new years eve

adaptive use for the 21st century

some see adaptive use of abandoned shopping malls as a trend for the future---and he has a point here----several points actually---it's already happening with towns like smyrna and canton redesigning themselves

the new year

i'm optimistic about it

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A national poll suggests that three-quarters of the public thinks President-elect Barack Obama is a strong and decisive leader, the highest marks for a president-elect on that characteristic in nearly three decades.

bye-bye 2008

bibb mills redux

cousin paul sent me this image of the aftermath of the bibb mill fire in october---all burnt up

for your sixth day of xmas

mission hills in beijing

after a point, the barbarians were better romans than the romans

This undated image provided by F+A Architects shows an overview of the "Napa Valley" housing development in Beijing, China. In Asia and the Middle East, new homes are going up in "master-planned" communities resembling those in California, some of them designed by Aram Basenian's firm, Bassenian Lagoni. In China, some developments even bear the names of California suburbs such as Mission Hills or Palm Springs, capturing the dreams of China's growing middle class who are drawn to the Western lifestyle.

what went wrong

in a nutshell:

And it is those attitudes that have changed so profoundly in the past generation or so.

Left unchecked, greed overwhelms any sense of proportion, fairness or morality. We as a culture and as individuals came to believe that if greed is the engine that drives progress, any attempt to curtail greed thus curtails progress. We thought that since greed is good, unrestrained greed must be an unrestrained good.

What we’ve discovered — yet again — is that when properly harnessed, greed makes an effective, productive servant.

But it makes a terrible master.

xmas greetings

one of my old neighbors on sinclair sent me this card----
outside

























inside

building dreams

it would be wonderful to see a renewal of good public architecture---

In about 32 days Obama goes into office - and he’s promised ‘change’. Well, I think we all realize that ‘change’ would mean doing something about this clusterf@ck of an economy - but what could this mean for architects? The President Elect has promised new public projects, to both create jobs and rebuild our infrastructure - and he’s said he wanted to be an architect when he was younger. So, will this translate into a new era of great American architecture - schools, government buildings, public spaces, libraries, courthouses, embassies, etc? This nation’s image is in great need of a facelift - maybe architecture can benefit from the political botox.

sleepy pup

all the christmasing has us all tuckered out

hong kong

24 december 1968

christmas greetings from alaska

it is said that this image was sent to state legislators---gave me a real christmasy feeling and i'm sure it will you, too

good eats

i knew that spam does not bear the same stigma for hawaiians as it might for our fastidious palates on the mainland, but spam sushi?

As for Mr. Obama and his group, a snack bar clerk later confirmed that he purchased two hot dogs, two spam musubi, two passion orange sodas, one Powerade and one coke, for a tab of $17.75. The spam musubi, a local luncheon specialty, consists of spam and a fried egg on a bed of rice, all held together with a dried seaweed wrap. (Visualize a very big sushi role, slightly larger than a Hostess Ho Ho.)

a view downtown

vhs or beta?

Farewell, VHS... and don't let the door hit you on your way out. Though most of us have given up our VHS players by now in favor of something a little less dated, there have been the usual stragglers in the "old 'n' busted video format" department that have kept VHS alive long past its expiration date. But with the last major VHS supplier in the US ditching the format at the end of this year, the sound of the death knell has forced us to reminisce on VHS and other formats we wish would die with it.

america the beautiful

Draft resolution XX on the right to food, approved on 24 November by a recorded vote of 180 in favour to 1 against (United States), with no abstentions, would have the Assembly reaffirm that hunger constitutes an outrage and a violation of human dignity, requiring the adoption of urgent measures at the national, regional and international level, for its elimination.

and yet condeleeza can claim that no other president has worked as closely with the u.n. as george w. bush----

winter solstice

the sun has moved as far south as it goes, just at the corner of the rbc building, at spring and 6th, where it will hang for a bit before beginning its slow progression northward, ending at the edge of the-building-the-name-of-which-i-can-never-recall at w. ptree and 10th at the summer solstice---and, yes, i fully understand that is a biblical and not an astronomically correct description of the phenomenon, but you know what i mean

econowhiner

econowhiner.com---a new blog and a good one

"Many people buy into the fallacy that the interests of well-paid union workers are at odds with those of us who earn less, and therefore they support management in busting the unions. When one worker’s pay is raised, the effect is that everyone’s pay eventually gets raised."

breeding

they're about to have #18---for real

tell us what you really think

The very existence of Dick Cheney has turned more people into atheists than all the storms and wars in history, for if something that degraded and hideous is allowed to not only live, but thrive, then there can be nothing we might call "God" in the universe.

"watching america"

hmmmm . . . .
"The U.S. is retracing the historic steps of the Roman Empire, which actively or passively lived an unearned, extravagant life due to its dominant position, supported by other’s tributes and oblations."

old stuff

i got to go out to hyde farm again today---meeting with a slew of people figuring out how to stabilize the buildings---the osage orange, which is the biggest one i've ever seen, had a bumper crop this year---the old guy pruning the scuppernongs doesn't live on the premises, but he's been doing the farming there for several years----people are gonna really like this place, i think

the solstice is not far

excess

a refrigerated beach?

Dubai is planning to construct the world’s first refrigerated beach. A system of heat-absorbing pipes and giant wind blowers will “keep tourists cool in the searing 40-50C heat.” Soheil Abedian, president of Palazzo Versace hotel that will be home to the refrigerated beach, said: “We will suck the heat out of the sand to keep it cool enough to lie on. This is the kind of luxury that top people want.” Critics have argued that Dubai’s design lacks regard for the environment:

really?

sunset

the bakery

making bread is a great thing, especially when the product is beautiful---this is corn bread made with meal from a grist mill in the smokies---yum

they don't fight all the time

equality for all

"....a cleaner solution would be civil unions for everyone, gay and straight, with everyone also free to marry subsequently in a church or synagogue or mosque or temple of their choosing. But given the practical fact that no one is ever going to persuade a majority of Americans to abandon civil marriage as an institution, this is practically speaking what the marriage movement is fighting for. Civil marriage for all; religious marriage for all who want to supplement it with God's grace. Why is that so hard for some people of faith to grasp? Why are their marriages defined not by the virtues they sustain but the people they exclude?"

no shit

yes

i really like the store downstairs---- i'm not sure that there is another storefront on peachtree that can compete---certainly not between downtown and brookwood

the auto industry

the original 1914 ford assembly plant is still there on ponce, but ford closed the 1947 plant in hapeville in 2006 and sold it to developers who are knocking it down---gm closed their doraville plant two months ago, leaving another big-ass site to be redeveloped----maybe it will be something better than airport parking

HAPEVILLE, Ga., June 12, 2008 – Ford Motor Company today announced the sale of the Atlanta Assembly Plant property in Hapeville, Ga., to Jacoby Development Inc.

Jacoby will redevelop the 122-acre site adjacent to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport into an “aerotropolis” – an aviation-intensive business district that is expected to include office, retail, restaurant, hotel and airport parking.

christmas lights

it's a little hard to see here, but they put gels on the lights at the top of the towers---red on the north and green on the south---unfortunately the lighting is not bright to begin with so the green sorta disappears---and there are actually a lot of xmas trees in the buildings, including two or three blue ones and the upsidedown one that i posted before although my euphorbian xmas tree is one of the few visible in this image

greening concrete

a cistern system is being engineered for the building, capturing roof runoff and condensate from air-conditioners---no more dead trees on the terrace maybe---plus there is an anemometer on the roof, compiling data to see if wind turbines might work up there----

moonrise

it's at its perigee tonight---wish i could take a photograph like this---unfortunately i can't see moonrise this time of year

christmas in a minor key

this guy is good



(h/t skippy)

ye gads

they're still at it

bloga-whatever

brian sez the gov is serbian-american----not that there's anything wrong with that, although brian did sorta whisper it like he would "he's got cancer" or whatever

weather alert

there goes all the bread

Issued by The National Weather Service
Atlanta, GA
5:32 pm EST, Wed., Dec. 10, 2008

... SNOW POSSIBLE IN NORTH GEORGIA LATE THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT...

A DEEP CLOSED UPPER LOW AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT... LOCATED IN SOUTH TEXAS WEDNESDAY EVENING... WILL TRACK ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST U.S. TONIGHT AND THURSDAY. AS THE UPPER LOW MOVES NORTHEAST OF THE AREA THURSDAY EVENING... A POCKET OF VERY COLD AIR ALOFT WILL TRACK ACROSS NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL GEORGIA ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE DEPARTING STORM SYSTEM. BY THIS TIME... SURFACE TEMPERATURES ACROSS NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL GEORGIA WILL BE IN THE LOWER TO MID 30S AS COLD AIR SPREADS INTO THE AREA FROM THE NORTHWEST. THUS... RAIN SHOWERS WILL LIKELY CHANGE TO SNOW SHOWERS... GENERALLY NORTHWEST OF A ROME... TO ELLIJAY... TO BLUE RIDGE LINE.

MUCH UNCERTAINTY EXISTS AT THIS TIME WITH RESPECT TO THE AMOUNT OF MOISTURE THAT WILL BE AVAILABLE WHEN THE AIR BECOMES COLD ENOUGH TO SUPPORT SNOW. THUS... NO ADVISORIES... WATCHES... OR WARNINGS ARE BEING ISSUED AT THIS TIME. IN ADDITION... GROUND TEMPERATURES ARE NOT EXPECTED TO SUPPORT ACCUMULATION OF SNOW ON ROADWAYS. NONETHELESS... SOME MINOR ACCUMULATION OF SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE IN NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL GEORGIA LATE THURSDAY AND THURSDAY EVENING. THE MOST LIKELY AREAS TO SEE ANY ACCUMULATION OF SNOW WILL BE ACROSS DADE... WALKER... CATOOSA... AND CHATTOOGA COUNTIES.

preserving the recent past

That old Cape Mod: Once slated for demolition, Modernist cottages in National Seashore in line for preservation

For homes that were designed to bring their occupants in close consort with nature, the five Modernist cottages in Wellfleet had perhaps gotten too close to their subject.

oh. my. god.

technically, the pulpit platform is not an altar, but basically i think the pentacostalists and their ilk have jumped the shark with this one----

whatever

i'm bored with all of the talk about obama pissing off "the left" or whatever with his cabinet appts. and all----i don't think so, and neither do a lot of others on "the left"

but on the other hand if they manage to convince people that Obama is a sensible centrist who wants to do sensible centrist things like build SUPERTRAINS, get out of Iraq, not torture people or invade random countries, strengthen labor protections, reduce income inequality, improve education, provide health care for people, and reduce poverty, while those DAMNED DIRTY HIPPIES just won't shut up about their magic ponies, it's fine by me.

peters house

got to see ivy hall up close today---pretty impressive restoration of the building---the interior designs were a little overwrought for my taste, but they've done a great job conserving original finishes where they existed---lots of wonderful woodwork and beautifully preserved lincrusta

oogedy-boogedy

Basically, it boils down to this- if I wanted to live in accordance to rules as set by your faith, I would join your church. Until then, until you see me sitting two pews over on Sunday morning, just assume that I really don’t care what your God thinks. I don’t want the rules of your faith imposed upon me by the government, just as I do not desire the government telling me to live under the rules of Cardinal Ratzinger, the Church of Latter Day Saints, Sharia law, Wiccan rules, Buddhist tenets, and on and on and on. Nor do I think you should have to lives under laws that force you to adhere to the religious principles of someone else.

Until social conservatives can understand that that is why Kathleen Parker says they should use logic and reason, and that the best way all of us can get together is if our public policy is not dictated by one religious sect ramming their God down our collective throats, they are just going to be stuck on oogedy-boogedy. “Because it is a sin” ain’t cutting it.

if you missed it, kathleen parker blamed the ruination of the republican party on its "evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch," which is an excellent characterization

Euphorbia tirucalli var. humbug

south expressway

refusing to play

The dishonesty of the narrative about Mr. Obama during the campaign went a step further with its assumption that if you can place two people in the same room at the same time, or if you can show that they held a conversation, shared a cup of coffee, took the bus downtown together or had any of a thousand other associations, then you have demonstrated that they share ideas, policies, outlook, influences and, especially, responsibility for each other’s behavior. There is a long and sad history of guilt by association in our political culture, and at crucial times we’ve been unable to rise above it.

and they're still not over it, going so far as to challenge obama's citizenship, although the supremes have since refused to grant certiorari----it is a sad and fearful time in the wilds of wingnuttia

conjunctions

just what we need

Today, the Department of Interior overturned a Reagan-era regulation, permitting loaded firearms at 388 of 391 national park sites. The decision allows guns in parks in “any states with concealed carry laws, not just those that allow guns in their state parks as originally proposed.”

that certainly makes us all feel safer, doesn't it?

dubai

Because "it takes too long to come down to ground level each day to make it worthwhile," a crane operator on the Burj Dubai – the world's tallest building – is rumored to have "been up there for over a year," the Daily Telegraph reports. His name is Babu Sassi, and he is "a fearless young man from Kerala" who has become "the cult hero of Dubai’s army of construction workers." He also lives several thousand feet above the ground.

good pr anyway

Today, Bank of America announced it would begin phasing out financing of mountaintop removal operations in Appalachia. The bank is making the change after activists from Natural Resources Defense Council flew executives over coal mine sites and personally introduced them to local residents affected by mountaintop removal.

and this just when bush is screwing around with the regulations to allow just that very thing

stupid

so, this week, to deal with the city's budgetary shortfall, shirley laid off all five chiefs in the bureau of buildings and the ex. director of the urban design commission, whom i've known for 25 years and been there nearly that long, basically decapitated both agencies----closing fire stations, neighborhood centers----god knows what else has gone or is going---it is amazing how everything seems to be imploding

xmas lites

so some fool across the way has put up a xmas tree with a blue flashing star on top, and an upside-down xmas tree, both of which must surely be violations of our architectural guidelines--- now my lumpy euphorbian xmas tree doesn't look so out of place---

red sky at morning , . .

fulton bag mill

"we took a whack, but we're back" the signs along boulevard say---you can't tell the top floor blew away in march---

the market in history

On this chart each block represents a year and each column represents a range of return on the S&P index. Over on the right side are those lucky years where the index has soared upward from 50-60%. In the middle are the more typical years, where the market has risen less than 10%.

That little box on the far left? Yeah, that's this year.

obama and the states

sitting here watching cnn and obama at the governors convention today, and in outlining the effects of their own budget crises, he included the obligatory "crumbling infrastructure" but also the forced closure of libraries and historic sites---------wow!

clean people are less judgmental?

this is a good one

A vigorous hand wash or shower could cause a person to be less judgmental.

mumbai

this is what a crazy person looks like----except for the gun, he wouldn't be noticed

the christmas euphorbia

a motorcycle cozy

for cousin claudia

happy birthday, john

"alone together"

Of all 3,141 counties in the United States, New York County is the unrivaled leader in single-individual households, at 50.6 percent. More than three-quarters of the people in them are below the age of 65. Fifty-seven percent are female. In Brooklyn, the overall number is considerably lower, at 29.5 percent, and Queens is 26.1. But on the whole, in New York City, one in three homes contains a single dweller, just one lone man or woman who flips on the coffeemaker in the morning and switches off the lights at night. . . . These numbers should tell an unambiguous story. They should confirm the common belief about our city, which is that New York is an isolating, coldhearted sort of place. Mark Twain called it “a splendid desert—a domed and steepled solitude, where the stranger is lonely in the midst of a million of his race.” . . . Yet the picture of cities—and New York in particular—that has been emerging from the work of social scientists is that the people living in them are actually less lonely. Rather than driving people apart, large population centers pull them together, and as a rule tend to possess greater community virtues than smaller ones. This, even though cities are consistently, overwhelmingly, places where people are more likely to live on their own.

it's damp out

stoners in antiquity

not the first time they've documented it in antiquity, but it's the oldest and best preserved

OTTAWA – Researchers say they have located the world's oldest stash of marijuana, in a tomb in a remote part of China. The cache of cannabis is about 2,700 years old and was clearly ``cultivated for psychoactive purposes," rather than as fibre for clothing or as food, says a research paper in the Journal of Experimental Botany. The 789 grams of dried cannabis was buried alongside a light-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian man, likely a shaman of the Gushi culture, near Turpan in northwestern China.

happy holidays!

A worker died after being trampled and a woman miscarried when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island Wal-Mart Friday morning, witnesses said. The unidentified worker, employed as an overnight stock clerk, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m.

deserted city

the federal reserve is looking all christmasy already

t'giving

the atlanta half marathon is going down peachtree right now---it may only be half, but that's still a long way to run

on this day in 1941, jcniris drove down to senoia and got married----

and in 1095, pope urban 2 called for the first christian crusade against islam in the holy land----we're still fighting that war