week to talk about justice, and how it can be turned from a retributive act to a restorative process.
See more after the jump.
There are so many opportunities to hear world-renowned experts speak on different topics every week in C-U, but it's tough to figure out what's happening when and where. "Listen Up" is a new feature where Smile Politely will highlight a few of the most interesting speakers, authors and panelists coming to Champaign-Urbana in a given week.
Monday, November 3 @ 4 p.m.: "In the Trails of the Historic Diaspora: Africa's New Global Migrations and Diasporas," Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, University of Illinois at Chicago History Professor, Third Floor, Levis Faculty Center, 919 W. Illinois Street, Urbana
Dr. Zeleza will be sharing some of his research on the dispersion of African peoples throughout the world. After the jump, a brief interview with Dr. Zeleza, as well as previews of three other speakers coming to campus this week.
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