Previous: December 2007
Up: Archives
Next: February 2008
| | |
Bad urbanism on the Potomac waterfrontIn December, I got into an interesting debate on the Dupont Forum neighborhood list about my feelings concerning the Third Church landmarking. Lance, who considers the building a "masterpiece," asked if my desire to get rid of most 1970s-era buildings in downtown DC extended to more widely praised structures like the Watergate and Kennedy Center.
I replied: The Watergate and Kennedy Center are, as mid-20th century buildings go, pretty nice, and I'm not in favor of razing them. However, they still do not represent good urbanism either, especially when considered in context with the Potomac River Freeway which was built around the same time (the West Leg of the 1971 Inner Loop plan, whose cancelled North Leg would have ruined Dupont). Both buildings are clearly designed for cars and with a more suburban sensibility, such as the way the Watergate has an interior park but presents a mostly blank wall to the streetscape. Most land around the Kennedy Center is used for getting cars in, out and around, than for human beings.I added that I hadn't really had a chance to explore those sites in detail, which prompted me to take a walk down there for some photos.
posted on Jan 9, 2008 1:17 pm (comment) You Snooze You Lose, Literally: The SnūzNLūz alarm clock automatically donates to a nonprofit that you hate each time you press the snooze button. Via Laboratorium. (comment) Cheers: Obama; jeers: CNNI'm glad Barack Obama won the Iowa caucus. Despite serious reservations about Obama's habit of rhetorically running against progressives, I also like much of what he believes, and he is bringing new people into the Democratic Party. And very importantly, Obama has the best chance of defeating Hillary Clinton for the nomination. I believe her Presidency would continue the entrenchment of right-wing frames and hawkish security policies that have been so destructive. (Larry Lessig articulates the case for Obama and against Clinton well.)
Watching CNN last night, I was struck by the lengths to which the commentators went to avoid talking about policy. It was all "the energy of the supporters" and Obama is young and about change and yada yada yada. The excerpt they replayed from Obama's speech was perhaps the most inane piece, the part about independents and Republicans coming together for him (huh?). In the speech, he did talk about policy (a little), and I believe that Hillary Clinton's war vote and ongoing support of saber-rattling in Iran cost her. But CNN's Candy Crowley actively disagreed when Wolf Blitzer asked her if Clinton's war vote played a part, saying Clinton had changed her position and has been a staunch opponent of war with Iran. That's only true on the surface (she moves us closer while vehemently insisting on her opposition in carefully qualified language). But the surface is all that matters if you're CNN. posted on Jan 4, 2008 12:37 pm (comment) FoxTrot agrees: your Senator needs an iPodThe December 30th FoxTrot comic hits on the very idea IPac ran with two years ago: sending iPods to Senators. Back in February 2006, Senator Ted Stevens mentioned the iPod he'd gotten for Christmas in a hearing, and to educate Senators on the many legitimate uses of digital technology, IPac launched the Your Senator Needs an iPod campaign.
It was a stunt as much as anything, but it generated awareness of the digital divide between citizens and elected officials who barely understand the technology they are legislating. The humorous nature of the campaign was the very quality played up by Sunday's FoxTrot, in which Jason sends iPods to members of the U.S. Senate this Christmas for exactly the same reason IPac did. A small excerpt of the comic (click to read the whole thing with punchline):
 posted on Jan 2, 2008 2:26 pm (comment) | Blog ArchivesMost Popular Tags |
| | |
All text and images on this site are licensed under a Creative Commons license. |  |
