It dawned on me ...

Oh, that was my ponderable: This "Age of Aquarius" thing. If the Piscean Age correlates strongly with the rise of Christianity, which is symbolized by the fish, what characteristics might one expect in an age characterized by the water-bearer? What does water "mean"? Rising seas, environmental issues, lots of urination? While I don't believe in the legitimacy of astrology as a "way of knowing" - I am, after all, a product of my culture and environment, and we are still living in a society dominated by Enlightenment principles that value human reason and our ability to know the world through empirical means. But cultural phenomena based in superstition fascinate me. While the mythologies of the Greeks and Romans are mere stories to us now, they left a rich literary and artistic legacy that we can still appreciate. The mythology of Christianity still clings, unfortunately, and disgusts me in its application, but I love the architectural heritage, and just last night I listened to Mozart's Requiem again. Simply amazing, yes. So umm... I don't remember where I was going - oh yeah - So, I wonder about that whole Aquarian thing. Ya know. As I do.

Girl fashion

One of the writers over at Slate took her 11-year-old daughter shopping for clothes for the new school year. Read the hilarity! It reminds me of this scene from Family Guy (a bit risqué - turn speakers down if you're at work).

Choice quotes:
It's a comfort to know that if your child can't come up with her own insolent remarks, clothing manufacturers are there to help.

Down the corridor was Abercrombie itself, whose guiding fashion principle seemed to be to print or appliqué the word Abercrombie in the largest letters possible on as much of the clothing as possible.

On our way to our next destination, I tried to avert her eyes from the Victoria's Secret window, where their clothing was emblazoned with the words "University of Pink." (I don't want to know that school's most popular major.)

If I have to choose between Baby Phat and Juicy Couture, I choose mandatory school uniforms.

But when I tried to push some [Old Navy t-shirts] on my daughter, she shook her head. "How can they make a plain T-shirt look bad?"

(At Talbot's (WASP couture), looking for pants): My daughter shook her head. "They're like nautical pants. They're so ugly." Then I held up a pair of beige polyester pants that looked reasonable to me. "Mom, I'm 11!" she said. "I'm not Harriet Miers!"

Why are people so dumb?

I guess I need to save up my rants about a particular thing (a radio programme or whatever) and then post them all at once.

Some guy called in and said something to the effect of: "Why are you spending $5 million dollars on Raspberry Park? Where are your priorities?"

To his credit, Mayor Coleman answered the question(s) correctly. The gist of his response was that you need to build the whole city, including the amenities that make it a more desirable place to live. A city is more than just a collection of individual components - its residents, physical infrastructure, schools, commerce and shopping, industry, parks, and so on. It's a real example of synergy between multiple elements to create something greater.

Hyperparenting gone awry

From Slate:

A study suggests "Baby Einstein" and other baby videos are bad for kids. Findings: 1) "32% of the babies were shown the videos, and 17% of those were shown them for more than an hour a day." 2) "For every hour per day spent watching baby DVDs and videos, infants understood an average of six to eight fewer words than infants who did not watch them." Theories: 1) By spending time with "DVDs and TV instead of with people," the babies lose interaction with humans who "instinctively adjust their speech, eye gaze and social signals to support language acquisition." 2) Baby DVDs are worse than educational TV shows, because the DVDs "have little dialogue, short scenes, disconnected pictures and … linguistically indescribable images." Researcher's conclusion: Your kid is better off watching American Idol with you than watching Baby Einstein alone. Human Nature's view: You knew Baby Einstein had to be poison when President Bush extolled it. (To join the discussion, click here.)

Is that "I" as in "International," or "l" as in "clam"?

A while back I mentioned this blog dedicated to the inappropriate use of the lowercase "L". Today I went to Ask.com and entered the search term "CIAM" - an acronym for Congres Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne (or, auf Englisch: the International Congress of Modern Architecture).

Ask.com has done a lot of advertising lately (some creepier than others - does anyone else think those Kato Kaelin impersonators look like the kid from Mask?) touting their algorithm that helps you precisify your search to find exactly what you're looking for. My question is this: What do "Clam Chowder" and "Clam Anatomy" have to do with the cold, dehumanizing steel and glass of Modernist architecture?

Why must we keep destroying small exurban communities?

I'm so ticked off right now. I just got an email from a classmate regarding a project in the City of Lindstrom, MN, which is located about 40 miles northwest of the Twin Cities, and, as a result of geography, is in the path of destructive suburban development. They're looking for a student to help them address "Community-friendly design for State Hwy. 8 through Lindstrom."

Here's the run-down on the community:
-Small, but growing (3,923, up 59% from 2,461 in 1990)
-A "small-town agricultural center and resort/cabin area [that] is changing into an outer ring suburb"
-"Known for its small town character, many recreational opportunities (it is surrounded by lakes), and its special emphasis on its Swedish heritage"

Here's the problem:
-"Currently the Lindstrom segment of Highway 8 is measured at a Level of Service F, meaning that it is so congested that it is 'failing'"
-Further, Highway 8 cuts right through "the heart of downtown"

And the reason for the project:
-"To relieve congestion and improve safety"

The proposal (and this is the part that really grinds my gears):
-"To change the two way highway in to one-way pairs, using the existing highway as eastbound lanes, and the next parallel street for westbound travel. MnDOT’s primary concern is to improve the travel times for through traffic on the highway."

Read that again: "MnDOT’s primary concern is to improve the travel times for through traffic on the highway." This is fine for intercity travel, but since when is downtown about moving vehicles? Small-town Main Streets should be about people and community, not about the most efficient way of moving lots of metal boxes. GRRR!

And then:
-"However, the City and its citizens are concerned about the impact of the road project on the local traffic circulation, bicycle and pedestrian circulation and safety, and the character of the city. The drastic roadway changes, which will require the removal of some existing businesses, could have detrimental effects on the city’s economic vitality, safety, and livability if they are not designed with the community in mind."

I so sincerely wish I wasn't taking so many credits this fall so that I could take this job and prevent the desecration of a small town. The obvious solution is to route the traffic around the downtown area. Jeebus Fucking Christ, why are people so fucking obtuse!? Dammit, they've angried up my blood with their idiocy.

I guess the only thing I can do is write a letter to the editor of their local paper and encourage the citizens to stand up for their beliefs and their concerns. (If anyone else wants to do the same, send your letter to chisago@citlink.net.)

Helping African orphans become good little godbots

Today's Blog of Note (spoken loudly into echo chamber): Books for Africa. I'm not including a link - you'll see why in a moment. I thought it looked like a cool idea. The premise, it looks like, is to provide books to orphans in several African countries in an effort to provide them with an education. Of course, I wondered if my books written in English are really ideal....

Further investigation revealed the the program is run by the Rafiki Foundation, "a Christian organization whose goal is to help Africa’s orphaned and vulnerable children become godly contributors to their communities and the world."

I thought, "Hmmm, I have a feeling I know where this is going, but let's give it a chance - there's a very remote chance that they are providing education without trying to indoctrinate these kids." Not surprisingly, that hope was dashed:

The Rafiki Foundation provides God's Word and ministries of
mercy to the youth (both boys and girls) of African countries.

and

Rafiki schools provide a quality Christian education for the children who reside at the Village. The children learn to think, live, and lead others from a Biblical worldview.

In other words: We're going to provide them with an education, but we'll make sure they follow our wacky belief system about an invisible man in the sky who watches everything you do, and, while he loves you, is eager to condemn you to eternal damnation if you don't follow is bizarre rules.

I wonder if I should send my copy of Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

2057: The City, Take 2

Remember a couple days ago, when I talked about the city of the future? Today I read a piece from 1999 called "The American Metropolis at Century's End," by Robert Fishman. The premise was: Let's survey prominent "urban specialists" (architects & landscape architects, urban planners, historians, and so on) and put together a list of the top 10 influences on American cities in the 2nd half of the 20th century, and another list of the 10 most likely influences for the 1st half of the 21st.

Just because I can, here's the first list:
1. The 1956 Interstate Highway Act and the Dominance of the Automobile
2. Federal Housing Administration Mortgage Financing and Subdivision Regulation
3. De-Industrialization of Central Cities
4. Urban Renewal: Downtown Redevelopment and Public Housing Projects (1949 Housing Act)
5. Levittown (the Mass-Produced Suburban Tract House)
6. Racial Segregation and Job Discrimination in Cities and Suburbs
7. Enclosed Shopping Malls
8. Sunbelt-Style Sprawl
9. Air Conditioning
10. Urban Riots of the 1960s

But what about the future? What do the experts think could be the most influential factors in the future development of the American metropolis? Let's take a look:
1. Growing Disparities of Wealth
2. The Suburban Political Majority
3. Aging of the Baby Boomers
4. A Perpetual "Underclass" in the Central Cities and Inner-Ring Suburbs
5. Smart Growth: Environmental and Planning Initiatives to Limit Sprawl
6. The Internet
7. Deterioration of the First-Ring Post-1945 Suburbs
8. Shrinking Household Size
9. Expanded Superhighway System of "Outer Beltways" to Serve New Edge Cities
10. Racial Integration as Part of the Increasing Diversity in Cities and Suburbs

The article mentioned that these top 10 lists were selected from 25 choices (for the past 50 years) and 19 choices (for the next 50). I don't know what the 19 "future" choices were, but I kind of doubt the list included "holographic cartoon sharks," "self-driving cars," and "personal robots."