the park

blooming trees

bulldogs' paulownia tomentosa, aka "empress trees," are in bloom again---

In China, an old custom is to plant an Empress Tree when a baby girl is born. The fast-growing tree matures when she does. When she is eligible for marriage the tree is cut down and carved into wooden articles for her dowry. Carving the wood of Paulownia is an art form in Japan and China. In legend, it is said that the Phoenix will only land on the Empress Tree and only when a good ruler is in power.

of course, over here, it's an invasive species

the atlantic

it'll be another big ol' empty building for a while, but it sure looks good----

the palomar

it's almost finished and the sidewalk is finally open again----nice mix of finishes once you get past the idea that the upper part is all dryvit or whatever---better mix of materials at street level----e.g., iridescent-tile panels at the sixth street end and mirrored pilasters along the w. ptree side

homophobia

Flip this around and you see what the theocon right actually believes: that society has no interest in the welfare of its gay citizens, and an abiding interest in ensuring that they remain unequal, feel unequal and suffer the consequences of a culture where family and commitment and fidelity are non-existent. And they write this within living memory of an appalling and devastating plague. This is how the social right is responding to our times, and to put it personally, my life and the lives and deaths of countless others. One day, they will understand the callousness and bitterness and willful ignorance they currently represent. As civilized society leaves them increasingly behind.

there are plenty that will never understand, but i almost don't care anymore---they're just pathetic

"rincon de los cretins"

in 2002, this was still on display at cuba's museum of the revolution in havana, which is in the former presidential palace--- choice propaganda from twenty years ago, it was stuck back in a narrow hallway off to the side somewhere--- that's george the elder, of course, and reagan---i'm not sure who the third character is----"rincon" means corner or retreat or nest or something like that

cuber and the commies

a congressional delegation met with raul and three of them apparently met with fidel----"how can we help president obama?"

georgia news

another online news source for the state---gonso, or georgia online news service---a lot of people you already know from the loaf and what not----john sugg, eleanor ringel, etc.----nice, since the ajc is so worthless and all the squabbling and bankruptcy seems to be doing a number on creative loafing----

the second phalaenopsis

liar, liar, pants on fire

i watched a little of that fat-ass preacher rick warren on larry king, but couldn't stand more than a minute or two----turns out he doesn't mind lying about what he really thinks about the homos

liberty and justice for all

It's a proud day in Vermont, which today became the fourth state -- following Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa -- to allow same-sex couples to marry. In a historic vote, the Legislature overrode the governor's veto of a bill that allows the couples to marry.

it will drive the homophobes nuts that this was done by the legislature and not the courts, thereby depriving them of one of their major talking points, i.e., all those goddam judges "legislating from the bench" and trying to force the queers down our throats, so to speak---

and also today the district of columbia city council voted to recognize same-sex marriages from outside the district----watch how fast some congressional republican introduces a bill to eliminate that----but i think the war is close to being won, even if the battles aren't all over----what they need to do now is overturn that miserable "defense of marriage act," for the signing of which a part of me will always hold clinton in contempt

and i still can't believe iowa

the critic

a wonderful charlie rose interview with ada louise huxtable

our worthless legislature

what a stupid bunch of people---stupid, stupid, stupid---not only did they not fund a transportation bill, they refused to give MARTA the right to spend money that it collects in fulton and dekalb----there is a 1% sales tax for MARTA in those counties, but from the beginning the agency has been hamstrung by a requirement that no more than 50% can be spent on operations---and this by a legislature that has never given MARTA one thin dime----now we may have no trains on weekends----

crazy people

i don't have a particular problem with suicide, but all this other killing is messed up

Jesus christ, this whole country is drowning in its own blood. We take a day off — the Sabbath — and there are another half-dozen gruesome murders or murder-suicides.

old cars in havana

fine weather

liberty and justice for all

Marriage equality came to the heartland a few minutes ago. The court found unanimously that the ban on marriage for a small minority of citizens violated Iowa's constitution.

update: check out the dailybeast on the subject----

out of it

"This is a defining moment, and there is overwhelming empathy with folks who are scared to death about the direction this country is going," Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) told POLITICO. "All of a sudden, you have the president taking over General Motors, the president taking over the financial industry and now the health care industry? I think there will be even a larger outcry coming from our constituents at the ballot box next time."

yeah, and that outcry was last november ---

plum orchard

plum orchard is probably the most amazing thing on the island---built in 1898, 20,000 sq. ft., wonderfully intact, with things like original tiffany lighting in the music room, stenciled burlap and painted paper covering walls, some reproduced but a lot of it original---and some of the best bathrooms that i've seen----

cumberland island

back from cumberland island----saw some things i hadn't before, including first african-baptist church where jfk jr. was married, with its weird little altar---we were looking at a bunch of "resources," as we call old buildings and stuff----some are tough to do anything with, including this chimney at a place called rayfield at the north end of the island---it's all that's left of a large community of slaves----unfortunately it's now in a designated wilderness area and any work to stabilize it is deemed "construction," which is prohibited in a wilderness area----

bridges

a great image of roebling's bridge in cincinnati ---by the same person (a german immigrant) who designed the brooklyn bridge--- thanks, don

spring

wisteria and dogwood blooming all over

space rocks

the black rock there is one of 280 fragments retrieved in the nubian desert---the first fragments of a known asteroid ever seen

justice

maybe the torture enablers won't get away with it after all----spain's national security court has just launched a legal complaint against several bush underlings---

the atlantic

the culprits

read this and then go find your pitchfork

The Dirty Dozen: Meet the bankers and brokers responsible for the financial crisis - and the officials who let them get away with it

vigilantes

Yet another unintended side effect of the web has been the birth of the Internet lynch mob. Now, everything from child abuse to bad customer service can get the online masses whipped into a frenzy of Old Testament-style vengeance.

my personal favorite in the link, "8 awesome cases of internet vigilantism," is #6 "dog shit girl"---especially after somebody left dog shit in the elevator lobby on my floor yesterday---second time---i taped an angry note to the wall, which generated a couple of more concurring opinions---what is with these people?

fear if not conscience

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo of New York announced late Monday afternoon that 9 of the top 10 bonus recipients at the American International Group had given back their bonuses.




tour buses at their homes and mobs with pitchforks make an impression i think

poplars and the driving club

the driving club is just abuilding away---besides the parking deck hidden behind the trees at left, there's a huge building going up between the existing building and the conservatory at the botanical gardne, where they had some basketball courts and a very crappy looking hillside before----

the mockingbird

shakespeare not

you can't believe nothing anymore

it's not him

spring

it's still winter, dammit, with the red oaks, but the poplars are showing some green and another week or so and the dogwood should be in full bloom----forsythia, carolina jasmine, phlox all guady pink---the cherries defy description

guinness taking some rays

2nd amendment and the parks

Much to the relief of park rangers and refuge staff everywhere, a federal judge yesterday blocked implementation of the Bush midnight rule allowing people to take loaded, concealed weapons into national parks and wildlife refuges. What a relief.

i'll say, although i'm sure the nra is squealing about it, having already convinced themselves that obama was going to abrogate their right to bear arms

dex likes high places

sometimes he'll get the front half of his body out there, with his paws right on the edge---he can't get through the railing anymore, like when he was a kitten and went through the railing on the other side and out onto the ledge outside my bedroom window

orchidacea

in addition to the phalaenopses (is that the plural of phalaenopsis, cathi?), one of which is gorgeous and the other budding its way towards gorgeous, the maxillaria tenuifolia decided to bloom as well---the best thing about it, since the blossoms aren't all that, is the smell . . . of coconuts, which fills my office now

not your mammy's kitchen

"obama vs. marx"

i hear people squealing about obama being a socialist---they need to read this piece and learn the difference:

The world "liberal" first used in its modern political sense in 1812, when Spaniards wrote a new constitution liberating themselves from monarchical rule. As it happens, the word "socialism" originated in roughly the same period; it came into existence to describe the utopian ideas of the British reformer Robert Owen. Such timing suggests two possibilities: Either the fates of liberalism and socialism are so interlinked that one is all but synonymous with the other--or the two are actually competitors developed to meet similar conditions, in which case victory for one marks the defeat of the other.

abandoned places

if you haven't already, look at weburbanist's inventory of abandoned places, in 33 parts---

the best thing like that i've seen of that genre was the national schools of art in cuba, parts of which had been abandoned for nearly four decades when i saw it---it was almost like stumbling upon mayan ruins in the jungle---

green living . . . is the city

But cars represent only one-third of the gap in carbon emissions between New Yorkers and their suburbanites. The gap in electricity usage between New York City and its suburbs is also about two tons. The gap in emissions from home heating is almost three tons. All told, we estimate a seven-ton difference in carbon emissions between the residents of Manhattan’s urban aeries and the good burghers of Westchester County. Living surrounded by concrete is actually pretty green. Living surrounded by trees is not.

yet kunstler keeps saying that high-rise living cannot be maintained

obamania in dixie

the retarded south

favorable/unfavorable/no opinion

NORTHEAST 87 10 3
SOUTH 43 49 8
MIDWEST 74 22 4
WEST 76 19 5

silly wabbit

can i live in it, please?

villa martel in paris --- 1927 by Robert Mallet-Stevens (1885-1945) --- featured in modernism magazine---he designed rue mallet-stevens down to the streetlights ---his villa has the circular tower at center---

thnx robert

moving stuff

this poor schmuck was trying to get his load across juniper and up the hill, in a grocery buggy way past loaded, which he was pushing backwards and, thus, unable to easily get it to go where he wanted it to go---loaded down with i don't know what all but topped off with a pair of cast-iron grates, each at least three feet long and half as wide and an inch thick, like those that cover the street tree planting on peachtree---on top of it all was an old window unit air-conditioner ---i didn't get a picture of the guy in a small pickup i saw the other day stopped on the downtown connector to re-secure what had to have been thirty-foot-lengths of aluminum guttering strapped to the rear--- when it comes to transportation, one does what one has to do, i guess, but it can be scary to watch

companies that won't survive?

this piece suggests fifteen companies that may not make it to the end of the year---six flags, blockbuster, and krispy kreme?? what would atlanner be without the stench of doughnuts at ponce and argonne?

Six Flags. (SIX; about 30,000 employees; stock down 84%). This theme-park operator has been losing money for several years, and selling off properties to try to pay down debt and get back into the black. But the ride may end prematurely. Moody’s expects cash flow to be negative in 2009, and if consumers aren’t spending during the peak summer season, that could imperil the company’s ability to pay debts coming due later this year and in 2010.

gone?

i can't believe that goldstar cafe has closed, but the windows are papered over and the telephone has been disconnected----that's the breakfast place if you don't feel like being elegant and don't want to stand on the sidewalk in front of the flying biscuit for an hour waiting on a table---now i'll have to take the train to the waffle house at five points for two scrambled eggs and toast----this is bad

spring flowers

great images

wow---root around at this site---good stuff

pollanamania

Corn, which covers 125,000 square miles of America -- about the size of New Mexico -- fattens 100 million beef cattle and at least that many bipeds. Much of the river of cheap corn becomes an ocean of high-fructose corn syrup, which by 1984 was sweetening Coke and Pepsi. Disposing of the corn also requires passing it through animals' stomachs. Corn, together with pharmaceuticals and other chemicals -- a Pollan axiom: "You are what what you eat eats, too" -- has made it profitable to fatten cattle on feedlots rather than grass, cutting by up to 75 percent the time from birth to slaughter. Eating corn nourished by petroleum-based fertilizers, a beef cow consumes almost a barrel of oil in its lifetime.

unless you are a strict-hippy, locavore vegetarian, everyone should read the omnivore's dilemma ---it is required that you do that---although the above is actually george will of all people---just goes to show you

there once were no cameras

this is thought to be the only portrait of shakespeare painted while he was alive---



it's always nice to know what somebody looks like

right wing madness

andrew sullivan quotes a voice from the far right:

"Here’s where we began talking about another possibility: that Team Obama was deliberately targeting the U.S. economy, deliberately impoverishing millions of Americans, deliberately angering our closest allies while coddling dictators like Putin and his puppet Medvedev and funneling millions to terrorist organizations like Hamas. Maybe that young person the financial journalist Jim Cramer spoke to was right and “We’ve elected elected a Leninist” whose “agenda is destroying the life savings of millions of Americans”? ... What we need now is some clever legal talent to show how deliberately sabotaging the United States economy counts as Treason, a high Crime, or at least a Misdemeanor. Any takers?" - Roger Kimball.

you really should follow the link and read kimball's whole rant---many of our fellow human beings are frighteningly misguided---and sullivan's reply?

Obama's predecessor secretly invoked the power to suspend the First and Fourth Amendments for seven years, authorized the seizure and torture of American citizens, launched two decade-long wars of attrition, doubled the national debt, presided over the worst financial bubble since the 1930s, provided the weakest level of economic growth in decades, and left the US in the grip of the steepest depression since the 1930s. But after five weeks, it's Obama who should be impeached? Ooookaaaay.

nearly-spring in the park today

moonbeams

the rabbit in the moon is not always easy to discern for those of us used to the weird old man in the moon---but check out its little ears here

ancestor of the borg

magnetic snakes?
ARGONNE, Illinois — In the basement of a nondescript building here at Argonne National Laboratory, nickel particles in a beaker are building themselves into magnetic snakes that may one day give clues about how life originally organized itself. These chains of metal particles look so much like real, living animals, it is hard not to think of them as alive. (See exclusive video below.) But they are actually bits of metal that came together under the influence of a specially tuned magnetic field. "It behaves like some live object," says physicist Alex Snezhko. "It moves. It crashes onto free-floating particles and absorbs them."

the democrat party

it is aggravating, but atrios has a good point here, under the heading "useful idiocy"---

I'm in fact myself in favor of the "Democrat Party" coinage -- if someone makes a point of using it, it's a useful way of figuring out right away that they're a douchebag and you don't have to pay attention to them anymore. It's a time saver!

flushing out the greed

And now in the early days of the Obama administration, the gig may be up and there is stark terror among the knowledgeable. The sheer amounts of money waiting to be discovered are staggering, billions upon billions of dollars. There is so much money out there that once the taxes and penalties are paid, it could have a significant impact on the budget. And it couldn't be happening to a greedier, more selfish lot, most of them faux patriots to the core.

finally

grammar police

and i'm one of them, but this is funny:

According to presidential historian Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota, some Americans might find it “alienating” to have a president who speaks English as if it were his first language.

“Every time Obama opens his mouth, his subjects and verbs are in agreement,” says Mr. Logsdon. “If he keeps it up, he is running the risk of sounding like an elitist.”

obamanomics

coming soon!!

this sign is new at the spire, and the first if it actually opens ---another fancy-shmancy kitchen place, this one is even eye-talian---they just opened what looks like a similar establishment up near fifth street but then this one is "the new evolution," so what do i know---anyway i was hoping for a pawn shop or a liqour store or a dirty book store, you know, something that would bring some life to the street

temptation

it is wicked to ask so much of a dog

thx robt

water water everywhere

maybe at least we won't die of thirst this summer----still thirteen or fourteen feet low, but . . . .

da vinci

a newly discovered self-portrait as a young man extracted from his "codex on the flight of birds"---not yet the grumpy old man

people

100 meter-wide image shot from the same point in berlin in 2007---check out the scroll

view from the twentieth floor

that would be cousin robert's floor---

thunder snow!

maybe not an actual blizzard but a good storm anyway---

snow in midtown

and dexter is transfixed

waiting on the snow