Kitesurfing in Cornwall

350 or so Kitesurfers on one beach in Cornwall :)

It has been noted that the future of the current energy crisis lies not in risky nuclear power but in steady-state renewables, specifically sun, wind, and air. All three of these elements come together in one of the newest and definitely the raddest sport I've come across yet: Kitesurfing. Apparently the LSE has a kitesurfing club, in which these two awesome guys, Vik and James, both kitesurfing instructors take groups of people out on weekends to learn to kitesurf for dirt cheap. A lesson that would cost between $500 and $1000 in the states is offered for something in the area of $50, and they'll teach friends for less. Vik and James do have a lot of friends, but not a lot of groupies.. at least, not a lot of male groupies. Their club has over 100 members, making it one of the largest in the LSE, and the culture is definitely surfer. Last weekend I climbed aboard a bus with these guys and 48 other LSE students in order to spend 2 days in Cornwall living it up and flying some kites. There was a big kitesurfer convention in some random caravan campsite there, with 350 people attending. LSE had the biggest crew by far. I met some very groovy people, including Yann, my kite-buddy from France, who spent all day Saturday and Sunday with me untangling kites and trying to learn to kiteboard upwind. Vik and James are also rad dudes- Vik has an ethereal taste in music and was nice enough to share with me a few sick bands, including Angels and Airwaves (where was THIS for me 3 years ago?) and Kings of Leon. James is a different type of chill, and engaged me in a philosophical debate on existence after he'd had a beer or two- and to be honest, he kind of kicked my ass. Apparently we're philosophical brothers now. More on all this later.

Amber Applies Vik's warpaint.. Saturday Night was Fancy Dress.

The Aussie Kiss crew brought about 40 demo kites for us newbies
to play with. Behold!

Kitesurfing involves strapping yourself to a 12 meter powerkite (shaped like a crescent, or a slice of a parachute) that has the ability to trap massive amounts of wind and literally pull a person up into the sky with it, depending on how the kite is flying. Powerkites are amazing inventions- apparently if the kite is catching the wind PERFECTLY it can move at 3x the speed of the surrounding wind. In other words, if you're playing around with a 20 mph breeze (doesn't seem like much- this is typical ocean breeze in Huntington Beach at 3 or 4 PM in the winter), you'll be able to cruise at speeds approaching 60 miles an hour (I don't think hangliders are quite the same..). In reality people don't get going nearly this fast, but it is possible to hit something near 40 mph off of a 20 mph wind. Powerkites come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. The ones for use on land are actually much smaller, ranging from 3 m to 6 m. A 6 m kite can still pull you up into the air when you have it in the powerzone, however. It is a pleasure to fly something that has so much power it it-- remember flying a kite when you were a kid and it was fun feeling the kite pull against you? Now imagine the kite pulling so hard you have to drop your ass toward the ground and lean waaaay back, and it STILL slides you forward along the beach. Now imagine strapping your feet into a board, running the kite in continuous figure-8's in the powerzone so it continually pulls you in one direction.. etc.. etc.. I've found my new favorite thing in the world. The kites that get used in the ocean are a lot bigger, a lot slower, and a LOT more powerful.

Most of these kites are Water-Kites, some in various
stages of being blown up (foreground).

After strapping yourself to this badass kite (and yes, there's an emergency release system-- how that one kid flew into a building during some hurricane in Florida I'm not sure- maybe he was too scared to release himself and decided it would be better to risk it flying through the buildings at 60 miles an hour or so), you decide it would be fun to strap your feet into something to reduce your friction with whatever surface you're on. This is the cool thing about kitesurfing; there are SO MANY applications. Some people use modified surf-boards and try to kitesurf into waves. Apparently it's a LOT easier to get past the break with a kiteboard.. perhaps a little less manly. Some people put modified wakeboards under their feet and cruise- this is typical kitesurfing. If you're in the snow, why not use a snowboard or skis? It's been done. On land, try a modified skateboard with huge wheels and skyhooks for your feet. I spent most of my weekend on one of these, trying to figure out the basics. I actually got the thing up to 30 mph or so, but couldn't figure out how to tack backwards against the wind... a new challenge for next time.

These are Kiteboards (for the beach). I spent all day on these.

On the busride over, Mike daydreams of kites..

Bloody early morning in Cornwall.. Bloody cold,
Bloody windy, Bloody fantastic for Kitesurfing!

I didn't actually make it into the water in Cornwall. Had I gone in, I probably would have frozen my ass off, and probably not even noticed. The way they get us into the water is by holding onto a 12 m powerkite for the first time ever, and then letting it drag us (literally) through the water. Sounds like a blast- I'm totally there next time. While a lot of the LSE crew were gettting dunked in this manner, basically waiting an hour for 5 minutes of kite time, Yann and I spent the better half of Saturday cruising up and down a part of the beach with a 3.5 m kite and a kiteboard. We were having such a blast, we didn't even notice we'd ripped all the muscles in our shoulders and backs-- we noticed that on Monday though.

The Saturday Night Fancy Dress Theme was War and Peace
Private Joker. Whose side are you on anyway, son?

Roman the Russian, who had the best Dance moves of any of us.

On Sunday we got up, grabbed an English breakfast of eggs, beans, and fried tomatoes (why is every traditional English meal something that can easily be cooked on a ship?), then bummed a ride with Lisa from Angola (who listens to BADASS Portuguese music and still owes me an mp3) over to the beach. We got there at 11, grabbed a kite and a board, and got the kite up only to find that it wouldn't fly right.. something wasn't grabbing the wind correctly and we couldn't keep the damn thing up in the sky. Somewhat dejected, we went back to base and, because of some wonderful twist of fate, were given a MUCH BIGGER kite to play with. In fact, we were given the biggest land kite they had-- a 6 m beauty. We literally ran back to the beach, and started to unroll the thing when all of the lines got tangled.. and.. then.. life.. sucked.

Yann on the beach before the kite kills us.
When the tide is just going out, the reflection is quite transcendental..

Something else about powerkites (all this info-- now you guys have to go try it yourselves). Powerkites are attached to four strings (one for each corner of the kite). These four strings are separated into two pairs, and each pair goes to a handle, one for the right hand, one for the left hand (red is ALWAYS left). By pulling the handle in one way or another, you create drag on different corners of the kite. If you pull really heavily on the top strings, the kite loses drag, and falls to the earth. If you pull more on the lower strings, the kite rises and gains power. Now this is all well and good, but once you're done flying a kite, you have to roll the damn thing up. A lot of people don't do this very well... there's a certain, very precise way to combine and roll up the four strings so that when you UNROLL them, they don't get tangled with one another. Whoever put our 6 m kite away before us DID NOT do a good job unrolling our strings. Moreover, I unrolled it a little too quickly in my haste to get the thing up in the air...

The result was a Gordian knot that was about 6 inches in diameter. The strings themselves were something like 30 m long, and probably 70% of them were stuck inside that damn knot. So what happened? Yann and I spent the next two hours doing surgery, slowly unwinding the damn kite turn-by-turn of each string (thankfully the strings are color-coded). Now here's the best part. The kite became the knot of insanity at 1:20 PM. We got the thing untangled and up in the air at 3:20 PM (and to be honest, I doubt anybody in the world could have done a better job- hats off to Yann). At 3:21, our group leader Nat told us to bring the kite in, as the bus was leaving at 3:30.

We got to play with the damn thing for 5 minutes. But, just like Cartman with his 30 second run through Casa Bonita, those 5 minutes were the best damn 5 minutes in the world.

A Rare picture of the blogger himself, early in the morning,
waiting for the tide to recede.

Let me say, for the record, that there is NOTHING LIKE flying a power kite. There is nothing else in the world- just you, the wind, and that damn kite. You're so calm, and everything is so quiet, and when that thing lifts you, you feel like you're flying...

Apparently some people go live on the beach and do this for months on end..

damn.


aand of course, Monday means back to class.
To be honest, this lecture on Pre-WW2 Europe was really good,
but it wasn't Cornwall.

A Cornwall Sunset

Thomas Friedman Lectures at the LSE

AND SO IT WAS that the master magician and Green spokesperson, Himself, came to the LSE to lecture and inspire us humble students to get something done with our silly little lives.

The Old Theatre was packed for this one-
Tickets were given out a week earlier and were gone in 30 minutes.

Thomas Friedman is a bit smaller that I'd imagined, and very New York. His mode of speech is very fast-paced, very American, and therefore rather witty. There were some amazing lines from his talk on how the world is now "Hot, Flat, and Crowded," a synopsis of which is to follow.

Friedman articulates his point that America needs to
figure out her program, or become a BANANA Republic.
(Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything)

Seeing Friedman talk about his own book was probably more inspiring than reading it. Apparently the book starts in Istanbul, Turkey, at the new consulate where Friedman noticed the security was so built up "not even the birds can fly in." Friedman quips: "Where birds don't fly, freedom don't ring." How very true. America really has isolated itself from the rest of the world for that past .. oh I dunno.. 8 years? We got into the business of exporting our fears.. didn't we Mr. Bush? Moreover, the US lost its most serious competitor (Russia) back in the late '80s, and ever since then (especially after the IT boom) became rather lazy (we'll get to it when we get to it). All valid points. This would not be so bad if it weren't for three things: The world is becoming

HOT: Since 1750 we're up 2 or so degrees farenheit.. The climate system is like the human body. 2 degrees more and we're in the hospital;

FLAT: The rise of the global middle class is here. Thinking in terms of "Americoms" (IE- populations of 300 million or so who live like Americans), there are now 9 such populations in existence. All of them consume more or less the same amount. There are 9 Americas now.. that's right. Nine;

CROWDED: By 2053 there will be 9 billion people on the planet. Heh.. oh yeah.. we're adding another 1 billion by 2020. The population of the world will have tripled since 1960 by the time it reaches 9 billion.

This is a rather complex problem. But wait, there's more to be concerned about:

1) Energy and Natural Resources Supply and Demand
As the number of Americoms increases, the need for energy GREATLY increases. This is fairly obvious. Friedman gave a bunch of cool examples. If the next billion people were to have 1 lightbulb lit, some 20 new 500 Megawatt power plants would have to be built to power those light bulbs.

2) Petrol-Dictatorship
Interestingly, when the price of oil is low, Freedom reigns! In 1991, oil was about $10 a barrell. This was the lowest price ever, and America and Saudi Arabia were best of friends. Of course, we were bombing the living hell out of Iraq somewhere in there, but this was acceptable. Everybody was happy. Friedman makes a few points about oil diplomacy and power in the Saudi-Arabian region. This discussion is interesting to me because, to be honest, we only get about 17% of our oil from there currently (12% from Saudi Arabia, 5% from Iraq). It might be as high as 20%. This is a lot of oil, but it's not the bulk of our supply. I'm still curious why we have such a vested interest in this region.. There's some sort of 'King of the Hill' policy at play here. Since we get another 12% or so from Russia, perhaps we're interested in the area more as a power play to assure some of our other oil connections.
At any rate, those with the oil are our pals. They've been growing with us, consuming energy with us, and fighting wars with various of our friends and enemies. The whole thing is rather complicated and somewhat odiose. Let us move forward.

3) Climate Change
As Friedman quips, "It's not so much global warming as it's global weirding." Everything is going to get more intense, and apparently Al Gore owes us a BIG apology, as he SERIOUSLY UNDERESTIMATED and UNDERSTATED the scope of the problem. That's right friends. Current predictions are the Arctic Ice will be gone by 2015 or so (not 2050 as Mr. Gore maintained). Apparently climate change is a non-linear problem. For those of us who aren't too into math, it means that instead of changing at the same rate, the problem gets EXPONENTIALLY WORSE the more we get into it. The last two weeks I've been reading the economics of climate change and some of the ethical considerations that go into it. The biggest problem we seem to have is that we have NO REAL WAY to predict how bad things are going to get (in the words of Weitzman, a philosophical economist, the probability distributions have large left tails, wherein we have not a clue as to how high the true risk is of global collapse). We're basically playing god with the planet in a very real and very serious way.

A cool note: Friedman brought up Katrina, and asked us what bothered us about Katrina? His take was that we're unsure if God made Katrina, or if we did? This is some pretty scary stuff.

In Friedman's words: "We are playing lead electric-guitar in mother nature's orchestra."
Holy moly, great balls of fire.

4) Biodiversity Laws
A new species now goes extinct every 20 minutes. Apparently we are the first generation of humans who are actually going to have to think like Noah.. as in Noah, the guy with the ark. Friedman had a few of these biblical references that really added to the overall emotional weight of the account. I think that by the time he got here we were all pretty swayed. There were other interesting lines in the speech, for example, in relation to the loss of biodiversity due to climate change: "We're burning all the paintings in the Louvre just to cook dinner."

At this point, Mr. Friedman switched gears to American Innovation Guy, and told us that all of these problems are unique in that they have one common solution:
Abundant, Cheap, Easy-to-Produce Energy.

Friedman's proposed solution is to shape the market toward innovation of ET (Energy Technology) as opposed to the latest binge of Finance and IT. He believes (and I think he's correct here) that, if properly guided, the American spirit of 'garage and basement' innovation will be enough to create 10,000 interesting ideas, of which maybe 100 will be useful, of which maybe 2 will be the next Google or Facebook of ET.

He then went on to explain the seriousness of this 'ET Revolution' that needs to occur. Basically, it's going to be "Change or Die." Right next to out-maneuvering in the dictionary will be the term: out-greening. Apparently Green is no longer 'lame,' or 'hippie,' or 'vaguely European.' It's the new Red, White and Blue.

An example: During the Iraq war, General Zilmer asked the Pentagon for Solar Power for one of his bases. He wanted to 'Out-Green' Al-Queda. Basically, the problem was his advance base was being supplied by gas TRUCKED in along roads loaded with IEDs at a cost of nearly $20 a gallon. Solar power would get rid of the supply line, freeing resources and keeping the soldiers off the road where they could get hurt. In war, the commander who utilizes all resources in the most efficacious manner emerges victorious. Life is dynamic. Hats off to General Zilmer and the Green Hawks.

Friedman goes on to explain that right now, the world is not having a Green Revolution. It's having a 'Green Party.' Green is currently fun, trendy, and kitsch. It's no revolution. People aren't slaving away on new technologies. People really don't understand the scope of the situation, or how the world is about to change. The country that learns to control ET will be the next country in charge of the planet. This is the point that Friedman stressed, and I have to agree with him. He did an excellent job of explaining how in China a young student told him: How can Americans insist that China not pollute when America has had nearly two centuries of doing just that? Friedman answers: "You're right. We grew dirty for 100 years, and now you have every right to as well. Go right ahead. No problem. We only need about 5 years while you guys are doing this to invent the technology that's going to fix this mess, and THEN WE'LL SELL IT TO YOU!!"

Friedman embodies something so very American. I found myself proud, and somehow, deeply inspired. He then proceeded to explain what the big problem is for America: Nobody is able to shape the policy. The grass-roots innovation is there, but the problem is the technologies have to compete with existing cheap, dirty energy. Price bases need to be set on gasoline, and there needs to be a carbon tax. Existing policy needs to change.

Wait.. did Friedman just say policy.. as in Public Policy.. as in.. what I'm studying?

The talk ended on a positive note, when Friedman quoted a line from Dana Meadows' (some really cool environmentalist) eulogy:

"We have exactly enough time, starting now."

There's always enough time. Just enough. I hope this information has been helpful for those who have read it. All the little things we're doing are great, but BIG CHANGES need to happen, and millions of lives hang in the balance. Our way of life hangs in the balance. The world is not such a big place, and we're all connected. Policy must be designed to promote human welfare and liberty, not to stifle us or lock us away from the world in some misguided sense of fear.

"When you put the people together, you put the planet together."

I hope that when the time comes, we will all do what is necessary. Otherwise, somebody else will, and America will become a BANANA Republic.

LSE's Professor Sterns (The creator of the Stern Report) asks
Friedman a question about how to create effective horizontal
collaboration in order to solve this disaster. Friedman's answer
centered around solid leadership for America.

Whoever wins this election, I pray you lead us in the correct direction.

Lastly, a cool view of LSE from one of the various rooftop overlooks.

Just What Kind of a Place is the LSE Anyways?

Ladies and Gentlemen, the LSE:

A Conglomerate of Modern and Late Victorian Architecture,
The LSE includes features such as this cool sunbridge, which
I have yet to actually find.. Most buildings open up to rooftop
lurches where students can rest, bask in the sun, or watch the
others down in the shadowy streets below..

The LSE Library is gargantuan-- over 6 floors, hundreds of computer terminals,
and (see below) the coolest winding staircase I've ever seen, especially in a library.


The Staircase of helixical coolness..


Observed from a different angle-- VERY interesting architecture.

The Shaw Library in the Old Building is more distinguished and somber,
often used for guest speaker lectures and the occasional Chopin Recital.

The London School of Economics (and Political Science) is primarily a sociology-based undergraduate and post-graduate institution, located in Central London and at least 100 years old (Founded in 1895 by Beatrice and Sidney Webb). Currently, the school has 9000 students attending, of which (and get this), 4500 are Post-Graduates. How about that? A 50-50 ratio. I'm pretty sure that's an unusual statistic. What it means is when you walk down the main drag of LSE (Houghton Street, by which lies the Bar (the TUNS), the Old building (where Stern gave his infamous report back in '06 and I was lucky enough to attend.. also where Thomas Friedman is going to give a talk on global warming this Tuesday), a bank, and the Student Union), you are about as likely to bump into an 18 year old 'fresher' as you are to bump into a 30+ year old PhD student. The place is extremly diverse- over 160 countries represented this year. What strikes me the most is that as I walk around, I can't help but be amused at the sheer geekiness of the place. Most of us are dweebs in tweed jackets (or maybe a nice London coat with glasses.. same diff to an outsider such as myself, but apparently not to the locals). The girls don't fare too much better-- there are definitely some more fashion-conscious girls among the undergrads, but for the most part the older ones are happy to walk around in a muted, but somehow pleasant variant of charcoal grey or camel, with boots.

Oh yeah.. Black is VERY in here. I'm not exactly sure why-- perhaps people like to blend in with the gloom as the winter progresses. Also, I'm sure it helps for hiding during air raid drills. Actually I'm not entirely certain why people in this city are so obsessed with darkly-colored clothing. I'd imagine the same goes for New York-- some sort of a wallstreet-driven financial dress code, I believe. London is, after all, a financial city. Very often you see the disheveled old banker shuffling along on the side of Holbourn road, going to and fro from central locations of international financial prowess. Generally, this same personage will not look you in the eye as you pass, and will effectuate some sort of grimace to the effect of "My, my young lad.. You're walking that there bicycle awfully close to one of my stature.." What interests me the most about this black thing is that in some other cities, the so-called 'fashion consciousness' is much more colorful and eclectic-- a sort of continuouos used-clothing rummage sale (Portland comes to mind). I believe I like this colorful sort of ideal a lot more, and have been seeking to emulate it when possible. I'll have plenty of time to wear tweed when I'm older (or, dare I say it, BLACK).

Typical LSE Student clothing.. Hamza demonstrates his London Style :)

So LSE is a group of incredibly intellectual, driven young folk from around the world. The typical grad student is always very well read, very interesting to talk to, and, unless a business-type, of some sort of high ethical modulation not to be found in other groups of students anywhere. Typical MSc (Masters of Science) Focuses include Health and Development, International Relations, Foreign Policy, Public Policy (me), and the like. Very few classes are extremely technical.. most ruminate on theory and philosophical analysis of situations, after which contemporary cases are considered, discussed, and technically understood.

Students gather in the Old Gym (about half the size of a basketball court)
to sign up for various sports clubs. I chose Kitesurfing, Breakdancing, and Yoga.

The Infamous Professor Nancy Cartwright: The Instructor
of my Course in Philosophy and Economics!

The LSE staff is generally brilliant-- some of the finest professors in the world, often coming from places like Princeton, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, or even the LSE itself. All told, the place is immensely exciting-- it feels new, and energetic; a beacon of liberal light in the center of a city whose emphasis on greedy exploitation of various financial markets has currently landed it in a solid, continuous downturn. Perhaps this is why the banker in the black suit doesn't smile.

At any rate, I'm happy to be on the bohemian side of things. Give me my books, my hermitage, and the occasional night out and/or yoga, breakdancing, kitesurfing. Give me life, liberty, and the pursuit of new challenges. Teach me what liberty means, and let me share what I learn with others. Here's to the LSE-- this place, while only 1/20 the size of UC Irvine, still stands tall with the academic powerhouses of the known universe (3rd ranked behind Harvard and Berkeley, I believe).

More to come on personal anecdotes, but I wanted to give an idea of what this place is about. Personally what it means is 20-30 hours of philosophy reading a week.. that's almost a full-time job just sitting here reading! I have some cool trance music to keep me company, however. Every now and then, I run downstairs and grab a game of pool to chill out, then trudge back upstairs to fulfill the task of being a student here at the LSE. Speaking of which, time to read-- I'll be getting back to everyone very soon, and soon to come: a report on the Kitesurfing Club of LSE.

Oh yeah.. the LSE has this statue of an elephant on one of the main streets.
Rather diminutive, it exists next to the statue of a Penguin?!
Interestingly, the Penguin statue is about 3 times larger.

Oh yeah.. one other cool thing. The school mascot? An industrious, slightly-inebriated BEAVER. Well, it's a step up from an anteater, I suppose :)

Here's To Right Now

In the midst of a giant, bustling city, the last thing that many of us think to do is to take a day off-- especially when one attends an international university celebrated for the myriad things it has to offer.

I was looking through the student newspaper thinking of student societies to contact and possible sports to play when I took a moment to read Josh's latest blog entry. Josh is a good friend from my Yoga Shakti days and currently lives with his girlfriend in .. North Carolina.. I believe. He wrote an excellent entry on slowing down and enjoying the moment. En Joy. Be joyful, now. Ima. Right now :) As one of my favorite authors, Dan Millman, relates: There's never nothing going on!!

I suppose its more of a personal reflection, but I've found that the most powerful present I can give myself is the desire to be relaxed and happy with my peers; to enjoy what is going on RIGHT NOW. I believe this can be done whether out in the hills and forests of the high sierras, or in line waiting for a club with friends. Being here and now is a continuous practice, and I am thankful to be reminded of it, especially today, Wednesday, a week after arriving here.

So much has happened in a week- so many people met, so many places seen and walked to, so much new information. Today I take a deep breath, sit and watch the clouds go by, and smile at the simple thought of being alive on this beautiful, wonderful world.

In this moment I wish nothing more than for all people to share the joy of being with their own breath. Stay with the little things-- the trees, the clouds, the look on the face of that person who passes you on the street. May we remember the ones we love and share our joy with them, so that it expands exponentially through all our connected social circles, and brings happiness to the world.

I'm not sure why I'm writing this, but I am happy to share it, and offer this prayer to my friends, my family, my new colleagues: may we be happy. May we be at peace. May we be right here, right now, humble, open, and alive.

Thanks Josh.

-T