Friday, June 5, 2009
A Curse I Have to Share with You
This image has been rattling around in my brain, and now it's going to haunt you until the day this Nermal look-a-like comes to personally rip your larynx out, Fatality-style.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
There aren't too many things I agree with 100% in life
but this has to be one of them. I'm just going to step out of the way and let you read.
7 Things I Wish Every City Would Do to Make Urban Living Even Greener
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY
on 06. 2.09
photo: Catherine via flickrThough it sometimes might not seem so, living in cities is a pretty green thing to do. Two prime reasons being that average home sizes are smaller and transportation distances are generally shorter, both leading to lower levels of resource consumption and energy usage. But that doesn't mean that every city is a green oasis. Lots could use some sprucing up, even if all the basic amenities are taken care of. Here are some of the top programs I wish every city would do to make urban living even greener:
1. Make More Pedestrian-Friendly Areas
photo: Matthew McDermott
If there's a person in the world that doesn't like good pedestrian infrastructure, nice outdoor plazas, and a pleasant walking environment, I haven't met them. I'm pretty sure that person doesn't exist. But just because your city was built post-automobile addiction pushed pedestrians to the fringes, doesn't mean your city is out of luck.
I was convinced of this over the past weekend when I saw the effect in Times Square of blocking off traffic from whole blocks: Congestion on the sidewalks was eased, people ambled about in an area previously crushed by congestion. Farther down Broadway in Herald Square, blocks were closed off around an existing park which, though it's a bit rough still, made the entire area decidedly more calm and peaceful.
Now, there are plenty of places in the United States which have pedestrianized areas. But what we need are more of them. And not just in areas that are surrounded by shopping—the idea isn't to just create outdoor shopping malls—but to fill more residential and mixed use areas with pedestrian zones as well.
2. Make Entire Zones Car-Free
photo: Matthew McDermott
Places that take the pedestrian concept even further are also needed. TreeHugger has waxed on about Vauban and its car-free development model on a number of occasions. All this really is an extension of the pedestrian zone, and could be implemented as such.
If the idea of completely relegating parking and car traffic to the outside of an area is too daunting, restricting traffic in certain zones to residents and emergency traffic could work well too.
When I was in Copenhagen a few months ago what really struck me, besides the obviously exceptional bike infrastructure, was the fact that entire networks of streets had been pedestrianized creating de facto car free zones. There might be one lane of traffic in some places, but because of the narrow width of the street it might as well be entirely pedestrian.
Again, just because we've built streets with cars placed front and center isn't any reason they have to stay that way.
3. More Light Rail & Trolleys, Plus More Varied Transport Options
photo: Josh Truelson via flickr
This is just another extension of encouraging car-free urban living... We're always on about good public transportation systems and one of my favorite forms of urban mass transit is trolley and light rail. I love me a good subway system, but if I had my druthers I'd spend my time above ground rather than tunneling beneath it.
These can be used to connect urban areas as well—like we used to have in the US, a fact that plenty of authors will remind you of. But the missing link in that is having more varied transport options once you get off the rails. If we expect people to live car-free most of the time then we need more varied transport options.
While the auto-rickshaw isn't exactly a pollution-free vehicle, there's no reason green ones can't be made, or perhaps better still a safer, smaller form of short-distance taxi, more sealed to the elements for colder climates, to fill a public transportation void.
Bicycles and bicycle share programs could do some of this, as well as car share programs, but it seems there's another vehicle class that we're overlooking.
Keep reading for more ways to make cities even greener
page: 1, 2
No lie, I'd probably do this, too...
..if I had adamantium claws. Hell, I want to do it right now just because I hate my treo. Did I tell you it turned off mid-text the other day?
Image taken from www.parkerspace.com. It's a rough draft for a charity auction, so maybe check it out, eh?
Deadly...
Q: How good does Mary Elizabeth Winstead look in this picture?
A: Good enough for me to forget that she played John McClane's daughter in Die Hard 4, and that he's probably slowly stalking me towards my death right now. Shoot, keep this up, I might side with Hans Gruber for a sequel. What up now, Mr. Demi-left-me-for-a-child?
Plus she played spooky-hot in The Ring 2.
Damn, now I may have to really watch this guy
Let's be clear, I always liked Conan, even more than ESPN-spawned Craig Kilborn, but now that he's going up against Letterman, I thought my side had already been chosen. That is, until I had this pointed out to me.
Yes, that is the background to the first Nintendo game I ever owned and beat all the way through. Damn, O'Brien. Well played.
Yes, that is the background to the first Nintendo game I ever owned and beat all the way through. Damn, O'Brien. Well played.
Total and Utter Bullocks!!
Baseball's #1 Unwritten Rule: You don't mention a No Hitter while it's in progress
Baseball's #2 Unwritten Rule: Someone beans one of your guys, you get revenge
See how that rule's pretty high up there? Yeah, me too. That's why I'm totally confused about MLB's ridiculous decision to suspend A.J. Burnett for 6 games when all he did was buzz someone in retaliation for Mark Teixera being beaned twice in 3 innings.
Dear MLB,
You wants fans to keep the tradition alive, still love baseball, still teach their son's how to hit a ball and cheer for a team? How about you keep up your end of the bargin and don't pull shit like this? You can get back to me on that one.
Baseball's #2 Unwritten Rule: Someone beans one of your guys, you get revenge
See how that rule's pretty high up there? Yeah, me too. That's why I'm totally confused about MLB's ridiculous decision to suspend A.J. Burnett for 6 games when all he did was buzz someone in retaliation for Mark Teixera being beaned twice in 3 innings.
Dear MLB,
You wants fans to keep the tradition alive, still love baseball, still teach their son's how to hit a ball and cheer for a team? How about you keep up your end of the bargin and don't pull shit like this? You can get back to me on that one.
Yankees' A.J. Burnett suspended 6 games for throwing at Ranger
Thursday, June 4th 2009, 12:49 PM
A.J. Burnett was suspended six games and fined $2,000 for throwing intentionally at Nelson Cruz of the Rangers on Tuesday night.Antonelli/News
A.J. Burnett gets six-game ban for throwing at Rangers' Nelson Cruz Tuesday.
Burnett threw a pitch toward Cruz’s head in the fifth inning, a pitch that Major League Baseball believed was in retaliation for Vicente Padilla hitting Mark Teixeira twice earlier in the game.
Burnett has appealed his suspension, meaning he will likely be on the mound for his scheduled start on Sunday against the Rays.
Padilla was not suspended, but he was fined for throwing at Teixeira in the fourth inning of Tuesday’s game.
I'm pretty sure this chart is accurate
Side note, I had to limit Random & Awesome to only display the last 5 posts (compared to the last 7 days, as before) to help with load time. I'll change it back soon, hopefully. Until then, be sure to check the archives or get the RSS feed.
WoW, this is great
Truthfully, it's probably more interesting for me because I work for a company that doesn't do any advertising, since our Customers have done it for us for 60+ years, but it seems like a genuinely original idea.
Why am I a year behind on this?
Why am I a year behind on this?
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Damn, wish I'd thought of this
Guerrilla Gardeners Attack Empty Flyer Boxes With Minty Goodness
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06. 3.09
It makes me crazy to learn about great things in the city where I live from Inhabitat,, but here is is: Posterchild, a Toronto guerrilla gardener and street artist, who occupies empty flyer boxes. The weapon of choice is mint: "Mint is maybe the Guerrilla plant. It is hardy, aggressive, and grows quickly. It spreads like crazy."
Previous attacks involved Thai Basil:
decorative AND delicious. I know that the Internet is bad at conveying odours but you’ll have to trust me when I say that this box smelled amazing. A quick brush of your hand would impart a powerful fragrance. A nice thing to find on the stinky street! This is the first time that I’ve used a herb in my guerrilla gardening, and I really think I should use more. I like the potential functionality of herbs.
Posterchild notes an interesting phenomenon:
It’s sad, but as of yesterday, all of the planters that I’ve featured on the site so far have been removed. Why? I can’t say. I suspect that the box-owners are enforcing their territory, making rounds or complaints, maybe claims of safety issues. Who knows? But I hope that they were taken by garden-loving individuals who were excited for the possibility of free planters, soil, or plants. Maybe they couldn’t afford the luxury of plants? The planters may just have been so lovely, so unexpected, so enchanting, that someone HAD to take one home where they could enjoy the magic of green things everyday. That’s a much nicer thought than the whole thing being pitched on principle.Were flyers put in the empty boxes after the planters were removed? No. Was the trash also taken away when this planter was removed? Of course not.
It is a typical polite Toronto intervention; real guerrillas would have filled the whole box with soil instead of installing a neat and tidy insert. But it makes the point.
These boxes are blights and obstacles on the sidewalks, and never go away; there is one from a company that has been bankrupt for four years at a corner near me, yet the empty box is still sitting there. Like billboards, they are a commercial occupation of public space. If they are not maintained, they should be removed. Or planted.
More boxes at Blade Diary.
WOW!!!
Zaha Hadid continues to amaze me with her genius.
Perhaps someday soon she will knock Frank Gehry and Daniel Libeskind off the top of my "Favorite Architects I really wish I was" list.
(btw, when you're done reading about Hadid below, click the Gehry link and read about Atlantic Yards. I fo' shizz want to live there, ASAP!!)
Perhaps someday soon she will knock Frank Gehry and Daniel Libeskind off the top of my "Favorite Architects I really wish I was" list.
(btw, when you're done reading about Hadid below, click the Gehry link and read about Atlantic Yards. I fo' shizz want to live there, ASAP!!)
Zaha Hadid Does a Green Roof in Seoul
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto
I have sometimes thought that starchitects like Zaha Hadid give not quite as much attention to social or environmental concerns; Cameron Sinclair has used much stronger language. But Hadid has started construction on a 850,000 square foot design museum, library and educational facility in Seoul that appears quite green and social.
Hadid is quoted in archinnovations:
“A fundamental aim of the scheme is to bring delight and inspiration to the people of Seoul by establishing a cultural hub in the centre of one of the busiest and most historic districts of the city” says Zaha Hadid. “The design has been governed by the belief that architecture must enable people to think beyond existing boundaries to reach innovative design solutions. This combined investment in education and research, together with the city’s public cultural programmes will inspire new generations of designers, helping to maintain Korean industry’s reputation as a leader in innovation.”
More from Archinnovations:
The form of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza and Park revolves around the ancient city wall, which forms the central element of the composition, creating a continuous landscape that physically links the park and plaza together. The fluid language of the design, by inference and analogy, acts as a catalyst by promoting fluid thinking and interaction across all the design disciplines, whilst also encouraging the greatest degree of interaction between the activities of the Plaza and the public.
The integration of green roofs and the surrounding landscape is a new phenomenon that I wrote about before in Are Green Roofs the New Mirrored Glass?- what would these aerial shots look like if their roofs were not green?
Green roofs are wonderful things, and they are introducing a whole new design aesthetic where roof meets grade, and a whole new presentation style where we look down at buildings instead of up. If only we had wings.
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