Coffee & Ethics

No, this isn't a post on Rainforest Alliance v. exploitative trade regimes.

Lovell Roasters - are some boys from college who roast their own coffee (single origin and blends). Kate and I have been enjoying their wares over the last month or so. College is something of a congregating point for rather brilliant people with buckets of initiative, so it's no surprise to me to find people creating their own coffee roasting machines and such. They also offer a cut price deal for the college community. Hats-off to them.

Oliver O'Donovan - For three evenings last week I went to the New College Lectures 2007. It was entirely voluntary (they're a UNSW thing). I won't pretend to summarise what O'Donovan had to say; I'm sure I'd fail dismally! The mp3s / transcripts will be available for download from their site very soon - so check them out if you're interested.

But to give you some idea, he spoke about stuff like ideals and compromise; he explored the (biblical) metaphor of 'wakefulness' for moral reasoning; he spoke about admiring the good in this world and the significance of gratitude. I guess you could say the lectures were foundational, in the sense that they outlined the under-girding of a moral framework, but they were by-no-means simple. I'm glad I went; but I'm glad that this week I'll have the evenings at home :)

In other news: Term 3 is finished. I'm writing an essay on Israel and the other nations in the book of Deuteronomy (very interesting; should touch on stuff like genocide). And, if you haven't already seen it, you must check out the walking-video on Noah's blog.